Mastering Rach and Chopin

While preparing for my AMusA exam, I came across two romantic pieces that have lots of technical elements in common. To aid in my practice, I designed some exercises that specifically tackles some of the skill issues I encountered. By practicing these exercises daily before working on the pieces, I excelled in my performances—one at the school assembly, with an audience of about 700, and the other for my music semester exam. Both performances were huge successes—zero wrong notes and flawless dynamics. The exercises I developed are as follows:

1. Trills with Dynamic Changes and Grace Notes
   

WHY:

-Trills frequently appear in both pieces

-they might not sound clear enough with the pedal at fast speed

-the force on two fingers can sometimes be unbalanced with different fingerings

HOW IT HELPS:

-Add in body movement to help create the dynamic

-Practices trills with various fingering

WHERE IT APPEARS:

Valse Brillante, Frederic Chopin Op.34 No.3 Prelude, Sergei Rachmaninoff Op.32 No.5

2. Mordent on fingers 121, 132, 243

WHY:

-At fast speeds, they can sound like a turn rather than a mordent plus three quavers.

-I often subconsciously accent the first quaver note, disrupting the flow of the phrase.

HOW IT MIGHT HELP:

-I separated mordent and the following semiquavers, so you get a direct comparison of the rhythm before and after adding the mordent. Remember, mordent is only an ornament and should not overshadow the main melody.

-Mordents appear very frequently in both romantic and classical pieces. Practicing mordents with different fingerings can help you master them for your future pieces.

WHERE IT APPEARS:

(It's literally all over the entire second page)

3. Trills with additional notes as accompaniment (practice slowly at first, then increase the speed gradually)

WHY:

-This was my first encounter with such trills

-The trill can overshadow the soprano-again, trills are only ornaments and should act as an accompaniment to the main melodies

-inappropriate accents: as I broke the trill down into separate parts, I tried to make it sound connected by quickly "smashing" my fingers into the keyboard and turns out to create accents that make it sound further disconnected.

HOW IT MIGHT HELP:

-This exercise breaks down the trill into shorter segments for you to gradually get used to playing/holding additional notes while playing trills

-The third and fourth bar aims to help you to practice smooth connections and minimise gaps between parts

WHERE IT APPEARS:

4. Connected Octaves

Technical Focus:

-Stay on the first octave for as long as possible while completing the finger transition on time.Stay on the first octave for as long as possible while completing the finger transition on time

-Sometimes my thumb holds onto the first note too softly or leaves the key too early, creating a second sound during finger changes

-adding in wrist movement rather than plainly switching fingers on the key can make the octaves sound a lot more connected

WHERE IT APPEARS:

5. A Series of Short and Fast Trills at Pianissimo

WHY:

-When I try to create a “leggiero” dynamic effect, the middle three notes sound blended together and are too soft

HOW:

-incorporating wrist movement (move your write in the direction indicated by the pink arrows above while playing the notes) helps avoid a stiff trill sound

-The pause allows time to adjust the angle at which the fingers "attack" the keyboard for clearer-sounding trills.

-WHERE IT APPEARS:

6. Dedicated to a secion in Rachmaninoff's prelude that I struggled to play through

WHY:

-I couldn't play these intervals evenly at fast speed

-The transitions between intervals were not smooth enough for this prelude

-The fingering was too difficult to memorize for me

HOW:

-Wrist and elbow movement: again, this is essential for this prelude to have a light and leggiero dynamic effect

-Keep the upper notes pressed while the lower note is being played twice helps familiarise yourself with fingering and finger changes between different intervals

-Practice slowly at first, and increase the speed only when you feel confident enough