Support the weight of the arm

A young piano student has asked this question: "I would like to have opinions on which fingering to use in the twelfth bar work of Schubert Impromptu Op 90 no. 3 in G Flat Major. Precisely where you "beat" for the first time on those E flat and C flat together. My problem is that I just can not give the correct pressure not to make it look like a hammer."

Here the musical example:

My short answer is this:

"The question is not at all strange, it is very sensible! I'll play with the fifth finger on the E flat and fourth with the C flat supporting the weight of the arm on the fifth finger, "leaning" softly, without a hammer! You will say, easy to say! Depends on technique".

Now I add something. The word "support", not surprisingly, is used in a number of cases in instrumental technique and also in the technique of singing. What does it mean support? It means "to lean, to stand on something, something supportive": so it's the exact opposite of what you do when you make an effort, you lift a weight, it faces a struggle. In everyday life, we lean when we need to stand up to support us (and, metaphorically, we rely on a few people when we feel discouraged or distressed ...).

So, lean means countering effort with an aid which, in the case of the piano, we are given simply by the force of gravity.

But more importantly (and this is the sense of the question) is that properly leaning the weight of the arm can also change the sound between the fingers of the same hand. This is necessary when we, in cases such as that place in this example, the composer needs to play melody and accompaniment in the same hand and therefore, by implication, requires two different sounds in the same hand.


Of course, you do not get an immediate: it is an instrumental technique that acquires the appropriate exercise.

Musical accents in the march tempo

One student asked a question about the Marche  in E-flat Major BWV Anhang 127, contained in the "Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach".

The question concerns the execution of the march time, that writing is like the 4/4, but it is actually a 2/2: how to feel the difference? It also asks: If the reviser indicates 76 to half-note, what is the difference compared to a 152 to quarter note?

The speed depends on the interpretation

From the mathematical point of view is the same: 76 at half-note equivalent to 152 to the quarter note. But from the musical point of view is different: it means that the music must be thought of in two beats per measure, instead of four. If it seems too fast, you can play a little more slowly, but the important thing is going to keep this rhythm in two movements, which is just the march. Keep in mind, in fact, that the values ​​of metronome are purely indicative, the musical interpretation does not mean never so stiff. Try therefore to study the piece at a speed of 60 to half-note: first try to sing the parts at this speed (especially the right hand, but also the left!) to get used to this scan.

A matter of accents

The difference in performance between 4/4 and 2/2 is a matter of accents. For example, in bar 1 (apart from the upbeat E flat-G, which obviously leans on the beat in B flat) is interesting figuration into eighths (C-D-E flat-B flat), followed by G quarter: the support should be given to the E flat and certainly not on the C, or only at the end of the beat, the next support will be the next G (eighth) that starts the bar 2. Note that the rhythm of the left hand helps the rhythmic beat.

Interesting then the bar 5, where they begin the triplets: we find a triplet eighths (F-E flat-D), where clearly we lean on F, then the two D (eighth), which must not be accented, whereas we lean a shortly above the D, who began the succession of eighth D-F-E flat-D. The beats subsequent steps like: avoid the accents on the second and fourth movements, unless there is syncope (as occurs in beat 3), which is the evident "exception to the rule" and what is its meaning.

How to begin playing by ear

Pianist Galì in the forum "Theory and solfege" Site "MyPiano Talk", posted this interesting article.

Is it more important to be able to read music or play by ear?  I really don't know the answer, but I know they are both important.  I am teaching my son who is eight to play the piano and though we focus mostly on reading music, I am already teaching him to play by ear.

One of the things I hate to hear my kids say is "I can't".  In most cases they can if they want to badly enough.  When I tell pianists they need to learn to play by ear, the first thing they often say is "I can't."  Don't say that!  Just start practicing.

So how can you start learning?  Here is a simple plan.

1. Learn to pick out a melody of any simple hymn.
2. Learn to play the melody in several different keys (preferably all of them).
3. Pick a key (C is a good choice) and start playing the melody in the right hand.  As you play, experiment with simple triads in the left hand in the octave just below middle C.  In almost every case, either the I, IV, or V chord will work.  In the rare cases where none of those chords work, either skip the chord or cheat and look in the hymnal.
4. Once you know the melody and the supporting chords, you can start improvising a bit.  Play the chord in simple arpeggios in the left hand or move the melody to the left hand and play chords in the right hand.  Or try some inversions in the chords.

To make it easier, let me refresh your memory on the I, IV, and V chords in the key of C.  This is the octave that they will sound best in if you are playing them without any inversion.


Let me pause for a moment and remind you that I am making some assumptions about your current knowledge of theory.  For example, I am assuming that you understand how to identify and play I, IV, and V chords.  If you do not, please find a book or website that you can learn from before continuing this lesson.  Knowing the I, IV, and V chords in each key is absolutely critical to your ability to learn from these lessons.

