You know, I've experienced this problem too. I didn't play the piano hardly at all for almost 10 years and when I got a piano again, my first piece I wanted to play was the Liszt Dante sonata. Of course, the notes and all were there, but I couldn't play all the way through for a long while. All those little muscles needed time to get back in shape I guess. I can play it through now and seem to be getting stronger all the time.

Keep going ... it'll happen!!

Have you tried practicing in different rhythms?? I found it helped me a lot on the 10/4 Etude to build speed. (16 notes = 1 beat + triplet)

slower playing not slowly. many loops will build up your endurance just like the weight training....

I do skip a day fairly regularly to let my muscles rest, but I don't feel comfortable skipping every other day. I hope it's enough.



No, I haven't done that - I've practiced without pedal, I've practiced in spurts, for example: only the upward notes, and then only the downward notes; and then upward, pause, and come in on the second beat of the next measure through the upward, repeat. Stuff like that.

Find the fastest tempo that you could play the piece continually for 15 minutes without pain. That's your tempo.

What tempo is it Terez?

So if none of above can solve your pain... just play loud on piano..keep it going and let the bodys natural morphine to overcome that pain. And your problem will be solved. Sometimes it would be nice play hard and break the strings. When that happens, you know this is not the right piece for you.


you need a rest and good luck.....

Terez, have you found the tempo at which the pain begins?

Pete

No; I'm sort of busy trying to perfect the Bach for an early performance in a couple of weeks, so I'm only playing through it twice a day - once at warmup tempo and once at performance tempo. Calling the piece ABA form, I start to feel pain in the B section but it doesn't get really bad to the point that I can't play the right notes any more until the return of the A section.

Okay, take your time!

Have you tried moving the bench out just a little? If you are even just a little too close, the arm weight can work against you rather than for you.

Yes, definitely. It freaks my teacher out how far back I sit on this one (probably at least 6 inches further back than I sit for other stuff). Most of the reason for that is my bra size, though - I have too much interference sitting close to the keyboard (the interference is bad also for hand crossing).

OMG! I'm having the exact same problem ... except I have to try reaching around my belly ... not usually that big of deal ... but Liszt has this ridiculous hands crossed section in the Dante sonata ... it's killing me ... seriously, I may have to think about diet and exercise soon ... ugh!

Yeah....it's no surprise that most of the great pianists are slender, and the females relatively flat-chested.

Hmmmmm..........DISCLAIMER TO ALL MEN WHO ARE UNCOMFORTABLE with such things as FEMININE product commercials, (except Nathan who admits to similar frontal obstruction problem, so may benefit from reading), you may not want to read this post.

But.......I feel compelled to reply because I have similar, shall we say "features" as Terez, and yes it can be embarassing but hey, genetic disposition cannot be fought against. So....this is an issue for me when it comes to playing and now for some of my teenage students, and it deserves to be addressed. What I've discovered for self and what I tell the more voluptuous gals in the studio is that you simply will NOT be able to avoid "bumping or leaning into/onto" these features, at least not without using incorrect arm/wrist positions and movements, so get comfortable with the inner part of the upper arm often contacting and even pushing onto/against them.

I don't have any sort of prudish issues with the touching, at all. But you can only squish so much, you know? The first time I realized that my chest was going to be a problem playing piano was a dozen years or so ago when I was playing Beethoven's Sonata in D Minor 31/2 - the second movement. It was sad when I realized I would NEVER be able to play it.

Hey, I like boob grazing as much as the next guy!

My problem is the angle it forces my arm into ... puts tension on elbow, torques wrist ... not a problem for short forays across, but for extended periods ... not nice.