Fundamentals

of
Piano Practice
by Chuan C. Chang
Testimonials.................................................................................................................................................... 6
Abbreviations and Frequently Used Phrases................................................................................................. 14
Preface........................................................................................................................................................... 16
CAPT!" #$!% P&A$# T!C$&'U! ......................................................................................................... (4
&. &$T"#)UCT&#$ ..................................................................................................................................... (4
1. #b*ective ........................................................................................................................................... (4
(. +hat is Piano Technique,................................................................................................................. (-
.. Technique/ 0usic/ 0ental Play ........................................................................................................ (6
4. 1asic A22roach/ &nter2retation/ 0usical Training/ Absolute Pitch .................................................. (6
&&. 1A3&C P"#C!)U"!3 F#" P&A$# P"ACT&C! ................................................................................. (4
1. The Practice "outine......................................................................................................................... (4
(. Finger Positions................................................................................................................................. (5
.. 1ench eight and )istance from Piano ............................................................................................ .6
4. 3tarting a Piece% 7istening and Analysis 8Fur !lise9......................................................................... .6
-. Practice the )ifficult 3ections First .................................................................................................. .1
6. 3hortening )ifficult Passages% 3egmental 81ar:by:1ar9 Practice..................................................... .1
;. ands 3e2arate Practice% Acquiring Technique................................................................................ .1
4. Continuity "ule ................................................................................................................................. .(
5. Chord Attac< ..................................................................................................................................... ..
16. =ravity )ro2/ Chord Practice/ and "ela>ation............................................................................ ..
11. Parallel 3ets ................................................................................................................................. .-
1(. 7earning/ 0emori?ing/ and 0ental Play..................................................................................... .6
1.. @elocity/ Choice of Practice 32eed............................................................................................. .4
14. oA to "ela>............................................................................................................................... .5
1-. Post Practice &m2rovement 8PP&9 ................................................................................................ 41
16. )angers of 3loA Play : Pitfalls of the &ntuitive 0ethod ............................................................. 4(
1;. &m2ortance of 3loA Play ............................................................................................................. 4.
14. Fingering ..................................................................................................................................... 44
15. Accurate Tem2o and the 0etronome.......................................................................................... 4-
(6. +ea< 7eft andB Using #ne and to Teach the #ther............................................................... 46
(1. 1uilding !ndurance/ 1reathing ................................................................................................... 4;
((. 1ad abits% A PianistCs +orst !nemy......................................................................................... 45
(.. )am2er Pedal .............................................................................................................................. -1
(4. 3oft Pedal% ammer @oicing/ Physics of the Piano 3ound......................................................... -(
(-. ands Together and 0ental Play ................................................................................................ --
1eehovenDs 0oonlight/ 1st 0ovement/ #2. (;/ $o. ( ......................................................... -6
0o?artDs "ondo Alla Turca/ from 3onata E.66 8E..19. ..................................................... -5
Cho2inCs Fantaisie:&m2rom2tu/ #2. 66/ Fast Play )egradation 8FP)9................................. 61
(6. 3ummary ..................................................................................................................................... 64
&&&. 3!7!CT!) T#P&C3 &$ P&A$# P"ACT&C! ....................................................................................... 64
1. Tone/ "hythm/ 7egato/ staccato........................................................................................................... 64
4. and/ Finger/ 1ody 0otions for Technique ;5
a. and 0otions 8Pronation/ 3u2ination/ Thrust/ Pull/ ClaA/ ThroA/ Flic</ +rist9 ;5
b. Playing Aith Flat Fingers 8FFP/ 32ider/ Pyramid Positions9 46
c. 1ody 0otions 44
-. Playing Fast% 3cales/ Ar2eggios/ and Chromatic 3cales 45
a. 3cales% Thumb Under/ Thumb #ver 8TU/ T#9 45
b. The T# 0otion/ !>2lanation and @ideo 51
c. Practicing T#% 32eed/ =lissando 0otion 5(
d. 3cales% #rigin/ $omenclature and Fingerings 56
e. Ar2eggios 8Cho2inDs Fantaisie &m2rom2tu/ CartAheel 0otion/ Finger 32lits9 54
f. Thrust and Pull/ 1eethovenCs 0oonlight/ .rd 0ovement 166
g. Thumb% the 0ost @ersatile Finger 16.
h. Fast Chromatic 3cales 16.
6. 0emori?ing 164
a. +hy 0emori?e,164
b. +ho can/ +hat to/ and +hen to/ 0emori?e. 166
c. 0emori?ing and 0aintenance 166
d. and 0emory 16;
e. 3tarting the 0emori?ing Process 16;
f. "einforcing the 0emory 164
g. Practicing Cold 165
h. 3loA Play 165
i. 0ental Timing 116
*. !stablishing Permanent 0emory/ 0ental Play 116
0usic memory 111
Photogra2hic memory 111
Eeyboard memory and mental 2lay 11(
Theoretical memory 114
<. 0aintenance 114
l. 3ight "eaders versus 0emori?ers 11-
1achCs (:2art &nventions% F1/ F4/ and F1.. 116
'uiet hands 1(6
3infonia F1- 1(1
m. uman 0emory FunctionB 0usic G 0emory Algorithm 1((
n. oA to 1ecome a =ood 0emori?er 1(4
o. 3ummary 1(-
;. !>ercises 1(6
a. &ntroduction% &ntrinsic/ 7imbering/ and Conditioning !>ercises 1(6
Fast vs. 3loA 0uscles 1(;
b. Parallel 3et !>ercises for &ntrinsic Technical )evelo2ment 1(4
c. oA To Use The Parallel 3et !>ercises 81eethovenDs A22assionata/ .rd 0ovement9 1.4
d. 3cales/ Ar2eggios/ Finger &nde2endence and Finger 7ifting !>ercises 1.-
e. Playing 8+ide9 Chords/ FingerHPalm 32reading !>ercises 1.6
f. Practicing Ium2s 1.4
g. 3tretching and #ther !>ercises 1.5
h. Problems Aith anon !>ercises 1.5
i. Practicing for 32eed 14(
32eed 3tro<e/ "ela>ation 14(
#ther 32eed 0ethods 14.
32eed +alls 14.
4. #utlining 81eethovenCs 3onata F19 14-
5. Polishing a Piece : !liminating Flubs 146
16. Cold ands/ 3li22ery 8)ryH3Aeaty9 Fingers/ &llness/ and &n*ury 8Car2al Tunnel9/ !ar )amage
8Tinnitus9 14;
.
11. 3ight "eading 1-.
1(. 7earning "elative Pitch and Absolute Pitch 83ight 3inging/ Com2osing9 1--
1.. @ideo "ecording and Audio "ecording Jour #An Playing 1-5
14. Pre2aring for Performances and "ecitals 166
a. 1enefits and Pitfalls of PerformancesH"ecitals. 166
b. 1asics of FlaAless Performances 161
c. Practicing for Performances. 161
d. Practicing 0usically. 16(
e. Casual Performances. 16.
f. Performance Pre2aration "outines. 164
g. )uring the "ecital. 166
h. That Unfamiliar Piano 166
i. After the "ecital 16;
1-. #rigin and Control of $ervousness 16;
16. Teaching 1;6
a. Ty2es of Teachers . 1;6
b. Teaching Joungsters/ Parental &nvolvement/ 0ental Play/ Absolute Pitch. 1;6
oA to teach your child. 1;(
c. 0emori?ing/ "eading/ Theory. 1;4
d. 3ome !lements of Piano 7essons and 2erformance s<ills. 1;-
e. +hy the =reatest Pianists Could $ot Teach. 1;4
1;. U2right/ =rand K !lectronic PianosB Purchasing and Care 1;5
a. =rand/ U2right/ or !lectronic, 1;5
b. !lectronic Pianos 146
c. U2rights 14.
d. =rands 14.
e. Purchasing an Acoustic Piano. 144
f. Piano Care 14-
14. oA to 3tart 7earning Piano% Joungest Children to #ld Adults 14;
a. )o Jou $eed a Teacher,. 14;
b. 3tarter 1oo<s and Eeyboards 144
c. 1eginners% Age 6 to 6-L 144
15. The M&dealN Practice "outine 81achDs Teachings and &nvention F49 151
a. 7earning the "ules. 151
b. "outine for 7earning a $eA Piece 151
c. M$ormalN Practice "outines and 1achDs Teachings 151
(6. 1ach% the =reatest Com2oser and Teacher 81- &nventions and their Parallel 3ets915;
(1. The Psychology of Piano 155
((. 3ummary of 0ethod (61
&@. 0U3&C/ 0AT!0AT&C3/ A$) "!3!A"C (6(
1. Can +e All 1e 0o?arts, (6(
(. 3cientific A22roach to Piano Practice (6.
a. The 3cientific 0ethod (6.
b. Princi2les of 7earning (64
.. +hy &s &ntuition 3o #ften +rong, (66
4. 0o?artCs Formula/ 1eethoven and =rou2 Theory(66
0o?art 8!ine Eleine $achtmusi</ 3onata E.669 (66
1eethoven 8-th 3ym2hony/ A22assionata/ +aldstein9 (65
-. 7earning "ate Calculation 81666 Times FasterO9 (1(
6. Future "esearch To2ics (1-
a. 0omentum Theory of Piano Playing. (1-
b. The Physiology of Technique. (1-
c. 1rain "esearch/ Using the 3ubconscious (1-
4
d. The Future of Piano P PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP(1;
. e. The Future of !ducation..PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP.PPPPPPPPPP.(15
@. IAQQ/ FAE! 1##E3/ A$) &0P"#@&3AT&#$................................................................................. ((6
CAPT!" T+#% TU$&$= J#U" P&A$#.................................................................................................. (((
1. &ntroduction ......................................................................................................................................... (((
(. Chromatic 3cale and Tem2erament..................................................................................................... ((.
a. 0athematics of the Chromatic 3cale and &ntervals ......................................................................... ((.
b. Tem2erament/ 0usic/ and the Circle of Fifths................................................................................ ((-
c. Pythagorean/ !qual/ 0eantone/ and M+ellN Tem2eraments. .......................................................... ((6
.. Tuning Tools ....................................................................................................................................... ((4
4. Pre2aration........................................................................................................................................... ((4
-. =etting 3tarted..................................................................................................................................... ((4
a. !ngaging and 0ani2ulating the Tuning 7ever. ............................................................................... ((5
b. 3etting the Pin.................................................................................................................................. (.6
c. Tuning Unisons................................................................................................................................ (.6
d. 3ym2athetic @ibrations. .................................................................................................................. (.(
e. 0a<ing that Final &nfinitesimal 0otion........................................................................................... (.(
f. !quali?ing 3tring Tension................................................................................................................ (..
g. "oc<ing &t in the Treble................................................................................................................... (..
h. "umblings in the 1ass. .................................................................................................................... (..
i. armonic Tuning. ............................................................................................................................ (.4
*. +hat is 3tretch,................................................................................................................................ (.4
<. Precision/ Precision/ Precision......................................................................................................... (.4
6. Tuning Procedures and Tem2erament ................................................................................................. (.-
a. Tuning the Piano to the Tuning For<............................................................................................... (.-
b. Eirnberger &&.................................................................................................................................... (.6
c. !qual Tem2erament......................................................................................................................... (.6
;. 0a<ing 0inor "e2airs 8@oicing and Polishing the Ca2stans9 ............................................................ (.;
a. ammer @oicing. ............................................................................................................................ (.;
b. Polishing the Ca2stans..................................................................................................................... (.5
"!F!"!$C!3 ............................................................................................................................................ (.5
1oo<H@ideo "evieAs............................................................................................................................... (41
"evieAed 1oo<s% Classical 0usic ...................................................................................................... (41
=eneral Conclusions from the "evieAed 1oo<s ............................................................................. (41
7ist of 0U3T "!A) 1oo<s K 0U3T @&!+ @ideos.................................................................... (4(
"evieAed 1oo<s% Ia??/ Fa<e 1oo<s and &m2rovisation...................................................................... (-.
"evieAed @ideos................................................................................................................................. (-4
+eb 3ites/ 1oo<s/ @ideos ....................................................................................................................... (-4
=eneral ................................................................................................................................................ (-4
3ites Aith Free 3heet 0usic and #ther =oodies ................................................................................. (-4
Piano &nstruction 8Classical9/ Teachers/ 3chools................................................................................. (-4
1oo<s $ot "eferenced Above/ by title................................................................................................ (--
Piano Technology, Tuning, Parts, Manufacturers .............................................................................. (-6
Injury from Piano Practice .................................................................................................................. (-6
Jazz, Chords, Theory, Instruction (Popular Music ............................................................................ (-6
!heet Music, "ideo, C#, $oo%, !tores ................................................................................................. (-;
$otes for Translators% .............................................................................................................................. (-;
A1#UT T! AUT#"............................................................................................................................. (-4
7ist of Tables/ !quations/ and @ideos......................................................................................................... (-4
&nde>............................................................................................................................................................ (-4
-
Request: to those Aho have found this material useful/ 2lease ma<e an effort to let at least
tAo 2eo2le <noA about my Aeb site/ so that Ae can start a chain reaction of ever more 2eo2le
that Aill be informed of this site.
I am looking for volunteers to translate this book into any language. 3ee R$otes for
TranslatorsR on P. (-;. Please email me at cc44mSaol .com to discuss this matter. This boo< is
2resently being translated into =erman/ Polish/ &talian/ 32anish/ French/ 3im2lified and
Traditional Chinese/ and Ia2anese.
Teachers can use this boo< as a te>tboo< for teaching 2ractice methods. &t can save you a lot
of time/ alloAing you to concentrate on teaching music. The Preface is a good overvieA of the boo</
and the boo< revieAs in the "eference section contains detailed revieAs of the most relevant boo<s.
Students: &f you donDt have a teacher/ 2ic< any 2iece of music you Aant to learn 8that is
Aithin your technical s<ill level9 and start 2racticing it using the methods described hereB the
methods are arranged roughly in the order in Ahich you Aill need them as you start learning a neA
2iece. &n either case 8Aith or Aithout a teacher9/ read the entire boo< quic<ly the first time. 3<i2 any
section that you thin< is not relevant or is too detailedB do not try to understand every conce2t or to
remember anything T read it li<e a science fiction novel 8but none of this is fiction9 T you *ust Aant
to get acquainted Aith the boo< and get some idea of Ahere certain to2ics are discussed. Finally/
read as much of the Testimonial section as you find interesting. Then re:start from Ahere you thin<
the boo< gives material that you needB most 2eo2le Aill need to read all of Cha2ter #ne/ sections &
and &&. Then you can s<i2 around to s2ecific to2ics that a22ly to the com2osition you are learning.
&f you donDt have a clear idea of Ahat com2ositions to learn/ this boo< cites many e>am2les/ from
beginner material 8Cha2ter #ne/ &&&.149 to intermediateB therefore/ in your first reading/ loo< for
Ahere these e>am2lesHsuggestions are.
Testimonials
8"eceived 2rior to Iuly/ (6649
These testimonials illustrate the ho2es/ trials/ tribulations/ and trium2hs/ of 2ianists and 2iano
teachers. & am heartened by the number of teachers Aho 2rovided testimonials and by their
indication that they are having more success Aith their students by using these ty2es of methods. &t
seems inesca2able that teachers Aho conduct research and im2rove their teaching methods are more
successful. $umerous 2ianists mentioned that they Aere taught all Arong by 2revious teachers.
0any/ Aho li<ed their teachers/ noted that these teachers used methods similar to those in this boo<.
There is almost uniform agreement on Ahat is right and Ahat is ArongB therefore/ Ahen you folloA
the scientific a22roach/ you donDt get into the situation in Ahich 2eo2le cannot agree on Ahat is
right. & Aas im2ressed by hoA quic<ly some 2eo2le 2ic<ed u2 these methods.
The e>cer2ts have been edited minimally/ but irrelevant details have been e>cised so as not to
Aaste the readersD time. & Aant to than< everyone Aho AroteB they have hel2ed me to im2rove the
boo<. & canDt get over the fact that readers <ee2 Ariting the boo< for me 8i.e./ & could insert their
remar<s in my boo</ and they Aould fit 2erfectlyO9. &n the folloAing/ & have not selected *ust the
flattering remar<sB & chose material that seemed significant 8educational9/ Ahether 2ositive or
critical. !ntries in UP.V are my comments%
1. UFrom a Christian 0inisterV
This boo< is the Piano 1ible. & have made such tremendous 2rogress since 2urchasing it U1st
edition boo<V. & continue to recommend it to others.
6
(. U&n Ian./ (66./ & received this email 8Aith 2ermission9V
0y name is 0arc/ and & am 1; years old. & *ust started 2laying the 2iano about a month ago and
have been reading your boo</ The Fundamentals of Piano Practice. . . . & do not have an instructor
yet/ but am in the 2rocess of loo<ing for one . . . . UfolloAed by a series of 2recocious questions for a
young 2erson Aith so little 2iano e>2erience. & ansAered his questions as Aell as & couldB then in
0ay/ (664/ & received this astounding emailV
& donDt quite e>2ect you to remember me/ but & sent you an email a little more than a year ago. . . &
Aould li<e to let you <noA hoA 2iano has been coming along for me using your method. & began
2laying the 2iano about Christmas of (66(/ using your method from the beginning. 0id:0arch of
(66./ & entered my high schoolDs concerto com2etition for fun and e>2erience T not in the ho2es of
Ainning their W-66 scholarshi2. & une>2ectedly Aon first 2lace/ com2eting against more seasoned
2ianists of u2 to 16 yrs. &t did shoc< the *udges Ahen & told them & had been 2laying for . months. A
feA days ago/ & Aon this yearDs com2etition/ as Aell. &n other Aords/ 2rogress has come very
quic<ly. 3uch 2rogress is one of the greatest motivators 8aside from the general love of music9/ so &
can noA see myself 2laying T and im2roving in T the 2iano for the rest of my life. And/ though &
must give my teachers credit as Aell/ your method is my foundation u2on Ahich they build/ and &
believe it is the main reason for my 2rogress. oAever/ & still consider myself a beginner . . . . 0y
Aebsite has all of the recordings Ahich & have made to date 8149. . . . recently/ & have been re:
recording Cho2inDs M"aindro2N 2relude/ 3carlattiDs E.466/ and 1achDs &nvention in F ma*or. . . . 0y
ne>t recording Aill be 1achDs 3infonia in ! minor/ and & 2lan to have that done by the end of ne>t
Aee<. Jour boo< is far more than any lover of music and the 2iano could e>2ect/ and & cannot than<
you enough for the hel2 you have given to me and so many other as2iring 2ianists . . . . U=o to the
Aebsite and listen to those ama?ing recordingsOO Jou can even find him at the 0usic )oAnload
Aeb site 8search 0arc 0cCarthy9.V
.. UFrom a res2ected/ e>2erienced 2iano teacher.V
& *ust s<immed your neA section Uon 2arallel set e>ercisesV and thought &Dd share my initial reaction.
As the 'ueen "egent of !>ercise:aters/ &Dve lobbied loud and strong for the criminali?ation of
anon et al/ and Aas at first aghast to thin< you may have *oined the doAntrodden masses of the
2seudo:voodoo:esque 2ractitioners/ ho2elessly/ hel2lessly/ re2eating/ re2eating/ . . . . AnyAay/ to get
to the 2oint/ & do see a 2oint of merit in your a22roach/ &F &F &F the student folloAs your
C#0P7!T! directions and uses the described <ey combinations as a diagnostic tool T $#T to
re2eat each and every combination as a daily routine. As a diagnostic tool and subsequent remedy/
youDve succeeded marvelouslyO There Aas something familiar about your e>ercises/ so & dug around
at the studio today and found the Technische 3tudien by 7ouis Plaidy/ !dition Peters/ first 2rinting
ca 14-6. Although PlaidyDs 2hiloso2hy concerning the use of his e>ercises is much different from
yours/ the actual notes 2rinted on the 2age folloA nearly to the letter 8tee/ hee/ & should say to the
note9 Ahat you have described in your e>ercise cha2ter. PlaidyDs e>ercises Aere highly res2ected in
!uro2e throughout the late 1466Ds and Aere used during that time at the Conservatory in 7ei2?ig.
Plaidy himself Aas quite a sought :after instructor/ Aith several of his 8students Aere9 acce2ted into
7is?tDs inner circle andHor having some sort of success on the concert stage. JouDre in the com2any
of greatnessO
4. & am curious to <noA if you <noA of the Aor< of =uy 0aier. )oes his a22roach Aith Mim2ulseN
2ractice of - finger 2atterns go along Aith the M2arallel setsN you mention, 0aier does use the
2rinci2le of re2eating one note Aith each finger as the others are held quietly at the <ey surface as one
of the - finger e>ercises. Thin%ing &ingers Aas one of the boo<s of e>ercises 0aier Arote Aith erbert
1radshaA in the early 1546s. #ne of his first - finger e>ercises that seems to mirror Ahat
;
you have said about MquadsN re2etitions on one note using one finger is as folloAs%
1. 3ingle fingers in re2eated note im2ulses of 1/ (/ ./ 4/ 4/ and 16.
2. Practice each finger se2arately/ de2ress other <eys lightly or hold fingers silently at <ey to2
2osition.
3. Using C)!F= in right hand/ 2lace - fingers on these notes one octave above middle C/ right
hand thumb on C.
4. 3imilarly Aith left hand/ one octave beloA middle C/ Aith fifth finger on C.
5. !>ercise hands se2aratelyB starting Aith right hand thumb 2lay one im2ulse C/ then release/
then tAo im2ulses/ etc./ u2 to 16. "e2eat Aith each finger/ then do the left hand.
U3ee my !>ercise section &&&.;bB it is ama?ing hoA Ae inde2endently arrived at grou2s of
MquadsN 8four re2etitions9/ u2 to 4 quads 816 re2etitions9 for this e>ercise Ahich is almost
identical to my !>ercise F1.V
6. 1eginners Aill have to do the im2ulses sloAly/ Aor<ing u2 to full s2eed 8and here & thin< your
MquadsN come into 2lay T so many re2etitions 2er second is the goal9.
0aier mentions 16 as his limit. e gives a great many 2atterns for using this a22roach to - finger
im2ulse e>ercises/ in 1oo< 1 and 1oo< ( of Thin%ing &ingers 2ublished by 1elAin 0ills &nc./ $J/
$J in 1544. & thin< 0aier Aas striving to hel2 students get the facility they needed Aithout the
endless re2etitions of anon/ Pischna/ et al.
5. Please send me your boo< T &Dve been a 2iano teacher for over -6 years/ still eager to learn.
6. UThis testimonial is an eye o2ener% it teaches us about one of the most frequently
misdiagnosed 2roblems that sto2s us from 2laying fast.V
At a young age/ & started/ and then quit 2iano. Then as a teenager/ & Aent to a UfamousV conservatory
and tried for years to acquire technique but failed miserably and ended u2 Aith an engineering
career. Jears later/ & have returned to 2iano 8Clavinova9 and am trying to do Ahat & failed to do years
ago. #ne of the reasons & sto22ed 2racticing is that my Aife and son Aould get irritated Ahen they
heard me re2eat 2assages over and overB the Clavinova alloAs me to 2ractice guiltlessly at any hour.
& read your Aeb 2age and Aas fascinated. +ish & had thought of some of your ideas years ago. & have
a question and & canDt seem to get an ansAer that ma<es any sense/ yet it is such a basic question. &
Aas taught that Ahen you 2lay 2iano/ you su22ort the Aeight of your arm on each finger that 2lays.
=ravity. Jou never 2ush doAn/ you must be rela>ed. 3o & as<ed my teachers hoA to 2lay 2ianissimo.
The ansAer Aas that you 2lay closer to the <eys. This does not Aor< for me. U7ong discussion of
various methods of trying to 2lay 2ianissimo Aith arm Aeight and Ahy they donDt Aor<. 3eems he
can 2lay 2ianissimo only by consciously lifting his hands off the <eys. Also/ since everything tends
to come out forte/ s2eed is a 2roblem.V +ould you <indly ansAer this question for me, +hat does
one do Aith ones arm Aeight Ahen one 2lays 2ianissimo, & have read many boo<s about 2laying the
2iano and have s2o<en Aith many accom2lished 2ianists. &t is one thing to <noA hoA to 2lay
anything and it is quite another to be able to teach someone hoA to 2lay. U& could not have said this
any betterOV Jour Aritings are brilliant and in many Aays revolutionary/ & <neA instinctively that if
anyone could hel2 me you could.
UAfter such a com2liment/ & had to do something/ so & read the account of his difficulties carefully
and came to the conclusion that he must/ after so many years of trying/ be unAittingly 2ushing
doAn on the 2iano/ almost as if he Aere hy2noti?ed. & told him to find a Aay to see if he Aas
actually 2ushing doAn T not an easy tas<. Then came this re2ly.V
Than< you for your res2onse. Truth is best e>amined through e>tremes. Jour suggestion gave me
the idea that maybe & should A7+AJ3 2lay li<e & 2lay 0J 2ianissimo T by lifting my hands off the
<eys. & rushed to my anon/ and J!3O & can 2lay much fasterO & quic<ly rushed to the 1ach Prelude
&& that & could never 2lay to s2eed 81449 and & alAays had troubles getting the fingers to land
together
4
Ahen 2laying fast/ and at s2eeds above 1(6 the fingers Aere landing li<e one note together. $o
fumbles/ no strain. $ot only that/ & can 2lay 2iano or forte as fast as & Aant. &t feels so incredibly
!A3JO Iust discovered it noAO & canDt believe this. U7ong discussion of hoA/ through the years/ he
had come to equate arm Aeight Aith 2ushing doAn/ mainly caused by a fear of not understanding the
teacher Aho Aas a strict/ arm Aeight disci2linarian. This is actually something & have been very
sus2icious of/ about the arm Aeight method% that so much em2hasis on arm Aeight and overly strict
disci2line might cause some ty2e of neurosis or misunderstanding T 2erha2s even some ty2e of
hy2nosis.V A huge Aall *ust crumbled and noA after so many years of thought and hours of 2ractice
8& 2racticed u2 to 16 hours a day at the conservatory and still only memori?ed music Aithout ever
im2roving my technique9 and noA & can see beyond. & discovered that & have the ability to 2lay faster
than & ever dreamed & could 8*ust tried the C ma*or scale and & Aas shoc<ed that this Aas me 2laying9
Aith full range of sound that & Aant +&T#UT T!$3&#$. UA long descri2tion of all the neA things
he is noA doing and com2aring them to his 2revious years of struggles and criticisms from others.V &
have you to than< for this. Jours Aas the only boo< & have ever read that offered enough variation
from the mainline to get me to finally free my mind from a huge misconce2tion. & Aas 2ushing
doAn/ not letting go. 0y arms sim2ly donDt Aeigh a ton/ but they are free. 1ecause & Aas afraid of
my teacher and Aas obsessed Aith the Aeight of my arms/ & Aas subconsciously bearing doAn. &
never dared 2lay PPP for her. & <neA hoA/ but & Aas certain it Aas the Arong technique. U& am afraid
this ha22ens frequently Aith youngstersB they donDt understand the teacher but are afraid to as</ and
end u2 assuming the Arong thing.V +hat she should have told me Aas )#$DT !@!" PU3
)#+$B instead/ & fi>ated on the Aeight of my arms as being <ey to everything. UA youngster must
2ush doAn to 2ut any MAeightN on his armsO oA are you going to e>2lain that this is Arong to a
child Aho hasnDt studied 2hysics,V 3he also never alloAed me to 2lay quic<ly. UThis is another
comment & have heard from students of strict arm Aeight teachers T s2eed is a no:no until certain
milestones are achievedB although Ae must e>ercise caution Ahen 2racticing for s2eed/ sloAing
doAn is not the quic<est Aay to s2eed.V 1ecause & Aas tense/ and she said & Aould never 2lay
quic<ly if &Dm tense. &n your boo< you say that Ae have to 2lay fast to discover technique. & Aas
never alloAed toO Jour boo< and your email freed the chains in my mind that held me ca2tive for all
these years. Than< you so very much. & cannot describe hoA grateful & am to you and your insight.
UAlthough my comments seem to be directed against the arm Aeight school/ that is not the case T
similar difficulties a22ly to any teaching based on insufficient <noAledge in the hands of strict
disci2linarian teachers. Unfortunately/ a large number of 2iano teachers has historically ado2ted
infle>ible teaching methods because of a lac< of a theoretical understanding and rational
e>2lanations. For systematic treatments of s2eed/ see sections &&.1. and es2ecially &&&.;.iV
;. & found your boo< on the internet and consider myself very luc<y. Than< you very much for
ma<ing such a great effort on describing the 2iano technique and 2ractice habits that ma<e sense. &
am a 2iano teacher. &Dve only started to read the boo< and have already a22lied some 2ractice
techniques Aith my students. They li<ed it and & li<ed it too. The 2ractice becomes so much more
interesting. )o you <noA the boo< called MThe Amateur PianistDs Com2anionN by Iames Ching/
2ublished by Eeith ProAse 0usic Publishing Co./ 15-6/ 7ondon. This boo< may be out of 2rint/
but & found it second hand at%
htt2%HHdogbert.abeboo<s.comHabeH1oo<3earch
Jou might be interested because Mthe detail of correct 2ostures/ movement and conditions as
outlined in this boo< are the result of e>tensive researches into the 2hysiological:mechanics of
2iano technique carried out by the author in con*unction Aith Professor . artridge/ Professor of
Physiology/ and . T. Iesso2/ 7ecturer in 0echanics and A22lied 0athematics/ at the University of
7ondonN.
5
8. & am so grateful that & found your Aeb site. & am an adult 2iano 2layer/ that Aas taught all Arong/
Ahen & Aas young. & am still trying to unlearn my bad techniques and habits. & noA ta<e lessons
from a very good teacher.
9. A feA Aee<s ago & doAnloaded your boo< from the &nternet and have been trying it out. &Dm
about halfAay through and a long Aay from fully a22lying everything/ but &Dm so 2leased Aith the
results u2 to noA that & thought &Dd give some s2ontaneous feedbac<.
Firstly some bac<ground. & studied 2iano u2 to an advanced level and started a music degree/ Ahich
& dro22ed after a year to study math. After graduation & Aas an enthusiastic amateur/ but over the last
20 years my 2laying has become less frequent/ mainly due to my frustration at a lac< of 2rogress/
convinced that & Aould never be able to find the hours of e>ercise needed to be able to 2lay better.
& Aas loo<ing for some hints for buying a 2iano and came across your site. After reading a cou2le
of cha2ters & doAnloaded the Ahole thing and started trying it out. This is not the first time & have
tried to im2rove Aith a boo< or advice from a teacher/ but &Dm a suc<er for 2unishment. ere are
my e>2eriences after three Aee<s. U$ote hoA quic<ly 2eo2le can learn and immediately ma<e use
of these methods.V
&Dve been concentrating on studying 4 2ieces Ahich are very dear to
me% : "avelDs Prelude
: Cho2in Prelude no. (6 in Ab ma*or
: Poulenc $ovelette no. 1
: "avel Alborada del =ra?iosa from 0iroirs
The "avel Prelude is a small 2iece of no a22arent technical difficulty. This is a 2iece that & had
alAays 2layed on sight/ but never really Aell. There is a crossed hands section in the middle Aith
some e>quisite dissonance that 2oses some difficulties/ but thatDs about it. & a22lied the 2ractice
methods in the boo< to this 2iece and it suddenly came alive Aith far more nuance than & had ever
credited it. &tDs anything but the throAaAay & thought it Aas/ but Aithout 2ro2er 2ractice methods
it Aill alAays seem that Aay.
The Poulenc $ovelette is one of the 2ieces that & have 2layed at least once a Aee< for (6 years and
am very fond of. &Dve never really 2layed this fully to my satisfaction/ but &Dd alAays assumed that
this Aas due to a lac< of e>ercise time. Using your suggestions & started analy?ing Ahat Aas Arong.
Aside from some obvious flubs that had never really been learnt correctly the most sur2rising result
Aas that it Aas im2ossible for me to <ee2 in time to the metronomeOO 3ome more detailed analysis
revealed the cause T a lot of PoulencDs Ariting requires ra2id and aA<Aard shifts of hand 2osition
Aith melodies that need to be sustained across these shifts. The bad habit that & had learnt Aas to
MgrabN at the <eys during these shifts/ hence destroying the melody line and gradually s2eeding u2
the 2iece. The revelation to me Aas that the 2roblem could not be fi>ed by 2racticing Aith the
metronomeO &t could only be fi>ed by analy?ing this 2roblem and Aor<ing out a strategy for
dealing Aith the shifts. $oA & am very satisfied Aith the Aay & 2lay and even have a lot of time left
over to consider the music.
Alborada del =ra?iosa is a case a2art. This is a fiendishly difficult 2iece Ahich & had tried to learn in
the 2ast/ but Aas unable to bring most of the 2assages u2 to the correct s2eed. 0y assum2tion had
alAays been that more 2ractice Aas necessary and that & could never find the time. Again T a22lied
the methods in your boo< to learning this and/ after three Aee<s/ &Dm not yet there but & can noA
2lay most of it u2 to s2eed and reasonably musically as Aell. & rec<on &Dll have it all in my fingers in
a cou2le of Aee<s then & can concentrate on the music.
7ast but not least/ the Cho2in 2relude. & learnt this for an e>am Ahen & Aas 16 yrs. old/ but have
never really 2layed it since. & started relearning it and made a cou2le of discoveries. Firstly & had
never 2layed it u2 to s2eed/ even for the e>am/ so this Aas something & needed to fi>. oAever
this *ust didnDt Aor< T & discovered that for tAo reasons & couldnDt s2eed u2. Firstly & had learnt to
fa<e
16
the legato Aith the 2edal T but once you s2eed u2 you *ust get a *umble of sound and if & try to
2edal correctly & *ust couldnDt get the legato. 3econdly the middle section contains some highly
stretched bro<en chords in the left hand that shift on each beat. Played sloAly this is o</ but at
s2eed it becomes fiendishly difficult and even 2ainful to 2lay. 1asically & have had to relearn this
2iece T neA fingerings/ neA hand 2ositions/ different 2edaling etc. $oA & can 2lay this at any s2eed
& li<e Aith no stress. & found this an interesting 2roof of Ahat you say in the boo< T this is a very
small 2iece that seems fairly easy/ but at s2eed it com2letely changes character and Aill frustrate
any student using the intuitive method/ unless they are blessed Aith a s2an of over 1.- octaves.
&n closing &Dd li<e to than< you for Ariting the boo< and even more for ma<ing it available on the
&nternet. & have in the 2ast s2ent enormous amounts of money on highly recommended teachers
and not one of them/ although & have no doubt that they understood these techniques themselves/
could teach me hoA to 2ractice.
10. & thin< your boo< is Aorth my reading although many of the MrulesN 8such as hands se2arate
2ractice/ chord attac< . . . 9 & have learned from our teachers. &n my logic even if *ust one rule &
learned from your boo< Aor<s/ it is Aorth far more than the W1- & 2aid for the 1st !dition. & also
li<e the section on hoA to 2re2are for recitals. & agree that 2racticing full s2eed before the recital is
a Mno noN. & discussed this Aith my teacher and Ae see several reasons Ahy Ue>tended discussions
on Ahy 2laying full s2eed on day of recital can lead to 2roblems/ not e>cer2ted here because & canDt
understand themV. Thus 2ractice fast before the recital is a no:Ain situation. Finally/ & Aould li<e to
see more about hoA to gain s2eed and hoA to 2ut hands together more efficiently. 3ome music
81achDs &nventions come to mind9 is easy to 2lay hands se2arate but difficult hands together.
#verall/ & en*oy reading your boo<.
11. & encourage everyone to try hands se2arate 2ractice as stated in your boo<. +hile studying Aith
"obert Palmieri at Eent 3tate University/ he had me do this as 2art of my 2ractice. &t hel2ed me get
2ast the amateur stage and on to much better technique and musical 2laying.
12. 1ased on Ahat & Aas able to glean from your Aeb site/ & a22lied one of the 2rinci2les T hands
se2arate 2laying at full tem2o :: on a cou2le of difficult 2assages in tAo com2letely different ty2es
of songs & Aas 2laying/ one a church hymn/ the other a *a?? tune. &nterestingly/ & found that Ahen &
got to church yesterday and it came time to accom2any the congregation/ the difficult 2ortions & had
learned by the hands se2arate method Aere among the most solid and sure of the entire hymn. &t
seemed that each time & came to one of those difficult s2ots/ a mental trigger Aent off that alerted
my brainHnervous system to e>ecute those 2arts Aith 2articular care and accuracy. 3ame goes for the
difficult s2ot in the *a?? tune/ Ahich is noA no longer a 2roblem at all.
13. About one and a half years ago & ordered the boo< Fundamentals of Piano Practice from you. &
*ust Aanted to 2ersonally than< you for your contribution. &t has hel2ed me a great dealO & never
<neA hoA to 2ractice before your boo< because & Aas never taught. & too< lessons/ mind you/ but
my teachers never taught me hoA to 2ractice. &snDt that ama?ingO & sus2ect that it is common2lace.
The most beneficial 2iece of advice for me is your suggestion to 2lay at a much sloAer s2eed on the
last run:through of the 2iece you are 2racticing. & must admit develo2ing this habit has been most
difficult for me. 1ut & am trying. & find that sloA 2ractice is a big hel2. Also/ 2racticing *ust a
measure or tAo at a time has been valuableO & Aished that memori?ing music came easierB if you
have any neA ideas on memori?ing/ 2lease let me <noA. U& have added considerable material on
memori?ing since this corres2ondence.V
14. Than< you for ansAering my 2iano 2ractice questions. & must tell you that there is one
11
2articularly tric<y Prelude of Cho2inDs T the one in C 3har2 0inor. +hen & received your boo</ &
mastered this Prelude more than u2 to its ra2id s2eed in one day. =ranted it is a short one/ but many
2ianists Arestle Aith it. This e>2erience has been very encouraging.