Some great things will start happening are you start faithfully working through these simple steps.  Don't overdo it--15 minutes a day is sufficient.  Don't worry if the sound is not wonderful.  The important thing is that you are starting to crawl.  You will be able to run later.  

I am going to cover step 4 in much more detail in the next lesson.  For the time being, just work on steps 1-3.

Practice strategy:
Practice steps 1-3 on "Jesus Loves Me."  Learn to play it in a minimum of four keys including C and work on step 3 in the key of C.  Then try it in Db.  If you have time, add another song.

Sources: http://www.greghowlett.com/blog/free-lessons/061111009.aspx 
http://www.mypianotalk.com/forums/34/theory-and-solfege

Relaxation and movements of the wrist in playing the piano

The piano technique, aimed to the well-being of the person who plays, must be set as low as a condition of muscle relaxation. The vertical and lateral movements of the wrist help to achieve this objective of relaxation.

The video, performed ​​personally by the author, illustrates clearly the correct execution of movements and positions.

In Exercise 2, in particular, we note that it is useful to perform a vertical movement of the wrist to support the weight of the arm on the first sound of each formula, the sounds after the wrist gradually gets up and runs even small lateral movements, orienting the hand to the thumb or toward the little finger, so that each finger is perpendicular to its key in the moment in which it must act.

The mode of attack is defined as a "legato sciolto" (tied loose) meaning an attack that binds the sounds one another, but of more concern agility of the fingers of the absolute continuity of the legato.

The complete set of 42 progressive esercises of piano technique describes each of the fundamental techniques to learn to play the piano properly, relaxed, aimed at well-being.

The rhythm and the body

Every musical experience begins from the experience of rhythm, because it is the physiological basis of music, is the link that connects the perception of music with the deep experience of our body to be in motion. And our body, we all know well, can not in any way be separate and distinct from our emotions and our rational life.

Adults can also take an immediate perception of rhythmic structures, from simple regularity of the pulse and its possible organization in binary form (a strong accent, a weak one) or ternary (a strong accent, two weak). The regularity of the pulse of the wrist is always cited as the first form of rhythmic experience that can be felt by every human being.

Breathing in its binary alternation of inspiration and expiration, is the physiological context in which it can be easily experienced a simple process of regular rhythmic organization.

Any other experience of the body, from walking to the alternation in the movement of the arms, can be used for the detection of a rhythmic structure elementary.

From this it can develop all kinds of complex skill, and already the ternary structure may seem more difficult (this happens to a lot of music students!), but the limits of learning ability can never be defined in a rigid way.

The classic method of Beyer

One of the most classical piano studies is that of Ferdinand Beyer (1803-63). It is a classic German method, on which are formed many pianists of various generations.

In recent years, in particular for children, has been somewhat abandoned in favor of other publications, most appealing in writing music and images supplied.

However, it seems to me that the development of this area, as set by Beyer, is very effective for the progression of difficulty, is about learning to read music, both on the instrumental technique. What matters is the way you use a text: for example, I am using it by placing his pieces in a teaching methodology that emphasizes the rhythm, vocality and instrumental gestures, to the wellbeing of the person in the act of playing and, more generally, of making music.

In the original German some pieces are different, compared to the Italian editions: it is Volkslieder Germans really very nice.

The study of double notes on the piano

The technique of double notes is the most complex mechanisms executing piano. It is playing successions of two simultaneous sounds with the same hand, often at high speed. For example (Chopin, Study for the thirds, op. 25 n. 6):

Or (Chopin, Study for the sixths, op. 25 n. 8):

The technique of double notes requires a synthesis of all the movements of the mechanism piano: the support of the weight of the arm, the articulation of the fingers, the lateral movement of the hand in relation to the perpendicular of the finger in use. You should also check the relaxation of the arm, forearm and hand, even by small movements of the wrist, elbow and shoulder. At this level of study you must have already acquired sensory awareness of the movements, positions and strategies to prevent stiffening.

To achieve this complexity of goals, in my collection 42 progressive exercises for piano Technique (The technique for the welfare of the pianist) I develop the material in ten exercises, which are precisely designed to progressively lead to the solution of the difficulty.

First we deal with the movement of articulation of the fingers, which represents an improvement to a technique already acquired in the first section of the method.

Then we proceed to the study of double notes, especially the sequences of the thirds and sixths, but also of the fourths and fifths (although less common in the classical repertoire).

A particular attention is then given to the finger passing over on other fingers, similar to what has been studied with the thumb to the study of the scales, but here extended to other fingers, for example: the fourth, third, second finger pass over the fifth, or the fifth passes under the fourth, third, second.

It then proceeds with the study of scales in double notes, and finally an exercise summary, which summarizes not only the technique of double notes, but in the end all the main movements of the piano mechanism: