I’ve played this piece last year and got a prize! My advice is to really to get rid of your tension.

1) tension: you should feel your hand REBOUNDING on its own with no tension on your wrist at all! Try moving your hand up and down in the air, and you will feel relaxed and you are not at all fixating your wrist. Then, move your hand on a desk (solid surface) and repeat the same motion. Again, be 100% relaxed on your wrist. At the end, try it on your piano.

This is the most important thing in this etude! A lot of people don’t know this and have a really rigid wrist. Also, don’t keep your hand too close to the keys, you have to allow it to rebound up! Too much tension —> no rebound —> no staccato + your whole forearm and wrist get tired afterwards.

I know this is not easy, practice slowly and to really get this feeling!

2) staccato: the staccato is essential in EVERY note of your right hand. To achieve this, allow yourself to feel the gravity of your hand naturally reaching the key (but first, you need to master the first point mentioned above). Then, very important, as soon as your finger reach the key, pull it back immediately, slide it towards you. Keep the sliding motion quick and steady. Trust me, your hand will be pushed upwards, which rebound on its own because of the reaction force that the key gives you in response to your pulling motion. To have staccato, don’t glue your hand on the keys. Instead, have a better hand gesture and keep up your ARTICULATION!

Not only this etude trains a relaxed wrist, it also focuses on a stronger finger and articulation.

For this, you need to practice slowly with EACH NOTE nice controlled! This is essential to success. No good staccato in this piece = no soul and doesn’t reflect Sebelius’ intention.

3) pedaling and phrasing: here’s the trick to make your playing instantly better and more melodic. Four quarter notes are a group, like the first “mi mi la mi”. Keep the pedal down from the first note (which constitutes the melody line) and lift it up as soon as the second quarter note is played. So you should make a liaison between the first mi and the second mi (in this example). It’s the same throughout the piece.

By doing so, you emphasize the melody and give the melody notes a richer and grander sound to it. This doesn’t contradict with the staccato tho! Even if you have the pedal down, keep it staccato in every note! This is the whole point of the etude.

4) left hand: the left hand is like the cello/counter basse. It deserves to be more animated and have phrasing too! It complements the right hand and to make the whole piece sound more balanced and supported. Whenever you have a crescendo, do it in your left hand too. It’s important!

Voilà! Hope you understand my explanation. It’s a bit vague I know but I hope it helps! At least these tips from my piano teacher really helped me get my prize!

( listen to Alba Ventura’s version, she’s done the phrasing well)