Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Chopin Nocturne 72.1

I found a nice, up-close video for you!!!

Great technique!

LOL thanks, that's really helpful!

I had the opportunity to review this piece with my teacher this week.

Regarding the high note of the arpeggio, she stood firm that this note deserves some accent, feeling Chopin designed his Nocturnes (as opposed to his Scherzos) to be melodic first (highest priority). That said, of course, there is no rubato at that spot, so it should be played in time, and maybe that was the issue that BruceD had with some performances he's heard? The teacher also discussed phrasing, noting how from the first measure, each triplet is slurred separately (at least in my Henle).

We spent a little time discussing that the grace notes should be played before the beat, with the main note on the beat. I was a little behind on this in some spots, playing the grace note on the beat. We also reviewed the runs, and did a little practice on improving the trills toward the end.

I've learned the first three pages, and need to get back to the forth, which I did months ago, then smooth out the rest.

The comment I wrote earlier cautioning against (over) emphasizing the C in the first measure of this Nocturne has been referred to several times in this thread. I don't disagree with a gentle accent on that C if the rest is kept within context of the time signature. The reason for my caution is that, among amateurs with heavy thumbs, I have often (too often, in fact) heard this, even in spite of the triplet markings: the thumb on the G and the thumb on the C end up giving six beats to the measure, not four.



That is not to say that those with some more refined degree of control shouldn't accent the C; it may be effective when done correctly.

Regards,

When I learned this nocturne, it was discussed to think of the left hand as a soft rolling wave , with a slight apex, not a bump, on the C. The imagery helped me not to be thumb heavy.

Chico always puts a smile on my face.

Ditto!

Thanks for the clarification, Bruce.

I'm nearly finished with this piece. Unfortunately, the jump form nearly finished to being able to play it fluently at any given time is a large one. I'm going to work on it, though, and this may be the next one I record. It'll probably be a few more weeks, though, not in time for the next recital.

I'm on my way as well. I think that I need about 2 month to record it. It's not easy for my level.

Oh, good, we can commiserate! How about those trills that require moving the thumb while you trill an entire measure, before leading into the climactic run? That’s a tough spot. My teacher wants me to pound the low F# with FF....there’s a lot going on in these measures!!

Yes it’s quite difficult bit. If it’s not right the whole piece is ruined. For now I’m going through it slowly and starting to speed up. It needs time and relaxed hand