15. & have been 2laying 2iano for 4 years noA and bought your boo< about a year ago. After reading
this boo</ my 1 hour a day 2ractice sessions are much more 2roductive. & also learn neA 2ieces
much faster. Jou shoA insight on the folloAing%
Correct methods of
2ractice. oA to start a neA
2iece.
3loA 2ractice 8Ahen to do it and
Ahy9. +hen to 2lay faster than
normal. oA to get ready for a
2erformance.
& donDt agree Aith everything you Arite/ but & read your boo< about every cou2le of months so &
donDt lose sight of the 2ro2er Aay to 2ractice. UThis is a common refrain% my boo< is such a
dense com2ilation that you need to read it several times.V
16. After one Aee</ & Aas very 2leased Aith myself and the method since & thought that & had
successfully 0!0#"&Q!)OOO A Ahole 2age 3. This Aas an absolutely un<noAn achievement as
far as & Aas concerned. 1ut 2roblems arose Ahen & tried to 2ut the tAo hands together/ Ahich & then
tried to do Ahilst learning the rest of the 2iece. & also found on trying to learn the rest of the 2iece
that & had Xmemori?edD the first 2age Arongly/ and & ended u2 Ariting notes to myself. UThis
2robably ha22ens more often than most of us Aould li<e to admit T Ahen you have difficulty in
getting u2 to s2eed T/ C!CE T! 3C#"!O The cause could be an error in reading the music.
!rrors in rhythm are 2articularly difficult to detect.V Jour boo< A3 given me e>actly Ahat & Aas
loo<ing for T i.e. some basis for Aor<ing out hoA to learn more quic<ly and efficiently. $o teacher
has ever been able to give me any clue as to hoA to go about learning a 2iece. The only suggestion &
have ever had is/ Xave a loo< at this and see Ahat you can ma<e of itD/ and as for hoA to im2rove
the accuracy andHor s2eed/ XEee2 2racticing/ 2racticing/ . . .D +AT,,,,, &Dve noA got ansAers to
these vital questions. Than<s.
17. & have been reading your boo< on your site and have been getting a lot out of it. Jou have
ins2ired me to 2ractice the Aay & have alAays <noAn Aas the best Aay but never had the 2atience to
do it. +hat you outline about even chords before trying to 2lay fast lines sure has hel2ed me a lot. &
thin< my inability to 2lay beyond a certain s2eed is due to a basic unevenness in my fingers that &
have never really addressed. & alAays Aould *ust say/ M& *ust canDt 2lay fast AellN. & have Aor<ed u2 a
small 2ortion of an etude using the chord attac< a22roach and can actually 2lay it fairly smoothly
and evenlyO & am curious about your theories on absolute 2itch develo2ment. The cam2s seem very
divided on that sub*ect% genetics vs. environment. U3ince this corres2ondence/ & added the 2arallel
set e>ercises for chord 2ractice/ and have Aritten an e>2anded section on acquiring absolute 2itch.V
18. & *ust Aanted to let you <noA hoA much my family of musicians has been en*oying your boo<
on 2iano 2laying. +ithout doubt/ you set forth some innovative/ unorthodo> ideas in your boo< that
really do Aor< in s2ite of the fact they sound e>treme by most 2racticing 2iano teachersD standards.
U& agreeOV The method of 2racticing hands se2arately seems to be Aor<ing quite Aell as Aell as the
method of not 2laying everything soooooo sloAlyO Also/ 2utting less em2hasis on the metronome
has also been 2roving beneficial. Certainly/ your methods have hel2ed s2eed u2 the entire learning
2rocess on neA 2ieces/ and noA & canDt imagine hoA Ae ever managed before Aithout <noAing
these Mmusical truthsN of yours. Than< you again for Ariting such a marvelous I!+!7 of a boo<O
1(
19. & read the online sections and thin< every 2iano teacher should be required to have read this
boo<. &Dm one of the unfortunate Aho s2ent ; years 2racticing scalesHanon Aithout any hints about
rela>ation or efficient 2ractice methods. & started to 2ic< good 2ractice hints from internet
discussion grou2s and various boo<s/ but your boo< is by far the most com2rehensive and
convincing source & have found yet.
20. & am a 2iano 2layer at an intermediate level. A month ago & doAnloaded 2arts of your boo< and &
must say in one Aord that it is fabulousO 1eing a scientist & a22reciate the structural Aay the sub*ect
matter is 2resented and e>2lained on a doAn to earth level. &t changed my Aay of loo<ing at 2iano
2ractice. !s2ecially the 2art on memori?ing hel2ed me already to reduce memori?ing efforts
considerably. 0y 2rivate teacher 8a 2erforming soloist9 uses bits and 2ieces from your method.
oAever this teacher is a C?erny addict and never heard of thumb over. Jou need to s2end more
attention to the thumb over/ es2ecially hoA to smoothly *oin 2arallel sets. & gave a co2y of the boo<
to my teacher and & recommend it to everybody.
UA year laterV
& already Arote you once more than a year ago about your fantastic boo< on the internet. The methods
really Aor<. Using your methods & Aas able to learn and master some 2ieces much faster. Jour methods
really Aor< for 2ieces that are notoriously difficult to memori?e/ li<e some 0o?art sonatas/ and 2ieces of
Ahich my 2iano teacher said are difficult to memori?e li<e the 1ach &nventions or some 2reludes of
Cho2in. Piece of ca<e using your method. & am noA tac<ling the Fantaisie &m2rom2tu and this
seemingly im2ossible 2iece a22ears to be Aithin my reachO & also li<e your contribution about the
subconscious mind. & Aonder Ahether you <noA the boo< of I. ). 3arno% The 0indbody Prescri2tion.
This boo< treats the subconscious e>actly li<e you do. +hile Aor<ing on my Ph) thesis/ & solved many
seemingly unsolvable theoretical enigmas *ust li<e you did. & fed it to my brain and some days later the
solution *ust 2o22ed out. 3o Ahat you Arite is dead rightO
21. Jour suggestions on hoA to memori?e music by creating associations 8a story/ for e>am2le9
sounded silly to me. 1ut Ahen & Aas 2racticing/ & couldnDt hel2 as<ing Ahat & could associate Aith a
certain musical 2hrase that had a 2roblematic F chord. M=ive yourself an F for failingN 2o22ed into
my mind. & thought that Aas not very encouraging thin<ingO 1ut noA every time & come to that
2hrase & remember the F. &Dve got it. 3heeshO Than<s. Jour boo< is very useful. &t mirrors my
teacherDs suggestions/ but Aith more detail. +hen & canDt 2lay the 2iano nothing is more fun than
reading about 2laying the 2iano . . . . . . . . . &n the final Aee<s before my last recital/ my teacher
suggested 2laying through my mista<es during 2ractice. Then going bac< and Aor<ing on the
2roblem measures/ much as you suggest/ though that Aas the only time that it came u2. 3he says
most 2eo2le Aill not even <noA the mista<e Aas made unless it interru2ts the music. er 2oint is to
not interru2t the music and to correct the 2roblem at the source by going bac< to the measure. & find
that & do correct myself 8stutter9 a lotB &Dm going to focus on not doing it. This advice is not intuitive/
you <noA. #ne corrects mista<es naturally Ahen they ha22en. 1ut & can see that constantly doing
that is actually building the mista<es in.
22. & stumbled on your online boo< on 2iano 2ractice Ahen & Aas searching for articles on absolute
2itch. +hen & read it/ & Aas im2ressed by the scientific a22roach used. !s2ecially the conce2t of Ms2eed
AallN and hoA to overcome it hel2ed me a lot. & found your boo< at *ust the right time. 0any 2roblems &
encounter in 2laying the 2iano are discussed in your boo<. 0any 2iano teachers donDt seem to have a
clear scientific conce2t on hoA to handle s2ecific 2roblems of intermediate 2iano 2layers. 3o & am
Aor<ing through the boo</ section by section Aith good success. There are several things & am missing
in your boo<. &n some cha2ters/ 2ictures Aould be very hel2ful/ such as correct hand 2osition/ thumb
over/ 2arallel set e>ercises. 3omething li<e a chronological table for the
1.
2ractice routine might be useful. MPracticing coldN Aould be on 2osition number one/ for e>am2le.
Jou alAays mention the im2ortance of +!$ to do +AT. Could you order the e>ercises you
e>2lain in a Aay that ma<es them most efficient, AnyAay/ & Aant to e>2ress my dee2 a22reciation
for your 2ro*ectO
23. All this Ainter/ & continued my 2ersonal 2iano learning and & must say that every Aord in your
boo< is true. & have been studying 2iano for several years and made only average 2rogress. 1ecause
& love 2iano and romantic music/ that ma<es me sometimes cra?y and dee2ly frustrated. After
a22lication of your methods from about 1 year ago/ & made tremendous 2rogress. & am noA Aor<ing
on several 2ieces at once/ com2ositions & never thought before that & can 2lay. &tDs Aonderful. Today/
& have a small re2ertoire that & can 2lay Aith great satisfaction.
24. & have ordered and received your 1st !d boo< and have read sections of your (nd !d. & have
found your information to be e>tremely valuable. & am sending you this email because & Aas
ho2ing to get some advice on my u2coming recital. & am e>tremely nervous but after reading your
sections on recitals & understand their im2ortance. & Aish & had your notes on memori?ing Ahen &
started because it has ta<en me an e>tremely long time to finally memori?e it 8the im2ro2er Aay9. &
am not sure hoA to 2erform the 2iece for the recital. #n the feA occasions that & 2layed for others &
Aould stumble on certain sections because & Aould forget Ahere & Aas in the 2iece because of
nerves. This is my first recital so & donDt <noA Ahat to e>2ect. Any ti2s or advice on 2ractice
routines Aould be much a22reciated.
UAfter a feA e>changes about Ahat he Aas 2laying/ etc./ & gave him a scenario of ty2ical 2ractice
routines for recital 2re2aration and Ahat to e>2ect during the recital. After the recital/ & received the
folloAing email.V
& *ust Aanted to let you <noA that my recital Aent e>tremely Aell considering it Aas my first time.
The advice you gave me Aas very hel2ful. & Aas nervous starting the 2iece but then & became
e>tremely focused 8*ust li<e you said Aould ha22en9. & Aas even able to concentrate musically rather
than *ust going through the motions. The audience Aas im2ressed at my ability to do it from memory
8*ust li<e you said they Aould9. Jou Aere right in saying that a 2ositive e>2erience li<e this Aould
hel2 me Aith my confidence. & feel great about the e>2erienceO 0y teacher is from Ua famous
ConservatoryV/ and teaches anon e>ercises and other technique material. That is Ahy your boo<
Aas and is a gold mine for me. & Aant to be able to 2lay the 2ieces that & en*oy Aithout having to
s2end (6 years to learn them. 1ut & also feel that & need a teacher.
25. UFinally/ hundreds of communications of the ty2e%V
& must say that you boo< is e>cellent . . . . . . . .
3ince reading C. C. ChangDs Fundamentals of Piano Practice/ &Dve been trying out his
suggestionsB than<s to those Aho recommended it and to 0r. Chang for ta<ing the time to Arite it
and ma<e it available.
!tc./ etc.
(6. 3ince Iuly/ (664 8cut:off date of these testimonials9 & have continued to receive similar emails/
es2ecially from students at music conservatories. 0ost gratifying are the increasing number of
teachers Aho say that they are successfully using these methods to teach/ and that their students
are ha22ier and ma<ing faster 2rogress.
14
Abbreviations and Frequently Used Phrases
3ections 8P9 are in Cha2ter #ne unless otherAise noted
AR!"IATI#$S
AP G Absolute Pitch 8&&&.1(9
!T G !qual Tem2erament 8Ch. TAo/ (c K 6c9
FFP G Flat Finger Position 8&&&.4b9
F& G Fantaisie &m2rom2tu by Cho2in 8&&.(-/ &&&.(K-9
FP) G Fast Play )egradation 8&&.(-/ near end9
3 G ands 3e2arate 8&&.;9
T G ands Together 8&&.(-9
E:&& G Eirnberger && Tem2erament 8Ch. TAo/ (c K 6b9
7 G 7eft and
0P G 0ental Play 8see &nde>9
$= G $ucleation =roAth 8&&&.1-9
PP& G Post Practice &m2rovement 8&&.1-9
P3 G Parallel 3ets 8see beloA9
" G "ight and
3+ G 32eed +all 8&&&.;i9
T# G Thumb #ver 8&&&.-9
TU G Thumb Under 8&&&.-9
+T G +ell Tem2erament 8Ch. TAo/ (c9
Frequently Used Phrases
CartAheel 0ethod 8&&&.-/ in Ar2eggios section9
Chord Attac< 8&&.59
Con*unction 8&&.49
Curl Paralysis 8&&&.4b9
&ntuitive 0ethod 8&&.19
0ental Play 8&&.1(/ &&&.6*9
Parallel 3ets 8&&.11/ &&&.;b/ see &nde>9
Pyramid Position G Rflat fingerR 2osition 8&&&.4b9
'uiet and 8&&&.6l9
3egmental Practice 8&&.69
32eed +all 8&&&.;i9
32ider 2osition G Rflat fingerR 2osition 8&&&.4b9
1-
Preface
This is the best book ever written on how to practice at the piano! The revelation of this
boo< is that there are highly efficient 2ractice methods that can accelerate your learning rate/ by u2
to 1/666 times if you have not yet learned the most efficient 2ractice methods 8see &@.-9. +hat is
sur2rising is that/ although these methods Aere <noAn since the earliest days of 2iano/ they Aere
seldom taught because only a feA teachers <neA about them and these <noAledgeable teachers
never bothered to disseminate this <noAledge.
I realized in the 1960s that there was no good book on how to practice at the piano. The
best & could find Aas +hitesideCs boo</ Ahich Aas an utter disa22ointmentB see my revieA of this
boo< in "eferences. As a graduate student at Cornell University/ studying until ( A0 *ust to <ee2 u2
Aith some of the brightest students from all over the Aorld/ & had little time to 2ractice 2iano. &
needed to <noA Ahat the best 2ractice methods Aere/ es2ecially because Ahatever & Aas using
AasnCt Aor<ing although & had ta<en 2iano lessons diligently for ; years in my youth. oA concert
2ianists could 2lay the Aay they did Aas an absolute mystery to me. +as it *ust a matter of sufficient
effort/ time/ and talent/ as most 2eo2le seem to thin<, &f the ansAer Aere RJesR/ it Aould have been
devastating for me because it meant that my musical talent level Aas so loA that & Aas a ho2eless
case because & had 2ut in sufficient effort and time/ at least in my youth/ 2racticing u2 to 4 hours a
day on Aee<ends.
The ansAers came to me gradually in the 15;6Cs Ahen & noticed that our tAo daughtersC 2iano
teacher Aas teaching some sur2risingly efficient methods of 2ractice that Aere different from
methods taught by the ma*ority of 2iano teachers. Over a period of more than 10 ears! I kept track
of these efficient practice methods and came to the realization that the most important factor for
learning to pla the piano is the practice methods. !ffort/ time/ and talent Aere merely secondary
factorsO &n fact/ RtalentR is difficult to define and im2ossible to measureB it had become a
meaningless Aord Ae use to hide our ignorance of the true definition of effective talent. &n fact/
proper practice methods can make practicall anbod into a "talented" m#sicianO & saA this
ha22en all the time at the hundreds of student recitals and 2iano com2etitions that & had Aitnessed.
There is now a growing realization that $talent%! $prodig%! or $geni#s% is more created
than born 8see #lson9 :: 0o?art is 2ossibly the most 2rominent e>am2le of the R 0o?art !ffectR.
3ome have renamed this RThe 1eethoven !ffectR Ahich might be more a22ro2riate because 0o?art
had some 2ersonality Aea<nesses/ etc./ that sometimes marred his otherAise glorious music/
Ahereas 2sychologically/ 1eethoven com2osed the most enlightening music. 7istening to music is
only one com2onent of the com2le> 0o?art !ffect. For 2ianists/ ma%ing music has a larger effect on
mental develo2ment. Th#s good practice methods will not onl accelerate the learning rate b#t
also help to develop the m#sical brain! as well as raise the intelligence level! especiall for the
o#ng. The learning rate is accelerated/ com2ared to the sloAer methods 8itCs li<e the difference
betAeen an accelerating vehicle and one going at a constant s2eed9. Therefore/ in a matter of a feA
years/ students Aithout 2ro2er 2ractice methods Aill fall ho2elessly behind. This ma<es those
students Aith good 2ractice methods a22ear far more talented than they really are because they can
learn in minutes or days Ahat it ta<es the others months or years. The most important aspect of
learning piano is brain development and higher intelligence. &emor is a component of
intelligence and we know how to improve memor 'see III.6(. This book also teaches how to pla
m#sic in o#r minds ) this is called &ental *la 'II.1+(! which nat#rall leads to absol#te pitch
and the abilit to compose m#sic. These are the s<ills that distinguished the greatest musicians and
led us to label them as geniusesB yet Ae shoA here that they are not difficult to learn. Until noA/ the
musicianDs Aorld Aas restricted to the feA MgiftedN artistsB Ae noA <noA that it is a universe in
Ahich Ae can all 2artici2ate.
16
*ractice methods can make the difference between a lifetime of f#tilit! and a concert
pianist in less than 10 ears for o#ng! dedicated st#dents. Using the right 2ractice methods/ it
ta<es only a feA years for a diligent student at any age to start 2laying meaningful 2ieces from
famous com2osers. The saddest truth of the 2ast tAo centuries has been that/ although most of these
2ractice methods Aere discovered and rediscovered thousands of times/ they Aere never
documented and students either had to rediscover them by themselves or/ if luc<y/ learn them from
teachers Aho <neA some of them. The best e>am2le of this lac< of documentation is the RteachingsR
of Fran? 7is?t. There are a do?en Fran? 7is?t societies and they have 2roduced hundreds of
2ublications.
,#mero#s books have been written abo#t -iszt 'see .igeldinger! etc.! in /eferences(! and
tho#sands of teachers have claimed to teach the "0ranz -iszt method"! complete with
doc#mented teaching lineages. 1et there is not one p#blication that describes what that method is!
