Video není dostupné.
Omlouváme se.
Octaves with SMALL HANDS: one MENTAL Trick and two PRACTICE Suggestions
Vložit
- čas přidán 30. 03. 2021
- Playing octaves with small hands is often a struggle. Here are three most useful tips that help my students to master them.
Want to build a solid and safe piano technique, avoid bad habits, and improve your musicality? In this extensive but laconic course I have summed up many years of research on both efficiency and musicality. Get introduced to a great number of important piano playing concepts and tips for a rather symbolic price: bit.ly/ManyPianoTips
My exclusive 8-hour course on 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄 𝟓𝟏 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐉. 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐬: bit.ly/brahms51ex
My 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬: bit.ly/DenTutorials
My 𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐬: bit.ly/DenPlaysPiano
Check out my in-depth piano courses: pianoskillsandmagic.teachable...
To follow me or 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻-𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 please use any of these links:
/ deniszhdanovpianist
/ deniszhdanovpianist
deniszhdanov.com
Your support matters! If you enjoy this channel or find it helpful, please consider a symbolic donation. It would help me to create even better both educational and artistic content.
𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐎𝐍: www.patreon.com/deniszhdanov?...
𝐎𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐔𝐘 𝐌𝐄 𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐊! paypal.me/denzhdanovpianist
#pianotechnique #octaves #pianotutorial
The thumb tricked worked for me I’m also a small kid who’s trying to play rondo alla turca. Thank you so much!
My hypothesis for why the focus on the thumb works is (trivially) that being naturally closer to your eyes, hence your comfort zone, the thumbs provide a welcome unloading of the attention span.
It’s often the case that too much focus on several things is worse than focus on one thing letting others play out automatically (but people rarely trust their autopilot).
In short, your suggestion resolves overload (which stems from trying to control more than you can chew).
My hands are look very small, but I can stretch to 9.....Thanks for your tutorial , really enjoyed . One thing you're absolutely right : even though some pieces are more difficult for your students , but if they love it, they would practice more and get progress on it....you're an excellent teacher , your students are so lucky to have you ! We're lucky too, that we could learn from you online. Thanks again ! :)
Thanks for nice words!😊😊😊
Me too a ninth with stretch
Could you do a video on legato octaves for small hands (e.g. for Chopin Op 9 No 1)?
This was awesome - especially seeing you demonstrate whilst playing intervals that you find challenging!
that is exactly what i am struggling with right now and why i looked up this video 😭
I love your advice. I can reach up to 9th but somehow struggle with octave. Lately, I've been on a mission to improve everything that needs to be improved...., and octaves is one of them. Both about the tump and release help. Thanks.
I feel like the main reason this helps is because it alleviates some of the strain of trying to hit both the top and bottom note equally and fully. Your thumb is much steadier and has more force behind it, so thinking of it as the "head" of the octave while the pinky is more like an accessory helps. When I'm trying to hit an octave, especially when I wanna hit it HARD, I tend to strain out my pinky to try and match the force of my thumb on the key. I mean, just try and stretch your hand wide as far as it'll go (which is just about how long an octave is for me and others with tiny hands), then hit some notes while putting most of your focus into pressing the pinky down with as much force as you can, or at least equal to your thumb (which I think I unconsciously did a lot because I was focused on that note being equal to my thumb's note). May not be as bad as it was for me, but my pinky started cramping up on the third try and I could feel the strain throughout the side of my hand and down my forearm a bit. The pinky is just so unsteady, and when you focus all your effort into keeping it "in line", so to speak, you end up losing the whole focus, and that's usually where my notes start getting messy while my shaking, cramping pinky struggles to hold this position and be accurate at the same time. Meanwhile, focusing the force on my thumb is much easier. If I just make sure my thumb is right, and have my pinky in ROUGHLY the position where it should be hitting the right note for an octave, then I'm much more likely to A.) hit the note I meant to (even if my pinky didn't hit hard enough to make a sound), and B.) have the energy to keep going to the next note without having to shake out my hand for a second.
A nice analysis, tnx
Thank you for the suggestion 🙂
I can just barely reach an octave and I'm not going to get any bigger, and I agree it's much easier if I don't think about it too hard. I think focusing on the thumb leads you to trust your hand and brain to take care of where the other note is, and that automatically makes you more relaxed, which probably gives you a tiny bit of extra reach. I sort of came up with the same thing by accident because, given the octave is maximum stretch, if I get the thumb in the right place I can't possibly overshoot so I may as well just not worry about it.
Omg it actually worked, thanks a lot!
I'm going to try this with the first part of 'The Entertainer' where I have had accuracy issues with the root/third/octaves passages.
