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The Mazurka in Op. 44 has quite a few double thirds (and other intervals, too)

I might try my hand at the Chopin etude Steven mentioned once I get comfortable with a few scales.

And, yes, being a composer I might want to use some double thirds.

I asked more or less the same question here some time ago (and for more or less the same reason) and and got no response. Anyway, I have been using those fingerings for some months now and they seem okay. I got them from somewhere other than Tausig; I think they are pretty standard.

But if you want to get REALLY serious about thirds and other double-notes, take a look at Moszkowski's "School of Double Notes", op. 64.

I'm not serious enough to tackle that, but I have been supplementing scales with various etudes in thirds, too, to help keep from getting too fixated on just the scales and those particular fingerings.

Thanks, wr!! I just needed to hear from someone who uses them. I'll check out the Moszkowski Op. 64 later, after I've gotten a better feel for double thirds.

Look at Czerny Op. 740. There is an etude in double thirds. We had to do it as one of the pieces for our studio etude competition last year and it helped my thirds incredibly.

Here's a video of a kid that plays it decently

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMLSs1CepU8

That looks like fun! Thanks for the suggestion.

Thank you very for posting this awesome piano resource.

Wow, I have never teared up before watching any video. Thanks for helping my education.

Wow, I have never teared up before watching any video. Thanks for helping my education. (Horowitz plays Carmen Fantasie)

there is so much difference between minor and major thirds, diatonical or chromatic, one hand /two hands, parallel motion/contrary motion, quick or slow, compare Chopin/Saint-Saēns/Scriabin/Debussy.

FWIW, I've found that practicing one voice legato and the other voice stacatto is very helpful for double thirds, double sixths, etc.

Whoa, this thread is old.

LOL, yes, it is! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one suffering with double thirds, and not the only one who thinks they are darn difficult! I just started working with them due to good old Czerny and his Double Note Etude.When I first attempted it, I almost gave up completely. 2 weeks later, I'm up to playing it half the speed it should be played at, LOL. I don't know if I'll ever be able to play it at speed!

It's a shorter version of this one: https://musescore.com/anes/carl-czerny-a-study-in-double-notes

Actually, the girl in the video isn't playing it at speed, either, so that makes me feel a world better!! She's around 80, I'm at 54, and it's supposed to be at least 108.

Hmm; she certainly doesn't look that old!

Cheers!

If you're a complete beginner to double notes, 2 weeks is not too bad. Just keep at it, this takes patience more than anything else. Bring your practice away from the piano and practice on the table, on your lap, etc. You just want to get comfortable with the finger motions, and then train finger placement at the keyboard.

If you're ever up for a harder challenge like Chopin 25/6 or Brahms Paganini Variations, the hardest double note pattern is trilling intervals, and the way you practice that is just sit there and do it for hours trying to not tense up, and not tear your hair out or throw any heavy objects out of frustration. After the most torturous test of my patience ever, I got the hang of it after a few weeks.

I really like double note exercises because it really forces you to think about hand position and tension.

It's definitely getting better! Thanks for your advice. I was completely new to them, so I started looking for different exercises and found scales. Just started them yesterday. The etude is funny, I'm getting a lot faster but only when I don't think about my fingers, LOL! When I start focusing on them, I mess up immediately!

A bit late to the thread but...

I'm currently using this as a guide to fingering double 3rds:

http://www.peneloperoskell.co.uk/apf/default.html

It particularly focuses on retaining smoothness.

Double thirds? Double octaves? I can fumble my way through Op. 25 No. 6 at about half speed, but I couldn't even start to play it if the thirds were doubled. On the other hand, I can play Op. 25 No. 10 fairly respectably at full speed, even when the octaves stop being double and become single. When are you all going to stop with the "double" thing? They're thirds. You finger scales in thirds. (Unless I totally missed the point, which I may well have."

+1

Yes, folks, ten years after this thread started, they are still only thirds! Who's seeing double?

Regards,

Double thirds refers to playing thirds with both hands together....isn't this still the same term?

A bit weird quoting myself, but I just remembered there are actual double thirds in Op. 25 No. 6 (curiously, they're the easiest passages in the piece!). So what should one call those sections: double double thirds? Two-handed double thirds? Maybe quadruple thirds??? (2 * 2 = 4.)