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Joined: Oct 2008
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Yeah, if you read my post above I say that I'll start with the Hanon, then play scales, perhaps then go to the czerny and seeing as all that will probably take a few months, maybe work slowly through the first page or so of the Etude at a slow tempo. I know the etude is above me right now, especially since I think 25/10 is one of the more difficult of Chopin's....
Chopin: Nocturne No. 15 in Fm. Op. 55 no.1.
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Getting the playing of octaves shipshape can be enhanced by discovering a passage in a masterpiece ... as in the case of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto opus 73... m 334-361 ... here’s the heart of the passage (spread over 3 pages) ... my school avoid the soul-destroying exercises in Hanon and Czerny. PS From an edition for two pianos ... the numbering of the measures is my own and might not match other editions.
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Doing the chromatic scale in double octaves is an excellent drill. Strive for precision. I first play with 1-5 only, and then I'll do 1-5 on white keys and 1-4 on black keys. It's quite a workout, and as others have pointed out, you need to be loose to be successful at octaves.
Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons.
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Until the original poster answers some of those questions, none of the exercises will do any good. I thought my first post in this thread answered your concern.
Jason
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I agree with pianoloverus. Most of the replies in this topic are just lists of things that involve octaves.
The first thing that popped into my mind was:
"What do you mean by make octaves better? Do you mean articulation, voicing, speed, changes of direction, repeated octaves, or the different techniques involved?" Until the original poster answers some of those questions, none of the exercises will do any good.
Frycek's suggestion is very good - at the early stages, simply playing octave scales can be very useful. Another great exercise that can help you practice the wrist and arm motions is playing slurred scales:
CD DE EF FG GA AB BC C
I didn't see this post, but I do just mean octaves in general. I'm planning to just start with basic C major scales and Hanon exercises. Some of the other things posted will be useful once I am proficient at playing octaves accurately, but right now I'm not that great at even something that simple. I've just never practiced octaves before really. Thanks for the slurred octaves scales suggestion, sounds good to me. I also had forgotten about doing chromatics in octaves, that is quite a workout. I just played through a number of C major scales and was doing fairly decent at it at a moderate speed. My wrists were as relaxed as possible. I realized at the end that octave scales make a MUCH better warm up than regular scales do, my wrists feel so loose and warm now. . I also really don't mind working on Hanon exercises like many people do, I find them fairly enjoyable and I think it's good that they're drills that once I get them into my hands and fingers properly, I can run them basically without thinking. Of course that's assuming I got em in my hands properly....if not it sucks. Haha.
Chopin: Nocturne No. 15 in Fm. Op. 55 no.1.
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There is no such thing as "octaves in general." The techniques used in different contexts can vary widely, and each of the different techniques require different kinds of training and preparation.
If you're asking us to give you advice on all possible types of octave playing, then you're asking the impossible. Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, not compiling a list of all the steps you're going to need to take.
My advice was very pragmatic advice. You need to be specific about what aspect of octave playing you want to improve and work on that.
I'm not trying to be difficult, I just think it's important to work on technical issues in some depth. I want you to be the kind of pianist who can play 6 Chopin etudes really well. Not the kind of pianist who can play the first 8 measures of all of them.
"If we continually try to force a child to do what he is afraid to do, he will become more timid, and will use his brains and energy, not to explore the unknown, but to find ways to avoid the pressures we put on him." (John Holt) www.pianoped.comwww.youtube.com/user/UIPianoPed
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Well, I guess I'm wanting to improve my speed and accuracy in octaves, a long with getting a good solid wrist motion. I realize you're just trying to help, and I wasn't specific enough with what I was wanting to do. I'm just wanting to get a solid base for my octave playing so that when I encounter them in a specific musical context, I don't need to spend the time getting the basic wrist motion and accuracy down and I just need to figure out how to apply the wrist motion and accuracy to the musical context.
And I'd much rather be able to play 6 etudes well than the first 8 measures of all of them as well. So, thank you! Side note, I think my teacher is prepping me for the revolutionary etude right now, some of her comments and the pieces I'm playing seem to point towards that, but there's still a fair amount of work before I get there, I don't wanna get to far ahead of myself, haha.
Chopin: Nocturne No. 15 in Fm. Op. 55 no.1.
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:34 PM
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:23 PM
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