Practice Journal: "Pathétique Sonata" - Beethoven - Part Two

A couple of weeks ago I revisited Beethoven's outstanding work - the Pathétique Sonata - and, just to reiterate, I can in fact play this whole suite beginning to end relatively well, but the first movement demands my attention. Particularly those passages marked 'Allegro Molto e Con Brio'.

Refer to Part One for the reasons why it is so difficult and how I am helping myself to achieve greater perfection, but meanwhile have a look at this video where I perform all three individually separated 'Allegro Molto e Con Brio' passages (not including the repeat of the first one):

I still have a broken metronome, sadly, but interestingly it seems a greater challenge to play without - even when playing at a reasonable speed (I sped up slightly for this take).

So what still needs working on?

Conviction

I don't know if I'd specifically refer to it as a lack of trust on my part, but after I hit the record button I actually had about two false starts before what you see above. In my mind I seem to be struggling to correctly assess the situation. Bear in mind that this comes after a whole passage of 'grave', which is naturally a drastically different approach to performance, and so the sudden contrast of rapid quavers in the left hand is something I need to get right so that I can perform convincingly when I do play the piece as a whole.

Note Accuracy

Partly this is to do with the speed I learn, and partly to do with fingers. However, as you can see there are passages in this which involve the right hand crossing over the left hand. This in itself is a fair enough technique, but bear in mind the eventual speed of this (even the speed I'm playing above) and how rapidly the music transitions between the two hands. Quite relentlessly, in fact.

Whilst I will do a take with about 90% accuracy, I can't deny it still feels a little uncomfortable, not to mention that that remaining 10% either sounds bad or I stumble over completely. And it's not a specific part - it changes on each performance!

One of the tactics I am trying to adopt is to play these parts with a slightly different hand / finger shape. The notes during these passages are marked as staccattisimo, meaning that at the very least I don't need to slur them usually. This allows me to be able to curve my fingers more to ensure that they are much more likely to hit the correct notes - especially important in the first passage with lots of hand jumping as it is in Eb minor (i.e. - lots of black notes!).

Speaking of this...

Jumping off the Notes

I've found it of the greatest importance to jump off the notes even more than I was whilst progressing upwards whilst the left hand performs rapid quavers. This allows for my right hand to be able to much more accurately hit the notes and not be too much of a distraction for my left hand which needs to keep the rhythm going quite relentlessly.

In order to achieve a fairly pleasing result, I am using the right pedal (sustain) to an effect so that when I do jump off the notes, at the very least it isn't too detached and lingers just long enough to create a nice effect.

It is possible that the next practice journal I do on 'Pathétique' will be for a different movement, but in the meanwhile I will be continuing to improve my performance of these pieces.

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Pedal Properly - A Quick Reference

As stated in a previous blog of mine, the sustain pedal (that is, the pedal on the right side as you face the piano) is something of a luxury for pianists. So much so, in fact, that it becomes massively overused.

The result?

Well, there's two:

• If pedalling incorrectly you don't necessarily. get a nice, clean sound as sounds will mush into one another. It is, after all, the sustain pedal...and...

• It covers a multitude of sins, meaning that your technique can actually falter.

So, how do we interpret how to pedal.

A quick reference:

Baroque Music

Baroque Music refers to a period of music between around 1600 to around 1750 - pre-classical, if you like.

It is also the era of music prior to which the piano was popularised - or even existed. Whilst organs very much did exist, the favourite instrument of the home was the harpsichord. Now, speaking as somebody who has in fact played a harpsichord (Wordsworth House) back in 2008, I can confirm that the following is true:

Harpsichords are infinitely less expressive than a piano.

Yes, they have a beautiful sound of their own, but thanks to the nature of their plucking mechanism rather than their striking mechanism associated with the piano, the harpsichord doesn't offer dynamic range in accordance with how hard or soft you press a key (the novelty of a piano being able to do this led to its name - Pianoforte - literally 'soft loud' in Italian - which has been condensed somewhat over time to 'Piano').

Yet there is something else that the harpsichord doesn't offer: Pedals!

Yet another novelty of the piano which allowed for expression, but if you think about it, it explains why an awful lot of Baroque era music was - for want of a better word - relentless. This is why a lot of music from the era (same can be said for the orchestral or chamber works as well) is strict in tempo and also features very regimented melody.

