Reprised this to remind me how to approach double 3rds practice. Makes a lot of sense, very easy to understand. "Teach your hand to learn to be able to...." Bravo!
With you it's no doubt a natural gift. Often good players are not great teachers. You are also a fine person, who we feel really wants to help. We appreciate your efforts.
You are the foremost teacher of techniques online that I have ever encountered. You explain the specifics with a most rational detail. Sequential steps toward a goal. At once you demonstrate with your hands/body parts so that we can see exactly how it's done. Your talk backs up the reality of what you'r showing. Also, love the little interruptions which keep us in good humor, a relaxing moment, keeps us sloghtly off guard; we get it. Thank you.
Brilliant! I love it when I encounter pianist who are not only skilled, but also really understand the physicality of their skill AND are great at teaching it! Thank you very much! 🙌🏾💜
THANK YOU for this excellent and informative tutorial. I hope that one day you might make one double SIXTHS as well. The Chopin etude on double sixths has been a source of frustration for me especially on how to address the molto legato marking. Many pianists seem to detach it slightly. Again many thanks.
Thank you for the comprehensive tutorial Denis, I've been struggling with the double thirds in the coda of Chopin Ballade no. 4. Will definitely have a go with your tips. Keep up the great work!
Your videos seem to have the best explanation/demonstration of wrist movement I’ve seen so far on RUclips. I always read about wrist rotation to avoid over exerting the fingers but rarely see it demonstrated well. Many thanks for these videos.
I don’t remember exactly what I was telling in this particular video and whether my explanation was fully precise in terms of choosing the words, but also please keep in mind that there are wrist movements and a forearm rotation (not the same thing), they are different, although both help us reducing tension.
Very useful and well done as usual, sir. I'm getting embarrassingly proficient with your methodologies and technical insights. Have you studied Taubman or Sandor?
This is such a great lesson! Definitely the most helpful video on double thirds on youtube, and there are many. My thirds have improved so much over the last two days of working on this material. I still struggle with synchronization of the notes, though much less than before. Do you have any ideas about how to make sure I always strike both notes and exactly the same time? I find that keeping my wrist and arm loose and mobile makes a big difference, but I still make errors, especially going from fingers 2-4 to 3-5. Thanks for posting this excellent content for us!
Thanks for a nice review! Try to assign the weight of the hand on fingers 2-3, lean towards these stronger fingers. Fingers 4-5 are lighter. Also, rhythmical learning often helps to strengthen the fingers and make them more precise. There is a special video about a dotted rhythm learning in my tutorials playlist.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thanks for responding, and so promptly too. I will definitely try what you suggested, I have a feeling it will help because often I am very tense when playing with the weaker fingers 4 and 5 and it is probably part of my problem with synchronizing the notes. Looking forward to watching your other videos too.
Hello There, thank you very much for this instructional demonstration on double thirds. It was very clear and concise and just done extremely well. May I ask the year and model K. Kawai you have, as the piano sounds superlative and majestic. This is also due to your playing of course! I am eyeing a K. Kawai or Yamaha baby grand for future purchase. Although this would be done the road a little bit. Thank you and much continued success. Anthony
RX-5, it’s not exactly a baby grand since it’s 197cm long. Unfortunately, baby grands don’t sound really impressive because their strings are shorter. If choosing between a used larger or new smaller piano, I’d probably go for a larger, but arranging a good piano technician to have a look at it first. Good luck!
Brilliant, as always. I'm also astonished with the production quality. Are you using some kind of analog reverb machine to get that nice natural reverb?
Thanks Not really, just an Altiverb 7 plugin. But you have to put it not on the track itself, but create an additional FX track for this plugin, so that you reverb not the whole main track, but only a small part of it that is being redirected to the FX track with the reverb. Don’t know if it’s clear what I mean, that’s one of a very few things about sound production I could learn from my friend sound engineer😂
I don’t have the score, but judging from what I hear in the recording, it might help to first learn how to play one third on the movement “in” the keyboard, especially when using fingers 2-4, and the next one out of the keyboard, using fingers 3-5. More about the concept of in and out movements you can learn from my recent video on Hanon, and go google some Taubman method videos on this topic. Hope that helps!
