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Popular Piano Lessons: Chopin - Minute Waltz
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Popular Piano with Hugh Sung
Former Curtis Institute Piano Faculty and acclaimed accompanist, presents an approachable way to learn how to play piano. Even beginners play music early in the lessons. All levels of pianists learn to play the music they love. The most advanced players are also welcome. Backing tracks and study materials included. Unlimited Access.
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[MUSIC] With the Chopin Minute Waltz,
we're getting to some advanced territory.
So I advise that you take a look at some of the earlier lessons first.
Particularly if you're just brand new to the piano.
You can learn this but, you're gonna have a much easier time if you've had a little
more experience learning to read some of the musical notations, and
some of the technical exercises which also will serve to strengthen your fingers for
the speed and the dexterity you're gonna need for this particular piece.
But, please, go right, if you feel like you're brave enough to give this a try.
By all means go for it.
You can break it down and you can learn it.
And I actually rewrote this arrangement specifically to just focus on
the technical things, that help you play it faster while simplifying some
of the things that were just not necessary and were getting in the way.
So, this piece is gonna help you learn to play on the black keys.
Learn to play scales, which are successive notes, and
in this particular piece you'll be able to play the scale pretty
fast because the scale is shaped to fit your hand really really well.
So again, it's an advanced piece by all means dive in if you feel comfortable.
If you just love this work and are dying to learn it.
But again I would advise, if you're jumping in here for the first time.
Take a look at some of the earlier pieces in the course, and
try to get up to speed with those first before attempting this one.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] Before you freak out,
I know you're thinking,
how am I ever gonna play this piece that fast.
Before you freak out, I wanna show you something.
Put your hand, and put your second finger, on D flat, okay?
Third finger here, now put your thumb on the F.
Then these next three black keys are yours.
Two, three, four.
Put your thumb on the C and then D flat again, all right?
Do that again.
[MUSIC] Now play it a little faster.
[MUSIC] You might have a little difficulty between
the transition between here and here, here and here, and here and here, that's okay.
But I want you to feel how comfortable that feels.
Go to the, let's go an extra D.
[MUSIC] Now let's go down.
[MUSIC] We're playing a scale.
And in my opinion, this is the easiest scale to play.
Because your fingers are naturally raised and your thumb doesn't have to get so
squashed when it's moving in between your hand groups.
A group of three, two and three here, two, three, four here.
[MUSIC] I bet you could play this scale pretty
fast as you can see how comfortable this is.
You don't even have to hold the notes all the way down.
You can have a light touch.
[MUSIC] This piece is based on this scale.
I want you to, just for fun,
just with your right hand, see how fast you can play this, all right?
And if you're not convinced that.
[MUSIC] This doesn't feel pretty good,
you will, just give it a try.
This is good practice for
you anyways because we're gonna be learning this scale in this piece.
We're gonna be using all the notes of this scale and
I'm gonna teach you how to play this really fast.
So, we're gonna learn speed.
And we're also basically gonna learn how to play really fast with this piece, and
learn some other interesting finger shifting techniques for speed as well.
All right, let's start by learning the first phrase.
Let's take a look at the key signature for this piece.
All out of flats.
This forest of flats keeps growing, my goodness.
We have B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat.
Frankly, when we have this many flats I think it's more useful to figure out
what's not flatted.
There are only that don't need a flat.
An F and a C.
Everything else will have a flat unless it's indicated
otherwise by a different accidental.
Okay, so, F, C are the only ones we have to worry about.
Okay, so let's start from the beginning.
With that said, the first one is A flat, of course.
And then we have a natural symbol.
So instead of a G flat, we'll play G natural.
Intro okay?
So this is an interesting opening.
[MUSIC] We're basically have four different notes
where we have two different patterns three different patterns.
That's the first measure now the second measure's a little different.
[MUSIC] And then,
you come into this interesting pattern which kinda compresses that.
[MUSIC] And if you look at this carefully,
it's actually three groups of one.
That's one, two, three times, okay?
The way I like to think of this opening is of course the beginning has the long
A flat.
Now here, what I like to think of is the first notes of each two note groups.
And after that I think of because it skips that middle
kind of a wiggly thing, so that's the way I'm trying to think of it to remember it.
Three, four, one, four, one, four, one, four, okay?
So it's good for you to try to kinda get that locked as you practice this.
One, three, four then four,
one, four, one, four.
And it's gonna continue on as we add the left hand again.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] All right,
so you've had the scale.
Okay?
