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Post by Dulciana on Sept 5, 2008 10:10:23 GMT
Any advice on how to teach a pupil to play fast repeated chords? I.E. the same chord, as in near the beginning of Mendelssohn's Song Without Words Op 102, no 3. I don't have a problem doing it myself, and am finding it difficult to analyse why I find it easy and this pupil finds it so hard. He just can't seperate the chords; either that or many of the notes aren't there at all.
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Post by Dulciana on Oct 14, 2008 9:05:47 GMT
Still struggling.  We've tried relaxing elbows, which tend to seize up, moving the stool further back, dropping shoulders, raising wrists, flicking the notes with fingertips rather than pivoting the whole arm up and down, leaving out the odd note, pivoting only at the wrist, and we've still got a problem. We wouldn't have if he'd slow down, but he won't. (I'm got such authority over my pupils...  ) |
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Post by chocolatedog on Oct 14, 2008 19:14:08 GMT
Can you try "splurts"? i.e. just doing 2 chords really fast, then relax, then 3 etc.? Steve's probably the best person for this.......... but I'm sure I read somewhere that using a slight pushing motion with the hand towards the back of the keys is supposed to help. Again, like you, I find it difficult to analyse how I play to then describe it to pupils!
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Post by Steve Hopwood on Oct 14, 2008 22:17:04 GMT
Unsurprisingly, cd has provided the answer (although thanks for your kindness cd). Yep, playing the chords whilst moving the hand towards the back of the keyboard releases all the tension that otherwise builds up and makes the movement impossible. Pulling back to the edge of the keys in preparation for the next group helps further relax tension. Of course, convincing the kids that this amount of movement is necessary is a bit of an art - it requires a level of thought that your average student doesn't want to indulge it. I was lucky recently, because the student concerned wanted to play this piece as part of her grade 8 programme. I was able to say to her, "Look, do what I say or pick a different piece, ok?" It worked. ;D  |
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Post by Dulciana on Oct 15, 2008 9:23:26 GMT
Can you try "splurts"? i.e. just doing 2 chords really fast, then relax, then 3 etc.? Steve's probably the best person for this.......... but I'm sure I read somewhere that using a slight pushing motion with the hand towards the back of the keys is supposed to help. Again, like you, I find it difficult to analyse how I play to then describe it to pupils! Yay!!! A new one that I haven't tried yet! Thank you thank you thank you. I've never heard that before; if anything, we decided upon analysing why I found it easier that I was pulling towards myself, so I certainly wouldn't have thought of pushing. One lives and learns! Steve - I promise to take your last piece of advice on board.  I get caught out all the time by letting pupils - especially this pupil - pick their own pieces against my better judgement and then we all get frustrated with the nasty bits.  |
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