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I've been playing roughly a week with no prior experience, completed half of Alfreds Basic Piano Course, and I'm learning a peice called Naruto - Sadness and Sorrow.
http://www.alphatrance.com/0engine/music/anime/get.php?file=naruto-sadness-and-sorrow.pdf

So I can play it perfectly up till this point:



See the Red Arrow?
I can't play that bit, how are you supposed to stretch your hand out that far?
Although, I suspect from videos I've watched that they're all seperately played, but I still have no idea.

Can anyone explain this part, as well as how to do this?
The rest I can do perfectly.

Thanks a bunch.

The wavy line to the left means that the chord is supposed to be arpeggiated which means you don't play the notes all at once, rather you play them individually but "roll" your right hand b-d-g-b, a-d-f#-a.

Hope this helps.

So there is no particular technique to this?
Just rolling your hand from left to right (For the right hand), going from lower to high rather then stretching the hand out?

Thanks for the reply, I'll be trying it now.

Lavace, if you want to break it down technique wise... it's just like turning a door nob with your right hand to the right.

Matt

BTW, I have played that piece. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have.

A door nob, sounds like a plan aha.
Thanks for all your help, I think I could do this myself now.

Just a question, Theowne, how long did it take you to learn this?
And what kinda of Grade would you say this is?

Thanks a bunch everyone =].

Well, it took me a few days to memorize it fully. You'll find that after you play a lot of music it's easier for you to pick up new pieces like this one, because the chord progressions in this piece are pretty common. However, if you have no prior experience than don't be disheartened if you have to work at it longer.

I would say it's an early-intermediate piece, probably not something I'd recommends to a beginner but if you really want to learn it than go for it. Some challenges that a new piano player might face is having to hit notes that are not close to each other in succession, playing multiple notes with one hand, and being able to keep your hands independent.

Lavace, that first arpeggiated chord is only an octave... and octaves are quite common in piano music. Do you have very small hands? Most people can reach at least an octave, or even a 9 or 10.

One thing that helps when trying to play octaves or octave-based chords is to move your hand/fingers to the edge of the keys.

And the more you play, the more your fingers will stretch. When I first started playing I couldn't really reach a 9 comfortably and now it's no problem, and sometimes I can hit a 10.

As for technique in rolling chords, yes, it's like turning a doorknob, but concentrate on keeping your hand/fingers in a plane and just rotating your wrist, rather than moving your fingers up and down individually. You'll be able to roll them much more cleanly and evenly if you rotate your wrist and keep your fingers in a plane. Hope that made sense.

WOW...half the Alfred course in a week...you must be good...

You know how you put your fingers on a desk and tap your fingers one after another really fast when you're impatient? same concept but roll the wrist as well.

I'm stunned. You got this far in a week? I think I'd just about managed to stumble through a HS five-finger pattern of 'Ode to Joy'.

I've been working on my first piece with rolled chords, and after I asked for advice on the forum I had no trouble at all getting them to sound the way I wanted them to. Monica's advice about keeping your hand in a plane is invaluable. I place my hand on the keys as though I'm going to play a blocked chord and then roll my wrist through the notes as I play it.

I would never play rolled chords by keeping my hand in a plane and rolling my wrist.

All of the notes in a rolled chord should be articulated clearly so they can be heard as individual, distinct notes.

As Oxfords Gal says, the fingers should be used to play the notes, and the wrist rolled to accent the top note;
a little roll for a slight accent, and a bigger roll for a big accent.

In a piece with a lot of fast rolled chords, like my Tomas Leon piece in the last Recital,
it would be very difficult to play it with the wrist only, keeping the fingers locked.

Too much of this could lead to pinching the ulnar nerve, which runs near the outside of the wrist.

This would result in numbness in the 4th and 5th fingers.

And Lavace, for fingering those two chords, I would use 1-2-4-5 for B-D-G-B, and 1-2-3-5 for A-D-F#-A.

You're certainly making tremendous progress.

Are you submitting a piece for the Nov.15th Recital?


Mel