A Question About Rolled Chords...

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I was watching the video about rolled chords and thought it was a very nice technique. Not an easy one for me at the moment as I can't seem to do it consistently, but here's the question...

Let's say you're playing a song and you see a chord in the bass clef with a squiggly line to the left of it, and this chord is just all quarter notes. Okay, you are supposed to roll this chord. But let's say there is also a quarter note of some kind right on top of it in the G clef... do you roll *into* this note as well? The reason I ask is because... okay, I like the way that sounds better, but that's not the point. It would also be very difficult for me to roll a chord but, at the same time, *not* roll into my right hand! But the main reason is because I was flipping through a book I have of piano classics and saw that in the song: Barcarolle (Primo) from Tales of Hoffman, by Jacques Offenbach... this song opens with intervals played on both clefs, with both hands, and there is a squiggly line going all the way from the left of the bass cleff notes up and connecting to the left of the G-clef notes. This tells me that unless you specify that you should roll into the right hand, you shouldn't... or maybe this song was written this way to avoid confusion. Either way, I am now confused and dying for an answer... and could someone tell me a good way to practice rolled chords, especially if I'm *not* supposed to roll into the right hand notes as well?

I think you are on to something. I have not seen it myselfe yet, but the way you explane it I am almost positive that you should roll into the trebleclef- Maby someone gt a more secure answer, but I think you can do it like that

I hope you are supposed to roll into the treble clef, I really do. Not only is it difficult not to, it just sounds weird when you don't!

Yes, if you see Bachs Prelude n 2 WTC 1 youll have the same thing in the adagio, you have to roll all the way not only one hand

Ah I see that there, too. And that is also intervals played in both clefs... it seems as though when there's more than one note played in the G-clef when the F-clef's notes are being rolled, the squiggly line goes all the way up into the G-clef. I'm still confused, though.

Could you give us a pic or something, because i dont exactly get what you mean....if the squiggly line goes all the way to the G-clef then all the notes affected are rolled

I'll see if I can find a picture. What you usually see is just a squiggly line next to a chord in the bass clef, even if a note is played with the chord, but in these cases more than one note is played with the chord, so the line extends up and is in both clefs... let's see if I have any luck here...
http://www.conknet.com/~proscore/samples/barcarolle.gif

Now, look at the uh... second measure, there. See the roll?

Now, what if the squiggly line didn't go all the way up into the G-clef? How would you roll one chord while simultaneously playing a chord without rolling it? AH, my head hurts just thinking about it.

The pic is as you probably know just roll every note from bottom to top. But I think I got the logical answer belowe to your problem

...Hehe Dont think so much about it!

Roll all the nots that is behind the squigly line. But the notes that isnt behind the squigly line, if its placed like that, play them Solid...

Eks:

Squiglyline covers
LH: c e g - RH c

Above line - RH: e g

The at the very first push, press with LH the C at the same time as the RH the E G, then after that qontinue the roll wich will be E. then G. then C

g
e
.........c
......g
...e
c

You're killing me! I'm going to have to go over that once more after I post this... but what if you're writing a song and you want to roll from the left hand into the right hand, even if the right hand is playing only one note instead of an interval or a chord? Would you put the squiggly line next to the right hand too, or leave it out?

jwburks wrote:You're killing me! I'm going to have to go over that once more after I post this... but what if you're writing a song and you want to roll from the left hand into the right hand, even if the right hand is playing only one note instead of an interval or a chord? Would you put the squiggly line next to the right hand too, or leave it out?

Like that example you used!! Line over the whole thing! But I got to understand that your sheets wasnt like your example??

No, the example was what made me think about all this in the first place. My first question was, were you supposed to roll into the right hand when a chord played by the left hand is rolled (but not the right, as in the example above), and it looks like the answer is... nope! This is going to be very hard for me to get used to, but that's what practice and perserverance is for, eh? But my current piece of music (piece of crap, in my opinion), plays triads in the rhythm, and rolled triads sound a little limp for what I need, so I was rolling them into the first note of the melody. I have yet to see any sheet music for something like this, so I hope I'm not "breaking the rules" or something. Rolling three fingers on the left hand into one finger on the right hand may even be just plain horrible technique, but that's how I've been doing it...

Anyway, another important question... if I'm going to start practicing rolled chords, I should have the right way of doing them, and I'm wondering if someone can explain if there's a proper technique to use. From watching other people it seems they lift the hand completely in the air afterwards (like a bird taking off really fast or something).

In your example you are going to roll the WHOLE WAY

Wait.. Ill try to make something. Here:

jwburks wrote:

Anyway, another important question... if I'm going to start practicing rolled chords, I should have the right way of doing them, and I'm wondering if someone can explain if there's a proper technique to use. From watching other people it seems they lift the hand completely in the air afterwards (like a bird taking off really fast or something).

It depends on the notes. If its ex Full Notes you have t hold the trough the whole bar. If its 16notes you probably just gonna hit and run!

No, no, I mean with your hand :-P I've read about "rolling the wrist" from left to right (pinky to thumb), and some argue against this. I can't seem to roll with the wrist, but it does seem like it would help. Are there any rolling exercises out there to get better?

jwburks wrote:No, no, I mean with your hand :-P I've read about "rolling the wrist" from left to right (pinky to thumb), and some argue against this. I can't seem to roll with the wrist, but it does seem like it would help. Are there any rolling exercises out there to get better?

First: Did you see the drawing I did?? I was kind of hoping on a response if that helped?!

sec: Im not really sure. I just roll hehe

That diagram did help, by the way, and thank you :-D I'm not sure either so I've just been rolling the best I can, too. Well, crap, we're both in the dark about proper technique now... what to do?

Well, you actually have to make your wrist flexible....and depending on the size of the chord rolled, in Chopins Prelude no. 7 i dont think you can play that rolled chord in one go, you actually have to jump to the other part of the rolled chord to complete, dont know if i explained myself well....i think its more of a ad libitum the way you play a rolled chord but im not very knowleadgable about it, maybe Andrew knows more

jwburks wrote:That diagram did help, by the way, and thank you :-D I'm not sure either so I've just been rolling the best I can, too. Well, crap, we're both in the dark about proper technique now... what to do?

Well, I dont know. I feel I got fair technique But Im not sure if its right or not. And I cant really explane well what I do. In this piece I play now I got move my RH alot in places and dont got any akes at all, and Im rolling my wrist... I dont, its hard to explane with words really!

I can actually roll with my right hand already, well... I'm right handed. And I think that's the problem. Even years of playing guitar didn't help me here, and the left hand does most of the work there... go figure. I cannot consistently roll smoothly with my left hand at the moment and my song sounds like poo...

Only practice How long have you played??

Piano? Off and on for 6 years. I never got into the detailed technical stuff like I did with guitar, since I never could find a piano teacher here. And a rolled chord on a guitar is simply strumming, so no difficulties there There's a lot of small things (important things) about piano I don't know. Rolling chords was one of them. Using the sustain pedal properly is also a problem of mine. I never want to take my foot off it... when writing a song I never know what to put down for the pedal. And the symbols "p" "pp" etc. Soft, hard, very hard... how can you be so specific? It's going to take me a long, long time to get the hang of all these new things...

Ah I see But even though you havent gotten these details you probably got some great background now then And guitar as well
I think i got to chubby fingers for guitar, haha Well cause they are kind of small

Well, it can be hard to be precise on p pp ppp ect but the pros do it, hehe Practice scales where you go up and down, every note on the way up; Try do increase the loudness and vica versa so that non of the notes are alike. Then tada you got it one day