liebestraum no. 3 1st cadenza

[gritty crescent]

it is actually killing me like what do I do twin??? I'm using 2+4 and 3+1 fingerings except on the Db + Ab where I use 2+5 but I can't get it to flow smoothly (if that makes sense)

[fresh oriole]

Have u practiced slowly a lot & then gradually speed up

I use the same fingering of 2+4 and 3+1 for the whole passage

For the flow what I did was focus on the top note of each chord and really get the pattern down since it’s the same small sequence just repeated for several octaves

(The 2nd cadenza is the one that kills me, when u get to that plz give advice on how to conquer it if you find it easier; my teacher said most people do better w the 2nd one than the 1st)

[outer hawk]

A good practice philosophy for any difficult passage at the piano can be broken down into the following:

hand positions

transitions between them

finger independence

and tension management

You need exercises to address all of them individually. for this passage the difficulty in transition is the jump between the thirds in the right hand. You can practice the jump by itself by playing a dotted rhythm. and with every exercise you break the passage down into chunks.

Small and large. Finger independence is the main difficulty when excecuting the thirds themselves. I'd recommend practicing the different thirds combinations in the cadenza with a measured trill. Trying to make it fast, light, and even. There are tutorials on youtube for chopin's thirds etude that teach this exact technique in depth.

Of course we also have to manage tension, and there are a number of different ways to do this, and general exercises on youtube help the most to help you understand what playing without tension feels like. but one way is to play your exercises/the cadenza itself without actually pressing the keys. Instead just lightly grazing the keys with your hand. this gets your mind to think more about moving with precision, and less about pressure on the keys.