There are endless accounts of 7is?tCs accom2lishments and technical 2roAess/ yet there is not one
reference on the details of hoA he got that Aay. !vidence in the literature indicates that even 7is?t
could not describe hoA he acquired techniqueB he could only demonstrate hoA he 2layed. 3ince
2iano 2edagogy has succeeded in losing trac< of hoA the greatest 2ianist acquired his technique/ it is
little Aonder that Ae did not have a te>tboo< on learning 2iano. Can you imagine learning math/
economics/ 2hysics/ history/ biology/ or anything else Aithout a te>tboo</ and 8if you are luc<y9 only
your teacherCs memory as a guide, +ithout te>tboo<s and documentation/ our civili?ation Aould not
have advanced beyond that of *ungle tribes Ahose <noAledge base had been 2assed on by Aord of
mouth. ThatCs basically Ahere 2iano 2edagogy has been for (66 yearsO
There are many boo<s on learning 2iano 8see "eferences9/ but none of them qualify as
te>tboo<s for 2ractice methods/ Ahich is Ahat students need. These boo<s tell you Ahat s<ills you
need 8scales/ ar2eggios/ trills/ etc.9 and the more advanced boo<s describe the fingerings/ hand
2ositions/ movements/ etc./ to 2lay them/ but none of them 2rovide a reasonably com2lete/
systematic set of instructions on hoA to 2ractice. 0ost beginner music boo<s 2rovide a feA such
instructions/ but many of those instructions are Arong :: a good e>am2le is the amateurish
advertisement on hoA to become MThe @irtuoso Pianist in 66 !>ercisesR in the title of the anon
e>ercises 8see section &&&.;.h of Cha2ter #ne9. In piano pedagog! the most essential tool for the
teacher and the st#dent ) a reasonabl complete set of instr#ctions on how to practice! had
been missing #ntil this book was written.
& did not reali?e hoA revolutionary the methods of this boo< Aere until after & finished my first
draft of this boo< in 1554. These methods Aere better than Ahat & had been using 2reviously and/ for
years/ & had been a22lying them Aith good/ but not remar<able/ results. & e>2erienced my first
aAa<ening after finishing that boo</ Ahen & really read my oAn boo< and folloAed the methods
systematically :: and e>2erienced their incredible efficiency. 3o/ Ahat Aas the difference betAeen
<noAing 2arts of the method and reading a boo<, &n Ariting the boo</ & had to ta<e the various 2arts and
arrange them into an organi?ed structure that served a s2ecific 2ur2ose and that had no missing essential
com2onents. As a scientist/ & <neA that organi?ing the material into a logical structure Aas the only Aay
to Arite a useful manual. It is well known in science that most discoveries are made while writing the
research reports! not when cond#cting the research. &t Aas as if & had most the 2arts of a terrific car/
but Aithout a mechanic to assemble the car/ find any missing 2arts/ and tune it u2/ those 2arts AerenCt
much good for trans2ortation. & became convinced of this boo<Ds 2otential to revolutioni?e 2iano
teaching and/ in 1555/ decided to 2rovide it free to the Aorld on the internet. &n this Aay/ it could be
u2dated as my research 2rogressed and Ahatever Aas Aritten Aould be immediately available to the
2ublic. &n retros2ect/ this boo< is the culmination of over -6 years of research that & had conducted on
2iano 2ractice methods since my first 2iano lessons.
+hy are these 2ractice methods so revolutionary, For detailed ansAers/ you Aill have to
read this boo<. ere/ & briefly 2resent a feA overvieAs of hoA these miraculous results are achieved
and to e>2lain Ahy they Aor<. I did not originate most of the basic ideas in this book. They Aere
1
;
invented and re:invented um2teen times in the last (66 years by every successful 2ianistB otherAise/
they Aould not have had such success. The basic framework for this book was constr#cted #sing
the teachings of &lle. 1vonne 2ombe/ the teacher of our tAo daughters Aho became accom2lished
2ianists 8they have Aon many first 2ri?es in 2iano com2etitions and averaged over 16 recitals a year
each for many yearsB both have absolute 2itch/ and noA en*oy com2osing music9. #ther 2arts of this
boo< Aere assembled from the literature and my research using the internet. & contrib#tions are
in gathering these ideas! organizing them into a str#ct#re! and providing some #nderstanding of
wh the work. This #nderstanding is critical for the s#ccess of the method. Piano has often been
taught li<e religion% Faith/ o2e/ and Charity. Faith that/ if you folloAed 2rocedures suggested by a
RmasterR teacher/ you Aill succeedB o2e that/ R2ractice/ 2ractice/ 2racticeR Aill lead you to the
rainboA/ and Charity that your sacrifices and 2aying your dues Aill 2erform miracles. This boo< is
different T a method is not acceptable #nless the st#dents #nderstand wh it works so that the
can adapt it to their specific needs. Finding the correct understanding is not easy because you canCt
*ust 2luc< an e>2lanation out of thin air 8it Aill be Arong9 :: you must have enough e>2ertise in that
field of <noAledge in order to arrive at the correct e>2lanation. Providing a correct e>2lanation
automatically filters out the Arong methods. This may e>2lain Ahy even e>2erienced 2iano teachers/
Ahose educations Aere narroAly concentrated in music/ can have difficulty in 2roviding the 2ro2er
understanding and Aill frequently give Arong e>2lanations for even correct 2rocedures. &n this
regard/ my careerHeducational bac<ground in industrial 2roblem solving/ materials science 8metals/
semiconductors/ insulators9/ o2tics/ acoustics/ 2hysics/ electronics/ chemistry/ scientific re2orting 8&
have 2ublished over 166 2eer:revieAed articles in ma*or scientific *ournals and have been granted 6
2atents9/ etc./ have been invaluable for 2roducing this boo<. These diverse requirements might
e>2lain Ahy nobody else Aas able to Arite this ty2e of boo<. As a scientist/ & have agoni?ed over
hoA to concisely define MscienceN and argued endlessly over this definition Aith other scientists and
non:scientists. 1ecause the scientific a22roach is so basic to this boo</ & have included a section on
M3cientific A22roach to Piano PracticeN/ &@.(/ Cha2ter #ne. 3cience is not 4#st the theoretical world
of the brightest geni#ses5 it is the most effective wa to simplif o#r lives. +e need geniuses to
advance scienceB hoAever/ once develo2ed/ it is the masses that benefit from these advances.
+hat are some of these magical ideas that are su22osed to revolutioni?e 2iano teaching,
7etCs start Aith the fact that/ Ahen you Aatch famous 2ianists 2erform/ they may be 2laying
incredibly difficult things/ but they ma<e them loo< easy. oA do they do that, Fact is/ they are
easy for themO Therefore/ many of the learning tric%s discussed here are methods for ma<ing
difficult things easy% not only easy/ but often trivially sim2le. This is accom2lished by 2racticing the
tAo hands se2arately and by 2ic<ing short sections to 2ractice/ sometimes doAn to only one or tAo
notes. Jou canCt ma<e things any sim2ler than thatO Accom2lished 2ianists can also 2lay incredibly
fast :: hoA do 'e 2ractice to be able to 2lay fast, 3im2leO 1y using the Rchord attac<R 8&&.59. Th#s
one ke to the s#ccess of the methods disc#ssed here is the #se of ingenio#s learning tricks that
are needed to solve specific problems.
!ven Aith the methods described here/ it may be necessary to 2ractice difficult 2assages
hundreds of times and/ once in a Ahile/ u2 to 16/666 times before you can 2lay the most difficult
2assages Aith ease. $oA if you Aere to 2ractice a 1eethoven 3onata at/ say/ half s2eed 8you are *ust
learning it9/ it Aould ta<e about an hour to 2lay through. Therefore/ re2eating it 16/666 times Aould
ta<e .6 years/ or almost half a lifetime/ if you had/ say/ one hour 2er day to 2ractice and 2racticed
only this sonata ; days a Aee<. Clearly/ this is not the Aay to learn the sonata/ although many
students use 2ractice methods not too different from it. This boo< describes methods for identifying
*ust the feA notes that you need to 2ractice and then 2laying them in a fraction of a second/ so that
you can re2eat them 16/666 times in a feA Aee<s 8or even days for easier material9/ 2racticing
them for only about 16 minutes 2er day/ - days 2er Aee< T Ae have reduced the 2ractice time from
half a lifetime to a feA Aee<s.
14
This boo< discusses many more efficiency 2rinci2les/ such as 2racticing and memori?ing at
the same time. 6#ring practice! each passage m#st be repeated man times and repetition is the
best wa to memorize5 therefore! it doesn7t make sense not to memorize while practicing!
especiall beca#se this t#rns o#t to be the fastest wa to learn. ave you ever Aondered hoA every
concert 2ianist can memori?e hours of re2ertoire, The ansAer is quite sim2le. 3t#dies with s#per
memorizers 's#ch a those who can memorize pages of phone n#mbers( have revealed that the
are able to memorize beca#se the have developed memor algorithms onto which the can
8#ickl map the material to be memorized. 0or pianists! m#sic is s#ch an algorithm! Jou can
2rove this by as<ing a 2ianist to memori?e *ust one 2age of random notes/ and to remember them for
years. This is im2ossible 8Aithout an algorithm9 although this 2ianist may have no trouble
memori?ing several (6 2age 1eethoven 3onatas/ and still 2lay them 16 years later. Thus Ahat Ae
thought Aas a s2ecial talent of concert 2ianists turns out to be something anyone can do. 3tudents
Aho use the methods of this boo< memori?e and 2erform everything they learn/ e>ce2t Ahen
2racticing sight reading. This is Ahy this boo< does not recommend e>ercises such as anon and
C?erny/ that are not meant to be 2erformedB by the same to<en/ the Cho2in !tudes are
recommended. *racticing something that wasn7t meant to be performed is not onl a waste of time
b#t also destros an sense of m#sic o# originall had. +e discuss all the ma*or methods of
memory/ Ahich em2oAer the 2ianist to 2erform feats that most 2eo2le Aould e>2ect only from
Rgifted musiciansR/ such as 2laying the com2osition in your head/ aAay from the 2iano/ or even
Ariting the entire com2osition from memory. &f you can 2lay every note in the com2osition from
memory/ there is no reason Ahy you canCt Arite them all doAnO 3uch abilities are not for shoA or
bragging rights/ but are essential for 2erforming Aithout flubs or memory la2ses and come almost as
automatic by2roducts of these methods/ even for us ordinary fol<s Aith ordinary memory. 0any
students can 2lay com2lete com2ositions but canCt Arite them doAn or 2lay them in their minds ::
such students have only 2artially memori?ed the com2ositions in a manner that is insufficient for
2erformances. &nadequate memory and lac< of confidence are the main causes of nervousness. They
Aonder Ahy they suffer stage fright and Ahy 2erforming flaAlessly is such a daunting tas< Ahile
0o?art could *ust sit doAn and 2lay.
9nother e:ample of helpf#l knowledge is rela:ation and the #se of gravit. The Aeight of
the arm is im2ortant not only as a reference force for uniform and even 2laying 8gravity is alAays
constant9/ but also for testing the level of rela>ation. The piano was designed with gravit as the
reference force beca#se the h#man bod evolved to match gravit e:actl/ Ahich means that the
force needed to 2lay the 2iano is about equal to the Aeight of the arm. +hen 2erforming difficult
tas<s/ such as 2laying a challenging 2iano 2assage/ the natural tendency is to tense u2 so that the
entire body becomes one contracted mass of muscle. Trying to move the fingers inde2endently and
ra2idly under such conditions is li<e trying to run a s2rint Aith rubber bands Ara22ed around both
legs. &f you can rela> all unnecessary muscles/ and use only the required muscles for *ust those
instants at Ahich they are needed/ you can 2lay e>tremely fast/ effortlessly/ for long 2eriods of time
Aithout fatigue/ and Aith more reserve strength than needed to 2roduce the loudest sounds.
;e will see that man $established teaching methods% are mths that can ca#se #ntold
miser to the st#dent. 3uch myths survive because of a lac< of rigorous scientific scrutiny. These
methods include% the curled finger 2osition/ thumb under method of 2laying scales/ most finger
e>ercises/ sitting high on the chair/ Mno 2ain/ no gainN/ sloAly ram2ing u2 your s2eed/ and liberal
use of the metronome. +e not only e>2lain Ahy they are harmful but also 2rovide the correct
alternatives/ Ahich are/ res2ectively% flat finger 2ositions/ thumb over method/ 2arallel sets 8&&.11/
&&&.;b9/ sitting loAer on the chair/ rela>ation/ acquiring s2eed by understanding Rs2eed AallsR 8&&&.;i9
and identification of s2ecific beneficial uses of the metronome. 3peed walls are enco#ntered when
o# tr to pla a passage faster! b#t reach a ma:im#m speed beond which the speed will not
increase no matter how hard o# practice. +hat causes s2eed Aalls/ hoA many are there/ and hoA
15
do you avoid or eliminate them, AnsAers% speed walls are the res#lts of attempts to do the impossible
'o# erect speed walls o#rself b #sing incorrect practice methods(! there are effectivel an infinite
n#mber of them! and o# avoid them b #sing the correct practice methods.
#ne Aay of avoiding s2eed Aalls is not to build them in the first 2lace/ by <noAing their causes
8stress/ incorrect fingering or rhythm/ lac< of technique/ 2racticing too fast/ 2racticing hands
together U&&.(-V before you are ready/ etc.9. 9nother wa is to come down in speed from $infinite
speed% b #sing the parallel sets 'II.11(! instead of increasing the speed grad#all. &f you can start
at s2eeds above the s2eed Aall/ there is no s2eed Aall Ahen you come doAn in s2eed.
This boo< frequently deals Aith one im2ortant 2oint :: that the best piano practice methods
are s#rprisingl co#nter<int#itive. This 2oint is 2aramount in 2iano 2edagogy because it is the
main reason Ahy the Arong 2ractice methods tend to be used by students and teachers. &f they
AerenCt so counter:intuitive/ this boo< may not have been necessary. Consequently/ Ae deal not only
Aith Ahat you should do but also Aith Ahat you should not do. These negative sections are not for
critici?ing those Aho use the Arong methods but are necessary com2onents of the learning 2rocess.
The reason Ahy intuition fails is that the 2iano tas<s are so com2le>/ and there are so many Aays to
accom2lish them/ that the 2robability of hitting the right method is nearly ?ero if you 2ic<ed the
sim2lest/ obvious ones. ere are four e>am2les of counter:intuitive 2ractice methods%
(1) 3e2arating the hands for 2ractice 8&&.;9 is counter:intuitive because you need to 2ractice each
hand/ then both together/ so that it loo<s li<e you have to 2ractice three times instead of *ust once hands
together. +hy 2ractice hands se2arately/ Ahich you Aill never use in the end, A22ro>imately 46Y of
this boo< deals Aith Ahy you need to 2ractice hands se2arately. =ands separate practice is the onl wa
to rapidl increase speed and control witho#t getting into tro#ble.
&t alloAs you to Aor< hard 166Y of the time at any s2eed Aithout fatigue/ stress/ or in*ury because
the method is based on sAitching hands as soon as the Aor<ing hand begins to tire. =ands
separate practice is the onl wa in which o# can e:periment to find the correct hand motions
for speed and e:pression and it is the fastest wa to learn how to rela:. Trying to acquire
technique hands together is the main cause of s2eed Aalls/ bad habits/ in*ury/ and stress.
(2) Practicing sloAly hands together and gradually ram2ing u2 the s2eed is Ahat Ae tend to
do intuitively/ but it turns out to be one of the Aorst Aays to 2ractice because it Aastes so much time
and you are training the hands to e>ecute sloA motions that are different from Ahat you need at the
final s2eed. 3ome st#dents compo#nd the problem b #sing the metronome as a constant g#ide to
ramp #p the speed or to keep the rhthm. This is one of the worst ab#ses of the metronome.
&etronomes sho#ld be #sed onl briefl to check the timing 'speed and rhthm(. &f over used/ it
can lead to loss of your internal rhythm/ loss of musicality/ and bio:2hysical difficulties from over:
e>2osure to rigid re2etition 8the brain can actually start to counteract the metronome clic< and you
may either not hear the clic< or hear it at the Arong time9. Techni8#e for speed is ac8#ired b
discovering new hand motions! not b speeding #p a slow motion5 i.e./ the hand motions for
2laying sloAly and fast are different. This is Ahy trying to s2eed u2 a sloA motion leads to s2eed
Aalls :: because you are trying to do the im2ossible. 32eeding u2 a sloA 2lay is li<e as<ing a horse
to s2eed u2 a Aal< to the s2eed of a gallo2 :: it canCt. A horse must change from Aal< to trot to
canter and then to gallo2. &f you force a horse to Aal< at the s2eed of a canter/ it Aill hit a s2eed Aall
and Aill most li<ely in*ure itself by <ic<ing its oAn hoofs to shreds.
(3) &n order to memori?e Aell/ and be able to 2erform Aell/ you must 2ractice sloAly/ even
after the 2iece can be 2layed easily at s2eed. This is counter:intuitive because you alAays 2erform at
s2eed/ so Ahy 2ractice sloAly and Aaste so much time, Playing fast can be detrimental to
2erformance as Aell as to memory. Playing fast can cause Mfast 2lay degradationN/ and the best Aay
to test your memory is to 2lay sloAly. Th#s practicing the recital pieces at f#ll speed on recital
da will res#lt in a poor performance. This is one of the most counter:intuitive rules and is
therefore difficult to folloA. oA often have you heard the refrain/ R& 2layed aAfully during my
lesson
(6
although & 2layed so Aell this morning.R, Therefore/ although much of this boo< is oriented
toAards learning to 2lay at the correct s2eed/ it is the 2ro2er use of sloA 2lay that is critical for
accurate memori?ation and for 2erforming Aithout mista<es. oAever/ 2racticing sloAly is tric<y
because you should not 2ractice sloAly until you can 2lay fastO #therAise/ you Aould have no idea
if your sloA 2lay motion is right or Arong. This 2roblem is solved by 2racticing hands se2arately
and getting u2 to s2eed quic<ly. After you <noA the hand motions for fast 2lay/ you can 2ractice
sloAly at any time.
849 0ost 2eo2le feel uncomfortable trying to memori?e something they canCt 2lay/ so they
instinctively learn a 2iece first/ and then try to memori?e it. &t turns out that o# can save a lot of
time b memorizing first and then practicing from memor 8Ae are tal<ing about technically
challenging music that is too difficult to sight read9. 0oreover/ for reasons e>2lained in this boo</
those Aho memori?e after learning the 2iece never succeed in memori?ing Aell. They Aill be
haunted forever by memory 2roblems. Therefore/ good memori?ing methods must be an integral 2art
of any 2ractice 2rocedureB memori?ing is a necessity/ not a lu>ury.
These four e>am2les should give the reader some idea of Ahat & mean by counter:intuitive
2ractice methods. +hat is sur2rising is that the majority of good 2ractice methods is counter:
intuitive to most 2eo2le. Fortunately/ the geniuses Aho came before us have found the better 2ractice
methods and you Aill see them here.
+hy does the fact/ that the correct methods are counter:intuitive/ lead to disaster, !ven
students Aho learned the correct methods 8but Aere never taught Ahat not to do9 can drift bac< into
intuitive methods sim2ly because their brains <ee2 telling them that they should use the intuitive
methods 8thatCs the definition of intuitive methods9. This of course ha22ens to teachers as Aell.
Parents fall for it every timeO Thus mere 2arental involvement can sometimes be counter2roductive/
because the 2arents must also be informed. This is Ahy this boo< ma<es every effort to identify/ and
to 2oint out the follies of/ the intuitive methods. Thus many teachers discourage 2arental
involvement unless the 2arents can also attend the lessons. 7eft to their oAn devices/ the ma*ority of
students/ teachers/ and 2arents Aill gravitate toAards the intuitive 8Arong9 methods. This is the
main reason Ahy so many Arong methods are taught today/ and Ahy students need informed
teachers and 2ro2er te>tboo<s. 9ll piano teachers sho#ld #se a te:tbook that e:plains practice
methods5 this will free them from having to teach the mechanics of practicing and allow them to
concentrate on m#sic where the teachers are most needed. The 2arents should also read the
te>tboo< because 2arents are most susce2tible to the 2itfalls of intuitive methods.
