Hi,I'm learning Chopin's Ballade in G minor,and i find the last part,"presto con fucuo" maddeningly difficult!!I started slow and gradually increase my speed but still incapable of playing it.Help!!!

That's because it's really really really really really really really hard. Especially the Presto con Fuoco.

SteveHopwood will be on later I expect, he has done a very nice recording of this, he'll be able to help

Really really really really really really really really really really really hard. Stupidly difficult


Thank you kind sir *blush blush* you are most kind

You have a couple tricks at your disposal, SuperBB87, that help a lot.

The first is to remember that Chopin did not play loudly, according to contermporary accounts of his playing. He had infinite subtleties within his playing that provided a wide range of dynamic contrast. Bear this in mind and you alleviate the exhausting effect of trying to play this ridiculous passage too loudly.

I heard a recording of Claudio Arrau play this years ago at both a more modest tempo and volume that that of most modern virtuosi - it was a revelation that has guided my performance ever since.

The second trick is rubato. We think of rubato as being a musical device; we can also use it to help out when the music becomes really difficult.

Examples:
Does your copy have bar numbers? If not, then the presto starts at bar 208.

- bars 8 - 215. The main difficulties here involve the lh leaps, down to the Bb especially. Start each group of 4 bars more slowly and accelerate, them broaden and crescendo towards the end. This allows extra time to make a big sound on the crotchet chords at the beginning of bb212 and 216; it also means that you are playing more slowly when the writing is most difficult, and more quickly when it is less so.

- I take a little extra time at the start of bb 216, 218, 222, 224 etc. I am building in extra time to accommodate things I find difficult, such as the rh leaping around on black notes in 216, or the big lh leap in 222.

- I take an ice age over the start of the big build up in 228. This allows an impressive sounding accelerando. Then I hold right back again in 223 - we are talking ice ages again. Next comes a huge accelerando from 234, a barnstorm through 238\9, finishing with a breathless hurtle through 240\1, leading to a string-breaking crash onto a paused octave D in 242. It is no concidence that this last passage is my quickest playing - it is the easiest to play.

- After that, all is plain sailing. Rit at the end of bar 245, start 246 moderately slowly then accelerate on the way down - don't try to play too loudly or your hand will tighten, already tired muscles will give up the struggle and you may as well just skip to the final chord

- The two runs up in 252 & 255: start each one slowly and accelerate as best you can. I slow a little again in 255 if I feel my hands starting to separate. Pedal the whole of each run - sounds mightily impressive and covers any little imperfections.

- I start the double octaves so slowly that listeners might be forgiven for thinking I am dozing off. I acceletrate but only the last bar is right up to speed. On occasions when I find myself going too quickly too soon, I will hold an octave for longer than I should, then carry on the tumble downwards.

- Take a bucket load of care over the last note. On the recording Oddball refers to, I had become too excited, didn't take the care and missed it. Dozy twit

There you have it, SuperBB87, a distillation of 0ver 30 years surviving performing this piece without the technique of a Kissin. Some of these tips might help. I hope they do.

Two further tips:
- Acquire the technique of a Kissin.

- Chopin's C minor Etude, no 11 from the op 25 set (not the 'Revolutionary from op 10) is the perfect preparation for the presto. It teaches replacing 5 with thumb, and vice versa, at speed - the very essence of this passage.

All the best. Have fun. Master this piece and you will have gone where few pianists have before you.

Steve

Thanks a million,Steve!

Hey Steve - that's great - exactly what I would have done - word for word!
One other suggestion is to practise hands separately up to and beyond the speed for performance - paying utmost attention to accurate shifts in hand position. Memorising the difficult passages helps a lot as you can then concentrate more on looking at the keys and decreasing the risks of striking wrong notes!

I love the geological analogies!!!