Playing works by the like of Bach, Purcell, Handel and others doesn't strictly require pedal, therefore. Even their slow ones as - if a keyboard piece - they likely wouldn't have been written for the early piano instrument anyway, but sometimes you can be forgiven a helping hand and a little expression. Nonetheless, when learning works such as Bach's 'Well Tempered Clavier' then it is essential you learn to play these pieces without assistance from the pedal. Only afterwards can you attempt to put some in - sparingly for Baroque music - but it can be done.

Whilst it can be tempting to cheat with some pieces - such as Handel's famous Air 'The Harmonious Blacksmith', you should also get into the habit of reading Baroque era music properly and holding notes on for their duration with your fingers rather than relying on sustain to do the work for you. Again, this can be added later to create a more expressive piece than perhaps the composer envisaged thanks to the wonder of the piano, but get those fingers working properly first!

Get used to holding those long notes on for Baroque pieces!

Pedal Markings in Music

Pedal markings are fairly easy to spot because the right pedal is marked by 'Ped.'. If you see this, this means to put the pedal down. However, this on its own does not necessarily mean to keep it help down until told to lift up (this can be marked either by a long line with triangles to imply when to lift, or by using what I'm just going to refer to as a spiky circle symbol!). You need to take a little responsibility in assessing when to do so!

Similarly, don't be tempted to stick rigidly to when the music tells you to lift up and down. It can be of assistance, but sometimes it can not feel right or even sound right according to your own performance or interpretation.

A Pedal Marking in 'I Giorni' by Einaudi

Pedalling by Ear

There is a very simple rule of thumb for pedalling by ear. Actually, more like two. If you're just playing something for yourself, whether you be making it up or playing something you know but without a reference point, consider the following two things:

• Where is the first measure of each bar?

• Where do the chords change?

In a typical pop song, for example, it wouldn't be uncommon to change chords only once per bar. Therefore, it may be the case that you can just lift the pedal up immediately prior to the first measure of each bar and have a very pleasing result. Think along the lines of 'My Heart Will Go On'. This can be pedalled beautifully with just a lift on each bar.

However, consider assessing the music using your instinct a little more and consider where the chords actually are changing. They might not change more than once per bar, but you might find that it does. Or you might find that sometimes it does. For example, 'Yesterday'.

This song - once the melody has kicked in - has a whole bar of F major, then within the second bar it is E minor to A7, both for two beats. That's two chords in a bar. So here you can alternate - perhaps keep the pedal down for the first bar, then lift up twice during the second, just to avoid any unpleasant clashes and to keep it clean.

Analyse Intervals and Tempo

This again is something that you should do during the practice sessions of your piece. You need to consider the length of your sustain bearing in mind that an acoustic piano has an average of about 10 seconds.

The reason for this is because 10 seconds is plenty of time to create unpleasant and often undesirable effects (believe me, there are times when the dissonance is most desirable!). For example, take a very slow movement of music. Very slow, such as the 'Grave' passage of Beethoven's 'Pathétique Sonata' (first movement). Yes, there is more to this than just holding the pedal down, but because of how slow you play ('Grave' is the slowest tempo marking you can hope for!) then you're unlikely to get too much by way of clashing.

However, fast forward to the third movement from the same sonata - the 'Rondo' (which has a lot of tendencies to its Baroque era predecessors) and we're now performing much more quickly.

Although Beethoven doesn't use an awful lot of 'block' chords within this movement, he is still writing music based around chords of the C minor scale (C minor, G7 etc.), and so the previous point can still be considered regarding bars and chord changes anyway, however the tempo makes it of even more importance that we respect our use of the sustain pedal.

Additionally, consider the notes in terms of their proximity to one another. It's always as well to get quite well up on all kinds of intervals so harmonically, because if you are pedalling with melodic intervals, such as a group of two quavers that follow on from each other to make a major second, then by holding on the pedal for both of these notes you're going to create a harmonic interval regardless. A major second, for example, is a nice interval but one that can sometimes muddy up the melody, so be mindful of this. Intervals such as perfect intervals (fourths and fifths) don't necessarily suffer this problem, so using a pedal in these instances may be a pleasantry.

