Piano question
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wrote on 9 Jul 2020, 14:28 last edited by
Are there any piano players here?
Good.
I've been a real slacker this last year - no teacher makes for laziness, and not having a project makes for inertia.
So, for the last month or so, I've been tinkering with resurrecting one of my old pieces.
It's the Prelude and Fugue on a theme by Handel by Manuel Ponce.
I played the prelude a bit faster than this. This is about the tempo I played the fugue at, with A LOT less rubato. Fugue starts at 5:45.
Link to videoAt 8:50 or so there's some descending thirds.
I've always found those thirds vexing, perhaps because I didn't have good fingering for that part.
Suggestions?
Oh, for an insanely fast version of the fugue:
Link to videoOf note, it's one of those rare pieces that calls for the sostenuto pedal on the third note at the beginning of the prelude.
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wrote on 9 Jul 2020, 14:59 last edited by
As an easy preparation for those thirds, I'd suggest you first learn Chopin 25/6.
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wrote on 9 Jul 2020, 15:02 last edited by
More seriously, wouldn't it work to simply play the bottom notes with 3-2-1-3-2-1 etc. (which can be played "legato") and then 5-4-3-5-4-3 etc. for the top notes?
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wrote on 9 Jul 2020, 15:24 last edited by
I just see that there's a similar section in sixths, not thirds, which looks way harder.
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More seriously, wouldn't it work to simply play the bottom notes with 3-2-1-3-2-1 etc. (which can be played "legato") and then 5-4-3-5-4-3 etc. for the top notes?
wrote on 9 Jul 2020, 16:01 last edited by@Klaus said in Piano question:
More seriously, wouldn't it work to simply play the bottom notes with 3-2-1-3-2-1 etc. (which can be played "legato") and then 5-4-3-5-4-3 etc. for the top notes?
That's what I originally tried, but I was having difficulty crossing the "5" on the second iteration of the thirds. Perhaps, LOL, I just need to practice more.
Regarding the 6ths, are you talking in the prelude?
Fortunately, that's played slowly, and other being a bit awkward, I didn't find it all that difficult.
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wrote on 9 Jul 2020, 16:41 last edited by
Can you slow down the video to 0.25 speed and see what his fingerings are?
Great piece by the way.
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Can you slow down the video to 0.25 speed and see what his fingerings are?
Great piece by the way.
wrote on 9 Jul 2020, 17:17 last edited by@jon-nyc said in Piano question:
Can you slow down the video to 0.25 speed and see what his fingerings are?
Great piece by the way.
Yeah,
it'swas fun to play too!At 8: 55, the first time, it looks like he goes 5/3, 4/2, 3,1, 4/2, 3/1, 4/2, 3/1.
The second time, at about 8:58, it looks the same.
However, the third time, at 9:02, he starts with 4/2, 3/1, then lifts and goes to 5/3, 4/2, 3/1
Am I seeing that correctly?
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@Klaus said in Piano question:
More seriously, wouldn't it work to simply play the bottom notes with 3-2-1-3-2-1 etc. (which can be played "legato") and then 5-4-3-5-4-3 etc. for the top notes?
That's what I originally tried, but I was having difficulty crossing the "5" on the second iteration of the thirds. Perhaps, LOL, I just need to practice more.
Regarding the 6ths, are you talking in the prelude?
Fortunately, that's played slowly, and other being a bit awkward, I didn't find it all that difficult.
wrote on 9 Jul 2020, 17:38 last edited by@George-K said in Piano question:
egarding the 6ths, are you talking in the prelude?
Oh, I can't read. In the small youtube window I confused octaves with sixths. Still doesn't look easy to do in tempo.
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wrote on 10 Jul 2020, 11:36 last edited by
I've long been a fan of Handel's keyboard music, and at one time I had one of the suites under my fingers. Jon heard me
playbutcher the allemande from the E major suite a couple of years ago.But getting back to the Ponce....
Here's the fugue upon which he based his piece.
Link to video