A new approach to piano technique

Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com www.Ebook777.com Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com lit A i)iHk lultli I , III iff 00135 0222 MAI HIW '83 Effl 1983 I MAI -J f -, APR ' SEP 193': DEC 1992 TBc.5 M ckarson 'Sv approach to piaao Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com A NEW APPROACH TO PIANO TECHNIQUE www.Ebook777.com A NEW APPROACH TO PIANO TECHNIQUE by RUTH PAGEANT PRESS A DICKERSON NEW YORK COPYBIGHT 1962 BY RUTH A DlCXERSON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PUBLISHED BY PAGEANT PRESS, INC 101 FIFTH AVENUE* NEW YORE: 3, N Y FIRST EDITION Manufactured in the United States of America FOREWORD As long wanted as I can to play it remember My earliest I loved the piano and musical recollection is of listening entranced to my mother and aunt playing a four hand arrangement of the Beethoven sym- phonies, and begging them to go on long after they had had enough When, as a small child, I had my first piano lessons, I was very lucky in my teacher, even though the method was not inspiring Still, I had no problems, it all seemed natural and easy In fact, I can well re- member winning a prize of a baby rabbit in a pupil's recital The fact that my teacher thought of such a prize shows that she had a rare understanding of children Unfortunately, this unusual person soon went abroad to study and my musical education became haphazard, most of it unbelievably bad and all of it contrary to any logical use of the hand and keyboard By the time I was old enough to realize what the piano meant to me, I had reached the conclusion that Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com were bom with a fluent technique In those was an aura of mystery days of musical giants there famous artists, no doubt a deliberate build up, which separated from the rest of humanity That nine tenths of this glamour was the result of hard work and luck with an early environment, hardly to have occurred to anybody The only person to see this fallacy seems to have been Paderewskfs famous colored chef who said, so the story goes, "Mr Paderewski had to learn to play the piano but Ah was a cook." When I could take a hand in my own education good teachers, and though I could play, I always felt constrained, and that the work involved between me and the music However, I love to teach and I hoped to give others the sensible and logical training that I had missed When I began to have older pupils who took their work seriously, I was disturbed to End that the best I could was to went to say, "This is the felt It is a lot way it is it generally taught/' But all the was a wrong way a long and tiresome story of a little light and of discouragement Finally I saw that the trouble didn't have the courage of my convictions, and I if anywhere I would have to had been taught and follow my inAt once I began to make progress, but it was to get I abandon what stinct I I often found myself in a blind alley When discovered the springing finger I thought nothing more was needed The speed it gave me was slow thrilling, but soon realized that a free technique depends upon VI www.Ebook777.com Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com XV RHYTHM Rhythm is too apt to be taken for granted While it is a most important element will agree that everyone one seldom hears playing where rhythm such a fundamental part of the performance that the listener is completely carried by it without effort There is a vast difference between nice, even playof music, is ing, and a nome is of really vital musical pulsation The metrohelp in this connection All it can little show whether or not the playing is even Obviously, if it were truly rhythmic it could not be used is to for different kinds of time: 2-4, 3-4, etc In fact, the students who depend upon the metronome develop a which can ruin the certain jigginess in their playing phrasing and become very boring To rely upon heavy accentuation has a similar effect A great artist will play certain kinds of music where a long melodic line is essential, practically with- 34 www.Ebook777.com out accents, almost as if there were no bar lines, but there will be a deep underlying pulsation, otherwise -the playing will become bogged down* static and tiris There ing nothing exaggerated about a good rhythm " It is so natural that the listener is likely to f be impressed by the beauty of the phrasing, not realizing that an extraordinary feeling for rhythm has generated that phrasing The way to work for this ideal is to count out loud vigorously, genthj accenting even* note so that even the least important one has its exact place in what should be an elastic motion rather than a mathebest The goal to aim for is a will control every note and every matical division of time rhythmic low which motion This must be worked out in very slow practice, otherwise it is likely to disappear entirely in speed As a powerful swing is developed, it will allow a free expression of musical ideas ( in fact, it might almost be said to initiate these ideas), while the hands will relax and follow rhythm, there