This piece is B3 in the outgoing piano syllabus.

The bit that's causing me big problems is the left hand at bars 21-24. For some reason, even when I'm playing it without the right hand, I can't seem to get those quavers even, and I certainly can't play it fast enough. I play them too fast, too slow, uneven, you name it, similar patterns elsewhere in the piece are OK but this one even though it looks like it should be pretty simple... it's all going horribly wrong!

I don't have a clue how to keep that hand nice and relaxed - I think partly because that section has been giving me trouble since I started learning it and so I automatically go "argh!" *tense up*

Any ideas??

I need to speed the whole thing up too, so any ideas for that would also be welcome, but generally it's getting there it's just that dratted LH bit which is driving me up the wall. Going to ask my teacher tomorrow too but wondered if anyone had any bright ideas before I lose the plot

It's worth making sure your LH fingers are really well-rounded at this point; any lack of control will be exacerbated if your fingers are tending to flatten out at all. Check your wrist is relaxed and slightly loose.

Try over-emphasising the first quaver of each LH group (temporarily)
Try a slight rotation of your hand on each group.

Try filling in the RH rest with a repeated note to see if matching co-ordination will help (again, temporarily)

You're quite possibly already doing / have tried these.

I know it doesn't help that my fingernails are too long - can't find the dratted clippers


I have this tendency to tense up on bits like this, which again I know exacerbates the problem... any idea how I can counter that?


Just had a go with this obviously need more than 5 minutes to try them out but have a feeling that the rotation seems to help a bit.

The emphasis and adding another note in just confuse my poor braincell completely


I'll take anything, this piece is driving me mad!

Thank you

Maybe others will come up with some different ideas.

Worth clipping your nails if you can bear to. If your end joint is flexing in order to keep your nails off the keys, the result is likely to be unevenness and poor control. keep hand quite close to keys, and don't even think of speeding up till you're better satisfied with the evenness. Might even be worth slowing it down for a day or two.

Have another glass of punch !

one other thought - check your LH is slightly forward on the keyboard so that the C# is under your fingers. It might sound a bit obvious (sorry if so!) but if you are having to shift forwards even a fraction for the #s it will impede the flow.

Are you sure you're getting your 6/8 timing precisely right in the previous bit? If you're moving too quickly from the crotchet to the quaver in each half of each bar, this will knock you off in the section that you're talking about. (I know they're not really crotchets - they're quavers plus quaver rests, but it's easier to pretend they're crotchets for now!) The only way to check is to slow right down and count '123123' in the previous bit, making sure the 'three' is in exactly the right place, and continue to count evenly as you move into this section. Then start speeding up again. If you have a digital metronome, put it to 6 quavers per bar - not 2 dotted crotchets - slowly - till you're sure you're getting the third and sixth RH quavers spot on.

I hope all that makes sense and doesn't sound like Double Dutch! It'd be easier if we both had a piano in front of us - i.e. the same one!

P.S. Try swivelling your wrist in the LH as well so you're not depending so much on finger flexibility.

I have - found the clippers - I hate having long nails, I just keep mislaying my clippers...

Thanks for the ideas, both of you. Dulciana: I think that may make more sense to me when I am more awake....... I'm a little brain dead this morning as I didn't sleep too well!

Thank you!

I'm brain-dead until after lunch-time!

Just had a lesson and apparently it's not as bad as I think! Which is reassuring... I'll keep working on it though.

Oh that's good news Sarah. Partly because you are listening to yourself, no doubt. If you were unaware of slight unevennesses it would be much harder. It's probably improving incrementally.

I don't know the piece but the way I've been taught to learn difficult passages is to train your brain how to play it and to learn it so well that it can't go wrong:

• Play the passage using just one finger
• Repeat the exercise but play each note four times
• Play the passage with the proper fingerings but still play each note four times
• Play the passage with the right hand but play the note in the left hand before the note on the right (so a kind of rubato style)

Seems a weird way of doing it but it really works if you can work out what I mean!

You should identify which bits of your hand/wrist/arm are tense (easy enough - it's the bits that hurt) and consciously relax them as you're playing that passage. This is Not Easy and will not happen the first time you try it, but it does work, and eventually you'll subconsciously be relaxing muscles that might be about to tense up before they actually do.

This is in addition to, not instead of, the other advice on this thread, which all looks very good.

I would advise first practising very firmly & slowly, both hands separately & together - it's amazing how many problems this type of practising can clear up. It can really help the co-ordination to become far more secure. I would also practise it mentally to get a very clear picture of what you want to achieve. Practising tapping the rhythm can also be very helpful, sometimes saying the counts aloud - it helps to build a clear mental picture & the physical feel of the rhythm.

I would then practise as many different ways as possible - for instance, using different rhythm patterns, different touches, different speeds, playing each group of notes as block chords or upside-down etc. The more ways you try it, the more control you develop. Always think about your posture & keeping as relaxed as possible before you start, then think about the musical result you want & enjoy playing it - it's a lovely piece!

This is in addition to the many good ideas you've already been given, of course. Good luck, enjoy your practising & keep positive, I'm sure you can do it!

I played this piece for grade 5 - i know EXACTLY what you mean!! It's an evil little section.... but extremely satisfying once you get it right.
All the advice already given is excellent - I can reccomend playing hands seperately slowly, then adding the hands together and gradually speeding up. Always works for me
Good luck with grade 5

glad it ain't just me!

Thanks for the encouragement!

I played this peice for a big contest in japan, when I was 11 or 12 years old, along with another piece. My piano teacher was so strict, that she called my friend who was working for the same contest, and we both had a very long lesson.

Are you taking the Grade 5 exam sarah-flute?

One day!

G5 is about where things are getting very hard for me and pianowise my progress has slowed right down, so I'm not sure I'll ever go far beyond it, but it would be quite nice to be a good G5 standard, and I'd like to pass the exam at some point.