Debussy 1st Arabesque | Piano Tutorial and Practice Tips

[@euroconsulting6039]

I have checked almost all of tutorial videos on this particular piece in the last two three years. This is the best one!!!

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I’m really delighted you find it helpful.

[@akikonomu04]

I like that your audio is very clear and instructions are easy to follow, thank you for this great tutorial

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Thanks. Best of luck learning this fabulous piece

[@woopiwoo1]

Thanks for this very helpful! I love Debussy and I started playing piano 2 years ago. I am going to learn this as my first Debussy peice!

[@TommysPianoCorner]

His music is amazing. Very different to, say, Chopin or Beethoven. There are plenty of other accessible pieces by him too and in many different styles. I’m currently working on the Suite Bergamasque. I’ve played the Clair de Lune for years, but not the rest. Good luck with the Arabesque

[@woopiwoo1]

@TommysPianoCorner nice I love Clair de lune, it's my favorite peice. Thank you, I am discovering that the polyrythm is quite difficult and probably above my skill level but I am just going to work through it for a while.

[@drpiercy]

At last, a youtube teacher that pays attention to smaller hands! Heartfelt thanks, your tutorial will hopefully make this piece smoother for me. (I can only just reach an octave, and since I'm 73 it's unlikely they will grow into a ninth or beyond...

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Smaller hands do mean we sometimes need to think differently I think. I watched a video of Daniel Barenboim playing the 1st movement of the Moonlight Sonata. Each place there is a 9th in the right hand he takes the bottom note in his left - and smaller hands in no way diminish him as a pianist ! Good luck with the Arabesque.

[@quinton1110]

Thank you so much for this! Working on this piece right now and it's always been one of my favorites. Playing it gives me chills.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Yes, I love to play it too. It really is exquisite.

[@maxence8697]

This video is grand! Very happy that I found it

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I’m delighted you found it helpful.

[@dmswan3172]

Thank you for a very nice, easy to follow tutorial. I had played this piece a long time ago and have been thinking of picking it up again. This tutorial will help me a lot.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

That’s great to hear. It is one of my favorites and I enjoy periodically coming back to it and getting it better. Happy practising!

[@mrkl171]

Thanks! Think I will take another try at this song.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Great. Let me know how you get on :-)

[@synthesiageek4667]

Great job and explanation Tommy. Love you style of teaching:)

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Thanks. I’m glad you find the video helpful

[@LadyLuxe33]

Thank you for this.🌷I am a returning learner but alas, have only a 61-key CASIO keyboard to practice on right now.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

There are pieces that you can play with a smaller keyboard. Have you looked at Chopin’s Waltz in A flat. I’m pretty sure that would fit on a smaller keyboard

[@LadyLuxe33]

Tommy's Piano Corner Goodness, I didn’t see your reply until now! Thank you very much for your concern and suggestion. I would prefer to replay Chopin’s Waltz in D Flat Major Opus 64 No.1 if that’s possible... But truly, Debussy’s Arabesque I is calling and I’ve already started learning it with help from your amazing tutorial. Your strategies for learning/ mastering this are top notch. All the teachers I’ve seen on KZbin approach this piece bar by bar without recommending exercises or the like to facilitate performing. Only a few suggest actual fingering but don’t go into any depth about how crucial appropriate fingering is...

[@LadyLuxe33]

Tommy's Piano Corner I read parts of your blog and am struck by your story, which overlaps a little with my own. I was largely self-taught, learning on an organ around the age of ten. Eventually, my parents saw that I was really serious and bought me (and my brothers) a piano. My Mom “hired” her friends to teach me so needless to say, my theory and sight reading skills are sorely lacking.

[@LadyLuxe33]

Tommy's Piano Corner In these crazy quarantine times, I have become obsessed with relearning my old repertoire (so far, I have no trouble playing Bach on my tiny keyboard), as well as expanding my horizons with learning hymns (e.g. Lord of the Dance), Debussy’s Arabesque (I had learned Clair de Lune many moons ago) and a few neo-classical pieces by Yann Tiersen and Alexandra Stréliski. I would be doubly motivated and inspired to learn if I had a beautiful baby grand piano like yours to practice on! For now, I will have to be content with my less-than-extraordinary CASIO where in my mind, I am playing all those low notes starting at bar 26 and pressing on the pedal throughout .