will be automatically effort, and Without a good effort always causes With a strong rhythm in slow practice, every note falls into place, and as the tempo is increased, the rhythm kept elastic and lowing, everything will still be in place, speed will not seem hurried and no unevenness can develop Then any necessary rubato will stiffness not hold up the natural "pace** of the composition but, an inevitable part of the -correctly used, will seem interpretation 35 If this Idea of rhythm sounds elusive and visionary he should not dismiss it as unimportant, to the student, but work at it until it carries his whole playing Once he has felt the exhilaration that this brings, he will never be satisfied with anything else 36 XVI MEMORY Although the subject of memory might not seem to be within the scope of a work on piano technique, it is so bound up in the whole approach to playing that it ought to be considered here, despite the fact that in the last analysis memory is a byproduct of in- will probably have terpretation The average student memorized a composition by the time he has worked the interpretive and technical problems, and the less memory is forced, the better out all First, it should be said that naturally good memory which if a student has a stands up under diffi- should never be interfered with Anyone culties, with a good memory probably works correctly from a natural instinct, and some of the methods of memorizit this natural ing in vogue, because they interfere with memVisual harmful are of positively working, way because it orizing of the printed page is one First, involves two distinct mental processes in recalling: a mental reading of the music, and then playing the cor- 37 responding notes on the keyboard Second, literally, if followed would be bound to distract the player's the interpretation of sound on which it it mind from should concentrate and not on the printed page Also in playing, the association should not be with the early stages of learning from the printed page, but with the sound of the music Obviously a visual image is not essential, or blind people could not play While there is no doubt some visual image in normal people's musical memory, it should not be put first, as hearing and touch are the important elements and must have the artist's atten- no more sense in visualizing the printed page than there would be in visualizing a map when following a regularly traveled route The map may be necessary for finding the route in the first place, but it is soon discarded and landmarks are remembered To rely on musical analysis in memorizing is open to the same objection, that it involves two mental processes, first thinking of a complicated form and then reconstructing that form That is not to say that analysis is no help to the memory in the beginning of study, and is of course necessary for the full understanding of the score, but it should be so absorbed tion There is by the mind that the player is not consciously thinking of it, otherwise it may be an actual hindrance to memory and make for pedantic playing The practice of memorizing away from may work but since the piano well for people with a strong imagination, lacks direct aural and tactile association, it 38 it is likely to be a waste of time, besides being very tedious If the process of memorizing be seen 1) to work roughly The eye is examined, it will as follows: reads the notes 2) The fingers feel the corresponding keys 3) The ear hears the sound of these notes when played ( This is an oversimplification for the sake of clarity An experienced musician can "hear" the printed page from looking at etc it, ) In recalling what has been memorized, the process is reversed: 1) The sound 2) The 3) if is imagined fingers feel the associated keys, and, it is likely to be and not of the printed a visual image follows, of the keyboard page If ? through some unnatural forcing, upset, the memory will this order is become confused In attempting to recall music naturally, the student should sing inwardly, making the hands follow the 39 he finds this difficult, he should sing out loud bothers him, he should count out loud from the beginning to the end of the piece, concentrating ear If If that on the rhythm and keeping that going no matter what happens Finally, he should be able to keep his ear on the interpretation, letting his hands follow He should, of course, be able to begin at any phrase instantly without hesitation To be completely sure of this, it is a good idea to begin work at the last phrase, then the next to last, etc., until he is back at the beginning, letting each phrase overlap a little Then if he begins at the beginning and plays a measure or two, then skips to the next phrase, etc., without hesitation until the end, he will feel sure of himself and the piece will remain fixed in his mind for a long time This is, of course, not the main issue chief thing to bear in mind is that the ear must lead, but if the pupil has had memory difficulties it will give him confidence to feel that he can begin The at any point The two are rhythmic practice and working without looking at the hands, greatest