Voicing & fingering
With
Annabel ThwaiteAnnabel Thwaite works through voicing and fingering for Danny Boy, using the little finger and plenty of pedal to keep the melody legato.
What's in the course
21 lessons (1h 0m) · 1 free
Lesson transcript
Lesson on Voicing and Textures
This is great for looking at textures and also voicing.
Focus on Voicing
We're going to look at the voicing first because it's actually quite hard.
- If you looked at the melodic line, that's very easy to play with one hand, but if you had all those chords underneath, it becomes more challenging.
- Often, it comes down to using the little finger.
You're trying to do a legato line with just the little finger.
Tips for Legato Playing
- You need a lot of pedal to overlap those notes and keep the melodic line nice and fluent.
- I'd recommend that you just play that melodic line with the fingering that you choose.
Fingering Suggestions:
- Try to use 4 and 5 or notes that are next to each other as much as you can.
- Overlap the 4 and 5, even 3 and 5, especially in bars 2 to 3.
If you can't do that, practice the exact fingering that you're going to use and sing along with it so that you're really aware of:
- What is bumping
- Where there's a leap
- Where you have to take a moment to prepare your note.
Example: The Pipes
For example, in the line "The pipes, the pipes are calling,"
- In bar three, the leap from D to G is quite a dangerous leap.
- Remember that we're always in a reflective, subtle, soft, and relaxed mood, so maintain no tension between reaching that interval and coming down again.
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Recognised as one of Britain's most versatile and charismatic pianists, Annabel Thwaite enjoys a diverse career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, educator and examiner, and has won all the major accompanying prizes, including the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier, Gold Medal, and Richard Tauber Piano Prizes. She has collaborated with renowned artists such as Roberto Alagna, Bryn Terfel, David Kempster and "Only Men Aloud!"
Annabel has recorded for Universal records with the "Scottish Tenor", whose album was nominated for a Classical Brit Award and is regularly played on Classic FM. Twice the accompanist for the Festival of Welsh Male choirs, her performances at the Royal Albert Hall were recorded by Sain and have been aired on S4C. She is also a film session pianist, having recorded at Abbey Road the music for the film "Awake", the BBC Jane Austen series "Emma", "The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister" and, most recently, she has appeared on both Blue Peter and "The Rob Brydon Show".
"...no doubt helped by the obviously brilliant piano accompaniments from Annabel Thwaite...highly enjoyable."
In her MusicGurus courses - Learn Christmas Classics on Piano, Learn Classical Favourites on Piano, and Growing Chamber Groups and Small Ensembles - Annabel shares the musicianship behind that versatile career. You will learn how to bring well-loved Christmas and classical pieces to life at the piano, develop your touch and phrasing, and, drawing on her award-winning experience as an accompanist, discover how to listen, lead and play together when making music with other musicians in chamber groups and small ensembles.
