# Piano Technique Help



## CatRuby (Mar 29, 2013)

I am very new to this forum, but I have a question:

I am a young piano student and one of the pieces I am working on right now is Chopin's Waltz #19 in A Minor Op. Posth..
I am having difficulty with the rubato, as I have had limited exposure to the romantic era in the past. Could I have some advice on how much rubato to apply, where, etc.?


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

You can try asking in the Instrument & Technique forum below.


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## Feathers (Feb 18, 2013)

CatRuby, I would recommend listening to some recordings or watching some videos of the piece (or other pieces by Chopin) to familiarize yourself with the effect of rubato first.

The Waltz in A Minor is beautiful, simple, and a great place to start practicing rubato. However, try not to exaggerate or focus on the rubato too much, since that could make your playing sound impatient and overdone, especially for a little waltz like the A Minor waltz.

I'm not really good at explaining how rubato works, but I think one of the keys is to pay close attention to phrasing and try to emphasize it without throwing away the basic rhythmic pulse. Notice how the tension in the waltz builds up when the melody ascends and relaxes when the notes fall gracefully with a gentle release of tension. As you get more "excited" when the melody ascends or builds up tension, speed up slightly, and as the melody/harmony stabilizes or resolves, slow down slightly. If you come across a delicate part of the phrase, you can "lag behind" a little to "stay in the moment" a little longer.

Also, you can try extending the second beat of each measure just a little, for it is characteristic of Chopin's waltzes. However, overdoing this would make it sound like a syncopated....limping...dance thing.

Anyways, I hope my clumsy/vague descriptions don't mess you up or make your playing too mechanical. Here's a video you can listen to as reference:


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## CatRuby (Mar 29, 2013)

Thank you, I appreciate it!


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## Feathers (Feb 18, 2013)

No problem, I hope it helped.


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