Arms and the Pianist

     A student writes: "For years I have heard about

using arm weight when playing and that we should 'drop weight' into the keyboard. I have seen demonstrations of this method in which people have literally held their arm up high and then allowed it to drop as dead weight into the keyboard espousing this to be how we should get a deep, rich tone and also how to play forte. This has always seemed so vague to me as how can one be close to the keys and also drop from a distance? How can one play this way? And should one?" 
     
     

     The weight of the forearm is essential to all playing. We apply more or less weight depending on the dynamic. This begs the question of how to get that weight into the key. Yes, we can drop from above into the key. I use this gesture in teaching, but only to help the student feel what it's like to play a single note that is supported by the arm. This is not a 'dead weight,' but rather a controlled movement. (I use the idea of 'dead weight' in the context of making leaps, which is another topic.) If you do this, go no farther down than the bottom of the key with the forearm. The downward motion stops at that point. I mention this because many pianists continue to drop the wrist after the note has been struck.

     We need the wrist to be straight (but flexible), like a bridge, between the hand and forearm in order to access the weight of the forearm rotationally. If you allow the wrist to drop, the weight goes into the floor, which is counter-productive; once the note has been played only God can change it. But this is not, of course, a quick movement.  
     The rotation of the forearm is how we transfer

the weight from one note to the next. It's like walking, putting one foot in front of the other, shifting all the weight in doing so. This is another tool I use to help students feel what it's like to have the arm behind the note that is being played. Again, though, forearm rotation is only a tool designed to demonstrate a sensation. In order to progress laterally up and down the keyboard in speed, we rely on a more general way to get the arm behind the finger. This is called shaping. 
      
     The student responds: "Then it is not necessary to lift high and drop? But what about very loud, chordal playing? Does this involve a drop from above? I have seen pianists play chords with their hands already resting on the keys with no drop at all. Is the sensation anything like pressing into the keys?"
    
     No, it is not necessary or even desirable to drop from a height, which is not a quick movement for fast playing. In fact, the chances of hurting yourself increase proportionately the higher you drop from. I tell children not to hit the piano or it will hit you back. As I mentioned above, I use this "drop" only as a teaching tool to feel the sensation of weight. 
     For slow playing you can "use a broom handle," as Taubman would say. You can get just as much sound springing from the key as you can dropping from above, as in, say, the opening chords of the Tchaikovsky concerto. The sensation is rather like flexing your knees when attempting to dive from a diving board. If you want a percussive sound as in, say, a Prokofiev concerto, go quicker into the keybed, but still from the key, or slightly above the key, depending on the tempo. Though it may sometimes look otherwise, most playing is from the key, yes, even leaps.

Notes from a Life in Music

   

 WE NOW INTERRUPT OUR REGULAR PROGRAM FOR A COMMERCIAL MESSAGE 

Neil at Six,
Music still in his future.
He could, however, carry the
Beethoven 5th in a 10 lb.
album of  78s

     (You may fast-forward to the next entry. Oh, shoot. I haven't written it yet. But it will probably be about articulation in Mozart and how, despite modern scholarship, the primary sources haven't changed. )  
  
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All Southern California High School Orchestra. I'm the principal Double Bass at the right

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Beethoven's Tempest Sonata, 3rd movement: Fingering

     A student inquires about fingering choices in

Beethoven 1770-1827

the third movement of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 31, No. 2, the so-called "Tempest" (composed 1801-02). Of course Beethoven did not attach that name to it. When asked for interpretive hints by Schindler, Beethoven's friend and helper, the master apparently referred him to Shakespeare's play, The Tempest.  No doubt Beethoven had in mind the first scene of the play, which takes place at sea during a storm.

     Personally, when considering the opening of

Gretchen at her Spinning Wheel

the third movement, I think of Schubert's "Gretchen am Spinnrade" (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel), also inspired by a high-class poet, Goethe. The Schubert Lied, of course, had not been written yet. (Stay with me here. I promise to attach all of this to matters of fingering.)                         

     I could over-simplify and suggest looking at an unedited edition. Oh, okay, I will. 

Beethoven Op. 31, No. 2, MM 1-5

     Notice that there are no pedal indications. Notice, too, and this is stylistically the most important, Beethoven gives the first bass note in each measure an extra stem and two flags. This bass-note is not a pedal point, meaning that it should not be held or caught in the pedal as some editions (Von Bülow, for example, or even Arrau) would have us do—and many fine contemporary pianists take that advice. I don't. Beethoven gives length instead to the A, which comes on the weakest part of the beat, yet has slightly more importance.

     Now look at the melodic notes on the downbeats of each measure. Beethoven places a dot on these notes. At the risk of being excessively picky, I ask you to consider: Is this a staccato? If so, should it be the same length as the bass 16th? If that's so, why didn't he make it a 16th, too? Just lazy? Okay, I'll cut to the chase. I play the eighth-note it's full length with a slight melodic accent. We know that Beethoven used the dot sometimes in this way. (Have a look at the arpeggios on the first page of his Op. 110 sonata.)

     Articulation is important to consider apropos of fingering because of the tiniest coordination issue that occurs between right and left hands when giving the right-hand eighth some length and accent while getting off of the 16th in the left hand. Once organized—and it really isn't difficult—the result is a more transparent, slightly askew, slightly agitated forward motion, not unlike the sound of a spinning wheel and its foot treadle. Gretchen is not at sea in a storm, but she is on the edge of madness as she spins.

