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That‘s so incredibly kind. Thank you so much. 🙏

Yes, this is in fact the natural hand position, and it‘s how Chopin started his students at the piano!

As a fellow Godowsky player, I can only wholeheartedly concur. His music is famous for its often extraordinary technical difficulty that eclipses even that of Liszt and Rachmaninoff, but he also wrote pedagogical editions and edited works by other composers, adding imaginative and expressive fingering suggestions. Thank you for mentioning this suggestion!

@@key-notes What really baffles me is how Godowsky is still only moderately known, or known only by his version of the Chopin etudes. Rachmaninoff and Liszt music is incredible, but mostly written for their own hands, and aren't very friendly or confortable to play most of the time. Unlike them, Godowsky really cared how people would play his music, so he had a more pedagogic and humane approach to them. It's written for the common hand. I understand that his music can be too intricate and complex for its own good, but still, I can't understand why he isn't more talked about. His 40 miniatures for piano 4 hands is a great teaching material, I highly recommend as well!

@@antonioluissilvapiano Agreed! Godowsky seriously deserves to be known not just for his Chopin Etude arrangements-however incredible they are-but also for his excellent pedagogical editions!

​@@antonioluissilvapianoI’m honored to share a few of my Godowsky performances with someone who also appreciates his music! Here are two of his Chopin Etude arrangements: soundcloud.com/godowskysociety/sets/albert-frantz-pianist-in-a

@@key-notes incredible performance, congratulations! I'm still working on his Java Suite, I've played 7 of the 12 movements, but they aren't as clean as I wanted. But I would love to record them all in the future!

Hmm... maybe it's a matter of balance between the voice and piano mics? I'm using very high-end (i.e., crazy expensive) mics for the piano (Earthworks), and the piano is as good as they come (the finest Bösendorfer Imperial I've ever played). Will try to improve the balance in future videos.

​@@key-notes The piano sure does sound great too. I didn't mean that the piano sound was bad. It's just that your voice is so cool, it's even better than a Bosendorfer :D It was just a compliment, sir. And thank you for the great video I have learned a lot.

@@esnrp Oh, that’s incredibly kind-thank you so much! Sincerely appreciated. 🙏 Based on the feedback and questions this video has sparked, we’re dedicating a masterclass to it this weekend so we can explore the topic in depth. It’s for Key-Notes members and the recording is available. Would be great if you could join us later today if you’re interested in going into greater detail and have any questions I can help you with. key-notes.com/keys-to-mastery

Thank you so much!

It depends on hand size and the speed of the passage. Some players with smaller hands find 1-4 an uncomfortable stretch for octaves, so they might choose 1-5 throughout a passage. I do like playing octaves with 1-5 on both black and white keys, but I very often play 1-4 on black keys, especially if it’s a fast passage. In that case I keep the hand close to the end of the black keys to minimize in and out movement. Then it’s easy to switch between 4 for black keys and 5 for white keys.

@@key-notes Thanks so much for your quick and insightful response! Agreed about 1-4 on black keys, especially when moving to adjacent white keys. 1-3 and 1-2 octaves have never been comfortable for me, and yet I see those fingerings suggested in many of my pieces.

I think this is a judgment call that mostly depends on the student’s current level and their level of preparation with a particular piece. Sometimes I’ll ask students to play a line with different fingering just to test other types of musical memory and see if they’re relying entirely on motor (muscle) memory. In general, it would be ideal to find the perfect fingering from the very beginning and stick with it, but in practice this isn’t always possible. As for limiting changes of hand position, again it really depends. I think here you have to weigh convenience and practicality against the desired expression. Sometimes you can get the same sound/expression without changing hand positions as much, but other times changing hand positions gets you the desired sound more easily.

I just started learning Beethoven’s A minor Violin Sonata, Op. 23, and the suggested fingerings in one edition have so many unnecessary changes of hand position that it’s driving me crazy! It’s so much easier to learn the music if the hands don’t have to change position needlessly.

