In this month’s practice clinic (May 2021), Graham Fitch answered questions on coordinating the hands, using forearm rotation, trills and various other topics. Works featured include Mozart’s Sonata in a minor K310, a Menuet by Lully, Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words Op. 19 No. 4, Grieg’s Summer Eve and Ravel’s Sonatine.
Practice clinic questions
- WA Mozart – Sonata in A Minor, K310 2nd Mvt (Bars 16 – 17) – Practice approaches to coordinating the left and right hands, particularly when putting the hands together and playing the trills
- Jean-Baptiste Lully – Menuet from Essential Keyboard Repertoire (Bar 16) – What is the purpose of the G# in what is essentially a piece in D minor?
- Felix Mendelssohn – Song Without Words, Op. 19 No. 4 (Bars 1 – 4) – How to use forearm rotation in the right way in order to play the opening four bars without tension or pain
- Edvard Grieg – Summer Eve (Bars 14 – 18) – Getting the left hand in synch with the right hand both slowly and up to speed
- Maurice Ravel – Sonatine, 1st Mvt (Opening bars) – Suggestions for overcoming difficulties in obtaining the desired sound and evenness in the opening bars of this work (we also have our own study edition for this work – click here for more information!)
Next practice clinics
Our next practice clinic takes place on Wednesday 23rd June on our Facebook page at 12:00 BST. Please sign-up to our mailing list here for updates on future practice clinic dates.
Watch previous clinics
Recordings of past practice clinics are posted up on our Facebook page and YouTube channel shortly after each event. You can also view our full archive of previous events via these links!
How they work?
Online Academy subscribers can submit questions for practice clinics up to two weeks before each session. This can be done using the link provided on the Online Academy dashboard under “subscription benefits” (click here to sign-in and visit your dashboard).
Further information on how our practice clinics work is available here or please click here to find out more about the Online Academy.
Practising the Piano Online Academy
The Practising the Piano Online Academy is the ultimate online resource for mastering the piano. It features a constantly growing library of over 300 articles, thousands of musical excerpts and hundreds of videos on topics including practising, piano technique and performing from leading experts. Please click here to find out more about the Online Academy or on one of the options below to subscribe:
- Monthly subscription – Subscribe for £9.99 a month to get full, unlimited access to all Online Academy articles and updates (click here to sign-up for this option)
- Annual subscription – Save over 15% on the monthly subscription with an annual subscription for £99.99 per year and get free eBooks and editions worth over £70! (click here to sign-up for this option)