[MUSIC] And here we have a dotted rhythm.
Now, we have some new interesting trills that we have to incorporate.
And I'm gonna tell you about how to incorporate them in high speed, so.
Coming down.
[MUSIC] The fingering switches to a two, and
you get your thumb on a black key, and then another two.
[MUSIC] And back to that.
Okay?
So this two, two, two.
I hope you see why I'm doing this.
By using the same finger I'm forced to lift my hand and drop it again.
[MUSIC] By dropping it, those other two notes of
that trill, I can just sort of ricochet after that strong note.
[MUSIC] You don't have to worry about playing them
so loud.
Just see if you can just really let the energy of the drop
propel the other two notes after that.
[MUSIC] Drop.
Drop.
And then kind of give it a little bit air and drop it from your wrist if you can.
[MUSIC] Make sure you lift,
jump a little bit, drop.
You need a little bit of air before every drop down.
Okay? Let's add your left hand to that figure.
So here, we're in the A flat pattern.
Starting from the top here, ready, and [MUSIC]
Lift, drop, drop.
Drop as much as you can and then back to the B flat.
[MUSIC] Now we're gonna drop to a three.
[MUSIC] Three, then one, and we're gonna
use a third finger to help us reposition here.
The reason I'm using this is because I need to gradually move my
hand to a lower position to get ready for this next section.
So we're changing the fingering here of the trill.
And the trill's a little bit different because it comes a little bit early.
So here we're gonna drop to a three.
And here, relax your fingers.
Just let them wiggle.
You're gonna drop the three.
Drop to the one.
Five.
Two.
And we return to the opening theme again.
Okay? Let's put that in context from this scale.
[MUSIC] We're gonna drop on twos.
Twos.
Two.
Two.
And then this is gonna be different, four, now drop to the three.
And your thumb is a naturally heavy finger.
Drop on it.
So the thumb's meant to be kind of a rhythmic anchor and
also to remind you that we're changing the pattern.
Instead of doing two, two, two, we're going three one and
then transitioning down.
So that's how that works, and that's the logic behind that fingering.
I'm using my body both as a memory aid to remember, the notes are different, and
as kind of rhythmic anchor points.
So again, let's take it from the scale.
Switch to the A flat.
Drop.
Draw.
Drop.
Back to the B flat.
Now three, oops, excuse me.
Drop to the thumb, reposition down.
Now we're back at the beginning.
[MUSIC] Same thing happens here,
scale back up.
Just repeat, and then two again, two, two, two.
[MUSIC] Okay so
now here things are gonna turn around.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] All right, let's take a quick look at how
the right hand changes here the second time around.
Remember we did a three the first time?
Here, I'm changing the fingerings to remind you,
that the notes are gonna change directions so no trill here, no trill here and
then we're gonna use a second finger to trill this, okay?
So one more time from measure 19.
[MUSIC] Drop the two, drop the two again,
relax, lift them up, drop your two again.
So, two, two, two.
[MUSIC] Two, two, two.
Come under.
Okay? So, let's play that with your left hand
right there, on measure 19 and, one, two [MUSIC].
Drop, drop, drop.
Okay, I hope you can see how the drop helps you play quicker,
because you're gonna be using the rebound energy of that drop.
And just wiggle your fingers.
Again, you don't have to apply any specific strength,
you don't have to stop your hands by using extra muscles.
Just move the fingers just like you would do, like hey,
toodle-oo if you're waving to your friend.
Use those muscles to move those fingers for the trill.
The first finger is locked with your arm and your dropped wrist.
And the rest is just toodles.
Okay, move your fingers by themselves.
[MUSIC] Drop.
Drop.
Okay now, let's take a look at the next sequence and
pull it apart, because it gets a little complicated.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] Let's quickly take
a look at the left hand.
I've arranged this so that we really can focus on the right hand and
not worry too much about the left hand.
We're just playing some basic accompaniment,
the waltz accompaniment figure.
So let's just take a look briefly at what we're dealing with with the left hand.
D flat, [SOUND] and then D flat on top, [SOUND] and A flat here [SOUND].
And then you can jump to, these two will stay the same, and
then you're going to jump to this F [SOUND].
Two options you have, you can either do [SOUND] with the four, if you like.
Or you can do this with a three [SOUND],
really it's totally up to you, whatever you feel comfortable with.
Okay? Four if you'd like [SOUND].
And that happens twice.
So let's add the right hand to all that, start with the right hand alone.
[MUSIC] And then
[MUSIC]
Two.