Piano teachers generally fall into three categories% 8A9 2rivate teachers Aho canCt teach/ 819
2rivate teachers that are very good/ and 8C9 teachers at universities and conservatories. The last
grou2 is usually fairly good because they are in an environment in Ahich they must communicate
Aith one another. They are able to quic<ly identify the Aorst teaching methods and eliminate them.
Unfortunately/ most students at conservatories are already quite advanced and so it is too late to
teach them basic 2ractice methods. The 8A9 grou2 of teachers consists mainly of individuals that do
not communicate Aell Aith other teachers and invariably use mostly intuitive methodsB this e>2lains
Ahy they canCt teach. 1y choosing only teachers that have Aeb sites/ you can eliminate many of the
2oor teachers because these have at least learned to communicate. =rou2s 819 and 8C9 are fairly
familiar Aith the correct 2ractice methods/ though feA <noA all of them because there has not been a
standardi?ed te>tboo<B on the other hand/ most of them <noA a lot of useful details that arenCt in this
boo<. There are 2recious feA grou2 819 ty2e teachers and the grou2 8C9 teachers generally acce2t
only advanced students. The 2roblem Aith this situation is that most students start Aith the grou2 8A9
teachers and never 2rogress beyond novice or intermediate level and therefore never qualify for the
grou2 8C9 teachers. Th#s the ma4orit of beginner st#dents give #p in fr#stration altho#gh
practicall all of them have the potential to become accomplished m#sicians. 0oreover/ this lac<
of 2rogress feeds the general misconce2tion that learning 2iano is a lifetime of fruitless efforts/
(1
Ahich discourages the ma*ority of 2arents and youngsters from considering 2iano lessons.
There is an intimate relationshi2 betAeen music and mathematics. 0usic/ in many res2ects/
is a form of mathematics and the great com2osers e>2lored and e>2loited this relationshi2. 0ost
basic theories of music can be e>2ressed using mathematical terms. armony is a series of ratios/
and harmony gives rise to the chromatic scale/ Ahich is a logarithmic equation. 0ost music scales
are subsets of the chromatic scale/ and chord 2rogressions are the sim2lest relationshi2s among
these subsets. & discuss some concrete e>am2les of the use of mathematics in some of the most
famous com2ositions 8section &@.49 and include all the to2ics for future music research
8mathematical or otherAise9 in 3ection &@. &t does not ma<e sense to as< Ahether music is art or
mathB they are both 2ro2erties of music. 0ath is sim2ly a Aay of measuring something
quantitativelyB therefore/ anything in music that can be quantified 8such as time signature/ thematic
structure/ etc.9 can be treated mathematically. Thus/ although math is not necessary to an artist/
music and mathematics are inse2arably intertAined and a <noAledge of these relationshi2s can often
be useful 8as demonstrated by every great com2oser9/ and Aill become more useful as mathematical
understanding of music 2rogressively catches u2 to music and as artists learn to ta<e advantage of
mathematics. Art is a shortcut Aay of using the human brain to achieve results not achievable in any
other Aay. 3cientific a22roaches to music only deal Aith the sim2ler levels of music that can be
analytically treated% science su22orts art. &t is Arong to assume that science Aill eventually re2lace
art or/ on the other e>treme/ that art is all you need for musicB art should be free to incor2orate
anything that the artist desires/ and science can 2rovide invaluable hel2.
Too many 2ianists are ignorant of hoA the 2iano Aor<s and Ahat it means to tune in the
tem2eraments/ or Ahat it means to voice the 2iano. This is es2ecially sur2rising because 2iano
maintenance directly affects 819 the ability to ma<e music and 8(9 technical develo2ment. There are
many concert 2ianists Aho do not <noA the difference betAeen !qual 8P. ((49 and +ell
tem2eraments 8P. ((69 Ahile some of the com2ositions they are 2laying 8e.g. Cho2in/ 1ach9
formally require the use of one or the other. +hen to use electronic 2ianos/ Ahen to change to a
higher quality 8grand9 2iano/ and hoA to recogni?e quality in a 2iano are critical decisions in the
career of any 2ianist. Therefore/ this boo< contains a section on 2iano selection and a cha2ter on
hoA to tune your oAn 2iano. Iust as electronic 2ianos are already alAays in tune/ acoustic 2ianos
must soon become 2ermanently in tune/ for e>am2le/ by using the thermal e>2ansion coefficient of
the strings to electronically tune the 2iano 8see =ilmore/ 3elf:Tuning Piano9. Today/ 2ractically all
home 2ianos are out of tune almost all the time because it starts to go out of tune the moment the
tuner leaves your house or if the room tem2erature or humidity changes. ThatCs an unacce2table
situation. &n future 2ianos/ you Aill flic< a sAitch and the 2iano Aill tune itself in seconds. +hen
mass 2roduced/ the cost of self:tuning o2tions Aill be small com2ared to the 2rice of a quality 2iano.
Jou might thin< that this Aould 2ut 2iano tuners out of Aor< but that Aill not be the case because
the number of 2ianos Aill increase 8because of this boo<9/ the self:tuning mechanism requires
maintenance and/ for 2ianos in such 2erfect tune/ frequent hammer voicing and regulation 8that are
too often neglected today9 Aill ma<e a significant im2rovement in musical out2ut. This higher level
of maintenance Aill be demanded by the increasing number of advanced 2ianists. Jou might
suddenly reali?e that it Aas the 2iano/ not you/ that limited technical develo2ment and musical
out2ut 8Aorn hammers Aill do it every timeO9. +hy do you thin< concert 2ianists are so fussy about
their 2ianos,
&n summary/ this boo< re2resents an unique event in the history of 2iano 2edagogy and is
revolutioni?ing 2iano teaching. 3ur2risingly/ there is little that is fundamentally neA in this boo<.
+e oAe most of the ma*or conce2ts to Jvonne 8Combe9/ Fran?/ Freddie/ 7udAig/ +olfie/ Iohann/
etc. Jvonne and Fran? gave us hands se2arate 2ractice/ segmental 2ractice and rela>ationB Fran? and
Freddie gave us the MThumb #verN method and freed us from anon and C?ernyB +olfie taught us
memori?ation and mental 2layB Iohann <neA all about 2arallel sets/ quiet hands 8&&&.6.l9/ and the
((
im2ortance of musical 2ractice/ and they all shoAed us 8es2ecially 7udAig9 the relationshi2s
betAeen math and music. The enormous amounts of time and effort that Aere Aasted in the 2ast/ re:
inventing the Aheel and futilely re2eating finger e>ercises Aith every generation of 2ianist/ staggers
the imagination. 1y ma<ing the <noAledge in this boo< available to the student from day one of
2iano lessons/ Ae are ushering in a neA era in learning to 2lay the 2iano. This boo< is not the end of
the road :: it is *ust a beginning. Future research into 2ractice methods Aill undoubtedly uncover
im2rovementsB thatCs the nature of the scientific a22roach. &t guarantees that Ae Aill never again
lose useful information/ that Ae Aill alAays ma<e forAard 2rogress/ and that every teacher Aill
have access to the best available information. +e still do not understand the biological changes that
accom2any the acquisition of technique and hoA the human 8es2ecially the infant9 brain develo2s.
Understanding these Aill alloA us to directly address them instead of having to re2eat something
16/666 times. 3ince the time of 1ach/ 2iano 2edagogy had been in a state of arrested develo2mentB
Ae can noA ho2e to transform 2iano 2laying from a dream that seemed mostly out of reach to an art
that everyone can noA en*oy.
PS: This boo< is my gift to society. The translators have also contributed their 2recious time.
Together/ Ae are 2ioneering a Aeb based a22roach for 2roviding free education of the highest
caliber/ something that Aill ho2efully become the Aave of the future. There is no reason Ahy
education canCt be free. 3uch a revolution might seem to 2ut some teachersC *obs in *eo2ardy/ but
Aith im2roved learning methods/ 2iano 2laying Aill become more 2o2ular/ creating a greater
demand for teachers Aho can teach/ because students Aill alAays learn faster under a good teacher.
The economic im2act of this im2roved learning method can be significant. This boo< Aas first
2rinted in 1554 and the Aeb site Aas started in 1555. 3ince then/ & estimate that over 16/666
students had learned this method by year (66(. 7etCs assume that 16/666 serious 2iano students save
- hoursHAee< using these methods/ that they 2ractice 46 Aee<sHyear/ and that their time is Aorth
W-HhourB then the total yearly savings are%
8-hrsHA</ 2er student9846A<sHyr98W-Hhr9816/666 students9 G W16/666/666Hyr/ in (66(/ Ahich
Aill increase every year/ or
W1/666 2er year 2er student.
W160Hyr is only the savings of the studentsB Ae have not included the effects on teachers and
the 2iano and music industries. +henever ado2tion of scientific methods 2roduced such lea2s in
efficiency/ the field has historically flourished/ seemingly Aithout limit/ and benefited everyone.
+ith a Aorld 2o2ulation over 6.61 today 8(66;9/ Ae can e>2ect the 2ianist 2o2ulation to eventually
e>ceed 1Y or over 660/ so that the 2otential economic im2act of this boo< could e>ceed several
W1Hyear. 3uch huge economic benefits in any sector have historically been an unsto22able force/ and
this engine Aill drive the coming 2iano revolution. This boo< is the beginning of that revolution.
0ore im2ortantly/ music and any gain in the develo2ment of a young childDs mind/ are 2riceless.
(.
%&APT!R #$!: PIA$# T!%&$I'U!
I( I$TR#)U%TI#$
1. #b*ective
The ob*ective of this boo< is to 2resent the best <noAn methods for 2racticing 2iano.
For students/ <noAing these methods means a reduction in learning time that is a significant
fraction of a lifetime and an increase in the time available for ma<ing music instead of
struggling Aith technique. 0any students s2end 166Y of their time learning neA
com2ositions and/ because this 2rocess ta<es so long/ there is no time left to 2ractice the art
of ma<ing music. This sorry state is the greatest hindrance to acquiring technique because
ma<ing music is necessary for technical develo2ment. The goal here is to make the
learning process so fast that we aim to allocate 10> of practice time to technical work and
90> to making m#sic.
oA do musicians Mma<e musicN, ;hether we compose m#sic or pla an
instr#ment! all m#sic m#st originate in the artist?s brain. +e can certainly shut our brains
off and 2lay the 2iano from rote memory after enough 2ractice. That is absolutely the Arong
Aay to ma<e music because the level of the resulting music Aill be loA. 0any 2ianists have
the misconce2tion that the e>2ensive/ huge/ concert grand 2roduces its oAn sound Aith its
characteristic music and therefore Ae must train our fingers for learning to 2lay the 2iano.
1ut the human brain is far more com2le> than/ and su2erior to/ any mechanical contra2tion
in terms of musicality. The brain doesnDt have the limitations of Aood/ felt/ and metal.
Therefore/ it is more im2ortant to train the brain than the finger muscles/ es2ecially because
any finger movement must originate as a nerve im2ulse in the brain. The ansAer to the above
question is Ahat Ae shall call 0ental Play 80P9 in this boo<. 0P is sim2ly the 2rocess of
imagining the music in your mind/ or even actually 2laying it on an imaginary 2iano. +e
shall see that 0P controls 2ractically everything Ae do in music/ from the learning 2rocess
8technique9 to memori?ation/ absolute 2itch/ 2erformance/ com2osition/ music theory/
inter2retation/ controlling nervousness/ etc. &t is so all:encom2assing that it is not 2ossible to
devote one section to e>2laining itB rather/ it is discussed in 2ractically every section of this
boo<. A fairly e>tended discussion is given in 3ection &&&.6.*.
0P is Ahat made 0o?art 8and all great musicians9 Ahat he AasB he is considered to
be one of the greatest geniuses 2artly because of his 0P abilities. The Aonderful neAs is that
it can be learned. The sad historical fact is that too many students Aere never taught 0PB in
fact/ this boo< may be the first 2lace Ahere 0P has been given an official name 8definition9
although/ if you are a MtalentedN musician/ you somehoA had to magically 2ic< it u2
yourself.
&ental *la sho#ld be ta#ght from the first ear of piano lessons and is especiall
effective for the o#ngest o#ngsters5 the most obvio#s wa to start teaching it is to teach
memorization skills and absol#te pitch. 0P is the art of controlling the minds of the
audience thru the music you 2lay and therefore it Aor<s best Ahen it originates in your mind.
The audience vieAs your 0P ability as something e>traordinary/ belonging only to a select
feA gifted musicians Aith intelligence far above the average 2erson. 0o?art Aas almost
certainly aAare of this and used 0P to greatly enhance his image. 0P also hel2s you to learn
2iano in a myriad of Aays/ as demonstrated throughout this boo<. For e>am2le/ because you
can conduct 0P aAay from the 2iano/ you can effectively double or tri2le your 2ractice time
by using 0P Ahen a 2iano is not available. 1eethoven and !instein often seemed absent:
(4
minded because they Aere 2reoccu2ied Aith 0P during most of their Aa<ing hours.
Thus 0P is nothing neAB not only the great musicians and artists/ but 2ractically any
s2ecialist today/ such as athletes/ trained soldiers/ businessmen/ etc./ must cultivate their oAn
0P in order to com2ete successfully. In fact e(ery one of us does it all the time) +hen Ae get
u2 in the morning and quic<ly go over the 2lanned activities of the day/ Ae are conducting
0P/ and the com2le>ity of that 0P 2robably e>ceeds that of a Cho2in 0a?ur<a. Jet Ae do it
in an instant/ Aithout even thin<ing about it as 0P/ because Ae have been 2racticing it since
early childhood. Can you imagine Ahat disasters Aould ha22en if Ae never had a mental 2lan
for the day, 1ut that is basically Ahat Ae do if Ae Aal< onto a stage and 2lay a recital
Aithout 0P training. $o Aonder 2erformers get so nervousO As Ae shall see/ 0P is 2erha2s
the single best antidote against stage fright T it certainly Aor<ed for 0o?art.
2. +hat is Piano Technique,
+e must understand Ahat technique is because not understanding technique leads to
incorrect 2ractice methods. 0ore im2ortantly/ a 2ro2er understanding can hel2 us to develo2
correct 2ractice methods. The most common misunderstanding is that technique is some
inherited finger de>terity. &t is not. The innate de:terit of accomplished pianists and
ordinar folk are not that different. This means that 2ractically anyone can learn to 2lay the
2iano Aell. There are numerous e>am2les of mentally handica22ed 2eo2le Aith limited
coordination that e>hibit incredible musical talent 8savants9. Unfortunately/ many of us are
much more de>terous but canCt manage the musical 2assages because of a lac< of some
sim2le but critical information. 9c8#iring techni8#e is mostl a process of brain@nerve
development! not development of finger strength.
Technique is the ability to e>ecute a ?illion different 2iano 2assagesB therefore it is not
de>terity/ but an aggregate of many s<ills. The Aondrous thing about 2iano technique/ and the
most important message of this book! is that piano skills can be learned in a short time! if the
correct learning proced#res are applied. These s<ills are acquired in tAo stages%
819 discovering hoA the fingers/ hands/ arms/ etc./ are to be moved/ and 8(9 conditioning
the brain/ nerves/ and muscles to e>ecute these Aith ease and control. 0any students thin<
of 2iano 2ractice as hours of finger calisthenics because they Aere never taught the 2ro2er
definition of technique. The realit is that o# are improving o#r brain when learning
piano! Jou are actually ma<ing yourself smarter and im2roving your memoryB this is Ahy
learning 2iano correctly has so many benefits/ such as success in school/ the ability to
better co2e Aith everyday 2roblems/ and the ability to retain memory longer as you age.
This is Ahy memori?ing is an inse2arable 2art of technique acquisition.
+e must understand our oAn anatomy and learn hoA to discover and acquire the
correct technique. This turns out to be an nearly im2ossible tas< for the average human
brain unless you dedicate your entire life to it from childhood. !ven then/ most Aill not
succeed. The reason is that/ Aithout 2ro2er instruction/ the 2ianist must discover the correct
motions/ etc./ by trial and error. Jou must de2end on the small 2robability that/ as you try to
2lay that difficult 2assage faster/ your hand accidentally stumbles onto a motion that Aor<s.
&f you are unluc<y/ your hand never discovers the motion and you are stuc< forever/ a
2henomenon called Rs2eed AallR. 0ost beginning 2iano students havenCt the foggiest idea
about the com2le> motions that the fingers/ hands/ and arms can 2erform. Fortunately/ the
many geniuses Aho came before us have made most of the useful discoveries 8otherAise/
they AouldnCt have been such great 2erformers9 leading to efficient 2ractice methods.
Another misconce2tion about technique is that once the fingers become sufficiently
s<illful/ you can 2lay anything. Almost every different 2assage is a neA adventureB it must be
learned aneA. !>2erienced 2ianists seem to be able to 2lay *ust about anything because 819
(-
they have 2racticed all the things that you encounter frequently/ and 8(9 they <noA hoA to
learn neA things very quic<ly. There are large classes of 2assages/ such as scales/ that a22ear
frequentlyB <noAledge of hoA to 2lay these Aill cover significant 2ortions of most
com2ositions. 1ut more im2ortantly/ there are general solutions for large classes of 2roblems
and s2ecific solutions for s2ecific 2roblems.
3. Technique- .usic- .ental Play
&f Ae concentrate only on develo2ing Rfinger techniqueR and neglect music during
2ractice/ Ae can 2ic< u2 non:musical 2laying habits. ,on<m#sical plaing is an absol#te
no<no at all times beca#se it is one form of mistake. #ne common sym2tom of this mista<e
is the inability to 2lay the lesson 2ieces Ahen the teacher 8or anyone elseO9 is listening. +hen
an audience is 2resent/ these students ma<e strange errors that they didnCt ma<e during
R2racticeR. This ha22ens because the students 2racticed Aithout regard for music but
suddenly reali?ed that music must noA be added because someone is listening.
Unfortunately/ until lesson time/ they had never really 2racticed musicallyO Another sym2tom
of non:musical 2ractice is that the student feels uncomfortable 2racticing Ahen others can
hear them. *iano teachers know that st#dents need to practice m#sicall in order to
ac8#ire techni8#e. ;hat is right for the ears and the brain t#rns o#t to be right for the
h#man plaing mechanism. 1oth musicality and technique require accuracy and control.
Practically any technical flaA can be detected in the music. At the very least/ the music is the
su2reme test of Ahether the technique is right or Arong. As Ae shall see throughout this
boo</ there are more reasons Ahy music should never be se2arated from technique.
