Three-note Slurs (4.4)

• Play a 2-note slur with the right hand on C and D above middle C with fingers 2-3.
• However, instead of moving inward, lift and continuously drop to land on your leg after playing the D.
• Prepare again and gradually descend to play C-D-E. Once again, continuously drop, and on your leg after playing the E.
• Play these notes again but remain on the key (E) and notice the slight “under" motion with fingers 2-3-4. This motion is noticeable at the wrist and resembles a semi-circle.
• Practise this in the left hand on the notes E-D-C, an octave below middle C.
• You should feel a continuous transference of arm weight, with all tones going through the sound-point.
• Allow your fingers to slide on the keys after playing.
• Release each finger at the moment of the next attack.
• Practise three-note slurs by travelling up the keyboard, starting on C, then D, then E, etc. on all three finger combinations (2-3-4, 1-2-3, and 3-4-5).
• Pay special attention to the larger adjustment needed to maintain alignment when moving from the thumb to the 2nd finger in the horizontal plane.
• Repeat the movements with the left hand in descending 3-note slurs reversing the directions on the keyboard to accommodate the left hand’s opposition to the right hand.

Idylle, from Op. 126 No. 1 by Cecile Chaminade

Minuet in F, K.2 by W A Mozart