Hello again.

I had a little argument with the pavement yesterday after swerving my bicycle to avoid a drunk that stepped in front of me . When I regained consciousness I was less bothered by the blood trickling down my face and soaking my jacket, and the completely ruined expensive spectacles than by the ring finger of my right hand which appeared to be bent at 90 degrees in the opposite direction to the one it is designed for .

I was surprised at how calmly and matter-of-factly I coped. It happened outside a cafe, and a patron locked up my bike while one of the waitresses cleaned up the blood and dressed the head wound. Then someone very kindly drove me to the hospital.

I can tell you that if you are going to do this sort of thing then Utrecht is not a bad place to do it. The hospital was spotless and well equipped and I was attended to within minutes of arriving. No superlatives can describe how wonderful the staff were: from the receptionist and nurse who straightened the dislocated finger, to the radiographer that confirmed there were no breaks to the doctor that checked for damaged nerves, tendons and ligaments and ensured there was no brain damage from the blow to the head. The fact that they were all young, female, beautiful, and could easily have had second careers as models was just a bonus.

Finally, although my health insurance policy does not commence until later this week, they waived all the charges that they could have made under the Dutch healthcare system.

But enough of that, the dislocated finger is to be kept immobilized for at least 3 days but should return tomore or less full functionality in about 2 weeks - though I should expect some residual stiffness and pain for a month or so. By which time the sprained wrist will also be back to normal, and the sprained ankle and damaged knee will allow me to walk and cycle again!


So to make the most of this great piece of luck I have decided to work intensively on my left hand: scales, thirds, sixths, trills - in 2 to 4 weeks I might drag it up to the same proficiency as the right.

For repertoire I am going to have a go at Scriabin's Prelude for the Left Hand - after a year of cheating and playing it with two! And I can also do some work on the LH parts of a few Chopin Etudes.

So here is my question - what other LH repertoire is there that would take no more than 2 or 3 weeks to learn?



p.s. Don't expect many posts in the next few days - LH typing is not my forte

Ouch!

You have my sympathy - I broke a little finger playing netball at school, which meant that the clarinet was impossible until the broken finger healed (which led to major conflict - I wanted it to heal so that I could get playing again, but broken finger = no PE).

As ever, Friend Google™ comes to the rescue. A search for "piano left hand" brought up this site of piano music for the left hand alone. Not sure how available some of the works are, nor how playable, but it seems a good place to start. It's amazing how often Paul Wittgenstein is behind the works listed

Oooh poor you, hope it's better soon and whatever you do - if the Right Hand still hurts DON"T USE IT!

I know you posted a list of your repertoire recently but can't remember what you were doing but ideal opportunity to investigate LH of Bach fugues if you had any on the list. I must admit, with these it would take an accident like that to make me actually learn it properly!

Hope it's better soon, MadTom. In the meantime, what about friend, Czerny?

I'm sorry - what a pain, in all senses of the word. No repertoire suggestions, but hope you recover soon.

I remember when I broke my RH little finger a few years ago (bad one to break as it is often bringing out the melody ) saying something along the lines of "I CAN'T have broken my finger - I'm a PIANIST!!!" following by bursting into tears and generally having a strop...

Boy it will be quiet around here

(hope it improves as quickly as possible x)

No great wisdom to impart, but lots of sympathy! Hope you are feeling better soon and that the finger recovers well. Good thing you also enjoy chess eh? I imagine you can still do that with all your injuries.

Take care.

Hello? Can I help??

What about having a go at the Ravel?

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Tom.

Since Mad Tom started posting about Utrecht, Mrs. Pushpull has been making noises about how great it sounds. I think she wants to move there (whether I'm part of the plan I don't really know). But I must say this does make the place sound rather good.

If it's of any interest, son Viohazard's piano teacher has him improvise LH harmonies while he sings a melody.

Her strict rule is that the accompanying harmony must be rhythmic, not fall behind the tempo, and consistent - no fancy stuff allowed, if it's going to fall on its face two bars in!