I thought it was a shame I had no piano teachers in my area like you.. Since, I wanted someone that is this well versed in music theory, notation, and had a great taste in music. But.. I realized you teach online as well! I study about classical music practically every solitary day; however, I more so learn the pieces by listening to every possible interpretation from the titans of piano to complete amateurs and even synthesia videos. All the while studying the history and backgrounds of the composers/ the reason they composed the pieces, or how. I practice the music without a score because I literally don’t know how to read sheet music. I want to take this serious and go to a conservatory eventually and playing the music I love is a priority (albeit they aren’t simple compositions.) I created this barrier from being to do so, by not learning music theory.. or how to read notes. But, I’ve also gotten a weird innate connection with my instrument that I think I wouldn’t have had, if I didn’t take this approach (since I’m a self taught pianist.) I started my fascination with classical about 4 years now, same time I started to tackle playing this music. Sorry for the novel, ultimately I just want to learn theory and how to read music beyond the basic intro. I have hundreds of sheet music books I’ve been acquiring off auctions online of my favorite composers. I have even gotten myself a semi-concert grand piano off Facebook Marketplace (it’s an immaculate beauty.) This has consumed my life and I think I want to take it to the next level. I do have things to attend to until early March, but after then.. I was curious if you would consider taking me as a student online for enough lessons? I’d love for you introduce me to these things properly. Locally, piano teachers aren’t built like this (by a long shot.) You’re a true gem. I like your approach on the importance of your muscles and potential injury. You say things that most pianists never think of and for that alone, I know you’re the right teacher for me.. even if it means me not being able to physically have you here (which I always insisted on.) Again, I appreciate your time and efforts to create this content. You’re helping many people transcend further in their studies, and at the benefit of just being a good person - and sharing the knowledge. Take care, and hope to hear from you soon! - Chris V.
Side note: I’m currently practicing Chopin - Prelude No. 16 in B-flat Minor, Op. 28 at the moment and I just completed the notes. I’m working on getting it up to tempo. I have 10 days until the online recital I was going to submit it for, but I’m worried I might not get it to a respectable tempo by then. I surely have tension in some sections. But, if you could have a word of advice in this I’d appreciate that, as well. Thanks!
Thanks for the story, nice to see passionate people around My advice - change the piece and pick up something else for your upcoming recital. This piece is among those ones, which you first master, and then - if succeeded - include them into the program of any performances.
@@DenZhdanovPianist I’ve been working on it for months, not quite sure if I could learn something in depth before then :( I can send you video of my progress on Instagram and maybe you could tell me if that is still your opinion? I did learn a few sections just a couple days ago, but if I work 6+ hours a day on it I think I might be able to do it with split up targeted practice.
Oh okay I thought you have just learned the notes so it had to be recent. Well good luck then! I can provide you with an opinion, but it would be too subjective, because in order to come up with a resolution can you or can’t finalize the piece in 10 days I would need to know how quickly you are able to make progress. You are supposed to know this better then me!
@@DenZhdanovPianist Well, I took your advice and just learned Prelude No. 20 in place of No. 16. Notes are completed, therefore, I should now have enough time to work on the dynamics. Thank you, that’s a big amount of stress relief and in 3 months for the next recital I should definitely have No. 16 polished off by then. Cheers!!
It’s written in the score. Reg. fingering - there are some variants based on the common sense. NB: Many editions provide editor’s fingering suggestions for less experienced piano players.
Yes and no. For double trills grouping like this would definitely help, but it’s important to start from breaking them in pairs and building movements “in” and “out” the keyboard. One third moving the hand in the keyboard (wrist down), another - out (wrist up). I hope to cover it more in detail sometimes.
@denis zhdanov Denis i have a question for you. I have fast fingers but when i play virtuoso etudes by Chopin and Liszt my hands tired terrible, i could not solve this problem and could you advice anything??
Looks like you play with some static tension in your hands. You might want to find a teacher who is really good in efficiency and physiology of piano playing, or at least get some video courses, like my course on Hanon exercises where I explain many efficient piano playing strategies: ruclips.net/video/76gVBrwNx08/видео.htmlsi=A3VAPUCPJa4dg54M
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thanks for answer, In Georgia/Tbilisi i could not find teacher who helps me to solve this problem. Could we take one lesson to exactly determine my problem? P.s will show it tour Hannon Thanks dear
They should probably look very sad and lonely. And if to speak seriously here might be a weird mixture of terms like double notes, double stops, thirds. I am wondering also why there is such a mess with this term that nobody can explain, and as far as I have understood, when you play thirds in just one hand it supposed to be called just thirds, while term double thirds should apply when you play such thirds scales in both hands. But also in Russian people often call “double thirds” any one-hand passages that contain thirds, so here I was just following a common habit although it is most probably not exactly correct from a linguistic point of view.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Ha! Thanks for the reply. It's a term that constantly irritates me because if you play octaves in succession, no one calls them "double octaves" or if you play a bunch of 6th in a row, no one calls them "double 6ths" etc. But play 3rds in a row? Suddenly they are double and it makes zero logic sense. They are just THIRDS. Not double.
