I have been dubbed QoTS (OK, you had to be there–alternatively you can read the first post on this subject). Here is the second installment of essential skills that most middle intermediate to advanced transfer students would do well to develop.

Fingering

Avoid putting down fingers willy-nilly. If you are new to figuring out fingering for yourself, do some research and see how others have solved the problems in your piece and/or get some help from a teacher.

Never use pen! Sometimes we need to change fingerings as the piece develops. Use pencil and write in several solutions–your body will choose one.

Don’t assume that something that feels awkward now won’t work at performance tempo. Don’t assume that something that feels good to you now will work at performance tempo.

Don’t assume that the fingering in the book will always work for you 100%. We are all unique creatures. However, if you feel the need to throw out all the fingerings in the piece there is a big problem and it might be with you!

Once you have made a plan, stick to it for a while. If you keep changing it over and over, your body will not learn the piece. You learn what you repeat and if you repeat randomly, Chaos is what you will get.

Here is a link to some basic principles which may help when making decisions on fingering. FINGERINGS

Rhythm 10.2.3

Develop the basic ability to perform accurate shifting subdivisions of the beat. Be sure you can sit away from the piano and change from 8ths, to 8th triplets, to 16ths, to 16th Triplets (in any order) accurately as a metronome keeps the beat.

Always keep the larger beat in compound meter. The music will have better forward motion and be much easier to phrase.

When figuring out 3 against 2 or 4 against 3, do it slowly and use the rule of the least common multiple. (You didn’t think you could get away with no math did you?) Six is divisible by both 2 and 3. Let’s say your RH has the 2 and your LH the 3. You would play your RH on numbers 1 & 4 and your LH on 1, 3, & 5.  Now let’s say your RH has 3 and your LH 4. Twelve is divisible by both 3 & 4. So, your Rh would play on numbers 1, 5, & 9, and your LH would play on 1, 4, 7, & 10.

According to Maurice Hinson, 2 against 3 will sound like the words NOT DIFFICULT and 3 against 4 will sound like BACH MOZART BRAHMS ANDLISZT.

Phrasing

Please see my post, Slurs 101 from May 2010. This is also up on iTunes as a podcast.

Remember that you don’t have to have a big hole just because a slur ends and another begins. It is a matter of style. I remember being totally frustrated during lessons in my younger days until I realized that you didn’t phrase Schubert like Bach or Mozart like Rachmaninoff.

Think of slurs as you would speak- as inflection, syllables, and words.

Avoid musical orphans! If a piece begins with an upbeat or upbeats, look for them throughout the piece and phrase accordingly.

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