10 years ago by
A Pianist
Well, this is the first piece I have played by Rachmaninov and it is giving me some trouble. First off, I was wondering if Mr. Fraser had any tips for practicing leaps (and in this piece, they are many), to help maintain accuracy and relaxation. I feel I am slowly becoming better with accuracy and speed, but am also finding that it is not such a simple thing to avoid tensing up, which, besides wearing me out that much faster, also nearly always ensures a wrong note down the line.
Thanks,
-lmh
Personally, I find one of the best exercises is to literally stop dead on the note that precedes the jump. Many problems come from anticipating the movement, rather than making it in one single sweep- eg. if the hand starts to reach slightly, rather than the upper arm moving the arm as a single unit throughout. Stay on the first note in a completely stable position. Then move as fast as you can to the following chord (having first carefully looked at the chord you intend reach), but don't strike it. Just cover it. If you have to make adjustments on arrival, try again, until you get there first time. Once this is easy, try the same thing where you stay on the first chord for ages, but then move instantaneously to actually striking the next. I found this one really useful for the leaps in the Schumann Fantasy. I still tend to miss plenty of them when going normally, but it's surprising how consistently you get can each (or at least 'most') of the leaping movements perfect at full speed, when you stop dead before making the leap. Obviously the musical rhythm is not up to full speed, but importantly (although you have time to mentally prepare in full) the actual leaps are still executed at full speed.
I had been skeptical about the first stage of this one in the past, as it's obviously rather different to the movement that takes you directly into the strike. However, I think it trains you how to cover the basic position, without undue clenching (which is usually the main problem). When you don't worry about the potential discomfort of missing the chord, you don't move with excessive tension. You can truly 'whip' the arm acroos. Although it's a slightly different movement, it definitely helps to prepare for the point when you make a direct strike. If you haven't yet freed up the ease of movement, it's not a good idea to attempt a fast leap. Simply stopping on the surface to begin with gives you the chance to learn to move both quickly and freely from the very start.
Andrew