Commiserations to Mad Tom. I hope your recovery goes smoothly.

I have a high regard both for Dutch hospitals (we had three in Leiden: Protestant, R Catholic and University) and for Utrecht museums, of which I have visited two, the one for mechanical musical instruments (e.g. Wurlitzer organ, Belgian pub piano, flute clock like the ones for which Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven wrote) and the Railway Museum, which included several examples of track laying methods. Dutch railways are another efficient organisation, with time-keeping far better than their UK counterparts.

Commiserations, Tom. What bad luck to hurt your hand, but at least it's no worse - if you'd broken the finger it would have taken a lot longer to heal. Hope it's not hurting too badly.

Very sensible to decide to work on the left hand. Most of us don't have quite the same dexterity in that hand, so it's a good chance to improve it with no temptation to go over to the right. Keep us posted on your progress - we don't mind if you keep it brief!

What about the version of Chopins op.10 no.6 etude all for the left hand and at twice the normal speed. There was a program about it on TV a couple of years ago.

Surely the Ravel? As an earlier poster said, commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein (brother of the famous philosopher Ludwig) after he lost an arm in WW1.....


nick

Bad luck , Tom.. I suppose it could have been very much worse, but that's probably little consolation just now. Iwas going to suggest the Ravel concerto, but everyone's beaten me to it. So how about LH part of any JSB Inventions/Sinfonias ( a2 or a3) that you haven't yet done? And, for extra fun, sing the missing parts. And, of course, any appropriate Czerny or Chopin studies etc.. Maybe you could look at it as a good opportunity. I'm almost jealous.

All best wishes for a spectacularly speedy recovery.

Ouch.



Many sympathies. Mrs Robodoc & Robodoc Jnrs 1 & 2 send regards & best wishes.

No new suggestions.

Sorry to hear about this - get better soon!

Are any of the Chopin-Godowsky etudes for one hand alone?

A less adventurous suggestion would be to use the time to look at unknown scores, including orchestral/choral/operatic works. It won't be quite as much fun as playing, but if you read through new works, you might find that you come back to the keyboard with new perspectives you might not have encountered otherwise.

Ouch - not nice. All the best for a quick and complete recovery, Tom.

One of my teenage students arrived this morning with right jacket sleeve empty and right arm clamped to body.

Only left hand usable for the moment. Happily plenty of useful stuff we can do in that area.

'Football?' I asked him.

'No - break dancing'.

No suggestions from me I'm afraid - just a "Get well soon".

Thanks for all the good wishes.

One of the benefits of getting older is that you appreciate the wisdom that is distilled into our proverbs - like "every cloud has a silver lining" or "its an ill wind that blows no good"

If my right hand were not out of action I would never have bothered to look at the left hand repertoire. By the time I get hold of a copy of the Ravel my RH will be better, and the Godowsky etudes are far too difficult for me, but I have been looking at Scriabin's Prelude for the LH and the arrangement of Bach's Chaconne in Dm for the LH by Brahms.

They show two quite different approaches to writing for one hand.

By clever syncopation of the independent lines Scriabin creates the illusion of two hands playing independent Bass, Melody, and Harmonic filler. It is a lot easier to play than I expected and a pretty piece.

The Bach/Brahms is something else entirely. It is a rich and moving masterpiece of great emotional power. I already enjoyed listening to it, but ony through playing it have I really understood how wonderful it is. For all his vast output Bach would still be a musical god if this were his only surviving work. Brahms deserves great credit for preserving the spirit and feel of the original violin piece. In that he surpasses Busoni's famous arrangement - also a fine piece - but as much Busoni as Bach.

The different approach is that, in contrast to Scriabin a single flowing line (most of the time - there are a few chords here and there) creates all the magic.

I also noticed one amazing effect that Brahms created. There is a chord - Bb, F, D, and it sounds exactly as if the D an octave higher had been struck along with those three notes. (and the effect is obtained with no use of the pedal) That D is if course a strong harmonic of each of the notes below it, but the effect is spookily realistic ... you imagine that you can feel and hear the hammer striking the note. I don't know how much of the effect is caused by simple summation of the waves from the three notes, and how much is caused by re-inforced vibration of the actual strings. It would be interesting to see if an electronic piano produces a similar effect - but I don't have access to one at the moment.