And now, to combine the two, consider any rapid passage of several notes. Even in pieces marked at a slow tempo we can have rapid passages, and it's unlikely that the composer would want a rapid passage of notes to mush. Again, depending on the notes and the intervals it may be indifferent. For example, a rapid succession of notes that just repeats chords may not only sound good with but also benefit from a pedal held down for its entirety, whereas a rapid chromatic - due to it being a string of minor seconds - may not sound great. Don't forget the average sustain length is 10 seconds!

For Technical Assistance

And for the last point, the pedal can be used to assist where our fingers let us down.

I doubt there is a pianist in this world who doesn't use some sort of trick with the pedal to assist.

The most common trick that we can assign to the pedal is especially beneficial to those of us with short fingers (not me, I dare say!) - or, indeed, where a piece of notation just seems to be impossible or cause an uncomfortable stretch.

Take Rachmaninoff, for example. Famed for his supersized hands and huge stretch, his music is considered very difficult due to this. And whilst some of the stretches are just uncomfortably unavoidable, those that seem to be impossible can be assisted with a little help from our friend - the sustain pedal.

How could the pedal assist with this Rachmaninoff interval?

Even my fingers couldn't reach from a C# to a B nearly 2 octaves above, but what we can do is rely on the pedal to deliberately make it sound as if we were utilising expression in our piece of music. Rather than count a strict 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 into the bar in which this interval resides, consider the C# merely a grace note (an extremely lost acciacatura, if you will) and depress the pedal to allow it to ring out. Now find the B and proceed with the passage, at all times being mindful to very, very slightly lift that pedal just enough so as to not let the C# dampen, but just enough to soften the impact of each preceding group of triplets / left hand crotchet, thus avoiding clashes (especially as they work down chromatically!).

This is adaptable to any piece, of course, and if you're struggling with anything, whether it be a splayed chord, a grace note or just the relent from one bar or passage into another, you can use the pedal ornamentally to create an effect that - whilst not necessarily in the composer's original vision - may just allow you to enhance and complete your performance.

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Six Ways to Improve Your Piano Playing

It happens to us all! We become complacent. We become stuck in our own ways. Our own technique. We get to a point whereby, sure, we might wish to learn new pieces, but ultimately we don't want to progress our technique accordingly. Therefore, we can find ourselves struggling to develop at all.

So if you're looking for a little inspiration, here are six ways that I am putting forward to you that you can start to employ right now to help you develop your piano playing!

Repertoire: Think Outside the Box

I am a classical pianist really, and that's how I was taught and brought up. I was done so on the understanding that classical music is the 'hardest' genre (well...era) of music to master and if I could do that then I could turn my hand to anything.

Whilst that is indeed true to a point - that point being that classical music forms the basis of much of the music we know and love today - it doesn't necessarily mean I can automatically turn my hand to anything. For example, jazz is a style of playing that alludes me. It is not something I play instinctively and it is not something I play with ease even when I practice lots, but it is a genre that I will find myself turning too.

I'm not suggesting you have to completely go against your roots and you certainly don't have to push the boat too far out. For example, I have recently been learning a short song composed originally and subsequently transcribed for piano by George Gershwin and, whilst it may not sound the most complex, it certainly has its share of challenges that keep me interested as a player.

And keeping interest is really part of the battle - if you ever get bored of what you're playing then switch things up a little bit!

If you don't read music then don't forget there are a wealth of tutorials for just about anything on YouTube and other social media networks these days, so have a browse and push yourselves in a different direction - even if you don't intend to pursue that direction forever!

Visualise Symmetry

This is an unusual one but it really helped me. It's unusual in its visualisation anyway, but when I actually tried to do it in practice it took quite a while to do so.

Theoretically - unless otherwise notated (which would be unusual), the most prominent parts of your performance should be the lower notes of the left hand (the bass note/s) and the top notes of the right hand (i.e. the melody). Everything that comes between these notes - played most likely though not exclusively by your remaining fingers - should have a softer approach, whatever dynamic you play at. Therefore, you have to visualise that your weight is being distributed not centrally but to either end of your hands - the pinkies (finger 5) on the left and right hand being the most 'heavy' generally speaking.