Great video. My issue is with the SUPER FAST thirds of the last movement of Brahms’ B Flat Major Piano Concerto. (Where they are played in the right hand alone.) Many pianists appear to fluff over these runs where the last movement is played up to speed.
I was expecting this comment😏 This etude deserves a special tutorial that I hope to make sometimes. However this video is focused on this type of technique in general, and provides learning tips that might be as useful for Chopin’s etude. But I would recommend to master at least 5 etudes from a list in the description before approaching op.25/6😉
@@borakaya6528 one day surely; however I have already analysed it's technical challenges... either in a video about the thumb or the one about arpeggios - don't remember for sure. You may check them out ruclips.net/video/OtFBifImYZ0/видео.html ruclips.net/video/WVPde08zDvU/видео.html
I hope you get a much broader audience. You're incredibly knowledgeable and great pianist!
Thanks😊
Denis is a great pianist and teacher two talents that don't necessarily go together
So awesome and detailed 🎉
Reprised this to remind me how to approach double 3rds practice. Makes a lot of sense, very easy to understand. "Teach your hand to learn to be able to...." Bravo!
With you it's no doubt a natural gift. Often good players are not great teachers. You are also a fine person, who we feel really wants to help. We appreciate your efforts.
You are the foremost teacher of techniques online that I have ever encountered. You explain the specifics with a most rational detail. Sequential steps toward a goal. At once you demonstrate with your hands/body parts so that we can see exactly how it's done. Your talk backs up the reality of what you'r showing. Also, love the little interruptions which keep us in good humor, a relaxing moment, keeps us sloghtly off guard; we get it. Thank you.
Brilliant! I love it when I encounter pianist who are not only skilled, but also really understand the physicality of their skill AND are great at teaching it! Thank you very much! 🙌🏾💜
I was looking for the fingering for chromatic thirds, and only you included written music with fingerings. Thanks. We all wish you great success.
THANK YOU for this excellent and informative tutorial. I hope that one day you might make one double SIXTHS as well. The Chopin etude on double sixths has been a source of frustration for me especially on how to address the molto legato marking. Many pianists seem to detach it slightly. Again many thanks.
Enjoy another of your wonderful lesson. Your sense of humor too. Entertaining, make me laugh. Thank you! 🤓🇺🇦👍
Thank you for the comprehensive tutorial Denis, I've been struggling with the double thirds in the coda of Chopin Ballade no. 4.
Will definitely have a go with your tips. Keep up the great work!
Your videos seem to have the best explanation/demonstration of wrist movement I’ve seen so far on RUclips. I always read about wrist rotation to avoid over exerting the fingers but rarely see it demonstrated well. Many thanks for these videos.
I don’t remember exactly what I was telling in this particular video and whether my explanation was fully precise in terms of choosing the words, but also please keep in mind that there are wrist movements and a forearm rotation (not the same thing), they are different, although both help us reducing tension.
Thank you ❤
You are a legend. Thank you for your massive contribution to my amateur piano journey!
Omg you r the best pianist&piano teacher ive ever seen on RUclips, thank you so much!!!❤
What an amazing in-depth lesson!! I hope to apply all that you have taught to my playing
This is amazingly taught! Thank you for sharing your knowledge on double thirds
Very useful and well done as usual, sir. I'm getting embarrassingly proficient with your methodologies and technical insights. Have you studied Taubman or Sandor?
I wish I had you as my Piano Teacher when I was a kid. I would not have given up
Playing the piano
It’s never late to start again!
Grazie.
You are genial , thanks a lot for posting !!!
Merci. This is out of my pay grade for the moment.
😅
very clear and well presented, thank you and congratulations!
What's funny is that I watched this video so I would be able to play that exact double thirds run in that Liszt piece.
This is such a great lesson! Definitely the most helpful video on double thirds on youtube, and there are many. My thirds have improved so much over the last two days of working on this material. I still struggle with synchronization of the notes, though much less than before. Do you have any ideas about how to make sure I always strike both notes and exactly the same time? I find that keeping my wrist and arm loose and mobile makes a big difference, but I still make errors, especially going from fingers 2-4 to 3-5. Thanks for posting this excellent content for us!
Thanks for a nice review! Try to assign the weight of the hand on fingers 2-3, lean towards these stronger fingers. Fingers 4-5 are lighter. Also, rhythmical learning often helps to strengthen the fingers and make them more precise. There is a special video about a dotted rhythm learning in my tutorials playlist.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thanks for responding, and so promptly too. I will definitely try what you suggested, I have a feeling it will help because often I am very tense when playing with the weaker fingers 4 and 5 and it is probably part of my problem with synchronizing the notes. Looking forward to watching your other videos too.
