I have a pupil playing Clementi, who can manage very well on her own piano, which is surprising, because it's very heavy-actioned, but she can't control the piece well at all on my piano, which is more similar to what the exam piano will be like. I'm finding myself at a bit of a loss as to how to approach this, as explaining, describing and demonstrating all my own methods of achieveng clarity at speed just don't seem to be working! Has anyone else ever come across this? Someone who can play with reasonable precision on stiff keys but can't do it on lighter ones? Do you have any tips or suggestions that I might not have thought of?

It might be that she is giving it too much not being used to the lighter touch, so her fingers feel the impact sooner and rushes on to the next note. What I would suggest is slow and really quiet playing to get used to how little effort you need to make, then pick up the dynamic and lastly the tempo.

I would compare it to going from a piano to a keyboard, try it and see how it feels.

Hi Dulciana,

Is this the Grade 5 Trinity one by any chance, C major Sonata? My daughter is doing it at the moment, she has spent ages with both me and her teacher doing various passages in rhythms and it's coming has definately helped but I think it's incredibly hard for Grade 5 to pull this off well. Tempo variations is the other problem she's having, but that is a standard 'sonata' problem rather than a specific Clementi one.

D xx

Yes, 'tis the very one. I hadn't thought of trying different rhythms, so I might give that a shot. I might also suggest that it isn't the first piece to be played in the exam to allow time to adjust to the piano. She was hoping to do it this session, but we've just decided to hold off till the next. So if your daughter does it before my pupil, sharing any examiner comments would be appreciated!

Fortunately ours is a really late date this session, so it won't be until w/c 3rd December so we're going for it, although she still has loads of work to do and I don't think she'll match her G4 distinction - but will definately share any comments with you.

Which others pieces is she doing? My daughter chose the Bach polonaise and the alternative Grieg Waltz, which is gorgeous but again quite technically demanding for a grade 5.

Also the Polonnaise - and Chasing Rainbows. I've got another Grade 5 on the Schumann kindersonata and Canzone - and Chasing Rainbows.

The Bach isn't without its problems, either, with all those thirds and slurs! We plonked for it because it was short compared to Clementi, but it's taking longer than we thought.

Another difficulty with Clementi is getting the touch right. The official cd seems very legato to me. (I always think that these days with the likes of Clementi, Bach and so on.) I think it should be a little more detached, but we're finding it hard not to just go all staccato.

Have you heard any of the Grade 6 stuff yet? Some of it is really nice - and not such a big jump after Clementi. The Illinsky Berceuse is hard to bypass - on the additional list.

I haven't heard the CD, but tend to play it more detatched. With the Bach, she is playing the slurs and thirds fine generally, but again its keeping the clarity, we have too many little slips that seem to have been learnt in.

I have another grade 5 who is doing the Kabalevski Sonatine (so the examiner will never have heard that one before ) and the Cantillina, which is lovely. I haven't got any grade 6's at the moment, but the grade 7 syllabus is fun - I adore the Muy Dulce, although the student I've got playing it isn't getting it yet because he struggles to play through the dischords to really get the phrase.

Not sure if this will work. but can she do finger staccato? (The kind of "plucking action" staccato?) If she can, I'd suggest practising all the semiquaver passages staccato - it helps to clear up the legato finger action. I've always used it as a practice method for achieving clear and sparkling ( ) semiquaver passages.......

This works for all her fingers except 4 and 5, which seem to have a mind of their own. I suppose if I'm totally honest this pupil has conscientiously avoided pieces with this type of semiquaver passage-work up to now, so it's probably not surprising that it's causing a few problems. Alberti basses are managed okay, as she's able to keep her wrists steady then; it's more in the scalic passages where the wrists are inclined to bob and 'collapse'. I really don't understand how she's able to produce the right result on her own piano, though.

Digby - I had one do the sonatina last time! And I've tried to get one to do the G7 Muy Dulce, but she's not biting at all, and actually isn't fussed on any of the G7 pieces, so, as AB is out because of the theory requirement in this case, we're now looking at LCM - after a bit of an Elton John phase!

I'm not sure if my 2 cents can truly help, but I've had that problem myself when I was younger. I had an acoustic at home which you had to really press hard to get a mezzo-forte or loud dynamic, then while having my lesson with my instructor she noticed that I had created such bad tension in my wrists due to it. I lacked control on her piano as well. I found that slow practice with a metronome to smaller subdivisions evened me out. e.g. playing 120 per eighth note instead of setting it to 60 per quarter note. I'm sure you've thought of that one, but it really helped me.
Good luck!