Wow - did you type that with just your LH? But then, if you can even begin to tackle the Bach/Brahms..

There's a cool Bartok piece - possibly an etude?? - for the left hand.
Sounds a bit much for 2 weeks though - it would take me about six months!

Commiserations old boy...a frightening senario and one which i've become obsessed with avoiding..to the point where it's become a neurotic obsession. Still at least it's only a temporary hinderance. I learned the Scriabin prelude with both hands, but did learn it initially with the left. However, it does sound better with both as you have more control over the voicings not to mention the pedal. The Nocturne for left hand is a technical tour de force, and though i've only played some with the LH alone, it's hard enough with both hands ! I remember you mentioned you don't play much Chopin, if you have'nt already...then why not have a go at the LH part for the 'Revolutionary' study, which is most of the work for the entire piece, and of course designed to assist in the developement of fast left hand runs. Hope things get back to normal for you soon.

I have a child here who can really empathise after damaging her left hand playing hockey last Thursday. She's been playing Organ wiht one hand and a foot

Hope your better soon Mad Tom

As mentioned before CPE Bachs 'Solfegietto' can be played with left hand only !

Sorry if you've said elsewhere and I've missed it, but how's your hand going - are you able to use it yet?

I hope your hand recovers swiftly!

I have once seen a DVD of Canadian pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin and was mismerized by the composition of his on Tchaikovsky's melody(or something along those line.)

It was only for left hand and was quite slow and melancholy. I personally wanted to learn it if I could and really liked the piece itself. If you fancy practicing some good control of each fingers of your left hand and bringing out the melody and dynamics, without having too much technical difficulty like Ravel's or Chopin's Etudes by Godowski, I think that's good one to look for (of course, if you can find the copy of music).

Good luck!

Thanks for asking.

It is recovering quite fast. There is still some swelling and some stiffness and occasional pain. I was lucky. Piano playing is almost back to normal - actually it is better with the new, improved LH! Chords played ff in the RH are uncomfortable, and very fast passage-work is still not possible, but otherwise no problems.

However I cannot yet: write comfortably with a pen or pencil, unscrew a tight jar or bottle top with that hand, wield a saw or screwdriver, carry a heavy bag, do press-ups, train with weights, wield a squash or tennis racquet, or resist one of those aggressive handshakes that tries to crush you.

Good to hear things are going the right way, Mad Tom. My advice is - advoid aggressive handshakes!

I didn't see this thread before so I should like here to offer belated wishes for an speedy recovery. You don't mention the drunk any more so I suppose that means you missed him/her. Better luck next time.

Regarding the Scriabin Left Hand thing, someone has admitted playing it with 2 hands, a perverted and unnatural practice roundly execrated in the current Piano magazine in an article on the distribution of parts between hands. I'm sure you won't descend to such baseness - at least not until the right hand is up to it.

As to this:

"I also noticed one amazing effect that Brahms created. There is a chord - Bb, F, D, and it sounds exactly as if the D an octave higher had been struck along with those three notes. (and the effect is obtained with no use of the pedal) That D is if course a strong harmonic of each of the notes below it, but the effect is spookily realistic ... you imagine that you can feel and hear the hammer striking the note. I don't know how much of the effect is caused by simple summation of the waves from the three notes, and how much is caused by re-inforced vibration of the actual strings. It would be interesting to see if an electronic piano produces a similar effect - but I don't have access to one at the moment."

I just tried it on my digital piano and there were no harmonics that I could hear - just a standard B flat major chord. Must get a proper piano one of these days.



Mel

Good to hear that your hand has recovered enough for doing the most important thing Good luck with the remainder of your recovery

Mad Tom, I saw the other day that you'd made a brief passing reference to the fact that your hand wasn't yet back to normal... how's it going???