The notes are fine, and mostly the move in between was barely practised
When a passage breaks, I often look first at where the hand changes position. The notes before and after are fine. Mostly the move in between was barely practised. So the hand arrives late, and the fingers grab at the keys.
If you ask me how to shift hand positions on piano, I start with that move. Practise the move between the two positions itself, and first its timing: the arm begins to travel while the previous position's last note is still sounding.
A position change in a G major scale
Many of these are not even jumps. In a G major scale, going up, the right hand passes over the thumb. It goes a little bit to the outside, without turning the hand.
Because it is so small, it is easy to never practise it as a move. You play the notes, and the crossing just has to happen somewhere in between.
Position changes happen in more places than scales, and many are small
A scale is only one place where the hand changes position. It happens in wide broken chords, in hand shapes that span octaves, and in passages that travel from one part of the keyboard to another.
Some position changes cover a big distance, and many are small, like the one in the G major scale, where the hand moves only a little.
So in your own passage, don't only look for the big moves. Look also for the places where the hand shifts just a little to reach the next notes. Those are position changes too.
How to shift hand positions on piano: practise the move itself, and first its timing
So I practise the move itself, and first its timing. I take only the two notes where the position changes, the last one before the move and the first one after it, and I work on the travel between them.
The timing comes first in the order I work. The hand still has to land in shape, with the fingers already over their keys, and that is in the steps below. If the arm starts late, the fingers mostly grab before the shape is there.
The arm travels while the previous position's last note is still sounding
The arm begins to travel while the previous position's last note is still sounding. If it only starts when that note is over, the whole move has to happen at the last moment, and that is where the hand arrives late.
The previous position's last note is still sounding while the arm is already on its way. How that note then ends, how its key comes up, is its own thing to listen to, and that is in my post on how to end a note on piano.
When the arm starts late, you often hear it at the position change
Where do you hear it? Mostly right at the change. The line breaks there, and the first note after the move can come a little late.
The fingers grab at the keys because the hand arrives late, so when the line breaks there, check first when the arm started to travel.
You can test it. Play the notes before the change on their own, and then the notes after it. If both sound fine, and the line only breaks when you connect them, then mostly it is the move in between.
Not every break there is a late arm. At a scale crossing, a late thumb can put a bump in the line.
In a small change, the previous note can stay held while the arm carries the hand
In a small change, the finger can stay down a moment longer. The arm is already carrying the hand. And it stays free while it carries.
The finger can stay down, it doesn't have to. At a faster tempo a small crossing may leave a tiny gap between the two notes, and you don't hear it.
Starting early, at the same tempo
Starting the move early doesn't mean playing faster. The tempo stays the same, the arm is just already on its way. You can check this in slow practice. Play the two notes at a steady tempo and count. The second note still comes on its beat, and only the arm left earlier.
Try this
Take one passage you are working on.
- Find the place where the hand changes position.
- Play only those two notes where the position changes, slowly.
- In a small change, keep the passage's last note held while the arm leans towards the next note.
- Let the arm stay free while it leads.
- Land in shape, fingers already over their keys.
- Then add one note on each side, same movement.
In the third step, the passage's last note is the last note of the previous position. Add one note on each side only when the hand arrives in time, in shape.
Adding one note on each side, while the hand still arrives in time and in shape
When the two notes work slowly, don't go straight back to the whole passage. With all the other notes around it, the move easily goes back to happening somewhere in between, and the hand arrives late again.
Add one note on each side, so you play four notes, with the same movement. The timing of the move stays as you practised it with two notes. If the hand lands in time and in shape, add the next note on each side, and so on.
If the hand arrives late again, or the fingers grab, go back to fewer notes. Keep the same slow tempo while you add notes. Only the part of the passage around the move gets longer.
The move keeps the same three things all the way: the arm starts to travel early, it leads the hand to the new position, and the shape is there before you land. Check them at every step.
Horizontal arm movement, and the wide leap
Two different movements: in horizontal arm movement the forearm carries the hand across; for a wide leap, the movement is thrown and arched.
I wrote about horizontal arm movement in its own post: the forearm leads and carries the hand across, and the wrist stays free. In this post it is about the timing, when the arm starts to travel, so the hand doesn't arrive late.
Where this is built
Without practice, a position change works on good days and breaks at tempo. In the Academy we train the travel itself, first in the exercises and then in the pieces you play. Pick the place where your hand keeps arriving late. We start there.
