Chopin Waltz Op.70 No.1 (version 1) P. Barton, FEURICH 218 piano

▼For PRACTICE TIPS see below▼ This video is for a viewer who asked for Chopin’s Waltz Op.70 No.1 in an overhead keyboard because she was having difficulty playing bars 16-32 and asked for tips.

Firstly, look at Chopin’s Prelude 24. The left hand has huge energetic leaps. The solution to playing them is to hold down a pivot note in the middle of the leap.

You can do the same thing in this waltz. For example, in bar 2, (* note - I’m not counting the lead-in as a bar) the pivot note is D flat (RH) so hold it down and swing between the lower G flat and upper B flat.

When it comes to bars 19, use the pivot note as the middle A flat, hold it, swing down to play middle C, still holding let the wrist swing upwards towards the upper A flat. At some point you have to release the pivot A flat as your hand leaps upwards, but just holding it for a fraction of a second guides your wrist on its journey and can make all the difference.

Also, when practicing it helps to accent the middle G in bars 19, 20, 23, and when they repeat. This repeated G is an easy note to loose making those leaps. *Accenting the G is for practice, not performance.

Lastly, we can discover performance traditions in the Chopin Waltzes through archive and modern recordings here on YouTube. Some pianists today are experimenting and occasionally look back for inspiration to the days when making personalized interpretations was commonplace. For example, Cziffra adds a very deep bass A flat in bass at the end of the repetition in the 16-32 section, and other bass ideas in the B section. Listen here (*available at time of posting this video):    • Chopin Valse in G flat major, op.70 n...  

As this Waltz is made up (ingeniously) of just a few good ideas repeated, contrasting touch is an important way we can give variety to the repeats. For example, sometimes (not always, depends on mood) I like to add a darker bass in bars 16-32 especially as I like the deep bass on my piano. It’s a matter of personal taste.

Free sheet music PDF download at the IMSLP Music Library:
https://goo.gl/dTUwDw

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