Etude in C: B Section, Left Hand

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and in this lesson we're going to learn the left hand part for the B section

for "Etude in C" by Albert Biehl. Let's get started by checking out the score.

So once again we're here in the B section from measure nine to the end,

but checking out the left hand part today.

What can you tell me about what the left hand is doing?

You'll notice each measure is a descending one octave scale.

This one starts on C,

and then what note do we start on in measure ten?

If you said a B, you're correct, and then let's keep going tell me the letters. What's this one?

An A, and then G. Now we're going down one step at a time.

Each new measure is starting one step lower. We start on F.

Now, looking forward see where and if the pattern ever breaks. Can you find it?

Point to where the pattern breaks.

If you're pointing here, you found it! We go on down to an E, down to a D. All one octave scales until this time we're down on, can you tell me the letter name for this note?

This is a low C two octaves below. Here's middle C, bass C, low C.

And then what notes do we see here?

I see a skip up, skip up, so that forms our C major Triad with an extra C on top.

So once again we've got a C arpeggio back down to low C4, our ending.

Now, one thing I'd like to draw your attention to is the fingering. Fingerings are so important as you're learning these pieces, which are going to start getting more advanced.

We have a finger 1 to start off, and then since we're just stepping down we know we'll use finger 2 and then 3,

then our finger 1 sneaks under for 1 2 3 4 5 to finish out the one octave.

One octave remember, has eight notes. Five fingers plus three fingers covers all eight notes. That fingering

continues, continues, continues, until here notice something. This time we have a 4. We're going to use four fingers: 1 2 3 4,

and then why do we do this? That 4 is so important here because if you just did a 3 you would make it down to this D,

and then you would be out of fingers, but look we need to go one more note lower this time.

We need to not only do this one octave scale from D to D,

then we need to go one more note down to C. So we actually have nine

notes in a row all stepping down, which is why we need to use four fingers first, then plus five more.

Four plus five is nine, so we get all nine notes going down. One, two, three, four, then your thumb sneaks under down to five.

Let's check out how to do this on the piano.

So let's start here in measure 15. Left hand finger 1 is on D,

and we're going to use four fingers, 1 2 3 4, and then our thumb

or finger 1 comes under for five more notes. One, two, three, four, five.

Okay, so we're doing actually one octave plus one extra note to get us all the way down to low C

for the start of measure 16.

So we start on D, finger 1. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5, and then let's stop there on the first note of measure sixteen.

Pause, and I'd like you to practice measure 15 going all the way down to the first note of measure 16. The fingering is essential.

You have to get the fingering right for it to count. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5. Pause to work on that, then press play to go on.

Then once you make it down to that low C, we start a C major arpeggio,

and the correct fingering for that is 5 4 2 1, back down to 5.

Remember to keep your hand relaxed and glide through those notes.

Don't hold your hands stiffly to play them. Glide. 1, I'm sorry, 5 4 2 1 5. 5 4 2 1 5. Pause the video and work on that arpeggio

a few times with your left hand, then press play to go on.

Now let's put measures 15 and 16 together. The fingering again is critical.

Make sure you're playing with the correct notes and correct fingerings. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 4 2 1 5.

Pause and work on those two measures on your own, then press play to go on.

I like to remind my students that slow is fast. So sometimes going really slowly at first will help you get it correct faster than if you practice fast. So remember, slow is fast as you're learning these new sections.

Now, fortunately we've tackled the hardest part

with that tricky fingering. So let's back up and look at the rest now. So this is our standard one octave scale fingering.

Going down 1 2 3, thumb sneaks under.

So we're doing a group of three notes, and then a group of five notes. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5.

Now you try measure nine.

Good, and then we come back and start on a B down an octave,

up to A, dow ...