Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Impossible chord or I just suck?

I found a version of that piece here.

In that transcription (apparently different from the one you are using), measure 64 is indeed at the bottom of page 3, but doesn't contain the chord you describe. In measure 65 the right hand plays the chord G-Db-G, which is the chord you mention minus the Ab. Is that the measure you are talking about?

Yeah it's a little different in this version. The grandioso starts on 61 on my version making it 65 on mine, 64 on yours. The left hand notes are a bit different on yours and yes the A flat is missing yours as well.

I have stretched my hand and fingers slightly, feeling a little tension, but I can play it. I use thumb on G, 2 on Aflat, 3 on Dflat and pinky on G.

Do you know how Chopin's Ballade 4 begins? Its first couple of bars are quite hard to play. I can reach those chords but it's hard to play I don't know how pianists can play it fluently!

EDIT:
The video below shows a Japanese pianist who I believe has rather little hands, yet, she manages to stretch fingers enough to play octaves but her pinky is at the edge of keys.



Well, everything's possible if you practice

Then I would recommend you leave out the A flat, as is done in the transcription I linked to. The right hand plays the melody in octaves, filled in with chord notes. If you leave out the bottom G, the melody is not played correctly in the bottom octave.

This may be the easy way if you roll it top to bottom. Your thumb just slides off the Ab to the G. Sostenuto, if you have one that works, could help here.

To the OP, it sounds like you'll be able to play the lower G with your LH, so the original problem is solved. But I just wanted to comment on the thinking behind leaving out notes.

The advice to leave out an octave note is good *in general* but it also really depends on the context of the piece and what the other hand is playing, what came immediately before and what comes after the chord in question. Definitely try a couple different versions (leaving out a note inside the chord, leaving out one of the octave notes etc.) And let your own ears be the judge. Sometimes you might decide you want to keep the octave and can get rid of one of the interior notes, as this post suggested:



This is a good argument for why just leaving off an upper or lower note of the octave as a rule isn't going to apply to all pieces.

On the flip side, and IMO this esp applies to popular music and solo piano transcriptions of pop tunes, sometimes leaving in those "extra" notes are what gives the arrangement it's flavor. You might find that it loses something without those additional notes.

So always *always* try a few options and trust your ear. And don't forget to look at what the left hand is doing, and play the various options you're considering with both hands together to see how it will sound with all the notes involved.

For me 1245 works just fine.

Heather's suggestion with 1125 feels more relaxed but gives little control on the G and Ab making the chord sound badly voiced. But if the next melody note would need a pinky or so I could also do 1124 or even 1123 and if the melody is more important that might be the best choice