[MUSIC] Three, and
then the left hand comes in here.
[MUSIC] Now what happens is
we play our scale on the right hand.
[MUSIC] Remember I had you play a little bit of
that scale to start this piece.
[SOUND] So what's gonna happen is, we're gonna continue on [SOUND] three,
put your thumb [SOUND] on the white key.
[SOUND] And instead of playing this A flat, we're
gonna [SOUND] skip to the B flat here [MUSIC].
Skip the A flat and go right to the B.
Okay? That's how that scale goes.
[MUSIC] And because of the shape of the black
keys, and the fact that your thumb is shorter than your other fingers [SOUND],
it's much easier to play this scale.
Your fingers will naturally hit these black keys and your thumb doesn't
have to reach out for them [SOUND] if you have you're using the right fingering.
So this is gonna be the next notes as we add that in.
So let's just start where the hands come together.
[MUSIC] And the scale begins and
then here the left hand's gonna switch.
The left hand's gonna switch to a new pattern [SOUND].
A flat here [SOUND] and then E flat [SOUND].
Keep the same top two notes.
A flat [SOUND].
And then you repeat that.
Now let's take a look at how the right hand continues.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] All right, so
let's take a look at the right hand.
[MUSIC] Now we're starting this sequence that's
gonna climb a little bit at a time, ready?
First we have a triplet, so one, triplet, duple, okay?
And there's an E natural there, watch out for that.
[MUSIC] And then regular duples,
[MUSIC]
and then you reach up, okay.
And I like to lead with my second finger, so
we're gonna have this triplet on the second finger in this pattern here.
[MUSIC] And
we're gonna reach up with the four, okay?
So, you understand how that works?
We have two similar patterns with this triplet, then eighths,
triplets, then eighths, triplets, [MUSIC]
eighth,
[MUSIC] eighth, [MUSIC]
triplets,
[MUSIC] eighths, [MUSIC]
okay?
Now, what's interesting here is this is a turn around, to take the scale.
[MUSIC] Going down.
Okay? [MUSIC] What we need to do is we need to kind
of [MUSIC]
find a way to connect from here to here,
cuz we need to have the fourth finger start in that three black key group.
So it's a little bit of an awkward turn around.
[MUSIC] Don't spend too much time holding
onto this cuz you really need to just move through,
you can just jump off if you need to.
So you might wanna practice this transition.
[MUSIC] It's gonna feel very weird.
You're going to feel like you're squeezing pretty tightly here.
[MUSIC] Don't worry about holding too long.
The whole thing is gonna be speed, so you can let go of notes,
it's just a bridge note.
[MUSIC] Get it out of the way.
And then we're playing the scale coming down.
[MUSIC] All the way to a C.
Do you see how I'm using that black keys?
F, C, F, C natural, and then it turns around.
Put the pinky up here.
[MUSIC] And then we're
gonna do a scale coming back up, starting on the G natural.
And then a scale.
[MUSIC] Okay.
Good. So the lot, we've just absorbed note wise.
Take a look at it carefully, and look at the fingerings that I've written
onto the music, that'll help you to navigate this smoothly.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] All right, if you recall in measure 20,
we just finished playing this A-flat major chord, okay.
Now we're gonna be moving up a little sequence of chord progressions here, okay.
So after the A-flat,
your fifth finger needs to move to a new position, A natural.
Okay and then you have these two notes, F and E-flat.
And I want you to climb up with the pinky, so the F stays the same.
And we're just kinda moving up the pinky and changing the chord there.
We're keeping the thumb in the same place.
[MUSIC] Okay, now you'll notice we're gonna insert
the G clef for the left hand because the notes are getting higher and higher.
It's just easier to write it that way.
So if you don't let that thrill you,
now after the D-flat, we're just moving up to a C.
And then the A-flat here.
Okay and then you can use your third finger and
just move the second finger over to complete that.
Let's do that sequence one more time.
Left hand, A natural, move the pinky.
Move to the C with the fourth finger.
Move up to an A-flat with your thumb, and then three to finish that.
All right?
Good, and then after that sequence we're gonna have some jumps coming down.
Go back in the F clef, bass clef.
Going to the G-flat.
And then going down to the A-flat here.
Now the A-flat remains, we're gonna do this little second here.
And then move to D-flat.
The way I want you to think of this after you do this,
I want you to think of this transition as a group.
[SOUND] And then an A-flat group, A-flat group, and a D-flat group.
That's the best way to quickly learn that and get that into your fingers.
