Sam:

I meant the last 8 bars of FI last page where the RH notes repeat over and over. It's so difficult. Anyway, I'm putting FI on vacation for a while as I'm too stressed at this time to continue with it and the stress is showing up in my performance as bad tension which inhibits my play.

I'm also taking a short vacation from piano to recharge my batteries.

Choo

VACATION

I have decided to take a vacation from piano and from Fantasie Impromptu. In the past week, I have been feeling a great deal of stress from the pressures of the forum and this has taken away the enjoyment that I get from playing the piano. Piano is also supposed to be relaxing and unfortunately, I don't find that to be the case any more.

So I will take a complete break from piano and return when I'm revitalized and ready to tackle FI again as well as some other shorter pieces.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

Short breaks always help! I'm now taking one myself too

Very good. I've just been working so hard on FI that I lost my love and enthusiasm for it. So no piano for at least a week, maybe two, then after that, I'm beginning some shorter, easier pieces while I allow FI to rest for a month. Then, I'll take it up again.

How did you manage to play the last 8 bars of FI R.H? The repeated 16th notes drive me nuts. Any technique involved?

Ha ha! Your signature is too funny! Butchering Ballade...... ROFL! I'm sure your teacher didn't say that!

I have also taken a break from Chopin not because I'm stress or sick of it, but I'm relearning Bach's D minor prelude and fugue from book 2, and learning the 3rd movement of Mozart's sonata in C K330. These are 2 of my exam pieces and deserv priority this year. With my teacher away for a few weeks, it's my best chance of learning them.

Hopefully you'll be back to the challenge soon. You've done so well and will be a pity if you stop now. Good luck!

Hmmm. I find the repeated R.H. notes to be really easy. The part before that with the 16th notes and the hand jumping everywhere is still really hard for me. I haven't really got it down yet. I need to talk to my teacher about the technique for that part, since my hand gets fatigued and that makes it hard to play it accurately.


Hehe
He'd never say something like that, even if it was true.
I'm a pretty sarcastic guy, so I like my signature

I posted a video on the pianist corner member recordings section of me playing Nocturne in C sharp minor, and my favorite comment was from Cinnamonbear (end of his post): "But, again, this is a beautiful performance. You are a very sensitive butcher! "

HAHA

Tubbie: Thanks for the encouragement and kind words.

Sam: You're too funny! I think the problem area you're talking about are measures 119 - 124. Birba said I was far too tense there and it would be impossible for me to play that page with that kind of tension. He showed me some exercises for it and I plan to begin them when my piano vacation is over, in about a week or two. I was getting so fatigued there, too. In fact, my right wrist was getting really sore!! That's a bad thing. Obviously, the wrong way to practice it. That's why I'm needing a vacation from the piano. FI will be a life-long endeavor!!!

Anyway, I'm starting the Taubman lectures today and still listening to Fink. Great lectures.

Do you have a link to the exercises Birba showed you? I'd like to see what he recommends so I can learn to play that part better.

Your problem is probably (most definitely) not due to tension so the exercises won't be designed with you in mind. He wanted me to play the four note groups quickly, with a sideways movement, oscillating my wrist/ forearm, keeping my fingers free and then end up with my hand in a relaxed ball position and also to drop my arm in order to drop the tension. And to practice hands separately.

I haven't worked on FI for a few days but plan to start working on the exercises for that section and the octave passage (oh, still plaguing me due to tension) and some other nagging areas in the next few days.

Yes, be careful. Fatigue and soreness are often precursors to RSI.....good idea, take a break, change technique, maybe even ice down where sore. If you think about it, there's a reason it's called "repetitive stress"....

YES!!!!!!!!! Well said. The soreness is about gone since I took a piano vacation a few days ago. When I begin again, especially when I'm doing the exercises, I will only do them in 5 - 10 min chunks a couple of times a day. I obviously overdid it in my enthusiasm and maybe lunacy!

Been there, done that....

Another thing that helps, without having to give up playing altogether, is to play 15 minutes max at a time- and repeat 2-3 times later in the day. Maybe 2.
Meaning, cut back on total play time AND time played continuously. It's a tad difficult, but works quite well ! (assuming not hurting WHILE playing even after a minute or two, of course,that's a different scenario)

PIANO JOY: You're absolutely right! 20 mins a session max, with breaks in between and probably no more than 1.5 hours a day. I was going crazy for a week after I returned from vacation and just overdoing it. I feel a lot better now and taking it easy. It's much more enjoyable too.

SAM: I re-read your earlier post where you said your hand gets fatigued playing the 16th notes at the top of the last page. Sounds very much like my problem, which is tension, though I have a feeling my problem is a lot worse than yours. So it looks like you might want to do the exercises Birba recommended for me that I mentioned in the previous post. Hope it will help you, too. He said it was a "strike-release" and release meant release of tension and in this case, it was strike 4 notes and release tension, returning your hand to a ball position when you release and dropping your arm, too. I'm just beginning it. I do a similar exercise for the octave passage and the cascading arpeggios just before the middle section.