Great information in this video!
Top class teacher and pianist!
Very interesting, great examples as usual !
my fingers hurt watching this video!
Love this lesson! Gonna try that tomorrow
Wonderful, thank you! Bonus for the Will Ferrell i insert:)
High quality content, thanks :)!
Hello There, thank you very much for this instructional demonstration on double thirds. It was very clear and concise and just done extremely well. May I ask the year and model K. Kawai you have, as the piano sounds superlative and majestic. This is also due to your playing of course! I am eyeing a K. Kawai or Yamaha baby grand for future purchase. Although this would be done the road a little bit. Thank you and much continued success. Anthony
RX-5, it’s not exactly a baby grand since it’s 197cm long. Unfortunately, baby grands don’t sound really impressive because their strings are shorter. If choosing between a used larger or new smaller piano, I’d probably go for a larger, but arranging a good piano technician to have a look at it first. Good luck!
Excellent lesson. Really helpful. Thank you very much
Brilliant, as always. I'm also astonished with the production quality. Are you using some kind of analog reverb machine to get that nice natural reverb?
Thanks
Not really, just an Altiverb 7 plugin. But you have to put it not on the track itself, but create an additional FX track for this plugin, so that you reverb not the whole main track, but only a small part of it that is being redirected to the FX track with the reverb.
Don’t know if it’s clear what I mean, that’s one of a very few things about sound production I could learn from my friend sound engineer😂
A fabulous lesson; thank you!
Where is the list of pieces with broken thirds? I did not find them in the description. Thanks.
Great video, inspires me to take a look at the Lemoine and Liszt pieces ... "So much to think about ... " ... haha!
Can you show how to apply this technique to the double thirds in Vince Guaraldi's "Skating"?
I don’t have the score, but judging from what I hear in the recording, it might help to first learn how to play one third on the movement “in” the keyboard, especially when using fingers 2-4, and the next one out of the keyboard, using fingers 3-5. More about the concept of in and out movements you can learn from my recent video on Hanon, and go google some Taubman method videos on this topic.
Hope that helps!
I thought it was a shame I had no piano teachers in my area like you..
Since, I wanted someone that is this well versed in music theory, notation, and had a great taste in music.
But.. I realized you teach online as well!
I study about classical music practically every solitary day; however, I more so learn the pieces by listening to every possible interpretation from the titans of piano to complete amateurs and even synthesia videos.
All the while studying the history and backgrounds of the composers/ the reason they composed the pieces, or how.
I practice the music without a score because I literally don’t know how to read sheet music.
I want to take this serious and go to a conservatory eventually and playing the music I love is a priority (albeit they aren’t simple compositions.) I created this barrier from being to do so, by not learning music theory.. or how to read notes.
But, I’ve also gotten a weird innate connection with my instrument that I think I wouldn’t have had, if I didn’t take this approach (since I’m a self taught pianist.) I started my fascination with classical about 4 years now, same time I started to tackle playing this music.
Sorry for the novel, ultimately I just want to learn theory and how to read music beyond the basic intro.
I have hundreds of sheet music books I’ve been acquiring off auctions online of my favorite composers. I have even gotten myself a semi-concert grand piano off Facebook Marketplace (it’s an immaculate beauty.)
This has consumed my life and I think I want to take it to the next level.
I do have things to attend to until early March, but after then.. I was curious if you would consider taking me as a student online for enough lessons?
I’d love for you introduce me to these things properly.
Locally, piano teachers aren’t built like this (by a long shot.) You’re a true gem. I like your approach on the importance of your muscles and potential injury. You say things that most pianists never think of and for that alone, I know you’re the right teacher for me.. even if it means me not being able to physically have you here (which I always insisted on.)
Again, I appreciate your time and efforts to create this content. You’re helping many people transcend further in their studies, and at the benefit of just being a good person - and sharing the knowledge.
Take care, and hope to hear from you soon!
- Chris V.
Side note:
I’m currently practicing Chopin - Prelude No. 16 in B-flat Minor, Op. 28 at the moment and I just completed the notes.
I’m working on getting it up to tempo.
I have 10 days until the online recital I was going to submit it for, but I’m worried I might not get it to a respectable tempo by then.
I surely have tension in some sections.
But, if you could have a word of advice in this I’d appreciate that, as well.
Thanks!
Thanks for the story, nice to see passionate people around
My advice - change the piece and pick up something else for your upcoming recital. This piece is among those ones, which you first master, and then - if succeeded - include them into the program of any performances.
