Playing Chords, Legato, Brahms & Handel
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 a Allemande by Handel
Brahms, Burgmüller and Baroque Touch
In this month’s Practice Clinic, Graham Fitch answered questions on works by Brahms, Chopin and Burgmüller. Topics discussed included playing rolled chords, practising grace notes, tackling demisemiquavers and Baroque style.
Don’t Play!
We tend to think of sitting at the piano and practising totally in terms of making sounds. If we’re not moving our fingers up and down, we’re not really practising,…
Chopin’s First Ballade – a Practice Suggestion
Chopin's evergreen First Ballade has never been more popular, thanks in part to Alan Rusbridger's book about his personal quest with the piece, Play It Again. It is a piece that…
Managing Leaps: Selective Landing
I use a three-part process for measuring distances at the keyboard, to make sure all jumps are precise, secure and foolproof. We build in the precise measurements in our practising…
More On Octave Displacements
Annoyingly, last week's post on eliminating tension (which was to be the first of two or three on the subject) has itself been eliminated. It disappeared into the ether when…
Five-a-Side Team Events: Some Thoughts on Chord Playing
In my youth I was fortunate enough to have some lessons with Philip Fowke, the first one was on Rachmaninov's rather overplayed Prelude in C sharp minor. I recall the…
Leaps of Faith: On Practising Waltzes
Waltzes demand a fair amount of left hand agility from the pianist - all that hopping back and forth can be quite dizzying. A pre-requisite for mobility across the keyboard…
Practising Chords (Part Four): Odds and Ends
Unless anyone cares to contact me with further suggestions, this will be the last of my posts on chords. It's a selection of a few unrelated odds and ends which…
Practising Chords (Part Three): The Difficult Chord
I am sure we can all identify a particular chord in a piece that causes us to stumble or fumble (and, under our breath, mumble). This could be because the…