Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Help - need tips on leaping chords

I'm faced with music in which both hands are playing 4 note chords (yeah - I'll prob. cheat and cut some down to three noters)which are leaping two octaves, like down, up, down up etc. I have written in the chord descriptions as a crutch, but am still looking for some practice tips. I'm working up the metronome and start to lose accuracy at about 76.
I may have to cut the leap to one octave too.

This is accompaniment work.

Thanks.

Two things pop into mind, they may be just standard practice routines you already use but they are my tried-and-true methods. Though I will also say, given that this is accompaniment and may not even be written "for" the piano (i.e. orchestral transcription) in my book, all's fair in the name of "getting it done", and the first easy option I'd consider (aside from the single octave leap you mentioned) would be: LH plays the low chords, RH plays the high ones. Obviously it's much less dense with only one chord per region, but that's what I'd be thinking of doing.

As far a speeding up, I always love practicing with altered rhythms..let's say your chords are all eighth notes, I'd play them in sets of two, trying to make the leap across as fast as possible, but not worrying about how long of a pause I put inbetween each pair. Or if you prefer, try it with the metronome but play two chords at tempo and then allow one or two extra clicks before going on to play two more. Do it both ways (jumping from lo to hi fast, then the opposite pattern). I love this technique most for busy fingerwork, but it can't hurt! Also my old teacher had a specific thing he suggested for those large leaps you're describing: playing them at a fairly slow tempo, but performing the "leap" action as fast as you can. So, you "bounce" off the lower chords as fast as possible, landing (hopefully) on the right higher ones, but not actually playing the higher one until you should, rhythmically (so, maybe play it at 40-50 or some easy tempo, but focus on making the leap as quick as you possibly can, rather than waiting to move until the next "click". Then play the high one, immediately making motion to the lower chord and resting hands at the bottom. I don't know if that will do anything for you or not, but for me I think it was helpful because it helped train my muscles on making the large-scale motion quickly, and for some reason, something about "aiming" but not playing the chord at arrival seemed to help focus my brain on just how I needed to position for the landing...you said you had your chords written in already (great idea), so maybe this technique frees part of your mind to just lunge and think fleetingly of how the hand would need to be shaped to encompass that E chord (or whatever). Also this technique tends to surprise me at times when it reveals just how long I really am lingering on the first chord/note..when, really, once it is played I should be moving on RIGHT THEN.
Good luck

i'd write down the chords used in the piece and practice

1. arpeggios (and inversions) of the chords, and

2 deep octaves (and high octaves) on the root of the chord, then play the chord with three or four fingers in each hand close to the middle.. you can do this hands separately.. it's not difficult to 'hit' the outer root notes once you get the feel of it.

3.. practice very slowly, striving for complete economy of motion.. this will teach you how to place your hands on the keys.. how to 'point' your hands... try to keep a straight line from your shoulders to your finger tips with wrists, unbended.. the elbows can bend tho.

4. try to play the left hand as a chordal accompaniment.. not necessarily as written. After practicing arpeggios, this should come a little easier. the root of the chord; i.e. G in G majof is the most important note.

I will try this today!! Even *I* can manage them perfectly at 40-50. : ))

If worse comes to worse, I'll just rewrite them and hope the director of this choir doesn't notice or say too much.

Whew - I'll be glad when this one has been sung and filed away.

There is also a nasty measure with a sextuplet and septuplet in 16ths for the final two beats, but that I have pretty much down. It's those leaps that are worrying me.

I found an error in the music - one measure calls for 3/4 time, but has only two dotted halfs - I'm just adjusting them as I see fit.

i'm curious..

What piece are talking about?

Yes, I am curious too, I do a lot of accompanying.

Don't you love it when you find errors? I say that half-serious (makes me feel smart somehow, ha) and half sarcastic: if I find more than 1, I start to question things that maybe should not be questioned (did the composer REALLY mean to have that F# there? sure sounds funny....maybe I'll "fix" that....oh, and what about this funky chord here...hmmm...)

First of all I'd make sure the first measure of each line is numbered and the form of the sections written in on the page. Planning your work and working your plan musically to be prepared is by itself a big priority. Analysis of the piece gets you to the "big picture" so you can subdivide practice sections. Playing from start to finish leaves a lot to be desired if you are truly working hard at reading understanding the piece. Sections building with repetition are valuable and help you remember relationships and associations. You don't gain that continuity by playing through at each practice.

I'd first work in a small section playing only the "frame work" of the chords - the 1 and 5 fingers - whether octaves or 7ths whatever, I'd read the intervalic distances and work with the rhythms and patterns first to analyze what's happening in a section.

Then I would play through later with the "inner fingers" included.

I'd work to outline the piece so that I planned the extreme moves (disjunct) with each hand alone.

I'd look for contrary motion and parallel motion.

If I were accompanying voice I would learn and work with the lyrics and tune. If a solo instrument, I'd hum the tune.

I'd add pedaling when all the prep work was done. And, I'd make sure dynamics were balanced for the voice/instrument I was accompanying. They have just so much they can project and I'd want to make sure that such a large amount of notes being played at once did not overplay to their solo.

If we knew the piece or the composer or vocabulary used, we might be able to give more contributions for ideas. And knowing the ultimate tempo is important.

usually the solution for leaps is to lift your hands high in air when making the leap and make an "arch". You do not leap by going straight horizontally. There must be an arch with each hand.


Practice at slow tempo at first. Then speed up the section slowly and progressively. Soon youll be able to get it up to full speed.

Update: I survived the leaps, thinking all the while about the arch effect. I also had written in large red letters the chord definition just in case I suddenly couldn't 'read'.
All went well, tho, til the end - I hit a loud B chord and then tried for the inversion (the choir of course was silent at this time) but blew it. AGH - I hope no one noticed - I wanted to cry but at least finished the number with a nice run.

"Nobody's perfect" (Joe E. Brown)

A technique I find helpful is to play the first chord, then position my hands on the keys of the next one, but *without playing it*. I then continue to practise the leap like this until I can make it reliably at high speed. Only when I can do it like this will I progress to actually playing the 2nd chord - what this teaches me to do is to get my fingers exactly where they should be before they have to play the chord. The result is more efficient movement and greater confidence, not to mention improved accuracy.