@@DenZhdanovPianist I’ve been working on it for months, not quite sure if I could learn something in depth before then :( I can send you video of my progress on Instagram and maybe you could tell me if that is still your opinion? I did learn a few sections just a couple days ago, but if I work 6+ hours a day on it I think I might be able to do it with split up targeted practice.
Oh okay I thought you have just learned the notes so it had to be recent. Well good luck then!
I can provide you with an opinion, but it would be too subjective, because in order to come up with a resolution can you or can’t finalize the piece in 10 days I would need to know how quickly you are able to make progress. You are supposed to know this better then me!
@@DenZhdanovPianist Well, I took your advice and just learned Prelude No. 20 in place of No. 16.
Notes are completed, therefore, I should now have enough time to work on the dynamics.
Thank you, that’s a big amount of stress relief and in 3 months for the next recital I should definitely have No. 16 polished off by then.
Cheers!!
At 3:35 how do you know when to cross your hands? In general, how do you know what fingering to use for the double thirds?
It’s written in the score.
Reg. fingering - there are some variants based on the common sense. NB: Many editions provide editor’s fingering suggestions for less experienced piano players.
Omg that anchorman quote 😂
Hi, thanks for a great tutorial. Does this technique also work for playing double third trills?
Yes and no. For double trills grouping like this would definitely help, but it’s important to start from breaking them in pairs and building movements “in” and “out” the keyboard. One third moving the hand in the keyboard (wrist down), another - out (wrist up). I hope to cover it more in detail sometimes.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Awesome, thank you🍻
Hi Denis. Your coverage of double thirds is very informative and valuable.. I really enjoy your video. Do you have a video on double-third trills?
@denis zhdanov Denis i have a question for you. I have fast fingers but when i play virtuoso etudes by Chopin and Liszt my hands tired terrible, i could not solve this problem and could you advice anything??
Looks like you play with some static tension in your hands. You might want to find a teacher who is really good in efficiency and physiology of piano playing, or at least get some video courses, like my course on Hanon exercises where I explain many efficient piano playing strategies:
ruclips.net/video/76gVBrwNx08/видео.htmlsi=A3VAPUCPJa4dg54M
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thanks for answer, In Georgia/Tbilisi i could not find teacher who helps me to solve this problem. Could we take one lesson to exactly determine my problem? P.s will show it tour Hannon Thanks dear
If playing thirds in sequence are "double thirds", what do single thirds look like?
They should probably look very sad and lonely.
And if to speak seriously here might be a weird mixture of terms like double notes, double stops, thirds. I am wondering also why there is such a mess with this term that nobody can explain, and as far as I have understood, when you play thirds in just one hand it supposed to be called just thirds, while term double thirds should apply when you play such thirds scales in both hands. But also in Russian people often call “double thirds” any one-hand passages that contain thirds, so here I was just following a common habit although it is most probably not exactly correct from a linguistic point of view.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Ha! Thanks for the reply. It's a term that constantly irritates me because if you play octaves in succession, no one calls them "double octaves" or if you play a bunch of 6th in a row, no one calls them "double 6ths" etc. But play 3rds in a row? Suddenly they are double and it makes zero logic sense. They are just THIRDS. Not double.
The linked page of double thirds exercises and etudes seems to be missing. Has this been moved, or is this on Patreon or Teachable now?
Sorry yes. I have changed the website and missed this page. Will try to fix it soon.
@@DenZhdanovPianist Thank you!
Most valuable information. Thank you. In the Middle Ages you would have been burnt for betraying secrets of the profession.
That’s inspiring, thanks!🫶
Great video. My issue is with the SUPER FAST thirds of the last movement of Brahms’ B Flat Major Piano Concerto. (Where they are played in the right hand alone.) Many pianists appear to fluff over these runs where the last movement is played up to speed.
Op.25 no.6 😥
I was expecting this comment😏
This etude deserves a special tutorial that I hope to make sometimes. However this video is focused on this type of technique in general, and provides learning tips that might be as useful for Chopin’s etude. But I would recommend to master at least 5 etudes from a list in the description before approaching op.25/6😉
@@DenZhdanovPianist can you make a tutorial for a chopin op 25 no 12.
@@borakaya6528 one day surely; however I have already analysed it's technical challenges... either in a video about the thumb or the one about arpeggios - don't remember for sure.
You may check them out
ruclips.net/video/OtFBifImYZ0/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/WVPde08zDvU/видео.html
@@DenZhdanovPianist It would be great to include op2 n3 Beethoven sonata 1st mvt as another example
Очень странно смотреть на своего соотечественника (100% знающего русский язык) и включить автоперевод))))))) а в целом спасибо за контент!)
I don’t know Enes Yilmazer can play piano.