[...] In speaking of repeated hand movement, I come to the chapter that interests pianists so much -- octaves.
I personally consider octaves one of the easiest parts of technique, but most pianists are either awfully proud if they have good octaves or awfully jealous if someone else has better ones.
They don't speak of music but of octaves. No one would play a melody twice as fast as it should go only because he can;
But it happens, even with good performers, that when they see ( Anm. Olli: SEE, nicht HEAR ) octaves they go crazy and play them as fast as they can. They put them in a display window -- look what octaves I have !
Many people play polonaises, for instance, very fast, which is wrong because a polonaise is a dance of kings, and kings behave majestically and don't run. (They run away sometimes, but that's another thing.) :D:D
There ARE times when loud, fast octaves are required. What is the recipe for this ?
Some say with HAND, some say with ARM, some say with FINGERS; but whatever method you choose, it is good only for one particular type of octaves.
As with everything in playing, octaves can be of different kinds, dynamically and also as to position -- chromatic, jumping, etc. -- and each kind requires a different approach.
If we must establish some general rule about octaves, it is not to lose the FLEXIBILITY of our WRIST. There are differing opinions which suggest more use of arm in octave playing; this, of course, DECREASES that flexibility. A British teacher and author, Mr. Ching, writes that a Liszt contemporary testified that when Liszt played octaves he looked as if he were shaking cards from his sleeves and so must have been using his arms.
Such observations are unreliable; I could shake cards from my sleeves in a different manner to demonstrate my own way of playing octaves. At all events, this arm school of octave playing uses the so-called oblique touch, pushing the entire arm forward on each octave. Being an arm movement, this is SLOWER than if we were to keep the WRISTS FLEXIBLE. Another THREAT to this FLEXIBILITY is the fear that we will NOT hit octaves, but SEVENTHS or NINTHS, a FEAR which STIFFENS our HANDS.
A certain TENSION is all right, but TOO MUCH PARALYZES US and we are FORCED to use the forearm or arm.
Why do we do this ? It is ANOTHER of the MANY OVER-ESTIMATIONS of DIFFICULTY under which we constantly labor.
Actually, THE OCTAVE DISTANCE should be VERY FAMILIAR to us, we use it SO OFTEN. And so far as our HAND is concerned, NO TWO OCTAVES ARE THE SAME SIZE.
Of course, if you measure each on with a tape measure it will be the same, but since with each octave the position of our hands in relation to our body changes, the necessary REACHES are NOT THE SAME ; Only if the keyboard were CONSTRUCTED IN A SEMICIRCLE would they be the same.
So we shouldn't become FASCINATED with KEEPING THE "SIZE" OF AN OCTAVE WITH OUR HANDS. It is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT TO REMAIN FLEXIBLE.
Now the main ingredient ( Anm. Olli: denkt an den Bäcker ;) ) of an octave cake is HAND.
It is one of the RARE CASES where FINGERS are NOT SO ACTIVE, except in the case of more or less chromatic octaves where fourth and fifth fingers can alternate.
If We exclude this case, however, the HAND is the main thing, since octaves are staccato, each one being necessarily abandoned for the next, and for staccato things it is good to
use mostly HAND. If they are not exceedingly loud, the hand fits its role very well.
As soon the octaves become louder, we have to use some added force; then I would use the forearm. But ( and this is very important ) not as stiff single unit with the hand -- only to help throw the hand into the keys, and then to receive impact.
[...]
You would probably like to ask whether or not it is an absolute law to use fourth finger on black key octaves. There IS NO SUCH LAW; it has to be decided from case to case and PERSON TO PERSON. Of course with fourth finger we need less arm; but the OBLIQUE POSITION of the hand is sometimes less favourable. FOR PEOPLE WITH SMALL HANDS I WOULD SUGGEST TO AVOID IT.
And when we have ONLY black key octaves, it is nonsense to use exclusively the fourth.
[...]
Ich muss doch mehr darauf achten bei Oktaven!