[@briancoveney3080]

I just found you, Tommy. Thanks , ' love the videos

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Thanks. Welcome!!

[@jazzguitarwithandy]

This is a truly excellent video Tommy. Thank you for posting. I am aiming to be able to play this piece by the end of lockdown and will no doubt keeping coming back to your video. Subscribed :)

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Best of luck with it - let me know how you get on !!

[@LadyLuxe33]

Ditto!!!👆

[@wheretheislandsgo]

Great video! The tutorial is clear and easy to follow. Perhaps you could consider doing a video on chopin's nocturne op 9 no 2 as well.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Thanks - I’m pleased you found it helpful. I can most definitely do a tutorial on that nocturne - another accessible gem that I very much enjoyed learning

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Hi. I've just published a video on Chopin's Nocturne No. 9 No. 2 in E Flat Major as you requested. I hope you find it helpful. Let me know what you think. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnKzc3ilqNWGhLc

[@isaacvalerio]

Hi tommy. Your video is a jewel. I've never seen a video of this piece with so many well explained details. Here go some ideas of mine: 1) This piece isn't 4 out of 9 in difficulty (Henle Verlag underrated it A LOT!). I know because this was the first piece of Debussy I started to study (I remember that I left Reverie (5/9) and Clair de Lune (6/9) for later). Reverie is much easier than Arabesque 1, regardless of 4x3 polyrhythm passages. So, I've seen 2 or 3 experienced pianists who agree Arabesque is more difficult than Clair de Lune, including you. I guess it won't take much more time to start it. 2) I guess our hand span look similar, because I've chosen almost the same fingering that you did in the whole piece. Believe, I tryed lots and lots of fingerings. 3) Bars 19 to 25. It gave me tendonitis the first time I attempted, because I was playing with left hand very stretched/oppened (exactly what you said). So, I had a nice break to recover and then I started again, this time I was very cautious. 4) Bars 34 to 37. Indeed, very tricky part. I spent much time there. 5) Bars 47 to 54. Very hard to choose a nice fingering (for me). After all, I chose the pattern 1 2 3 5 4 3 1 and so on... 6) Bars 89 to 94. Had the same difficulty in fingering choose (finger 4 x finger 3). That's it. Best regards, Isaac

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I agree that Henle seem to have classified it as easier than it is. I had wondered if many of the tricky parts for me would have been easier for larger handed pianists and hence the discrepancy? I can imagine that someone with hands like Lang Lang would barely need to stretch their fingers to cover it. I participated in a thread on Reddit some time ago where the question was effectively how to play some sections without getting sore hands. I’m pleased to see I’m not the only one who has struggled with the bits I pointed out. Many thanks for sharing your experiences. It is worth the effort though isn’t it! I know it might be one of those pieces that everybody plays but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful.

[@a.dselinger9291]

great tips

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Thanks. I’m pleased you found it helpful!

[@luleane2398]

Amazing video! Helped me so much thank you!

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I’m really pleased to hear that - thanks for taking the time to let me know. What else are you learning at the moment

[@luleane2398]

Tommy's Piano Corner Gollywogs Cakewalk, goin to have it exames in a couple of days

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Good luck with it! I also love playing that piece - I haven’t practiced it in some time so will have to get it out again

[@luleane2398]

Tommy's Piano Corner It’s a really fun piece to play, left hand is hard with all the jumping you have to do but the song itself is beautiful.

[@rothschildianum]

This piece is doable for most serious pianists, but to play like a professional, it requires pretty high technical ability.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I agree this piece is far from easy to play well. I’m still working on improving it on and off - as the notes become less of a challenge to control there is lots to discover

[@rothschildianum]

@@TommysPianoCorner I personally cannot improve my playing for this piece without a teacher. The first time I played this was 30 years ago. At this moment, I am striving to play at professional level.

[@bernhardlindt7842]

So helpful! 😀 👍

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Thanks. I’m very pleased it helped! It’s a lovely piece to learn and play!

