Repeated Notes on Dyads and Chords (7.1)

• The motion for chords is very similar to playing repeated single notes with the same finger.
• Repeat the process for single repetitions with a dyad, such as a 6th on C and E, beginning with only two attacks per arm impulse, and then to three.
• Progress to six attacks per impulse.
• Repeat this process with chords of your choice.
• By synchronising small adjusting motions in three planes of motion, energy is directed through the fingers in a way that adds speed and power, while allowing the larger muscles to do most of the work and leaving the entire playing apparatus resilient.
• Be sure to practise similar figures in the left hand.
• Note how mastering repeated chords using the vibrato technique sets you up for effortless trills and tremolos.

Duvernoy: Etude

• Experiment with the three-dimensional shaping demonstrated in this video. Play with firm fingertips at the moment of attack, and in mm. 1-8 combine movement in the “up-and-down” (vertical) and “in-and-out” (horizontal) planes simultaneously.
• Consider how you wish to execute the accents: are they primarily dynamic or agogic? (The accents on the downbeats of mm. 3 and 7 seem to indicate the harmonic centre of the phrase, while the left-hand accents beginning in m. 17 might contribute to a more musical result if they are not overly dynamic and the right hand still projects a horizontal melody.)
• Note the simpler physical motion needed for mm. 8-15 in the right hand; the required adjustments to the basic vibrato motion are uncomplicated vs. those needed for mm. 1-8.

Kuhlau: Sonatina in C, Op. 55 No. 3

• In the opening figure, isolate playing only the bottom notes with your thumb to feel the three-dimensional shape facilitated by the larger muscles in your arm, while allowing the hand and fingers to remain at rest.
• Play the figure as written, using a similar shape to what you just utilised when playing only the bottom notes with your thumb.
• Practise the dyads in m. 4 hands alone with firm fingertips.
• Experiment with isolating pairs of voices in m. 4 as demonstrated in the video to heighten your awareness of all voices in four-voiced textures.

Grieg: To Spring, Op. 43 No. 6

• For faster repeated notes and chords, stay close to the sound point–that is, do not release the key all the way before the next attack.
• In m. 7, note the simultaneous physical and melodic shaping that was demonstrated.
• Use slow practice to heighten your harmonic response and your experience with repeated chords, left-hand cantabile, and cross rhythms.