Piano technique secrets: how to make the opening chords of Tchaikowsky concerto juicy and clangorous
In the original chordal passage (m. 5 and following), we avoided placing the hands on the next chord prematurely – this would create an extra movement that cuts the musical line. You may be tempted to do just that in order to be sure of your notes. This is “sight-reader’s syndrome”: get there early in order to be sure you’ve got there! But resist the temptation: hang on to each chord as long as possible to juicen up the tone. Physically feeling the duration of each clangorous chord by staying in the key bottoms will enrich its tone immeasurably. Then when you finally do leave the chord, don’t tense your hands in the effort to form them to the shape of the next one. Instead, leave them loose and let them move into that shape in the instant you are already entering the keys. It’s a series of very delicate adjustments that takes place constantly even amongst all the effort and brouhaha of this thunderous concerto opening. You can further cultivate this feeling of really joining the chords physically, eliminating any movement that would break that join, by playing without the sustain pedal, using your fingers to create the impression that there is no air at all between the chords but a continuous flow of sound, as if the sustain pedal was being used.
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