Schubert's "Gretchen am Spinnrade"

     Editions differ as to how to finger the left hand, some seeming to ignore what I think are Beethoven's intentions. The issue hinges on which finger to use for the repeated A—4, 3 or 2. Here are my suggestions: 

Beethoven Op.31, no.2 MM 1-5
My Fingering

Since allegretto is not very fast, it is possible to detach the bass note and leap to the A with the fourth finger. I would never use three, as it creates a stretch to the second finger.

     And in case you don't believe me regarding the articulation, look at measures nine to thirteen, where Beethoven changes his mind.

Skype Piano Lessons

 

Piano by Skype

  
     Over the years, some of my students who've moved away have asked for Skype lessons. At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to teach long distance, but once I tried it I found it to be nearly as

effective as in-person lessons. The only thing missing really is the ability to physically guide the student's hand. A flexible camera aimed at the keys and access to Skype are all that's necessary. So, I've decided to open up Skype lessons for anyone who would like to explore long-distance piano. To inquire, use the "contact' tab above, leave a comment below or visit my website.

Debussy's Arabesque Number One: Easier than it Looks

     A student complains that after much effort he's

Claude Debussy 1862-1918

unable to master measures 34-36 in Debussy's Arabesque Number One, an early exploration of the composer's still emerging impressionism. Debussy reportedly sought to represent in music the Art 

Gustav Klimt, Art Nouveau

Nouveau style, one in which visual art mimics shapes in nature. He was also apparently enthralled with music of the Baroque, a time "when music was subject to the laws of beauty inscribed in the movements of Nature herself.”

Arabesque No. 1, MM 31-38
Claude Debussy

      The student explains that he's "making every effort not to cling to the keys, especially the thirds. But, especially when playing the second and third note of each triplet, there's a sense of reaching for

Art Nouveau in Architecture

the next third." This student is already on the right track, having rejected the editor's fingering and added his own, playing all of the thirds with 5-3. He has also identified the technical problem, though perhaps without realizing it: clinging to the keys. He feels "tight and tangled up."
      The solution to this problem comes under the heading "The score tells us how the music sounds, not how it feels in our hands." It's a grouping issue primarily, with a hint of shaping. Begin each group with the thumb and shape a little under to the chord, which will be a little higher. Get off of the chord in order to land back on the next thumb, which helps send the hand to the next chord. The pedal will disguise any unwanted disconnect. For an enhanced illusion of legato, voice the chords firmly to the top. (Click the image to enlarge.)

Debussy Arabesque No. 1
MM 31-38 with technical suggestions

     If there is a sense of stretching from the second finger to the chord, as you play the second finger, angle the arm/hand slightly in the direction of the music, to the right. This allows the hand to be closer to the chord and open a bit more without stretching. When the hand is flat and directly perpendicular to the keys, as this student's hand appears to be in the video he supplied, it is less flexible. Remember, we can be at any angle with the keyboard as long as we remain straight with the finger/hand/arm alliance.

     I hope this helps.

Solfeggietto by C.P.E. Bach: A question of Fingering

C.P.E. Bach
1714-1788

     My student, diligent as always, brought the little Solfeggietto by Bach's famous son, Carl Philipp Emanuel. He proudly offered  a revised fingering, one that corresponds to principles I teach. That is, notes that move in the same direction are often grouped together. This concept, however, does not always apply to fingering. He proposed the following: (Click image to enlarge.)

C.P.E Bach Solfeggietto, MM 1-2

Awkward Fingering

     Notice that this fingering does encompass the entire triad and its octave, all notes that move in the same direction. Notice, too, that notating the middle C in the bass clef seems to argue in favor of playing it with the LH.  Logistically, though,  the LH hand is perhaps too much in the neighborhood when the RH gets to play, creating choreographic congestion.  I propose the following, which, if memory serves is in the Emil Sauer edition:

      

The choreography in this version works more smoothly.

     So, if a passage feels awkward, look for a different solution. Start with fingering and don't be unduly swayed by the layout of the notation on the page. "The score tells us how the music sounds, not how it feels in our hands," to quote myself.

Grieg's Holberg Suite: Fingering

     A student writes: "I have a problem playing the
 alternating-hands fingering in Grieg's "Holberg

Ludvig Holberg
1684 –1754

Suite," op. 40, first movement. I find the alternating right and left hands so difficult that it makes me wonder if the design is to limit the tempo these sixteenth notes can go, or insure they will be played clearly and cleanly? I can go faster just playing the entire passages in the right hand!"

Edvard Grieg
1843-1907

     I respond that I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't explored Grieg's piano music much except for the concerto and the transcription of "Notturno." Originally known as "From Holberg's Time," the suite consists of dances in an 18th century style. I know the "Holberg Suite" from its string orchestra version, which is very compelling. But, apparently, the suite was originally for piano solo. It was Grieg's contribution to the two-hundredth anniversary celebration of the 17th -18th century playwright, Ludvig Holberg.
     The question of fighting with an uncomfortable fingering in the score when an easier one is available reminds me of something someone once said. Oh, wait. I  said it: "The score tells us how the music sounds, not how it should feel in our hands." So regardless of the fact that the uncomfortable fingering might be designed to slow us down or force us to play more cleanly, take the easier fingering. You can still decide on the tempo and clarity with a more agreeable fingering. So this student's instinct is correct, play the passage in the right hand. It is not necessary to alternate hands.

     Here is my suggested fingering and redivision between the hands: (Click the image to enlarge.)

Edvard Grieg, Holberg, Ist Movement