$onetheless/ many students tend to 2ractice neglecting the music and 2referring to RAor<R
Ahen no one is around to listen. 3uch 2ractice methods 2roduce Rcloset 2ianistsR Aho love to
2lay but canCt 2erform. If st#dents are ta#ght to practice m#sicall all the time! this tpe of
problem will not even e:ist5 performing and practice are one and the same. +e 2rovide
many suggestions in this boo< for 2racticing to 2erform/ such as video recording your
2laying from the very beginning.
&an st#dents make the mistake of thinking that the fingers control the m#sic
and the wait for the piano to prod#ce that gorgeo#s so#nd. This Aill result in a flat
2erformance and un2redictable results. The music must originate in the mind and the 2ianist
must coa> the 2iano to 2roduce Ahat sHhe Aants. This is mental 2lay/ introduced aboveB if
you had never 2racticed mental 2lay before/ you Aill find that it requires a level of
memori?ation that you had never achieved before T but that is e*actly Ahat is needed for
flaAless/ authoritative 2erformances. Fortunately/ mental 2lay is only a feA ste2s beyond the
memori?ation 2rocedures in this boo</ but it accom2lishes a giant lea2 in your musical
ca2abilities/ not only for technique and ma<ing music/ but also for learning absolute 2itch/
com2osing/ and every as2ect of 2iano 2laying. Thus technique/ music/ and mental 2lay are
inse2arably intertAined. #nce you are dee2ly involved Aith mental 2lay/ you Aill discover
that it doesnDt really Aor< Aithout absolute 2itch. These discussions 2rovide a firm basis for
identifying the s<ills Ae need to learn. This boo< 2rovides the 2ractice methods needed to
learn them.
4. asic A//roach- Inter/retation- .usical Training- Absolute
Pitch
Teachers 2lay a critical role in shoAing students hoA to 2lay and 2ractice musically.
For e>am2le/ most 2ieces of music begin and end Aith the same chord/ a someAhat
mysterious rule Ahich is actually a result of basic chord 2rogression rules. An understanding
of chord 2rogressions is very useful for memori?ing. A musical 2hrase generally starts and
(6
ends Aith softer notes/ Aith the louder ones in betAeenB Ahen in doubt/ this is a good
default 2rinci2le. This may be one reason Ahy so many com2ositions begin Aith a 2artial
bar T the first beat usually carries the accent and is too loud. There are many boo<s that
discuss musical inter2retation 8=iese<ing/ 3andor9/ and Ae Aill encounter numerous
2ointers throughout this boo<.
0usical training is most reAarding for the very young. 0ost babies e>2osed
frequently to 2erfectly tuned 2ianos Aill automatically develo2 absolute 2itch :: this is
nothing e>tra:ordinary. $obody is born Aith absolute 2itch/ because it is a 166Y learned s<ill
8the e>act frequencies of the musical scales are arbitrary human conventions :: there is no
natural laA that says that middle A should be 446 ?B most orchestras tune to 44( ?/ and
before it Aas standardi?ed/ there Aas a much larger range of alloAable frequencies9. &f this
absolute 2itch is not maintained/ it Aill be lost later in life. *iano training of o#ng children
can begin aro#nd the ages of three to fo#r. .arl e:pos#re of o#ngsters 'from birth( to
classical m#sic is beneficial beca#se classical m#sic has the highest m#sical content
'comple: logic( among all the different tpes of m#sic. 3ome forms of contem2orary music/
by over:em2hasi?ing certain narroA as2ects/ such as loudness or sim2listic music structures
that do not stimulate the brain/ can detract from musical develo2ment by interfering Aith
brain develo2ment.
Although you need to be musically gifted to com2ose music/ the ability to 2lay the
2iano is not that de2endent on the musical brain. &n fact/ most of us are more musical than
Ae give ourselves credit for and it is the lac< of technique that limits our musical e>2ression
at the 2iano. +e have all had the e>2erience of listening to famous 2ianists and noticing that
one is different from the other :: that is more musical sensitivity than Ae Aill ever need to
start 2laying the 2iano. There is no need to 2ractice eight hours a dayB some famous 2ianists
have recommended 2ractice times of less than an hour. Jou can ma<e 2rogress 2racticing
three or four times a Aee</ one hour each.
Finally/ total music education 8scales/ time signatures/ ear training Uincluding absolute
2itchV/ dictation/ theory/ etc.9 should be an integral 2art of learning to 2lay the 2iano because
each different thing you learn hel2s all the others. &n the final analysis/ a total music
education is the only Aay to learn 2iano. Unfortunately/ the ma*ority of as2iring 2ianists do
not have the resources or the time to folloA such a 2ath. This boo< Aas designed to give the
student a head start by learning hoA to acquire technique quic<ly so that they can consider
studying all the other hel2ful sub*ects. 3tatisticall! st#dents who e:cel in plaing the piano
almost alwas end #p composing m#sic of their own. 3tudying music com2osition is not a
2rerequisite for com2osing. 3ome teachers froAn on learning too much com2osition theory
before starting to com2ose your oAn music because that can 2revent you from develo2ing
your individual style.
+hat are some unique features of the methods of this boo<,
(1)These methods are not overly demanding/ li<e older methods that require students to
commit to a dedicated lifestyle to fit the 2iano instruction. 3tudents are given the tools to
2ic< a s2ecific 2rocedure that Aill achieve a defined ob*ective Aithin estimable time limits.
&f the methods really Aor</ they shouldnCt require a lifetime of blind faith in order to achieve
2roficiencyO
(2) !very 2rocedure of these methods has a 2hysical basis 8if it Aor<s/ it alAays has oneB
the 2ast 2roblems in 2iano 2edagogy have been in identifying the correct e>2lanations9B it
must further contain the folloAing required elements% 8A9 ob*ective: Ahat techniques to
acquire/ i.e./ if you canCt 2lay fast enough/ you canCt trill/ you Aant to memori?e/ etc./ 819
then do: i.e./ 2ractice hands se2arately/ use chord attac</ memori?e as you 2ractice/ etc./8C9
because: the 2hysiological/ 2sychological/ mechanical/ etc./ e>2lanations for Ahy these
methods Aor<
(;
:: 3 2ractice ma<es difficult 2assages easier and 8)9 if not: 2roblems that arise if
uninformed methods are used. +ithout this Rif notR/ students can 2ic< any other method ::
Ahy this one, +e need to <noA Ahat not to do because bad habits and Arong methods/ not
insufficient 2ractice/ are the main causes of a lac< of 2rogress.
8iii9 This boo< 2resents a com2lete/ structured set of learning tools that trans2orts you Aith
minimum effort into the 0agical Eingdom of 0ental Play. 1on @oyageO
II( ASI% PR#%!)UR!S F#R PIA$# PRA%TI%!
This section contains the minimum set of instructions that you need before starting 2ractice.
1. The Practice Routine
0any students use the folloAing 2ractice routine%
(1) First/ 2ractice scales or technical e>ercises until the fingers are limbered u2. Continue
this for .6 minutes or longer if you have time/ to im2rove technique es2ecially by using
e>ercises such as the anon series.
(2) Then ta<e a neA 2iece of music and sloAly read it for a 2age or tAo/ carefully 2laying
both hands together/ starting from the beginning. This sloA 2lay is re2eated until it can be
2erformed reasonably Aell and then it is gradually s2eeded u2 until the final s2eed is
attained. A metronome might be used for this gradual s2eed:u2.
(3) At the end of a tAo hour 2ractice/ the fingers are flying/ so the students can 2lay as fast
as they Aant and en*oy the e>2erience before quitting. After all/ they are tired of 2racticing
so that they can rela>/ 2lay their hearts out at full s2eedB this is the time to en*oy the musicO
(4) #nce the 2iece can be 2layed satisfactorily/ memori?e it and 2ractice Muntil the music is
in the handsN.
(5) #n the day of the recital or lesson/ 2ractice the 2iece at correct s2eed 8or fasterO9 as
many times as 2ossible in order to ma<e sure that it is in to2 condition. This is the last
chanceB obviously/ the more 2ractice/ the better.
.A./1 3T.* O0 T=I3 */O2.6B/. I3 ;/O,C! The above Aill almost guarantee
that the students Aill not 2rogress beyond intermediate level even if they 2ractice several hours
daily. For e>am2le/ this method tells the students nothing about Ahat to do Ahen they hit an
im2ossible 2assage e>ce2t to <ee2 re2eating/ sometimes for a lifetime/ Aith no clear idea of
Ahen or hoA the needed technique Aill be acquired. This method leaves the tas< of learning to
2lay the 2iano com2letely to the student. 0oreover/ the music Aill come out flat during the
recital and une>2ected flubs Aill be almost unavoidable. Jou Aill understand all this as soon as
you read about the more efficient methods described beloA.
-ack of progress is the main reason wh so man st#dents 8#it piano. 3tudents/
es2ecially youngsters/ are smartB Ahy Aor< li<e a slave and learn nothing, "eAard the
students and you Aill get more dedication than any teacher could Aant. Jou can be a doctor/
scientist/ laAyer/ athlete/ or anything you Aant/ and still become a good 2ianist. This is
because there are methods that let you acquire technique quic<ly/ as Ae shall soon see.
,ote that the above practice ro#tine is an "int#itive" 'or $instinctive%( method. &f a
2erson of average intelligence Aere marooned on an island Aith a 2iano and decided to
2ractice/ that 2erson Aould most li<ely devise a 2ractice method li<e the one above. That is/ a
teacher teaching this ty2e of 2ractice routine isnCt teaching anything :: the method is intuitive.
;hen I first started to compile the "correct learning proced#res" of this book! I was
str#ck most b how co#nter<int#itive man of them were. & Aill e>2lain later Ahy they are
so counter:intuitive but this offers the best e>2lanation for Ahy so many teachers use the
intuitive a22roach. These teachers never learned the correct methods and therefore gravitated
(4
naturally to the intuitive methods. The trouble Aith counter :intuitive methods is that they
are harder to ado2t than intuitive onesB your brain is constantly telling you that they are not
right and to get bac< to the intuitive ones. This message from the brain can become
irresistible *ust before a lesson or recital :: try telling 8uninformed9 students not to en*oy
2laying their finished 2ieces before quitting 2ractice/ or not to over:2ractice on recital dayO &t
is not only the students or teachers. &t is also any 2arents or friends Aith good intentions that
influence the 2ractice routines of young students. *arents who are not informed will alwas
force their children to #se the int#itive methods. This is one reason Ahy good teachers
alAays as< 2arents to accom2any their children to the lessons. &f the 2arents are not
informed/ there is a virtual guarantee that they Aill force the students to use methods that are
in direct contradiction to the teacherCs instructions.
3tudents Aho started Aith the correct methods from the beginning are the
Ma22arently luc<yN ones. oAever/ they must be careful later in life if they AerenDt taught
Ahat the Arong methods are. #nce they leave the teacher/ they can stumble into the intuitive
methods and have no idea Ahy everything is suddenly falling a2art. &tCs li<e a bear that had
never seen a bear tra2 :: it gets caught every time. These Mluc<yN ones often canCt teach
either/ because they may not <noA that many intuitive methods can lead to disaster. #n the
other hand/ the a22arently Munluc<yN students Aho first learned the intuitive methods and
then changed over to the better ones have some une>2ected advantages. They <noA both the
right and Arong methods and often ma<e much better teachers. Therefore! altho#gh this
book teaches the correct methods! it is e8#all important to know what ,OT to do! and
wh. This is Ahy the most frequently used Arong methods are e>tensively discussed here.
+e describe the com2onents of a 2ro2er 2ractice routine in the folloAing sections.
They are 2resented in a22ro>imately the order in Ahich a student might use them from
start to finish of a neA 2iece of music. Deginners please read section III.1E first.
2. Finger Positions
"ela> the fingers and 2lace your hand on a flat surface Aith all the fingerti2s resting
on the surface and the Arist at the same height as the <nuc<les. The hand and fingers sho#ld
form a dome. 9ll the fingers sho#ld be c#rved. The th#mb sho#ld point slightl down and
bend slightl towards the fingers so that the last 'nail( phalange of the th#mb is parallel to
the other fingers 'viewed from above(. This slight inAard bend of the thumb is useful Ahen
2laying chords Aith Aide s2ans. &t 2ositions the ti2 of the thumb 2arallel to the <eys ma<ing
it less li<ely to hit ad*acent <eys. &t also orients the thumb so that the correct muscles are
used to raise and loAer it. The fingers are slightl c#rled! c#rving down and meeting the
s#rface at angles near FG degrees. This curled configuration alloAs the fingers to 2lay
betAeen the blac< <eys. The ti2 of the thumb and the other fingerti2s should form an
a22ro>imate semicircle on the flat surface. &f you do this Aith both hands side by side/ the
tAo thumbnails should be facing each other. Use the 2art of the thumb directly beloA the
thumbnails to 2lay/ not the *oint betAeen the nail 2halange and the middle 2halange. The
thumb is already too shortB therefore/ 2lay Aith its ti2 for ma>imum uniformity Aith all the
fingers. For the other fingers/ the bone comes close to the s<in at the fingerti2s. At the front
2ad of the fingerti2 8o22osite the fingernail9/ the flesh is thic<er. This front 2ad should
contact the <eys/ not the fingerti2.
This is the starting 2osition. #nce you begin 2lay/ you may need to stretch the fingers
almost straight/ or curl them more/ de2ending on Ahat you are 2laying. Therefore! altho#gh
the beginner m#st learn the ideal c#rled position! strict adherence to a fi:ed c#rled
config#ration is not correct5 this will be disc#ssed in detail later on! especiall beca#se the
c#rled position has significant disadvantages.
(5
3. ench &eight and )istance from Piano
The right height of the bench and its distance from the 2iano is also a matter of
2ersonal taste. For a good starting 2oint/ sit at the bench Aith your elboAs at your sides and
forearms 2ointing straight toAards the 2iano. ;ith o#r hands on the kes in plaing
position! the elbows sho#ld be slightl below the height of the hands! abo#t level with the
kes. $oA 2lace your hands on the Ahite <eys :: the distance of the bench from the 2iano
8and your sitting 2osition9 should be such that the elboAs *ust miss your body as you move
them in toAards each other. )o not sit at the center of the bench/ but sit closer to the front
edge so that you can 2lant your feet firmly on the floor or 2edals. The bench height and
location are most critical Ahen 2laying loud chords. Therefore/ you can test this 2osition by
2laying tAo blac< <ey chords simultaneously/ as loudly as you can. The chords are
C(F=(FC.F 8-/(/19 for the left hand and C-F=-FC6F 81/(/-9 for the right hand. Press doAn
hard/ leaning forAards a little/ Aith the Ahole Aeight of your arms and shoulders/ to ma<e a
thundering/ authoritative sound. 0a<e sure that the shoulders are totally involved. 7oud/
im2ressive sounds cannot be made using only the hands and forearmsB the force must come
from the shoulders and the body. &f this is comfortable/ the bench and sitting 2ositions
should be correct. istorically/ there has been a tendency of teachers to sit their students too
highB consequently/ the standard bench height of fi>ed height benches tend to be one to tAo
inches too high/ thus forcing the students to 2lay more Aith their fingerti2s than the front
finger 2ads. &t is therefore im2ortant to have a bench Aith variable height.
4. Starting a Piece: 0istening and Analysis 1Fur !lise2
The best wa to start the learning process is to listen to a performance 'recording(.
The criticism that listening first is some sort of RcheatingR has no defensible basis. The
2ur2orted disadvantage is that students might end u2 imitating instead of using their
creativity. It is impossible to imitate someone else7s plaing beca#se plaing stles are so
individ#alistic. This fact can be reassuring to some students Aho might blame themselves for
the inability to imitate some famous 2ianist. &f 2ossible/ listen to several recordings. They
can o2en u2 all sorts of neA ideas and 2ossibilities that are at least as im2ortant to learn as
finger technique. $ot listening is li<e saying that you shouldnCt go to school because that Aill
destroy your creativity. 3ome students thin< that listening is a Aaste of time because they
Aill never 2lay that Aell. &n that case/ thin< again. &f the methods described here Aill not
ma<e 2eo2le 2lay Rthat AellR/ & AouldnCt be Ariting this boo<O +hat ha22ens most frequently
Ahen students listen to many recordings is that they discover that the 2erformances are not
uniformly goodB that they actually 2refer their o'n 2laying to some of those in the
recordings.
The ne:t step is to analze the str#ct#re of the composition. This structure Aill be
used to determine the 2ractice 2rogram and to estimate the time needed to learn this 2iece.
9s an e:perienced piano teacher knows! the abilit to estimate the time needed to
completel learn a piece is criticall important to the s#ccess of the practice ro#tine. 7etCs
use 1eethovenCs Fur !lise as an e>am2le. 9nalsis alwas starts b n#mbering the bars on
o#r m#sic score. &f the bars are not already mar<ed/ mar< every 16th bar in 2encil/ above
the center of the bar. & count any 2artial bar at the beginning as bar 1B others count only full
bars/ but this ma<es it aA<Aard to identify the first 2artial bar. &n Fur !lise/ the first 4 full
bars are essentially re2eated 1- times/ so by learning 4 bars you can 2lay -6Y of the 2iece 8it
has 1(4 full bars9. Another 6 bars are re2eated 4 times/ so learning only 16 bars enables you
to 2lay ;6Y of it. Using the methods of this boo</ therefore/ ;6Y of this 2iece can be
memori?ed in less than .6 minutes/ because these bars are quite easy. Among these re2eated
bars/ there are
.6
tAo interru2tions that are difficult. A student Aith one to tAo years of lessons should be able
to learn the required -6 different bars of this 2iece in ( to - days and be able to 2lay the
Ahole 2iece at s2eed and from memory in 1 to ( Aee<s. After that/ the teacher is ready to
Aor< Aith the student on the musical content of the com2ositionB hoA long that Aill ta<e
de2ends on the musical level of the student. +e Aill noA address the technical issues in the
difficult sections.
The secret for ac8#iring techni8#e 8#ickl lies in knowing certain tricks for
red#cing impossibl diffic#lt passages to not onl plaable b#t often to triviall
simple ones. +e shall noA embar< u2on that magical *ourney into the brains of
geniuses Aho figured out incredibly efficient Aays to 2ractice the 2ianoO
5. Practice the )ifficult Sections First
"eturning to Fur !lise/ there are tAo difficult sections Aith 16 and (. bars. 3tart b
practicing the most diffic#lt sections first. These Aill ta<e the longest time to learn/ so they
should be given the most 2ractice time. 3ince the ending of most 2ieces is generally the most
difficult/ you Aill learn most 2ieces starting from the end. Therefore/ Ae Aill start by
tac<ling these tAo difficult sections.
3( Shortening )ifficult Passages: Segmental 1ar4by4ar2
Practice
9 most important learning trick is to choose a short practice segment. This tric< has
2erha2s the biggest effect on reducing the 2ractice time because of many reasons.