As I learned the 1st (Melodioso) of Granados' Valses Poéticos, which has legato octaves in the R hand accompanied by leaps to octave chords in the left, my teacher suggested that I practice playing only with my thumb in the right hand and then also only with the right-hand little finger, both as legato as possible. I was to play with just the single RH thumb or pinky while playing the full LH accompaniment. At first the practice was surprisingly difficult, but it quickly simplified returning to full octaves accurately and (reasonably) smoothly. I suspect the mechanism is similar to focusing on the thumb, though I especially liked the real confidence I gained by focusing on the use of my pinky.
Thank you very much .
I struggled with this BUT I realized that I could hold my left hand in a position (not in motion but just holding it there) as to only touch the octave keys without even making contact with the keys inbetween! I cannot do that with my right hand, even though I don't see a size difference. So I held my hands together and (comfortably) spread my fingers widely, and I suddenly noticed my thumb and pinky on my right hand cannot easily stretch as far as my left.
So I think that is where my problem is. If I can stretch my right hand like my left, it should at least be physically. That is very nice to know! Because I felt like it would be impossible for me.
Excellent tips, Denis. I kind of sort of knew these but forgot about them and they would help me now. Especially how to approach and practice a difficult stretch.
I wish your channel had a lot more subscribers. I think the dark background is not best. It's better to have a normal room background that let people feel you are having them as guest in your room when they watch, rather than a space black void that gives no perspective. Conviviality and comfort for the eye. I base that on watching similar channels.
What about leaning forward body position to help fingers with the addition of weight for forte.
Sure, we use the upper body weight, especially for loud chords. But if you lean too much always, you might get back pains, so be careful about where is your weight center
Hi my pink is short compared to the other fingers. It leads to various problems and my pink is actually hanging in the air while other fingers in appropriate angle. It also made my pink strong and I don't have a weak pink syndrome. I have to be careful for a pink too loud. Because it has to fall harder lol. I can do an octave thumb-middle finger and still an octave thumb-pink
Here is my guess... thinking about the thumb frees you up a bit to think of it like a melody, which makes you think about it more horizontally than vertically if that makes sense. that gives you permission to step back from focusing on just your hand, even though you haven't like "figured out" your hand the way you were hoping to, and think about the big picture. That makes you involve more of your body, and your muscles have more ways they are able to move to help out the thumb that you're focusing on, and that helps you play the octaves with different kinds of movements, and that just makes it easier because it's not causing repetitive strain and tension. your brain is mixing everything up and arranging and rearranging it nicely for the music and nicely for your physiology, and everything just fits better.
You might be right!
Sir im 15 and im having hands good enough to play an octave. But the prolem is that my fingers are short so when i play an octave, my hand looks so weird.. any solution for me sir?
I'm trying to play a piece in which I have to play octaves with my right hand repeatedly, when I focus specifically on my thumb I tend to mess up with my pinky finger, is there any quick way to fix this?
I would need to have a working session with you in order to see if there’re a way to fix that. This video contains just general tips that help many students, but in many cases hand issues are too specific and require an individualized approach. If you will be interested to take a lesson, please contact me using the links in the description.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Alright, thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my comment :)
👍
I'm on exactly the position of your student
I would just grind through hours of practice in one go for octaves and learn them already but they hurt too much ;-;
got a small hands...and it seems impossible to play an octave with thumb + index and pinky and 4th finger on all white keys - yes four chord keys
Sometimes I play the pinky a fraction of a second behind the thumb.
I can only reach 12.5 notes not an octave yet
what
I'm 10 that's why I can't reach an octave.. but then again I see 9 year olds playing the whole of la campanella so I guess I'm just bad
Don’t worry, your hand will still grow! Just don’t over push, and make sure to release the hand as much as possible between octaves!
Same lol
I’m 13 and can’t play octaves that good, so don’t worry you’ll get there
@@nxbulae_ same but most of the songs i wanna play have octaves
I say call a strike on playing octaves. I refuse to play them. It's discrimination against the small handed
He says 12ths (3:43) but doesn't he really mean 10ths? Apparently Van Cliburn could reach 12ths but he was 6' 4".
He may mean 12ths. I have tiny hands (am 5’1”) but can (just barely) play 10ths bc my hands are flexible.
Are you aware of narrow keys?
Do you mean pianos with customized keys?
@@DenZhdanovPianist I mean that the keys are narrower than the conventional (e.g. DS 5.5 keyboard)
It’s wort noting that NOT all narrow keys are customized (e.g. Steinbuhler keyboards)
This might be a solution in case you play only at home or, like Barenboim, have so high concert fees that can allow yourself to transport your own piano to the venue. For most of pianists it doesn’t work since we play here and there, and having such piano at home would just confuse you for playing in other places