Cuz your right hand's gonna be very busy.
We don't wanna spend too much mental energy in our left hand.
All right, let's put this together slowly, okay.
So if you, let's go back to measure 19, so we can incorporate some of that trill.
Right hand is playing a B-flat on top,
left hand is playing A-flat down here, okay?
Nice and slow.
[MUSIC] Drop for the trill, come under,
now we're gonna start the climb with the A natural here.
[MUSIC] Move to a peak here,
don't let the G clef throw you.
Go to the C.
[MUSIC] Third finger here.
[MUSIC] Thumb, and
you're gonna have to kind of reach over with the fourth finger.
[MUSIC] A-flat, stay in the A- flat.
[MUSIC] D-flat.
[MUSIC] And then we're gonna go to a one, and
an A natural here, okay?
Let's review that one more time.
This time with fewer pauses.
Measure 19, here we go.
And
[MUSIC]
Drop.
[MUSIC] Good,
now we're gonna go,
basically it's a repeat
of what we'd just done
a few measures ago.
Triplet, but we're gonna do a little turnaround here.
One, three, two.
So that we get back to here.
[MUSIC] See?
Chord progression left hand.
[MUSIC] Use your second finger,
drop into this triplet.
[MUSIC] Now instead of a D-flat,
we're gonna reach up for an F, a high F, okay.
And then we're gonna play the scale down.
[MUSIC] I put a fifth finger there cuz it's easier
to reach up to there from, this is the highest finger you have here.
But I wanna compress the fingering coming down so that,
instead of using a four here, I wanna use a three.
[MUSIC] And that puts me into a nice fingering,
fourth finger on the B-flat, come down with the scale.
Now here we're gonna do a turnaround, so
use a third finger instead of a fourth finger.
Now we're gonna use an E natural.
[MUSIC] And
then three, one.
So let's review that from measure 29 with a turnaround, thumb on an F.
E natural, here.
Turn around with a three, two, one.
[MUSIC] Now reach for an F here.
[SOUND] Three.
[MUSIC] Use the third finger here and now.
[MUSIC] Okay?
Then the rest of it is just a repeat and we'll go over that in just a second.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] So let's take it from
the scale coming down.
This is measure 5, 4, 3, pick up the measure 33,
the pinky going to the E flat, E with the 3.
[MUSIC] Third finger here.
[MUSIC] Now, I want you to jump to an F
with your second finger,It's tied.
You hear how the triplet came out of the tie, this comes by itself.
The left hand is the beginning of the triplet.
[MUSIC] And you continue on, same sequence.
[MUSIC] The four, one,
four, coming down.
Fourth finger here.
Third finger here.
G natural.
Okay, your thumb here, turn around.
[MUSIC] It's the same thing to the end.
F.
Three, two, one, then D, two, one.
Third finger.
Third finger.
[MUSIC] So
it's just the same as the second portion, just repeated all over again.
So, make sure when you play this, try as often as you can,
as soon as you get these sections learned, try to go through the whole thing, and
really concentrating on playing as fast as you can.
But anytime you stop, if you feel like you have to stop someplace,
I want you to practice right before it, and then right after it.
To smooth out all your connections, remember pot hole practicing?
This is gonna definitely apply as you learn this piece.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] As with a lot of songs,
this piece is made up of four
measure phrases, or groups.
So it can be very easy to get into the trap of practicing four measures and
then stopping.
Another four measures then stopping.
That's okay, but I wanna encourage you as often as possible, bridge those groupings.
Don't just stop at the end of four measures.
Go four measures and a beat.
Go four measures or
go five measures and then go to the measure previous to lead into it.
Like I said, that pothole practicing technique that we've been doing
throughout this entire series,
is really going to become critically helpful with learning this piece.
Especially if you want to get it up to speed.
The key things for speed are eliminating any hesitations.
Eliminating any pauses, mental pauses, physical pauses,
so you want to work out all the technical kinks as smoothly as you can.
So, I would rather have you play larger, excuse me,
larger sections without breaks at a slower tempo, than
smaller sections at a really fast tempo but what we have to stop all the time.
So find a speed where you can play through
as large a section as possible without stopping.
And then of course your goal is, find a speed that's slow enough that you can play
all the way through with a minimum of stoppage, and
then from there you can start to build up your speed.
It's not a very long piece, so you should be able to do it and
take care of it comfortably, so take your time, but again, interweave the sections.
Don't just stop and just constantly practice that stopping point.
Always work through it, okay?
[MUSIC]