Enrico Elisi on why your fingers shouldn’t outrun your foot
The TCU piano professor on pedal, staccato, orchestral thinking and why the beginning is the hardest part.
Enrico Elisi is the Harold D. and Imogen Herndon Professor of Music at Texas Christian University. A laureate of the Oporto International Competition and the Premio Venezia, he has performed on four continents and taught at the University of Toronto and the Eastman School of Music.
Here are eight of his best tips, taken from feedback he gave young pianists after live performances, with a link to each moment on video.
1. Don’t let your fingers outrun your foot
The acceleration should never come to the point where the pedal becomes unclear. There were many moments where the pedaling started overlapping a little too much. Somehow the fingers were faster than the foot.
Enrico Elisi
2. Think like an orchestra in Haydn
There is a lot of orchestral writing in this music. Ask what Haydn might want with those broken octaves or Alberti basses. Is it always pianistic, or could some of these movements come from a second violinist, with the fingers much closer to the keyboard?
Enrico Elisi
3. Use more than one kind of staccato
Different qualities of staccato have to be considered: resonant chords that are more majestic in nature may be elongated with the pedal, because otherwise they sound very abrupt.
Enrico Elisi
4. Not all eighth notes are the same length
It’s important to see when there are dashes and when there aren’t. Not all eighth notes are equally long.
Enrico Elisi
5. Let the melody lead the left hand
Try not to follow the direction of the left hand so much, but allow the left hand to follow the direction of the melody a little more.
Enrico Elisi
6. Beginnings are the hardest part
He shared a story about how Chopin taught his own music.
The stories go that Chopin never let a student go for an entire lesson without talking about the beginning. In master classes everybody talks about the beginning and then the class is over.
Enrico Elisi
7. Watch how you use your arm at climaxes
Be more aware of how you use your movements from the shoulder down, because sometimes at climaxes you go too directly with the forearm into the keyboard, and that makes the sound a bit strident.
Enrico Elisi
8. Check the score, not the tradition
Some traditions become repetitive. Chopin didn’t write an acceleration there immediately. Look at the texture and at what Chopin indicated, and get faster more organically.
Enrico Elisi
Quotes are lightly edited for length and clarity. They come from Mr. Elisi’s comments as a judge at the 2022 Piano Star International Competition. You can watch the full performances and feedback on the Piano League YouTube channel.
Quick question
What do you find hardest to get right?
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