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Although my beginner status doesn't make me eligible to play this particular sheet (part of which I presented here), I found it interesting to analyze the notes written. My question is related to notes circled.

More precisely, how the circled notes should be played. The first two Db notes should last even during second chord of circled notes. So during that chord, the player should have all five RH fingers employed with span of 10 notes.

Piano music showing two voices in the right hand. These voices overlap harmonically and melodically. At a particular moment (circled) a span of 10 is to be played at once.

I tried to imagine the possibility of using pedals (although there is no sign for pedals here), but I haven't found an acceptable answer yet.

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1 Answer 1

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The pedal would be used for this.

Although some pianists can reach the B (or Bb?) to Db span, playing all five notes at once would be very difficult because of the distance from the G (which would be played with finger 4) to Db (played with finger 5). I can just barely play it, and I have a fairly wide hand span.

There are some additional possibilities, like holding only only the top Db (which would work for a wide enough hand span), or re-playing the lower Db along with the chord on beat two. For general solutions to this type of problem, see What is the best way to play a chord larger than your hand?.

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  • Can you elaborate - which pedal, what moment ... should achieve the goal.
    – Zoran
    Commented Oct 17, 2023 at 18:28
  • @Zoran I'm referring to the damper pedal (also called the sustain pedal), which is the pedal furthest to the right. In general, when we talk about "the pedal", this is the one we're talking about. For the music in question, you would put the pedal down with the first chord, hold it through the second, and release it as you play the third (I'm speaking in terms of the right-hand part).
    – Aaron
    Commented Oct 18, 2023 at 3:06
  • @Zoran For more on pedal technique, search for the tags [keyboard-pedals] and [technique]. There are also some brief, relevant comments in Exact timing of piano pedal re-engagement.
    – Aaron
    Commented Oct 18, 2023 at 3:07
  • If I release the sustain pedal at the end of third chord does it mean that second chord will last longer (all the way during third chord) as pedal is already pressed at that moment?
    – Zoran
    Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 19:39
  • @Zoran The pedal should be released at the beginning of the third chord, not the end, for exactly the reason you've said. The third chord is a new harmony, so you don't want the second chord holding through it.
    – Aaron
    Commented Oct 19, 2023 at 19:44

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