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m.d. and m.g.

Discussion in 'Technique' started by pianolady, Feb 19, 2010.

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  1. pianolady

    pianolady Monica Hart, Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    I must have a brain clot or something, because I can never remember which hand these markings refer to. I have to stop playing and look it up every time. Except the two dictionaries by my piano don't have the definitions, so then I have to go to the computer and look it up. Takes up precious time!

    Does anyone have a clever way of remembering?
     
    pianolady, Feb 19, 2010
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  2. Terez

    Terez New Member

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    If you tell me which is which I might be able to come up with something. :lol:
     
    Terez, Feb 19, 2010
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  3. alf

    alf Active Member Piano Society Artist

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    Attach a post-it® with the definitions on your piano's case. Or, you could think of the Rive Gauche which is the Left Bank (remember the Piano Shop?) and you'd know at once what the 'g' stands for.
     
    alf, Feb 19, 2010
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  4. pianolady

    pianolady Monica Hart, Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    Oh, yes - the Left Bank - that's good and will help me to remember. And also I used to wear Rive Gauche perfume when I was a lot younger. :lol: Thanks, Alfonso.

    @Theresa - LOL!
     
    pianolady, Feb 20, 2010
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  5. techneut

    techneut Active Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    To remember which hand is the left and which is the right, I find this useful:

    The right hand is the one that has the thumb on the left.
    The left hand is the one that has the thumb on the right.

    HTH....
     
    techneut, Feb 20, 2010
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  6. pianolady

    pianolady Monica Hart, Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    :? You just confused me again. :)

    HTH ??
     
    pianolady, Feb 20, 2010
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  7. alf

    alf Active Member Piano Society Artist

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    Hands Together Helps (because you can compare them immediately). 8)
     
    alf, Feb 20, 2010
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  8. pianolady

    pianolady Monica Hart, Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    ok.....hmm :? :? :? :? :? :?


    that's ok - I've come up with another way for me to remember. M.d. comes first in the alphabet and I am right-handed. Also, the bass staff is usually for the LH and treble staff for the RH so I picture my RH on top of my LH and again md comes before (on top) of mg - that means md is my RH, so that's how I can remember. (may not make sense to everybody :wink: :lol: )
     
    pianolady, Feb 20, 2010
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  9. alf

    alf Active Member Piano Society Artist

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    HAHA, no really, it's technical forum jargon, it means 'hope this helps'.

    Now it's me that is confused! :lol:
     
    alf, Feb 20, 2010
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  10. RSPIll

    RSPIll New Member

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    M.D. (20/20) is a cheap wine.

    M.G.(D.) is "Miller Genuine Draft"

    Place the M.D. (20/20) on the right side of the piano and the M.G.(D.) on the left and take a drink of one or the other as the music requires.

    Scott
     
    RSPIll, Feb 20, 2010
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  11. pianolady

    pianolady Monica Hart, Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    Ok, I'll try that. The Chopin mazurka I am currently working on has about four or five times when this m.d./m.g. occurs. I expect I'll be feeling pretty good after a couple times through the piece. :D


    I am blonde - therefore I am. :lol:
     
    pianolady, Feb 20, 2010
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  12. Nicole

    Nicole New Member

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    From the internet dictionary:

    Gauche = lacking social experience or grace;

    also: not tactful : crude "it would be gauche to mention the subject" b : crudely made or done

    Maybe you could remember it by thinking of how awkward and wrong/fumbly things feels when done in life with the left hand.

    I prefer the m.s. mano sinistra Italian term for left hand, as apparently people who were left-handed were once considered to be sinister.
     
    Nicole, Feb 20, 2010
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  13. Terez

    Terez New Member

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    I hate hand-crossing with a passion, so I can't even bring anything to mind that has these markings in it. I know I have seen them before, but I can't recall where. Perhaps the Chopin mazurka Monica is talking about, though that might be an editorial marking.
     
    Terez, Feb 20, 2010
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  14. pianolady

    pianolady Monica Hart, Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    Yeah - watch out for lefties! :lol: But that's a good tip, Nicole. Thanks.

    In some of my Granados books there are m.d. and 'm.i'. Maybe you can see why I can't remember all these things. Plus, there is no definition for m.i. anywhere. Finally, my teacher told me the Spanish terms of 'derecha' for right, and 'izquierda' for left. That's probably where the 'i' came from in m.i.

    I mean when the LH is to take a couple notes that are written in the treble staff - usually just the LH thumb (or vice-versa). But I know what you mean about not liking playing with hands crossed. I'm getting a little better at it but it's still hard. In the last Kabalevsky piece I recorded, almost the whole last page has to be played cross-handed and boy did it drive me nuts for awhile. I had my LH crossed way over my right, and I would look at my LH to sort of direct it to do its thing, but my RH would play instead. I felt very uncoordinated!
     
    pianolady, Feb 21, 2010
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  15. Teddy

    Teddy New Member

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    Since usually the right hand is more agile than the left one, you could remember with m.d. being the merry dancer right hand, while the other would be the mis-guided left hand.

    If you can recall m.d. stands for main droite, than you can remember droite means right because they both have an i (that's what I do with foreign languages usually).
     
    Teddy, Feb 21, 2010
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  16. Terez

    Terez New Member

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    I think I have never bothered to learn them because whenever I see it, I know it's only there because the hand with which I am supposed to play that bit is not the hand that staff is written for. Maybe it's not always so clear. I am thinking I have mostly seen it in Beethoven? I really don't remember. Bad side-effect of memorizing quickly: I don't remember scores.
     
    Terez, Feb 21, 2010
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  17. Teddy

    Teddy New Member

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    Well it depends on what you play, but starting with Liszt it becomes relatively frequent ; Rachmaninov has quite a lot of it (though I wish it was indicated with greater frequency, sometimes I just can't figure out if you're supposed to use the pedal or cross your arms in a weird way), Prokofiev too.

    I've been learning the first Medtner sonata, and while you don't have m.d. (though it does often appear in Medtner too), there often are "brackets" ( [ ) linking some notes to indicate they should be played by the other staff's hand - though it's often quite obvious.
     
    Teddy, Feb 21, 2010
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  18. supitalp

    supitalp New Member

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    Well, I take it that m.d stands for "main droite" (right hand in French) and m.g for "main gauche" (left hand), doesn't it ?
     
    supitalp, Feb 21, 2010
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  19. Francois de Larrard

    Francois de Larrard Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    Yes, congratulations for your french !

    To Monica:
    - m.d. = main droite. Droite has the same root as right (according to my English teacher, but this is a 40 year-old memory...). As a matter of fact, the phonetic of the two words resemble, and there are two important letters in common (r and t);
    - m.g. = main gauche. Gauche does not sound as left nor as right...

    Hope this helps. However, the post-it issue, while not very esthetical, is also a good approach !
     
    Francois de Larrard, Feb 21, 2010
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  20. pianolady

    pianolady Monica Hart, Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    Henri, Teddy, and Francois - thanks for your tips.

    Teddy and Francois - your ideas about the letters i, r, and t make sense to me. If after all this I still cannot remember m.d. and m.g. then I may have to resort to the post-it notes (not going to look very good in my nice living room, though - I better just remember!).
     
    pianolady, Feb 22, 2010
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