A lesson on Octave Technique: Chopin VS Liszt

In this detailed lesson I explain my approach to the octave technique, and share a learning strategy for two iconic but very different octave examples, from the Liszt's Rhapsody No. 6, and Chopin's Etude op.25 No.10

00:00 A strength oriented approach
01:31 My approach: basics
04:25 Hand positioning/stability in octave passages
07:44 Liszt Rhapsody No.6 learning strategy
09:30 Repeated octaves
11:40 Octave Leaps
13:02 Chopin Etude op.25 No.10
18:51 Legato Cantabile in Octaves: the middle section of op.25/10

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[thepianocornertpc]

You're absolutely right about the sometimes "dangerous" advice given by the guys from tonebase.

[MusicLover-oeig]

This is absolutely the best tutorial of the OCTAVE playing video, having smaller hands make playing it even more difficult. It is so inspiring to see a pro at work!! Thank you so much!!!

[lorenzomorgoni]

tricky octaves can be found in the second "Trockne Blumen" variation (Schubert), not so difficult like Liszt's but nevertheless demanding
also the sixth variation in this set has complicated, repeated leaps
oh and of course some passages in the Wanderer Fantasie
very interesting explanation of this technique :)

[thepianocornertpc]

In this video, we see a combination of Safanov's principle(octave and chords hidden in the hand till the very last moment when the hand opens in the gravity fall ) and Liszt's "Dead Hand" or Main Morte" technique. My teacher, 60 years ago was a student from Arthur De Greef who himself studied with Liszt. I still use the same approach, but I incorporate the forearm rotation as advocated by D. Taubman as well. No fatigue, outstanding accuracy and absolute control of tonal nuance and sonority. Maestro Zhdanov is a very knowledgeable pianist. To me, the best on YouTube.

[Lore_Piano]

Yes !! Thanks sir, that was what i needed now, i was just starting the Op.25 n.10. This free lessons are gold for me, keep up with this amazing videos. Now I'll practice with your methods 🤍
Good luck for your next works !

[worrellrobinson]

Congrats, well done Denis, great advice and tips for octave playing keep up the great work kind regards Mr W Robinson.

[francoisecot]

Bonjour un grand merci. Vos cours sont vraiment formidable. Votre approche technique des gestes pianistique est claire ce qui offre une efficace et plaisante pratique de mon travail chaque jour.

[aganst]

Fast octaves are very hard for me, I've been trying to play them with the wrist, thinking that it's the right way, but i have this constant pain in my hand that lasts for a few days after practicing. I finally know why. Thanks a lot, i love your channel and your courses, they've helped me a ton!

[TM-ii]

I've never heard anyone use this analogy, ever. This is brilliant.

[jakezepeda]

9:30 Perfect. I've been trying to learn a song with some triplet burts, but I am struggling greatly due to my hand size and general inexperience. I've been doing this "ricochet" just because it works the same for kick drums, but wasnt sure if it was "wrong" or would lead to unnecessary strain.
For some reason information on playing bursts of notes is very hard to find.

[stefaniacartapiano]

I broke my hand with this Rhapsody when I was 15 lol. That's so much needed!

[michaelharvey]

Bravo for this explanation! Do you think this is also the answer to anyone wanting to play octaves like Grynyuk or would you say there are other contributing factors to how he can play such fast octaves?

[homayousefzadeh]

Hi, thanks so much for your perfect tips.I didnt understand at the end of the video, what you meant by accented middle notes as you said in your opinion, in the bar five D, B, f#.(first page, No.22).thanks a lot.

[Piano_improvisations]

Idk I dont really like forearm action because after some minutes the forearm sometimes feel heavy if you played some pieces before that. I recommend and a book of liszt practice techniques Said by practicing you should variate between high and low wrist action so you just use your wrist. Thats also what concert pianist are doing modt of the time

[JG_]

Would you say that being in good physical shape makes playing octaves easier? I've noticed since I started lifting weights playing in general has become much easier, octaves in particular feel less taxing.

[athom]

I suspect that also applies to the Scriabing Prelude Op 11 No 18?

[homamellersh]

Sorry denis, the only comment I can leave is that I enjoyed watching your finger work although I am not at the level of playing Chopin 😢 .

[crazyRyoga]

Hi, maybe it's a silly question, but what finger is better to focus on when playing octaves? The thumb or the pink?

[Chopin]

3 key steps to playing octaves
1. Drop hand
2. Release tension
3. Don't have small hands
Palm size and finger length make a huge difference - with a small hand it is impossible to play octaves relaxed because you have to stretch your hand out to reach
Imagine your tenth is a small handed person's octave - now what is the technique to play tenths?

[vincentedelmond]

Chopin is making music Liszt is making hanonlike exercises