In this month’s practice clinic, Graham Fitch answers two questions on playing chords followed by questions on achieving legato in a Rhapsody by Brahms and the Allemande from Handel’s Suite in D Minor.
Practice clinic questions
Rolling Chords – I’m looking for general advice on rolling chords. Having smaller hands, you’d have thought that by now I’d be ok at this, but in reality often I can find it problematic.
I learned the Silent Night in the style of Rachmaninov by Derry Bertenshaw from Pianist Magazine in which it is necessary to roll chords in several different ways: Simple rolls (such as rolling from 5, 2, 1 – first chord in Bar 11), crossover rolls (such as rolling 5, 2, 1, crossing to 3 – second chord in Bar 11), rolling a chord with the melody inside the chord (e.g. second chord of Bar 12 where the melody is the F).
These all seem to give me issues – especially when needing to control the melody (which is the case here on every chord as the melody is in the left hand (most frequently as the top note of the chord)
Making Notes Sound Together in Chord – Sometimes the notes don’t all sound at the same time when I play chords that are across two hands. Do I need to be in the keys first? It seems to help if I move my hands inwards towards the piano as I land. For example, in Grieg’s Arietta (Bar 12), the LH is B-flat and F-sharp with the RH is doing something else after which they resolve.
Brahms Rhapsody in G Minor, Op. 79 No. 2 – The last three RH octaves in Bar 13 begin a new theme. How to play them and what does the slur mean? Can you suggest some fingering and show how one might play them expressively and with legato?
Handel Allemande from Suite in D Minor, HWV 437 – How can you join the notes and play passages in bars 11, 12 and 14, 15 smoothly without lifting your fingers from the piano?
Next practice clinic
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Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.