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Hello everyone,
I've unfortunately broken my left wrist so I'll be in Plaster for two months. So a couple of questions...
Firstly I've been working on rapid scales and finding uneveness due to my ringfinger technique being less secure. Any useful tips on this?
Also does anyone know any good musically exciting pieces for the right hand alone- don't want a tedious etude.
Cheers,

Hi Tom:

Welcome to Piano World. Sorry to hear about your broken wrist.

I don't know about any musically exciting pieces for RH alone, perhaps some other members might know of some.

I would like to offer a suggestion for you to think about. How about working on the Chopin Op. 10, no. 2 Etude (I hope you don't think it's one of those tedious ones)? While you're recuperating, you can work on the right hand part alone, which is far and away the most difficult. Once your cast is off you can add in the left hand.

I've been working on it for about two months now myself and have found it to be great for strengthening the 3, 4, and 5 fingers of the right hand which should help your ring finger technique.

I've also been playing chromatic scales with just 3, 4, and 5 of both hands.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Regards,

John

If you do take on op 10 no 2 do not over do it. its a great piece and finger work out but I've gotten tendinitis for a couple of weeks after overstretching and over doing it too often

Remember that ring finger is special because its muscles are differnt from the other fingers so it will always be a weak spot.

Also I'm not sure how much really can be done by exercises.

Musically exciting RH pieces? Chopin Berceuse

Chopin is never tedious.His etudes fuse technique and musicality just as he always advocated and thats a damn good idea.

...and he was happy with fingers being unequal.

op 25 no 11

Yes yes but still need dazzling fast scales without the hiccuping 7ths!

He said as long as the timing's right no one will notice slight dynamic uneveness.

Ah the timing is the prob. Also if you can reccomend me a source for Chopin's teaching comments that would be awesome

You want Eigeldinger's book - always by my side.

Started the etude and found an unbelievable version. Any practice tips very welcome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPxEgoe-93s

Love the way he gets up at the end as if he's just finished his beer.

Hi Tom:

Check out these YouTube tutorials by Paul Barton on Op. 10, no. 2. They're what first convinced me I could actually learn to play this thing. Both have a number of useful strategies for tackling this study.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSbDwhLyGso
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8zaSaNqFMI

Here's another video of Paul playing the etude:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zw0wk-OZUY

As mentioned by another poster, be careful you don't overdo it and injure your other hand. It definitely takes time to percolate before you can get it up to speed.

Good luck with it.

Regards,

John

Sorry about your broken bone. I think you would greatly benefit if you comepletely leared Chopin's Etude Op.10 No.5 for the right hand. It's one of Chopin's less difficult Etudes but I find that it is still a great work out for the right hand's stamina and intricate nuances. Also, give his 2nd Etude a try -- much more difficult but it is worth a shot.

Make sure that you are keeping the finger curved during fast passages, if the finger "collapses" by straightening out at the last joint it will be weaker. My son was having trouble with this when he started with his current teacher, and paying attention to the curve of the finger fixed the problem.

Interesting personal experience with this:
I've had an obsession with balanced development of right/left hands and all fingers for a while. I noticed that most people try to avoid using it whenever possible, and I felt like this wasn't the right approach, because surely the 4th finger being in the position it is in has some purpose right?

Anyways, I made it a habit to use the 4th as much as possible to replace 3/5, rather than the other way around. I also tend to habitually do "resistance training" with my fingers, and the finger that's being worked most often is the 4th. Since the 4th doesn't see much usage in most music either way, I always itch to give it a bit of a workout when the other muscles feel "broken in".

A benefit of this is that using the 4th more saves the 3rd (usually) some "wear and tear" because the 3rd finger typically has a heavy workload. Having a less tired 3rd finger helps a ton with pieces where it's really being used a lot. For example, when you play an octave with a 6th in it (in the right hand), using 4 sometimes reduces the stretch over using 3, and keeps 3 in better shape for more difficult stuff. I use 14 on octaves almost all the time on black keys, although sometimes it's clear that 15 is better. In addition, passages using 4 became cleaner since the better control and strength make the legato more precise with a better release time.

My teacher would be in shock when she saw me using 4 where everyone uses 3, but she's gotten used to it :P

Hi Tom,

Sorry about the wrist ... I had the same plaster experience ... my biggest gripe at the time was getting in and out of a bath ... didn’t realise at the time how dependent we are in using both hands.

But back at the ranch ... about how to keep going with the RH ... and your concern over the weak ring finger ... does this suggest that you are left handed? ... I’ve never had any trouble with my RH ring finger.

Waiting for the plaster to dry will give you a marvellous opportunity to play the treble stave of Bach’s WTC ... when you’ve completed Book I you can move on to Book II ... however, by that time you won’t have any friends within earshot!! JSB can be a pain when on the rampage.

As an alternative, the treble melodies contained in the Chopin Nocturnes would have been my port of call ... not forgetting the Beethoven Sonatas.

Kind regards, btb

Bang on. Exactly what I have been doing. Its not so much a weakness thing- none of this muscle strengthening rubbish but the fact I was using the finger wrong- not fully from the knuckle joint.

Ha ha so true. Gotta say to everyone only joined Pianoworld yesterday and already such a great response. Really impressed so thanks everyone.