Friday 22nd August - Beethoven Moonlight 4; Page 2

 The piano playalong has stalled out for a month because the couple of students I am teaching it to have also stalled out... work pressures, holidays... July and August. Nuff said.

Anyway, we're up and running again. I have no idea if anyone is actually following this - it really doesn't matter to me as I'm finding it a useful way of getting my ideas in order for the lessons.

I'm hoping that you are ok with page 1; if not, you can always search the blog;

This was the first post on June 13th,  here's the second post, and the third post. And there was a fourth post on June 23rd 

Then silence; until today!

Page 2

It's not a wonderful copy; the original is my grandmother's volume of Beethoven Sonatas...

I'm only discussing the first three lines; there's a bit of theory which is worth considering for lines four and five, and I'll suggest some preparatory work before getting stuck into it later.

The main thing to grasp in the top line, and it applies to the whole piece, actually, is that

THE PEDAL DOES NEARLY ALL THE WORK IN MAKING A LEGATO SOUND

In other words, if you are one of the many adults who is slightly scared of using the pedal ('oh, but that's going to make it harder'), just channel your inner adolescent 'know-it-all' persona, or cultivate it for the purposes of playing the Moonlight. 

If you attempt to produce the legato sound without the pedal, then unless you have large hands you are going to get very 'stuck' on the keys, trying to hold them down while you contort your fingers onto the notes of the triplets. TREAD (gently) on the RH pedal, and put your foot to the floor.

(I can hear my piano teachers wincing, crying out in pain - and they are right to. There is far more to using the pedal beautifully than this, but let's just get started.)

You need to 'change' the pedal, with a neat hiccup type movement, keeping your heel on the floor, every time the harmony changes.

So, for example, in the very first bar on page one, the harmony doesn't change at all. In bar 4, it changes on every beat.

The symbol that has always looked to me like a cute little dachshund is actually 'Ped' in fancy curly writing, and means depress the pedal (to the floor) and the asterix means let the pedal lift. You will find, with a bit of experimentation, that you only need to let the pedal come up about halfway to clear the sound. 

So, getting back to the top of page 2; The first bar is IMPOSSIBLE (for me, anyway) to play without nearly dislocating my fingers can causing PAIN - the enemy of pianists. But if I release each note of the triplet as I play them, then - easy peasy. Try it. Just relax - let it feel like some kind of yoga or pilates or massage or something.    

Carry on, yoga-ing your way through the first 3 lines, letting the pedal do the hard work for you.

Now go back to page 1, and enjoy your new-found freedom of movement.

Make sure you LISTEN carefully to the sound you are making, so you don't blur the harmonies with the pedal. It comes with.... practise!   

NOW, Prep for line 4 and 5.

1. Put the music away. Just look at your fingers.

Do you know what a C major arpeggio looks like? The notes C E G C. That's the order one normally plays them in.

Beethoven is going to zig zag his way up and down a series of arpeggios (don't look; there's all sorts there to put you off and it's easier than it appears)

So, in it's simplest form, the zig zag goes (TAKE IT VERY, VERY, SLOWLY, GIVE YOURSELF PLENTY OF TIME TO THINK) 

C   G  back to E, on to C, back to G up to E, back to .... did you expect C? Oh good, you've got the idea. Don't worry about fingering, just clamber on up.

Now, coming down. The notes backwards are C G E C. Give them a Hard Stare (like Paddington Bear...) little finger on  C, down to E, back to G, down to C, up to E, are you expecting G? Excellent.

Put the pedal down - it will sound great! Crescendo as you go up, (getting louder) and diminuendo (getting softer) as you come down. It will sound brilliant!

So, to cope with the zig zag, just memorise the letters, or even better, positions of the keys you are aiming for and go for it.

E major? No problem. E, middle black note (G# if you must), B and E. Off you go.

C# minor? If you start on the E (trust me, I'm a piano teacher) then the notes are E, middle black note, C# and E again. Zig Zag; E,  C#,  G#, E etc.

Theory; the notes of a chord are the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 8th (1st again) of the scale, and it really doesn't matter what order you play them in, it's still a chord of whatever your first note is.       

 so, for C'# minor, in the proper order they are C#, E#, G#, C#. You could play C#, high C#, low E, and a random G# and you would still have made a chord of C# minor. 

Have fun!