Scales and Arpeggios: Fingering Rules and Exceptions

Scales:

If scale beings with white note:
RH 1
LH 5

Exception: B major or B minor: LH begins on 4

If scale begins with black note:

Use fingers 2 and 3 on group of two black notes and 2, 3, and 4 on a group of three black notes.

Exceptions: c# minor (RH begins with 3), E-flat major (LH begins with 3), f# minor (RH begins with 3), B-flat major (LH begins with 3).

Arpeggios:

If first two notes of arpeggio are white:
RH 1 2 3 5
LH 5 4 2 1

If first two notes of arpeggio are white, black:
RH 1 2 3 5
LH 5 3 2 1

If first two notes of arpeggio are black, white:
RH 4 1 2 4
LH 2 1 4 2

Exceptions:

E-flat minor
RH 1 2 3 5
LH 5 4 2 1

B-flat minor
RH 2 3 1 2
LH 3 2 1 3

Piano lesson November 7, 2005

Today’s lesson focused on 1.) J.S. Bach’s Fugue XXI (B-flat Major) in Well-Tempered Clavier Part I, and 2.) Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor.

Started the lesson with playing A-flat Major and F minor (relative) scales. One starts the A-flat Major scale on finger 3 for the right hand. For A-flat Major arpeggio, start
with finger 4 in right hand and 2 for left hand.

J.S. Bach Fugue XXI (B-flat Major) in Well-Tempered Clavier Part I

-Be more consistent in articulation of the subject–which spans 4 measures (most important point).
-Note that the staccato markings are portados.
-countersubject appears in right hand in b.5 (on the C).
-Exposition (b.1-16).
-start to hear 3 voices in b.13 (starting on d in left hand).
-first episode starts on b.17.
-when practicing this piece, think of how you would play this on a harpsichord (little to no sonority) vs. a piano.
-memorize this piece

Chopin Nocturne in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 1 (1835)

-Use right hand to play upper G sharp in first two measures to create a more consistently soft sound.
-Note the sotto voce. in b.3. (means ‘under breath”).
-Follow the pedaling per Professor N’s recommendations.
-b.6-7: Make sure the circled notes (c-sharp, b) and (b, e) are played louder than the other notes. Chopin modulates between C-sharp minor and E major here.
-b.11 mezzo voce(not in score, but Professor N recommended this). The melody should be more assertive than the one in the sotto voce.
-b.20. Make sure the inner voice is heard in right hand.
-b.21-22. Accentuate the circled notes as in b.6-7.
-Use right hand as indicated (per Prof N’s recommendation) in b.27, 28 (same logic as in b.1-2).
-In Piu mosso (little motion) section, make sure the audience is aware of the left hand’s presence. Accent the first notes of in these measures in left hand. The left hand notes
in this section should be more evocative or “filled with pathos”.
-Apply more rhythmic stability in the agitato section, especially with the left hand. Your left hand seems to get lost with the rhythm.
-Experiment with the con anima section. Make sure it sounds more cheerful than anxious/agitato.
-memorize the piece.

For next week, prepare the same scales as this week and have the Gershwin piece learned. Also, work on memorizing the second and third movements of the Mozart
Sonata in C-Major.

Piano lesson Oct 31, 2005

Played the Chopin Polonaise Brilliante Op.3 for Professor N. My performance of the piece was decent (B/B-). Afterwards, she commented that she liked the overall ‘style’ of my playing. The main area for improvement was in the pedaling. There were moments where my pedaling sounded more like ‘hiccups’ that slowed down the overall flow of the piece. I suspect one of the sections she was referring to was b.215-216. She recommended that I spend more some time thinking about the pedaling and how that it can help my performance/interpretation. We spent the first 45 minutes on the Polonaise Brilliante, and last 15 minutes on the Gershwin Prelude.

The Gershwin Prelude I was tricky–at least rhythmically. I learned to count sixteenth notes (“One e and a, Two e and a, etc”). I probably wouldn’t have ever known about this way of counting if I wasn’t taking lessons.

Chopin Polonaise Brilliante Op. 3

• Watch your pedaling! This is a polonaise (think of waltz-rhythm), so be judicious in where you decide to down-pedal and when to lift the pedal. Example: In b. 108-111, down-pedal on the first beat, lift up right before third beat, and leave un-pedaled through the third beat. Repeat this.
• There’s no fermata marking at the end of the first phrase—good to do a quasi-fermata, but don’t overdue it. Make it more subtle.
• In b.3-4, b.7-8, be careful with the rhythm.
• You play tense at times. Loosen up and let the music carry you (own observation).
• Watch rhythm in b.76. Don’t pretend there’s a fermata there.
• Don’t loseWeight Exercise the triplets in b.78-79 (your playing sounds more like duplets).
• Watch dotted rhythms in b.88, b.91-93, etc.
• In the cantabile sections, make sure that the duet is discernible. Right hand melody and left hand notes (circled).
• Pedal according to the motivic structures, especially in b. 223-228.
• Hold down pedal from b.229 (all the way to the last note in the phrase, which is the first note of b.230).
• Pedal again for the last three cords. Hold down the last note and pedal and lift at the same time (after extended fermata).
• Read up on pedaling in Anton Rubenstein and T. Carreno’s pedal book.

Gershwin Prelude No. 1 (1927):

• Write in bar notations.
• To count 16th notes, count “1 e & a, 2 e & a, …”.
• The most challenging aspect of this piece is the rhythm. Write down how you would count for every measure (except for the measures with only triplets).
• Pay attention to the dynamics (accented notes, where ff juxtaposed with f.
• Follow the pedaling. Try to figure out why Gershwin put the pedal markings where they are. In the first two pages, the pedaling seems to help punctuate the accented first beat/note of each measure. By accentuating the first beat, the ear expects a repeat of an equally strong beat in the second beat, but because it’s a rest, creates a type of syncopation. Why do some measures contain no pedaling?
There is more pedaling on the second and third pages.
• In Section A’, there’s an accent on the fourth sixteenth note—adding more syncopation—along with a pedal marking on this offbeat.
• In your Section “C”, understand the structure and pedal marking.
• What to make of the measures that contain triplets? Do these seem out-of-place? What’s the intent?
• What to make of b.36, b.41, etc?