Not to mention Irving berlin, who always played in F#, no matter what key he was playing in! ES ;-) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm at unm.edu> To: <caut at ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:26 AM Subject: Re: [CAUT] Speaking of Chopin... > On Jan 14, 2009, at 6:39 AM, Porritt, David wrote: > >> In this discussion of key choices made by composers, we have never yet >> entertained the idea that some keys are chosen for the simple reason >> that a particular key falls under the fingers more comfortably than >> others. Chopin said that he thought beginners should start playing in >> the key of B because it falls under the hands so much more comfortably >> than any other. On this, I agree with him. Take one of his pieces >> written in B and try to play it in B-flat. It's very awkward. This had >> to have some influence on a choice of key. > > Yes, and to bolster that notion, when teaching piano lessons Chopin > taught the B major scale first, because he said it was the most natural. > It falls best under the fingers. > Note that many of the ragtime composers wrote almost exclusively in keys > with lots of flats or sharps - same reason. > Regards, > Fred Sturm > University of New Mexico > fssturm at unm.edu > > >
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