True

Yes! Start lessons and find a teacher you enjoy. Let your inner musician express itself. You have gold inside of you !

It sounds like you may be misunderstanding me or exaggerating things. If a fingering would lead to excess tension and/or memory problems, then I’d also suggest trying to find a better alternative. It all depends on the piece and the individual player. Relaxation (more accurately muscular freedom, i.e., freedom from excess tension) is one of several factors to be weighed. Often, in fact, it’s not a trade-off at all to use the same fingerings for the same motive. Other times you may only have to make a small trade-off to gain much more in other ways. These small trade-offs shouldn’t affect the sound. If they do, then I’d suggest finding a different fingering. As for performing, again, it all depends on the individual piece. There are some pieces that have real memory traps that revolve around fingering. Different sections might start with the same note but use different fingerings since they lead to different places. Especially in a slower piece, it can be dangerous to rely solely on motor (“muscle”) memory in these places. It’s best to think consciously about such passages, even in performance. This can lend you a feeling that you’re in control rather than just going on autopilot and hoping for the best.

Agree!

Actually nearly half the major / parallel minor pairs use this same fingering, so if you learn these scales first, you’ll know close to half the scales!

@@key-notes Exactly! this is why you are the expert

@@forbiddenbox Thank you so much!

💀

Very well said, not to mention exactly right. It’s a *really* good idea to try to find the right fingerings from the very beginning stages of learning a new piece. That said, sometimes we discover later in the game that a fingering just doesn’t work. It might work, say, at a slower tempo but not at a faster tempo. It’s best to try to avoid changing fingerings once they’re ingrained, though sometimes finding a new fingering is the easiest solution.

@@key-notes Agree. Sometimes in the process we find something that works better. Maybe what we initially came up with is awkward or not elegant. Sometimes we find that out when our brain seems to have a lot of trouble making a certain fingering strategy work. Then it is on to a new strategy.

​@@key-notesthe fast /slow tempo is definitely true that's why I pencil mine in first.

Sounds like a perfect choice! You might see first if you can find a discounted 12.9” M2 Pro, now that it’s been discontinued, for not too much more. Either tablet will be more than enough for sheet music, that’s for sure.

That’s nothing to be concerned about, Roberta. If Alicia de Larrocha, Yuja Wang, Josef Hofmann and many others didn’t let small hands stop them, neither should you! It’s usually possible to find a fingering for a passage that suits smaller hands. You can also choose music that fits your hands the way singers choose music that suits their individual voice. There’s such an abundance of beautiful music out there that you’ll never run out of new pieces.

Paul Badura-Skoda taught me that he felt this technique is overused in general. When reading editorial fingerings, it seems it‘s sometimes done reflexively, in places where it‘s clearly neither necessary nor beneficial, such as moderately slow passages. But in faster passages it‘s a necessary technique for sure. It‘s largely a matter of personal preference. Last week I had a rehearsal of Beethoven‘s Spring Sonata, and in the fourth movement there‘s a passage that has many repeated notes. The tempo is fast but not extreme. It‘s right on the edge, where the repeated notes could be played with one finger or changing fingers. I still haven‘t decided!

Debussy’s 1st Arabesque. Here’s a performance I gave of this beautiful piece in memory of my mentor Paul Badura-Skoda: th-cam.com/video/hdMrgY6loIM/w-d-xo.html

@@key-notes hmm interesting, I always thought that descending pattern were kinda linked to Clair de Lune.. At least it sounds tonally connected to me

If you can find it discounted for not too much more, I’d definitely go for the M2 Pro for its even better and smoother screen and a few extra features. But the extra features are mostly just eye candy if you’re looking for an iPad for reading music. The new 13-inch Air looks to be great for this purpose. I’m sure whichever one you decide on will serve you well for years to come.

@@key-notes my problem is that I'm always inclined to put the money towards the best possible spec. But I don't need a lot of high-end features and, whilst convenient, these devices aren't a good "investment" in the longer term. My iPad 3 is pretty much useless now, except as a paper weight! I think I'll give it a week and look at the new models in the store 😄