(1) ;ithin a diffic#lt passage of sa! 10 bars! there are tpicall onl a few note
combinations that stmie o#. There is no need to practice anthing other than those
notes. 7etCs e>amine the tAo difficult sections in Fur !lise and find the most troublesome
s2ots. This may be the first bar or the last five bars of the first interru2tion 8bars 4- to -69/ or
the final ar2eggio in the second interru2tion 8bars 4( to 16-9. &n all difficult segments/ it is
critically im2ortant to observe the finger mar<ings. For the last five bars of the first
interru2tion/ the difficulty is in the " Ahere most of the action is in fingers 1 and -. For bar
-( 8the one Aith the turn9/ the fingering is (.(1(.1/ and for bar -./ it is (-1-1-1-1-(-. For
the ar2eggio in the second interru2tion/ use the fingering 1(.1.-4.(1.... !ither thumb under
or thumb over 8see section &&&.-9 Aill Aor< because this 2assage is not overly fast/ but &
2refer thumb over because the thumb under Aill require some elboA motion and this e>tra
movement can lead to flubs.
(2) *racticing short segments allows o# to practice it dozens! even h#ndreds of
times! in a matter of min#tes. Use of these quic< re2etitions is the fastest Aay to teach your
hand neA motions. &f the difficult notes are 2layed as 2art of a longer segment/ the longer
interval betAeen re2eats and the 2laying of other notes in betAeen can confuse the hand and
cause it to learn more sloAly. This faster learning s2eed is quantitatively calculated in section
&@.-/ and that calculation 2rovides the basis for the claim in this boo< that these methods can
be 1666 times faster than the intuitive methods.
(3) +e all <noA that 2laying faster than your technique alloAs is detrimental.
oAever/ the shorter a segment o# choose! the faster o# can practice it witho#t ill
effects because they are so much easier to 2lay. Therefore/ you can 2ractice most of the time
at or beyond final speed/ Ahich is the ideal situation because it saves so much time. &n the
intuitive method/ you are 2racticing most of the time at sloA s2eed.
7. &ands Se/arate Practice: Acquiring Technique
.ssentiall 100> of techni8#e development is accomplished b practicing hands
.1
separatel '=3(. )o not try to develo2 fingerHhand technique hands together 8T9 as that
is much more difficult/ time consuming/ and dangerous/ as e>2lained in detail later.
Choose tAo short 2assages/ one each for the right hand 8"9 and the left hand 879.
*ractice the /= #ntil it begins to tire! then switch to the -=. 3witch ever G to 1G
seconds! before either the resting hand cools and becomes sl#ggish! or the working hand
becomes tired. &f you choose the rest interval Aisely/ you Aill find that the rested hand is
eager to 2erform. 6on7t practice when the hand is tired! beca#se that will lead to stress
'#nnecessar m#scle contraction( and bad habits. Those unfamiliar Aith 3 2ractice Aill
generally have a Aea<er 7. &n that case/ give the 7 more Aor<. &n this scheme/ you can
2ractice hard 166Y of the time/ but you never 2ractice Aith fatigued handsO
For the tAo difficult sections of Fur !lise/ 2ractice them 3 until each hand becomes
comfortable/ u2 to s2eeds faster than final s2eed/ before 2utting the hands together. This
may ta<e from a feA days to several Aee<s de2ending on your level of 2lay. As soon as you
can 2lay 3 reasonably Aell/ try T to chec< that the fingering Aor<s.
It sho#ld be emphasized that =3 practice is onl for diffic#lt passages that o#
cannot pla. &f you can 2lay the 2assage adequately T/ by all means/ s<i2 the 3 2artO The
ultimate ob*ective of this boo< is for you to be able to quic<ly 2lay T Aith 2ractically no
3 2ractice after you become 2roficient. The ob*ective is not to cultivate a de2endence on
3 2ractice. Use 3 only Ahen necessary and try to reduce its use gradually as your
technique advances. oAever/ you Aill be able to 2lay T Aith little 3 2ractice only after
you have become 2retty advanced :: most students Aill be de2endent on 3 2ractice for - to
16 years/ and Aill never com2letely abandon its use. The reason for this is that all technique
is most quic<ly acquired 3. There is one e>ce2tion to this o2tion of s<i22ing 3 2ractice.
That is memori?ingB you should memori?e everything 3 for several im2ortant reasons 8see
R0emori?ingR/ section &&&.69. Therefore/ although you may not need to 2ractice 3/ you
may need to memori?e 3 unless you are an advanced 2ianist Aith good mental 2lay. 3uch
advanced to2ics Aill be discussed later on.
Deginning st#dents sho#ld practice =3 with everthing the learn so as to master
this criticall important method as 8#ickl as possible . +ith 3 2ractice/ you acquire
fingerHhand techniqueB then Aith T 2ractice you only need to learn hoA to coordinate the
tAo hands. 1y se2arating these tas<s/ you learn them better and faster. #nce the 3 method
is mastered/ the student should start to e>2eriment Aith 2laying T Aithout using 3. 0ost
students should be able to master the 3 methods in tAo to three years. The =3 method is
not 4#st separating the hands. ;hat we will learn below are the mriad of learning tricks
o# can #se once the hands are separated.
=3 practice is val#able long after o# have learned a piece. Jou can 2ush your
technique much further 3 than T. And it is a lot of funO Jou can really e>ercise the
fingersHhandsHarms. &t is su2erior to anything anon or other e>ercises can 2rovide. This is
Ahen you can figure out Rincredible AaysR to 2lay that 2iece. This is Ahen you can really
im2rove your technique. The initial learning of the com2osition only serves to familiari?e
your fingers Aith the music. The amount of time s2ent 2laying 2ieces you have
com2letely mastered is Ahat se2arates the accom2lished 2ianist from the amateur. This is
Ahy accom2lished 2ianists can 2erform but most amateurs can only 2lay for themselves.
8. %ontinuity Rule
;hen practicing one segment! alwas incl#de the beginning of the following
segment. This continuity rule ensures that Ahen you have learned tAo ad*acent segments/
you can also 2lay them together. &t a22lies to any segment you isolate for 2ractice/ such as a
bar/ an entire movement/ or even to segments smaller than a bar. 9 generalization of the
.(
contin#it r#le is that an passage ma be broken #p into short segments for practice!
b#t these segments m#st overlap. The overlapping note or gro#p of notes is called the
con4#nction. &f you are 2racticing the end of the first movement/ then include a feA bars of
the beginning of the second movement. )uring a recital/ you Aill be glad that you had
2racticed in this AayB otherAise/ you might suddenly find yourself stum2ed on hoA to start
the (nd movementO
+e can noA a22ly the continuity rule to those difficult interru2tions in Fur !lise. To
2ractice bar -./ add the first note of bar -4 8! 2layed Aith finger 19/ Ahich is the
con*unction. 3ince all the difficult sections are for the "/ find some 7 material to 2ractice/
even from a different 2iece of music/ in order to give the " 2eriodic rests by sAitching
hands.
9. %hord Attack
3u22ose that you Aant to 2lay the 879 Rdo:so :mi :soR quadru2let 8MAlberti
accom2animentN9 many times in succession/ very fast 8as in the .rd movement of 1eethovenCs
0oonlight 3onata9. The sequence you 2ractice is C=!=C/ Ahere the last C is the con*unction.
3ince the con*unction is the same as the first note/ you can McycleN this quadru2let indefinitely
Aithout sto22ing. &f you 2ractice the quadru2let sloAly and gradually s2eed it u2 3/ you Aill
hit a Rs2eed AallR/ a s2eed beyond Ahich everything brea<s doAn and stress builds u2. The wa
to break this speed wall is to pla the 8#adr#plet as a single chord '2.C(. 1o# have gone
from slow speed to infinite speed! This is called a chord attack. $oA you only have to learn to
sloA doAn/ Ahich is easier than s2eeding u2 because there is no s2eed Aall Ahen you are
sloAing doAn. The <ey is :: hoA do you sloA doAn,
0irst pla the chord and bo#nce the hand #p and down at the fre8#enc at which
the 8#adr#plet will be repeated 8say/ betAeen one and tAo times a second9B this teaches the
hand/ Arist/ arms/ shoulder/ etc./ Ahat they need to do for fast re2etitions/ and to e>ercise the
a22ro2riate muscles. $ote that the fingers are noA 2ositioned correctly for fast 2layingB they
are resting comfortably on the <eys and slightly curled. 3loA doAn and s2eed u2 the bounce
frequency 8even beyond the required s2eedO9/ noting hoA to alter the Arist/ arm/ fingers/ etc./
2ositions and motions to ma>imi?e comfort and avoid fatigue. &f you feel fatigue after a
Ahile/ then you are either doing something Arong/ or else you have not yet acquired the
technique of 2laying re2eated the chords. Practice it until you can 2lay Aithout tiring
because if you canCt do it for a chord/ you Aill never do it for quadru2lets.
Eee2 the fingers close to or on the <eys as you increase s2eed. =et the Ahole body
involvedB shoulders/ u22er and loAer arms/ Arist. The sensation is to 2lay from your
shoulders and arms/ not the fingerti2s. +hen you can 2lay this softly/ rela>ed/ fast/ and
Aithout any feeling of fatigue/ you have made 2rogress. 0a<e sure that the chords are
2erfect 8all notes landing at the same time9 because/ Aithout this <ind of sensitivity/ you Aill
not have the accuracy to 2lay fast. It is important to practice slowl beca#se that is when
o# can work on the acc#rac and rela:ation. 9cc#rac improves faster at the slower
speeds.
oAever/ it is absolutely essential that you get u2 to fast s2eeds 8if only briefly9 before
sloAing doAn. Then/ Ahen you sloA doAn/ try to maintain the same motions that Aere
required at high s2eed/ because that is Ahat you need to ultimately 2ractice.
10. 5ravity )ro/- %hord Practice- and Rela6ation
-earning to pla acc#rate chords is the first step in appling the chord attack.
7etCs 2ractice the above 7 C!= chord. The arm Aeight method is the best Aay to achieve
accuracy and rela>ationB this a22roach has been adequately treated in the referenced boo<s
8Fin</ 3andor9 and therefore Aill be discussed only briefly here. Place your fingers on the
<eys to 2lay C!=. "ela> your arm 8the Ahole body/ actually9/ <ee2 your Arist fle>ible/ lift
..
the hand from - to (6 cm above the <eys 8the shorter distance in the beginning9/ and let
gravity dro2 your hand. 7et the hand and fingers dro2 as a unit/ do not move the fingers.
"ela> the hands com2letely during the dro2/ then RsetR your fingers and Arist at the time of
im2act Aith the <eys and let the Arist fle> slightly to ta<e the shoc< of landing and to
de2ress the <eys. D letting gravit lower o#r hand! o# are referencing o#r strength or
sensitivit to a constant force.
&t may seem unbelievable at first/ but an under:Aeight 6:year:old and a gargantuan
sumo Arestler dro22ing their hands from the same height Aill 2roduce sound of the same
loudness/ if they both 2erform the gravity dro2 correctly 8Ahich is not easy/ es2ecially for the
sumo Arestler9. This ha22ens because the s2eed of gravitational fall is inde2endent of mass
and the hammer goes into free flight as soon as the <nuc<le leaves the *ac<. Physics students
Aill recogni?e that in the elastic limit 8billiard ball collision9/ <inetic energy is conserved and
the above statements do not hold. &n such an elastic collision/ the 2iano <ey Aould fly off the
fingerti2 at high velocity/ li<e a golf ball bouncing off a concrete floor. 1ut here/ because the
fingers are rela>ed and the fingerti2s are soft 8inelastic collision9/ <inetic energy is not
conserved and the small mass 82iano <ey9 can stay Aith the large mass 8finger: hand:arm9/
resulting in a controlled <eydro2. Therefore/ the above statements hold as long as the 2iano
is 2ro2erly regulated and the effective mass for the <ey dro2 is much smaller than the mass
of the 6:year:oldCs hand. 3tiffening the hand after im2act ensures that the entire arm Aeight
transfers to the <ey dro2. )o not stiffen the hand before hitting the bottom of the <eydro2
because this Aill add force T Ae only Aant gravity to 2lay the <eys.
3trictly s2ea<ing/ the sumo Arestler Aill ma<e a slightly louder sound because of
momentum conservation/ but the difference Aill be small/ in s2ite of the fact that his arm
may be (6 times heavier. Another sur2rise is that/ once 2ro2erly taught/ the gravity dro2 may
2roduce the loudest sound that this youngster has ever 2layed 8for a high dro29/ and is an
e>cellent Aay to teach youngsters hoA to 2lay firmly. 3tart Aith short dro2s for small
youngsters because/ in the beginning/ a truly free dro2 can be 2ainful if the height is too
high. For a successful gravity dro2/ es2ecially for youngsters/ it is im2ortant to teach them to
ma<e:believe that there is no 2iano and the hand should feel li<e it is falling through the
<eyboard 8but is sto22ed by it9. #therAise/ most youngsters Aill subconsciously lift the hand
as it lands on the 2iano. &n other Aords/ the gravity dro2 is a constant acceleration and the
hand is accelerating/ even during the <ey dro2. At the end/ the hand is resting on the <eys
Aith its oAn Aeight :: this Aay of 2laying 2roduces a 2leasant/ dee2/ tone. $ote that it is
im2ortant for the <ey dro2 to accelerate all the Aay doAn : see section &&&.1 on 2roducing
good tone.
The Aell:<noAn 3teinAay Raccelerated actionR Aor<s because it adds acceleration to
the hammer motion by use of a rounded su22ort under the center <ey bushing. This causes
the 2ivot 2oint to move forAard Aith the <eydro2 thus shortening the front side of the <ey
and lengthening the bac< side and thereby causing the ca2stan to accelerate for a constant
<eydro2. This illustrates the im2ortance 2iano designers 2lace on accelerating the <eydro2/
and the arm Aeight method ensures that Ae ta<e full advantage of gravitational acceleration
to 2roduce good tone. The effectiveness of the Raccelerated actionR is controversial because
there are e>cellent 2ianos Aithout this feature. #bviously/ it is more im2ortant for the 2ianist
to control this acceleration than to de2end on the 2iano.
The fingers must be RsetR after the <eys reach the bottom of the <eydro2 in order to sto2
the handDs doAnAard motion. This requires a brief a22lication of force to the finger. As soon as
the hand sto2s/ remove this force and rela> com2letely so that you can feel gravity 2ulling the
arm doAn. "est the hand on the <ey Aith only this gravitational force <ee2ing the <eys doAn.
+hat you have *ust accom2lished is to de2ress the <ey Aith the least 2ossible
.4
effortB this is the essence of rela>ation. ,ote that an important element of rela:ation is
the immediate rela:ation of all m#scles once the gravit drop is over.
1eginning students Aill 2lay chords Aith too many unnecessary forces that can not be
accurately controlled. The #se of gravit can eliminate all #nnecessar forces or tenseness.
&t might seem li<e a curious coincidence that the force of gravity is the right force for
2laying the 2iano. This is no coincidence. =#mans evolved #nder the infl#ence of gravit.
O#r strengths for walking! lifting! etc.! evolved to match gravit e:actl( The 2iano/ of
course/ Aas designed to match those strengths. +hen you are truly rela>ed/ you can feel the
effect of gravity on your hands as you are 2laying. 3ome teachers em2hasi?e rela>ation to
the 2oint of neglecting everything else until RtotalR rela>ation is achievedB that may be going
too far :: being able to feel gravity is a necessary and sufficient criterion for rela>ation. The
gravit drop is a method for practicing rela:ation. Once this rela:ed state is achieved! it
m#st become a permanent! integral part of o#r piano plaing. Total rela>ation does not
mean that you should alAays 2lay the 2iano using only gravity. 0ost of the time/ you Aill be
a22lying your oAn forceB Mfeeling gravityN is sim2ly a Aay of measuring your level of
rela>ation.
11. Parallel Sets
$oA that the 7 C!= chord is satisfactory/ try to sAitch suddenly from the chord to
the quadru2let. Jou Aill noA have to move the fingers but <ee2 the finger motions to a
minimum. To successfully sAitch/ incor2orate the 2ro2er handHarm motions 8see Fin</
3andor9 discussed later but/ thatCs advanced stuff/ so letCs bac<:trac< and assume that you
cannot sAitch/ so that Ae can demonstrate a 2oAerful method for solving this ty2e of
2roblem.
The most basic wa to learn how to pla a diffic#lt passage is to b#ild it #p two
notes at a time! #sing the chord attack. &n our 879 C=!= e>am2le/ Ae start Aith the first
tAo notes. A tAo:note chord attac< 8strictly s2ea<ing/ an interval attac<9O Play these tAo
notes as a 2erfect interval/ bouncing your hand and fingers 8- and 19 together u2 and doAn
as you did 2reviously Aith the C!= chord. &n order to 2lay these tAo notes ra2idly one after
the other/ loAer both fingers together/ but <ee2 the 1 finger slightly above the - so that the -
lands first. &t is a ra2id tAo:note rolling interval. 3ince you are bringing both fingers doAn at
once and only delaying one slightly/ you can 2lay them as closely as you Aish by decreasing
the delay. This is how o# slow down from infinite speed!
&s it 2ossible to 2lay any combination of notes infinitely fast in this Aay, #f course not.
oA do Ae <noA Ahich ones can be 2layed infinitely fast and Ahich ones canCt, &n order to
ansAer that question/ Ae need to introduce the conce2t of 2arallel 2lay. The above method of
loAering fingers together is called 2arallel 2lay because the fingers are loAered together/ i.e./ in
2arallel. 9 *arallel 3et '*3( is a gro#p of notes that can be plaed sim#ltaneo#sl with one
hand. 9ll *3s can be plaed infinitel fast ) chord attacks #se *3s. The dela between
s#ccessive fingers is called the phase angle. &n a chord/ the 2hase angle is ?ero for all the
fingersB see !>ercise F( of &&&.;.b for a detailed treatment of P3s. This is a chord attac</ but the
M2arallel setN terminology is needed to avoid the confusion arising from the fact that in music
theory/ MchordN and MintervalN have s2ecific meanings that are not alAays a22licable to all P3s.
The highest P3 s2eed is attained by reducing the 2hase to the smallest controllable value. This
value is a22ro>imately equal to the error in your chord 2laying. &n other Aords/ the more
accurate your chords/ the faster Aill be your ma>imum attainable s2eed. This is Ahy so much
s2ace Aas devoted above to 2racticing 2erfect chords.
#nce you have conquered the C=/ you can 2roceed Aith the ne>t =! 81.9/ then !=
and finally the =C to com2lete the quadru2let and con*unction. Then connect them in
2airs/
.-
C=!/ etc./ to com2lete the quadru2let. $ote that C=! 8-1.9 is also a P3. Therefore the
quadru2let 2lus con*unction can be constructed from tAo P3s/ 8-1.9 and 8.1-9. &n this
scheme/ . is the con*unction. This is faster than the use of (:note P3s/ but more difficult. The
general rule for the use of P3s is% constr#ct the practice segment b #sing the largest *3s
possible that are consistent with the fingering. 1rea< it u2 into smaller P3s only if the large
P3 is too difficult. 3ection &&&.; discusses details of hoA to use P3s.
After you can 2lay one quadru2let Aell/ 2ractice 2laying tAo in succession/ then
three/ etc. !ventually/ you Aill be able to 2lay as many as you Aant indefinitelyO +hen you
initially bounced the chord/ the hand moved u2 and doAn. 1ut in the end/ Ahen 2laying the
quadru2lets in ra2id succession/ the hand is fairly stationaryB you Aill also have to add
hand motions/ etc./ :: more on these to2ics later.
