How to Play the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto
If you are a proficient pianist who enjoys listening to this difficult but one of the greatest pieces of music composed by Tchaikovsky learn to play it. The tips mentioned can help you tackle this legendary piece of music.
Listen to as many recordings as you can find. Be prepared to gain insight on the style of playing. Don't feel as if you are copying the way professionals play this piece - you will inevitably play passages similar to how they play them. Note: If you do this frequently, you may depend on this method, in other words, playing by ear. This is not professional and is looked down on.
Memorize the piece. (That's right. Do it before you even lay your hands on the keys.) This is very easy to do. Just listen to it and think about how it sounds.
Notice that the opening section is repetitious. Learn how to place your hands correctly and learn about the chords you are playing. Once you can play the notes, moving your hands one octave up becomes easier.
Be aware of when the orchestra has the melody and when you have the melody. As with any piece, you must play so the melody is obvious to the audience.
Understand that Tchaikovsky was a master of harmonics. Take advantage of this. Put some meaning into the main theme (when this applies)!!!!
Practice the octave passages carefully. This means not using 5th fingers on each hand during practice. Steady hand motion will result in perfect octave performance (i.e., the 5th fingers will follow the 1st fingers if the 1st and only the 1st fingers on each hand are practiced). DO NOT practice these at full speed. Your arms will surely become tense very quickly. Practice with a metronome with the notes on the 1st fingers initially. One word for the entire second movement (excluding the prestissimo): dolce!
Perfect the prestissimo in the second movement by using a metronome and tearing each measure apart. This can be very challenging to play at full speed and there is a lot of room for error. Don't practice the dynamics when learning the notes in this section. It will delay your progress. When you can play this part to tempo, incorporate the dynamics.
Notice that in the third movement it is important for the grace notes to be heard in the right hand. Again, hands separately. It will be important to practice your scales and thirds in both hands while preparing to play the third movement since there are a few pages of continuous runs in both hands. It is extremely important to practice these very slowly until you can play them absolutely perfectly. Practicing the runs with both hands simultaneously may be beneficial here.
Take care about the rhythm in the ending passage (the measures where the piano starts with the 8th rest). Buying the Music Minus One disc should help you find out when to come in and practice good timing and flexibility. Be sure to apply your own style of playing here!