Naturally this can vary from piece to piece, and it is something that is very unusual to visualise at first as that concentration can actually result in you stuttering on your performance, even if it is one you are quite accomplished in. But once you get into a swing of it you will start to notice that you subconsciously start to utilise much more appealing dynamic in your performances.

Move Your Body

This isn't one you have to go mad with! When I say move your body, I just mean that you want to understand how your piano reacts to your body.

Yes, your hands have the final say, but the way your hands are controlled are ultimately controlled by how your body is.

Let's say, for example, that you are playing a very soft piece of music (piano). Typically you are taught to sit upright at the piano with a nice straight back and head slightly back. This is fine, but ultimately your dynamic is not going to be as strong as the following:

Leaning close to the keys.

By doing this, you create a much more intimate relationship between you and your hands which translated beautifully into the instrument. In addition to this, don't forget how the piano works - it responds remarkably well to what I can only refer to as 'passive dynamic'. That is, dynamic that comes from a place beyond the hands.

Needless to say, the opposite is also true. If you want to create the loudest sound possible, sit up straight to allow yourself the full strength needed in your hands and fingers and you will be rewarded with beautiful contrast.

Unlearn that Pedal!

Don't really unlearn it!

When we begin learning piano, it is extremely rare that you will utilise the pedal straight away. It is brought into the equation when you start to transcend from late beginner to early intermediate - around the grade 3 - 4 mark if using exams as a benchmark.

And what a revelation it is when we discover it. Sustain. It sounds beautiful - it makes the whole thing sound more complete. However, it also covers a multitude of sins!

I heard once that you should be able to play anything that uses pedal as well without it. I don't agree entirely with that because in some cases that's impossible. But there is something to be said for our dwindling techniques as the pedal becomes more and more prominent in our playing.

A great exercise is to go back to some Baroque pieces of music and learn these. Yes, a little pedal can really assist in these even, but play them without and get used to holding on note values for their real length.

A perfect example of where this can be really advised on is Handel's masterpiece - 'The Harmonious Blacksmith'. This is an advanced piece, really, but it's a great exercise for holding notes on as they are literally all transcribed in their entirety.

It doesn't have to be this complex, however, Just make sure you don't depend on the pedal all the time and make it sound clean without. If you do, you should find that you are able to actually minimise your pedal use, using it to punctuate rather than to carry your music. Largely what it was intended for.

Use Scales as a Dynamic Exercise

Almost everybody learns scales, but most people only consider them an exercise in fingering. This is just a short entry that might change your life!

Put dynamics into scales. A good piano teacher will likely have already encouraged this, the most standard being to start softly and crescendo as you ascend, that decrescendo as you descend, all the while keeping both hands playing the same dynamic if playing hands together.

But try and add different slants on that - swap that crescendo and decrescendo, alternate octaves if doing more than an octave scale and - most excitingly of all - add punctuation. The most natural sounding is to add a slight emphasis to the first note of every group of 4 (C D E F G A B C D E F G etc.), but you can mix this up and create different feels of time signature by adding it to every group of 2, 3 or 6, or even 5 if you want a challenge!

Practice and Play on Multiple Instruments

This one is really a desirable one but not one that I can enforce too strongly because ultimately if you've got a piano, you've likely only got one!

But in all seriousness, if you do wish to improve it pays to practice on as many different instruments as you can. Prepare yourself for all eventualities.

I needn't say that the difference from keyboard to electric piano to upright piano is staggering and often intimidating, even for people who are quite well accomplished keyboardists, for example. But a grand piano can seem a world away from an upright.

Little things on a grand piano make all the difference. The music stand is often a touch higher than on an upright, and this can be unusual to jump straight into. Often on a grand piano the Una corda (left) pedal shifts the keyboard slightly to one side as opposed to just moving the hammers inside, which can be a little disconcerting for the first time grand pianist. Plus the pedals are often a lot flatter than that of an upright, leading to a different foot position.

When I first played a Bösendorfer Imperial 290, I was distracted by the additional notes in the bass that meant the piano started on the note C! The slight variation in length to my left was bizarrely off-putting!

Not to mention that all pianos have a distinctive touch and feel, and they can vary from subtly to drastically when it comes to dynamic.

Take all the opportunities you can and it will improve your overall versatility!

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