andker333
New member
Hi I am new to this site. I wondered whether anyone had some insight into fingering for Rach. piano playing. I have a teacher who wants me to learn the Rhapsody without pedal and make it as smooth as possible using fingering that would not be necessary if the pedal could be used to overcome leaps of a 10th etc. She then says that the pedal is later introduced very sparingly, not as a kind of first line of defence.
I can understand Bach without the pedal given the instrument he was writing for. But with Rach., he was writing for an instrument similar to what we use and the pedal is crucial? Shouldn't we use the pedal to help with the playing, rather than having contorted fingerings with just a touch of pedal. (Of course, fingering generally is important).
Is my teacher being overly strict? She says that you can hear when someone does not have their fingering right and uses the pedal to smudge.
Hope to hear from you.
I can understand Bach without the pedal given the instrument he was writing for. But with Rach., he was writing for an instrument similar to what we use and the pedal is crucial? Shouldn't we use the pedal to help with the playing, rather than having contorted fingerings with just a touch of pedal. (Of course, fingering generally is important).
Is my teacher being overly strict? She says that you can hear when someone does not have their fingering right and uses the pedal to smudge.
Hope to hear from you.