aids to memory is a strong fundamental association and feeling for the keys without looking because rhythm in music, develops the tactile association Obviously, both the aural and tactile impressions should be extremely clear, and since the mind seems work subconsciously when the player is not occupied with music, he should finish each practice period with a clear and easy repetition (with the music if to 40 necessary ) of the piece that he Is working on This also true for any technical practice is goes without saying that in performance the player must concentrate on interpretation, and should It have developed sufficient routine so that his fingers merely follow his thought Unfortunately, most of us associate concentration with some sort of supreme mental effort, and that is bound to make for tension However, keeping the mind on one thing simply means relaxing its hold on all other ideas, just as in a good technique are relaxed This all the muscles not actually in use may be difficult at first, but it will help to think of "letting go" everything except the sound of the music With a little practice, this will not only become easy, but will give the player a of the music 41 new grasp XVII SUMMARY The Brst thing for the student to remember is that the ear must always lead, even in the simplest exercises That is, the result must be imagined inwardly tone quality, dynamics, rhythm, etc., before playing This habit of "hearing in advance" will be the greatest aid to as memory and to musical performance, as well mere finger technique might truly be said that all there is to playing the piano is to accommodate the hand (and the arm) to the action of the keys with due regard for musical It aims However, this will not be too much comfort to a student struggling with a technical difficulty Never- be a help to keep certain facts always mind; the key is both a lever and a springboard Each finger springs from the bottom of the key (although the force is released before this ) upward and slightly outward, the motion being very quick in a space, namely, the one- to three-eighths of an inch that the key can move The wrist gives with every theless, it will in 42 The arm hangs lightly ( except in forte and playing) loosely on the arch of the hand, which should be strong and flexible Since at all times the arm is ready to give leverage to the key, that is, to back it up with weight, there is a temptation to use weight unnecessarily This must be avoided, or it will interfere with brilliance and speed and will also make the playing thick Besides, finger motion unnecessary weight will stiffen the wrist, or at least away from the complete detachment of hand and ami muscles This is the reason why most practising should be pianissimo, -firm but light One should return again and again to the slow on motion work That is like using a magnifying take one's playing It will show tion in control, and is the slightest imperfecway to correct it In the surest method of loosening the wrist this feeling of a completely relaxed wrist is addition, Once up the it is experienced in slow work, it can be imitated in fast or forte playing One should especially remember to work for exrather than speed, and that rhythm should treme dominate Even most prosaic exerand varied cises, the student should aim tone The importance of feeling the key under the finger before playing it cannot be overemphasized, even if it holds up the playing at first This habit can all practice in the for a beautiful be acquired by practicing without looking at the hands One need only to trv this to see that it makes for relaxation and will eliminate most diffieasily > culties 43 * Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com Finally, there comes a time after basic principles have been so thoroughly absorbed that thev have be^ tj ^ come second nature, when the student must make a bold attempt to play like an artist He will find this effort to reach his musical ideal inspiring, and at the same time he can see what is lacking in his equipment and can take the necessary steps to correct 44 www.Ebook777.com any defects Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com www.Ebook777.com tAi tir factor a ^t r> if tii* and k list* iWt'wrw Kvn'i^** irr rwoinjeni|t*il whii'ls will lar-ililalf thf studtnf* ura-p of' tbi- r^sfiilid! jriu- ripln For an\onf ^i^kin^ kp>lwrL A nja>l \E1 PIANO Jftckrttftvjzn *> TO I, hv ,!//*** in jl^iiul^ Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com 112685 www.Ebook777.com ... 1983 I MAI -J f -, APR ' SEP 193': DEC 1992 TBc.5 M ckarson 'Sv approach to piaao Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com A NEW APPROACH TO PIANO TECHNIQUE www.Ebook777.com A NEW APPROACH TO PIANO TECHNIQUE. .. the piano action makes It apparent that raising the fingers and hitting the keys is the wrong approach to playing if one wants a The most beautiful tone and an easy technique Nor will vague ideas... the raised fingers to see that this is strained and unnatural Also, it makes a is tone, as it will compress the felts and made by a hammer that all, when using any lever, give a tone similar to