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How to improve your Staccato and Legato playing on the piano

June 21, 2017 By AlohaCymber

Did you know there are four different ways to play staccato on the piano?

First, “staccato” means “separated.” Not “short.” So you can have staccato notes that are a bit longer, but you definitely want them separated from the notes that follow.

The techniques for staccato are

  • Finger-only staccato
  • Wrist-staccato, using bouncy, light wrists
  • Forearm-staccato, using the whole lower arm, firm wrist and fingers
  • Whole arm and back-staccato, using the whole arm and shoulder to produce a big sound.

You’ll be blending these various techniques, moving from measure to measure. “Nothing in the finger without the arm; nothing in the arm without the fingers,” as a famous piano teacher used to say.

For Legato, know that “legato” means “connected.”

There are different ways to play Legato as well:

  • Plain Vanilla – Raising the played finger, just as the next finger is playing, creating connection.
  • Legatissimo – for melodies that sing. Keep the played finger down after the next finger, so the attack of the second note is masked by the previous note. Blended overlap
  • Finger Pedaling or Overhold Touch – Hold keys down until they are needed again.

Here’s a nice video to demonstrate this:

 

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Filed Under: Piano technique

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