Piano Practice Clinic with Graham Fitch (18th January 2023)

Описание: Recording of our monthly "Practice Clinic" for January 2023 in which Graham Fitch responds to practising-related queries submitted in advance by Online Academy subscribers. Works and topics featured in this session include:

01:15 Tension, using arm weight & aligning breathing with playing – I have three technical question that I would appreciate your input on: 1) How can I address a collapsed left hand knuckle bridge which causes tension? 2) How do I use and control arm weight to create the desired sound? 3) How can I go about practising aligning my breathing with my playing?

09:15 Mozart Allegretto (from The London Sketchbook, K.15hh) – I’m struggling with the trill in bar 29 and the move from bar 29 to 30. It could my fingering – I use fingers 1, 2, 5 in bar 29, starting with finger 5 in bar 30. How can I make a smooth connection? I’d also appreciate it if you could demonstrate the rhythm in bars 47 – 62.

18:49 Schumann Einsame Blumen (from Waldszenen, Op.82) – I’m confused by the pedal markings in this piece. The left hand is written as quavers with quaver rests in between, and yet the pedalling is given for a whole bar. What do the rests mean if we are supposed to pedal through, and what about the dissonance in places like bar 2 and especially bar 4?

24:04 Liszt Un Sospiro (from Three Concert Études, S.144, No. 3) – There is one spot in bar 30 where my RH seizes up every time. I can’t seem to play the rising arpeggio without stiffening my arm muscles and it always sounds a mess.