[@thepianotramp]

Great tutorial ! Thanks. Do you have a link to download the sheet music used with its fingering? I have one but with partial fingering only 😕

[@TommysPianoCorner]

I’m pleased you found it helpful. Unfortunately I don’t have sheet music with all the fingering. For the most part, I work out fingering for myself - using whatever may be in the score as a starting point. My fingers are relatively short and so suggested fingerings often don’t work too well for me in anything other than the simplest of music. If there are specific passages that are giving you a headache, I can try to get you something with the fingering I use so you can test it out for yourself

[@thepianotramp]

Thanks anyway. Fingering is so personal in the end.

[@no_360scope]

I have the notes pretty down pat but I have trouble getting the notes to sound like music, if you know what I mean. Any tips to get over that hurdle so it sounds more elegant?

[@TommysPianoCorner]

It can be particularly tricky with this piece I agree. Which parts are giving you the most trouble?

[@no_360scope]

@@TommysPianoCorner it's more like the whole piece. But if I had to say which part it would be the transitions between different phrases of the piece. I'm not sure how to make them seem more like I have complete control of what it is supposed to sound like. For example the transition at the phrase which goes to the ritardando in the first page and ends on G in the right hand.

[@TommysPianoCorner]

@@no_360scope if I’ve got the place you mean (the next bar starts on A and resumes the theme from the introduction with the upper melody added), this might be an ergonomic issue as much as anything. I found that it helped me tremendously to take the upper notes of each arpeggio - so, c# then e - with the right hand to avoid the left hand stretch. This then gives greater control overall such that focusing on the degree of ritardando becomes easier to do. As a general practice technique, we can always try making the links first in strict tempo - if we can’t it points to an underlying issue. Then, once we have this, we can practice making the links in as many ways as possible - exaggerating both time and dynamics. Do this for a few practice sessions. Then we try again to get the musical result we’re after. I’ve found this can help to interrupt any muscle memory we may have built that is interfering with what we want.

[@no_360scope]

@@TommysPianoCorner okay thank you. So try using part of my right hand, practice in strict tempo for the links, then add the musicality in dynamics and time. I had a general question regarding learning advanced piano pieces. Is the best way to learn by using the metronome, because I am noticing similar challenges with learning serenade by Schubert. what are your best techniques to learn pieces more efficiently and effectively?

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Personally, I almost never use the metronome. When I mentioned in ‘strict time’, my thought was simply to remove the ritardando and any rubato we might naturally want to use. In terms of learning advanced material, I have been following what I nicknamed my ‘four step’ process for about the past 2 years. I went into detail of three of the steps in my Top 3 Tips videos. In a nutshell, I break the piece down using a nested type of hierarchy (so the piece breaks into sections, each section is broken into segments and each segment into snippets). I start by working on each individual snippet and tailor my practice to the way the music is written as I find that certain practice methods (e.g. rhythms) work well in some circumstances, but not in others. The more awkward I find something, the more different ways I’ll try to find to practice it in general. I then gradually integrate the snippets back into segments and the segments back into sections. Here’s a link to the first of the three top tips that explains how and why I use the nested hierarchy. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4WzlIaVgq2BpMU I have always used the notion of practising in sections, however, since taking this further step, I have found that I am making progress faster and more consistently than I used to. Of course, it’s always still a lot of hard work to learn something :-)

[@pixelpuppy6597]

Thank you! SO SO Helpful! Keep up the awesome work. God bless, Jesus loves you so much! :D

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Thank you! Will do!

[@manuelrodrigocanopiquer222]

🎊👍🎊👍🎊👍

[@RepMontreal]

...were you in 300 by any chance?

[@TommysPianoCorner]

Not sure I understand :-)

[@MarcoMugnatto]

I think Reverie is probably better known

[@TommysPianoCorner]

You might be right. However it’s not a piece I was ever familiar with. I think one of my first teachers encouraged me to learn this in my teens. I should definitely learn Reverie though :-)

[@mountainvd]

Please pronounce his name properly. He was French! He didn't use to drink tea with her majesty...