PLACING IN SEQUENCE

[carl-swanson]

Another good example where placing in sequence is critical is the Glinka Nocturne. The arpeggios in the left hand are piano arpeggios, meaning that they double back on themselves. If you don’t place in sequence in the left hand on this piece, your constantly choking the sound by touching strings that have just been played. And because the left hand is playing down in the 4th and 5th octaves, there is a high risk of buzzing when replacing on these vibrating strings. So you have to replace, in sequence, at exactly the moment that another left hand note is being played.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

How about legato placing? Placing in sequence really sounds like something else, such as hand-over-hand placing, or in a predetermined pattern. But does it really need a special name?

[carl-swanson]

I’m not saying it needs a special name. I came up with placing in sequence to try to describe the technique. When I published my edition of Faure’s Une Chatelaine en sa tour( which requires placing in sequence throughout the entire piece) I used the term in my forward to describe the required technical skill.

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

In response to Kim, I totally agree that block placing is essential to learn from the beginning. But students notice when the teacher is doing something else, so, rather than letting them go off on their own to try something without my help, I teach them how to do both types of placing, but I never let them lose their hand and finger position or wrist stability. Generally, they still place 2 and 3 as a block with only the slightest delay before the last finger. You bring up another good point as well: how to place chords. I was taught to place the middle fingers first, since they are the longest fingers and the easiest to see, thus allowing the hand to be in the perfect position to approach the strings. But there are the occasional instances in which it is impossible to do this, because of musical considerations. I completely agree with you that it is imperative that students learn really solid technique, but this is another tool in the arsenal, along with trill techniques (a classic example of sequential placing), oscillation, etc.

[Anonymous]

There’s another technique which I suppose might be sequential placing of a sort.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

One can also place 432, and as you play 4, pivot to place 1. That way, if your hands are smaller, you are block placing with a modification. I also sometime place 431, but not the 2, though it may play one or two notes, in certain phrases, in other words, block placing 41, but omitting 2 or 3 until needed. Placing with exceptions. And then there is pretend placing, where your hand moves as though it is connecting from 4-1, say, but is just there waiting, not on the strings. You would use this if 1 has to play the same string as 4, or if you need to cross over 1234, 2 in a downward scale, or if the jump is too far to place, so you have to travel toward it, but thinking of it as placed.

[carl-swanson]

That certainly is an example of placing in sequence and a good reason to do it too. I think the whole point of this thread is that there are many reasons to learn sequential placing AFTER learning block placing really well.

[carl-swanson]

I frequently put great emphasis in the lesson on placing correctly, and tell the student to practice placing(in blocks). I tell them that, if they can place correctly, then it’s a snap to play correctly. Placing correctly, meaning being able to place, in blocks, without any correction or adjustment after the fingers have gone on the strings, is the first step in real advancement on the instrument. I tell the student, when trying to learn a problem area, to place, but don’t play, the notes in question. That puts all of the emphasis on getting the fingers positioned correctly on the strings. If they were to play the same difficult spot, they would more or less ignore the fact that the placing in that spot had problems. Once they can place the difficult spot in blocks with no problems, then they can start practicing playing the spot. The last step is to then place and play that spot, placing sequentially.

[unknown-user]

Thanks a lot, Carl.

Indeed I would avoid placing my fingures in advace if the strings I am going to place are still ringing, I think it is the same thing as you have mentioned. But you seem also suggesting to place in sequence even none of the strings is still ringing/vibrating. Is that what you mean? And do you still place in blocks here and there?

[carl-swanson]

Once the technique of placing in sequence is learned, you almost never, perhaps never, place in blocks. Even if the string you’re placing on is not vibrating, placing in sequence will frequently reduce or eliminate the chance of a buzz, if the string next to the one you are placing on is vibrating for example. Because my fingers are so thick, I have to frequently slightly alter my hand position to get a finger on a string without buzzing. The point is, the more advanced a player you are, the less your fingers are anchored to the strings. For someone just learning this technique of placing in sequence, it feels treacherous and accident prone. But it’s just a matter of getting used to it.

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