The second difficult section in Fur !lise ends Aith an ar2eggio containing three
P3s% 1(./ 1.-/ and 4.(. First 2ractice each P3 individually 8e.g. 1(.9/ then add the
con*unction 81(.19/ then connect them in 2airs/ 81(.1.-9 etc./ to build u2 the ar2eggio.
&n order for any 2ractice segment to sound smooth and musical/ we need to accomplish
two thingsH '1( control the phase angles acc#ratel 'finger independence( and
'+( connect the parallel sets smoothl. 0ost of the fingerHhandHarm motions described in
the references are aimed at accom2lishing these tAo tas<s in ingenious Aays. +e shall
discuss many of those to2ics in 3ection &&&. The references are useful com2anions to this
boo<. &n order to hel2 you decide Ahich reference to use/ & have 2rovided 8brief9 revieAs for
many of them in the "eference section.
Jou Aill need to read most of section &&& in order to <noA hoA to use P3s most
effectively. The 2arallel 2lay described above is called R2hase loc<edR 2arallel 2lay and is the
easiest Aay to start/ but that is not the ultimate goal. &n order to acquire technique/ you need
com2lete finger inde2endence/ that comes Aith 2ractice/ not 2hase loc<ed fingers. *3s
accomplish two thingsH teach o#r brain the concept of e:tremel fast pla! and give the
hands an idea of what rapid pla feels like. For those Aho have not 2layed that fast/ these
are totally neA and ama?ing e>2eriences. Parallel 2lay gets you u2 to s2eed/ so that you can
e>2eriment Aith different motions to see Ahich ones Aor<. 1ecause these methods alloA
hundreds of trials in minutes/ this e>2erimentation can be conducted quic<ly.
12. 0earning- .emori7ing- and .ental Play
There is no faster wa of memorizing than to memorize when o# are first
learning a piece and! for a diffic#lt piece! there is no faster wa of learning than
memorizing it.
3tart memori?ing by learning hoA the music should sound% melody/ rhythm/ etc. Then use
the sheet music to find and memori?e each <ey on the 2iano for each note on the sheet
musicB this is called <eyboard memory T you memori?e hoA you 2lay this 2iece on the
2iano/ com2lete Aith the fingering/ hand motions/ etc. 3ome 2ianists use 2hotogra2hic
memory/ in Ahich they 2hotogra2hically memori?e the sheet music. &f one Aere to ta<e a
sheet of music and try to memori?e it note for note/ this tas< Aould be im2ossibly difficult
even for concert 2ianists. oAever/ once you <noA the music 8melody/ chord structure/ etc.9/
it becomes easy for everyoneO This is e>2lained in 3ection &&&.6/ Ahere you Aill find more
detailed discussions on hoA to memori?e. & 2refer <eyboard memory to 2hotogra2hic
memory because it hel2s you to find the notes on the 2iano Aithout having to MreadN the
music in your head. 0emori?e each section that you are 2racticing for technique Ahile you
are re2eating them so many times in small segments/ 3. The proced#res for memorizing
are basicall the same as those for techni8#e ac8#isition. For e>am2le/ memori?ation
should be started 3/ difficult sections first/ etc. &f you memori?e later/ you Aill have to
re2eat the same 2rocedure again. &t might a22ear that going through the same 2rocedure a
second time Aould
.6
be sim2ler. &t is not. 0emori?ing is a com2le> tas< 8even after you can 2lay the 2iece Aell9B
therefore/ students Aho try to memori?e after learning a 2iece Aill either give u2 or never
memori?e it com2letely. This is understandableB the effort required to memori?e can quic<ly
reach the 2oint of diminishing returns if you can already 2lay the 2iece.
Two important items to memorize are the time signat#re 'see III.1.b( and ke
signat#re 'see III.G.d(. The time signature is easy to understand and Aill hel2 you to 2lay
Aith the correct rhythm. The <ey signature 8hoA many shar2s or flats9 is more com2le>
because it does not tell you the 2recise <ey 8scale9 that it is in 8C:ma*or/ etc.9. &f you <noA
that the com2osition is in a ma*or or minor scale/ the <ey signature tells you the <eyB for
e>am2le if the <ey signature has no shar2s or flats 8as in Fur !lise9/ it is in either C ma*or or
A minor 8see &&&.-.d9. 0ost students <noA the ma*or scalesB you Aill need to <noA more
theory to figure out the minor <eysB therefore/ only those Aith enough theory <noAledge
should memori?e the <ey. &f you are not sure/ memori?e only the <ey signature. This <ey is
the basic tonality of the music around Ahich the com2oser uses chord 2rogressions to change
<eys. &ost compositions start and end with the base tonalit and the chords generall
progress along the circle of fifths 'see 2h. Two! +.b(. 3o far/ Ae <noA that Fur !lise is either
in C ma*or or A minor. 3ince it is someAhat melancholy/ Ae sus2ect a minor. The first ( bars
are li<e a fanfare that introduces the first theme/ so the main body of the theme begins on bar
./ Ahich starts Aith A/ the tonic of A minorO 0oreover/ the final chord is also on the tonic of
A minor. 3o it is 2robably in A minor. The only accidental in A minor is =F 8see Table
1.&&&.-b9/ Ahich Ae find in bar 4B therefore Ae conclude that it is in A minor. +hen you
understand these details/ you can really memori?e Aell.
7etDs revisit the time signature/ Ahich is .H4B three beats 2er measure 8bar9/ an eighth
2er beat. Thus it is in the format of a Aalt? but musically/ it should not be 2layed li<e a dance
but much more smoothly because it is melancholy and hauntingly romantic. The time
signature tells us that bars li<e bar . must not be 2layed as tAo tri2lets because there are .
beats. oAever/ there is no need to overly accent the first beat of every bar li<e a @iennese
+alt?. The time signature is clearly useful for 2laying musically and correctly. +ithout the
time signature/ you can easily form incorrect rhythmic habits that Aill ma<e your 2laying
sound amateurish.
Once st#dents develop memorizing<learning ro#tines that are comfortable for
them! most of them will find that learning and memorizing together takes less time than
learning alone! for diffic#lt passages. This ha22ens because you eliminate the 2rocess of
loo<ing at the music/ inter2reting it/ and 2assing the instructions from the eyes to the brain
and then to the hands. 0aterial memori?ed Ahen young 8before about age (69 is almost
never forgotten. This is Ahy it is so critical to learn fast methods of technique acquisition and
to memori?e as many 2ieces as 2ossible before reaching the later teen years. &t is easier to
memori?e something if you can 2lay it fastB therefore/ if you have difficulty memori?ing it
initially at sloA s2eed/ donCt AorryB it Aill become easier as you s2eed it u2.
The onl wa to memorize well is to learn &ental *la '&*(. &n fact/ 0P is the logical
and ultimate goal of all these 2ractice methods that Ae are discussing because technique alone
Aill not enable you to 2erform flaAlessly/ musically/ and Aithout getting nervous. "ead &&&.6.*
for more details on 0P. +ith 0P/ you learn to 2lay the 2iano in your mind/ aAay from the 2iano/
com2lete Aith accurate fingering and your conce2t of hoA you Aant the music to sound. Jou
can use <eyboard memory or 2hotogra2hic memory for 0P/ but & recommend <eyboard memory
for beginners because it is more efficientB for advanced 2layers/ <eyboard memory and
2hotogra2hic memory are the same/ since if you can do one/ the other folloAs naturally.
+henever you memori?e a small section/ close your eyes and see if you can 2lay it in your mind
Aithout 2laying it on the 2iano. #nce you have memori?ed an
.;
entire 2iece 39/ you should also be able to 2lay the com2lete 2iece 3 in your head. This is
the time to analy?e the structure of the music/ hoA it is organi?ed and hoA the themes
develo2 as the music 2rogresses. +ith 2ractice/ you Aill find that it requires only a small
investment of time to acquire 0P. 1est of all/ you Aill also discover that once solid 0P is
established/ your memory is as good as it can getB you Aill have confidence that you Aill be
able to 2lay Aithout mista<es/ blac<outs/ etc./ and Aill be able to concentrate on music. 0P
also hel2s techniqueB for e>am2le/ it is much easier to 2lay at a fast s2eed after you can
mentally 2lay it at that s2eedB very often/ the inability to 2lay fast originates in the brain.
#ne benefit of 0P is that you can 2ractice it at any time/ anyAhere/ and can greatly increase
your effective 2ractice time.
&emor is an associative process. 3#per memorizers 'incl#ding some savants( and
all concert pianists who can memorize ho#rs of m#sic depend on algorithms with which to
associate their memor 'whether the know it or not(. 0usicians are es2ecially fortunate in
this regard because music is 2recisely such an algorithm. $onetheless/ this Mmemory tric<N
of using music as an algorithm to memori?e is seldom formally taught to music studentsB
instead/ they are often advised to <ee2 re2eating Muntil the music is in the handsN/ Ahich is
one of the Aorst methods of memory because/ as Ae shall see in section &&&.6.d/ re2etition
results in Mhand memoryN Ahich is a false ty2e of memory that can lead to many 2roblems/
such as blac<outs. +ith 0P/ you associate the music in your mind Aith hoA you 2roduce it at
the 2iano. &t is im2ortant to 2ractice 0P Aithout 2laying the 2iano because you can acquire
Msound memoryN 8*ust as you can acquire Mhand memoryN9 and use the sound of the 2iano as
a crutch for recall/ and sound memory can cause the same 2roblems associated Aith hand
memory.
+hy are memory and 0P so im2ortant, They not only solve the 2ractical 2roblems
of technique and 2erformance but also advance your musicianshi2 and increase intelligence.
Jou can s2eed u2 a com2uter by adding memoryB similarly/ you can increase your effective
intelligence by im2roving your memory. &n fact/ one of the first signs of mental deterioration/
such as Al?heimerDs/ is loss of memory. It is now clear that man of those $amazing feats%
of great m#sicians s#ch as &ozart were simple bprod#cts of strong &*! and that s#ch
skills can be learned. 0ore on 0P in &&&.6*.
13. "elocity- %hoice of Practice S/eed
Cet #p to speed as 8#ickl as possible. "emember/ Ae are still 2racticing 3. Playing
so fast that you start to feel stress and ma<e mista<es Aill not im2rove technique because you
are mainly 2racticing mista<es and acquiring bad habits. Forcing the fingers to 2lay the same
Aay faster is not the Aay to increase s2eed. As demonstrated Aith 2arallel 2lay/ you need
neA Aays that automatically increase s2eed and reduce stress. &n fact/ Aith 2arallel 2lay/ it is
often easier to 2lay fast than sloAly. )evise hand 2ositions and motions that automatically
increase s2eedB this to2ic is one of the ma*or contributions of this boo</ and Aill be treated
to2ic by to2ic later on as it is too big to be covered hereB it involves such s2ecific s<ills such
as thumb over method/ glissando motion/ rela>ation/ flat finger 2ositions/ arm and Arist
motions/ etc./ and the use of M2ost 2ractice im2rovementN. &f you do not ma<e significant
2rogress in a feA minutes/ you are 2robably doing something Arong :: thin< of something
neA. 3tudents Aho use the intuitive method are resigned to re2eating the same thing for
hours Aith little visible im2rovement. That mentality must be avoided in order to learn faster.
There are tAo ty2es of situations you Aill encounter Ahen increasing s2eed. #ne involves
technical s<ills you already haveB you should be able to bring these u2 to s2eed in minutes.
The other involves neA s<illsB these Aill ta<e longer and Aill be discussed in section 1-
beloA.
.4
Techni8#e improves most rapidl when plaing at a speed at which o# can pla
acc#ratel. This is es2ecially true Ahen 2laying T 82lease be 2atient :: & 2romise Ae Aill
eventually get to T 2ractice9. 3ince you have more control 3/ you can get aAay Aith
much faster 2lay 3 than T Aithout increasing stress or forming bad habits. Thus it is
erroneous to thin< that you can im2rove faster by 2laying as fast as 2ossible 8after all/ if you
2lay tAice as fast/ you can 2ractice the same 2assage tAice as oftenO9. 3ince one ma*or
ob*ective of 3 2ractice is to gain s2eed/ the need to attain s2eed quic<ly and to 2ractice
accurately become contradictory. The solution is to constantly change the s2eed of 2racticeB
do not stay at any one s2eed for too long. For very difficult 2assages that require s<ills you
donCt already have/ there is no alternative but to bring the s2eed u2 in stages. For this/ use
s2eeds that are too fast as e>2loratory e>cursions to determine Ahat needs to be changed in
order to 2lay at such s2eeds. Then sloA doAn and 2ractice those neA motions.
To vary the s2eed/ first get u2 to some manageable Rma>imum s2eedR at Ahich you
can 2lay accurately. Then go faster 8using 2arallel sets/ etc./ if necessary9/ and ta<e note of
hoA the 2laying needs to be changed 8donCt Aorry if you are not 2laying accurately at this
2oint because you are not re2eating it many times9. Then use that motion and 2lay at the
2revious Rma>imum accurate s2eedR. &t should noA be noticeably easier. Practice at this
s2eed for a Ahile/ then try sloAer s2eeds to ma<e sure that you are com2letely rela>ed and
absolutely accurate. Then re2eat the Ahole 2rocedure. &n this Aay/ you ratchet u2 the s2eed
in manageable *um2s and Aor< on each needed s<ill se2arately. &n most cases/ you should be
able to 2lay most of the neA 2iece/ at least in small segments/ 3/ at the final s2eed during
the first sitting. &n the beginning/ getting u2 to s2eed at the first sitting may seem
unattainable but/ Aith 2ractice/ every student can reach this ob*ective sur2risingly quic<ly.
14. &o8 to Rela6
The most important thing to do as o# get #p to speed is to rela:. "ela>ing means
that you use only those muscles that are needed to 2lay. Thus you can be Aor<ing as hard as
you Aant/ and be rela>ed. The rela>ed state is es2ecially easy to attain Ahen 2racticing 3.
There are tAo schools of thought on rela>ation. #ne school maintains that/ in the long run/
it is better not to 2ractice at all than to 2ractice Aith even the slightest amount of tension.
This school teaches by shoAing you hoA to rela> and 2lay a single note/ and then
advancing carefully/ giving you only those easy material that you can 2lay rela>ed. The
other school argues that rela>ation is certainly a necessary as2ect of technique/ but that
sub*ugating the entire 2ractice 2hiloso2hy to rela>ation is not the o2timum a22roach. The
second a22roach should be better/ 2rovided that you are aAare of the 2itfalls.
The human brain can be quite Aasteful. For even the sim2lest tas<s/ the untrained
brain uses most of the muscles in the body. And if the tas< is difficult/ the brain tends to loc<
the entire body in a mass of tensed muscles. &n order to rela>/ you must ma<e a conscious
effort to shut doAn all unnecessary muscles. This is not easy because it goes against the
natural tendencies of the brain. Jou need to 2ractice rela>ation *ust as much as moving the
fingers to 2lay the <eys. "ela>ing does not mean to Rlet go of all musclesRB it means that the
unnecessary ones are rela>ed even Ahen the necessary ones are Aor<ing full tilt/ Ahich is a
coordination s<ill that requires a lot of 2ractice.
For those Aho are neA to rela>ation/ you can start Aith easier 2ieces you have
learned/ and 2ractice adding rela>ation. The 2arallel set e>ercises of &&&.; can hel2 you to
2ractice rela>ation. #ne Aay to feel rela>ation is to 2ractice one 2arallel set and accelerate
it until stress builds u2 and then try to rela>. Jou Aill need to find motions and 2ositions of
arms/ Arists/ etc./ that alloA thisB Ahen you find them/ you Aill feel the stress draining out
from the hand as you 2lay.
.5
"ela> and maintain all the various functions of the body/ such as breathing and
2eriodic sAalloAing. 3ome students sto2 breathing Ahen 2laying demanding 2assages in
order to concentrate on the 2laying. +hen rela>ed/ you should be able to conduct all of the
normal body functions and still be able to concentrate on 2laying. 3ection (1 beloA
e>2lains hoA to use the dia2hragm to breathe 2ro2erly. &f the throat is dry after a hard
2ractice/ it means that you had sto22ed sAalloAing. These are all indications of stress.
0any students Aho Aere not taught rela>ation thin< that long re2etitive 2ractices
somehoA transform the hand so it can 2lay. &n reality/ Ahat often ha22ens is that the hand
accidentally stumbles onto the right motion for rela>ation. This is Ahy some s<ills are
acquired quic<ly Ahile others ta<e forever and Ahy some students acquire certain s<ills
quic<ly Ahile other students struggle Aith the same s<ills. Thus rela>ation is a state of
unstable equilibrium% as you learn to rela>/ it becomes easier to 2lay/ Ahich ma<es it easier to
rela>/ etc. This e>2lains Ahy rela>ation is a ma*or 2roblem for some Ahile it is com2letely
natural for others. 1ut that is a most Aonderful 2iece of information :: it means that anyone
can learn to rela>/ if 2ro2erly taught.
"ela>ation is energy conservation. There are at least ( Aays to conserve% 819 donCt use
unnecessary muscles T es2ecially the o22osing muscles and 8(9 turn off the Aor<ing muscles
as soon as their *obs are done. 7etCs demonstrate these Aith the one:finger gravity dro2. 819 is
the easiestB sim2ly alloA gravity to com2letely control the dro2/ Ahile the entire body is
resting comfortably on the bench. A tense 2erson Aill contract both o22osing muscles% those
for raising and for loAering the hand. For 8(9 you Aill need to learn a neA habit if you donCt
already have it 8feA do/ initially9. That is the habit of rela>ing all muscles as soon as you
reach the bottom of the <ey dro2. )uring a gravity dro2/ you let gravity 2ull the arm doAn/
but at the end of the <ey dro2/ you need to tense the finger for an instant in order to sto2 the
hand. Then you must quic<ly rela> all muscles. )onCt lift the hand/ but rest the hand
comfortably on the 2iano Aith *ust enough force at the finger to su22ort the Aeight of the
arm. 0a<e sure that you are not 2ressing doAn. This is more difficult than you Aould thin<
at first because the elboA is floating in mid air and the same bundles of muscles used to
tense the finger in order to su22ort the arm Aeight are also used to 2ress doAn.
Tensing o22osing muscles is a ma*or cause of tension. &f the 2ianist is not aAare of it/
it can groA out of control can cause in*ury. Iust as Ae must learn to control each finger or
hand inde2endently/ Ae must also learn to control each o22osing muscle/ such as fle>or and
e>tensor/ inde2endently. The Aorst consequence of stress is that it gets you into a fight you
canDt Ain because you are fighting an o22onent Aho is e>actly as strong as you are :: namely/
yourself. &t is your oAn muscles Aor<ing against your body. And the more you 2ractice/ the
Aorse the 2roblem. &f it gets bad enough/ it can cause in*ury because the muscles become
stronger than the material strength of the body.
+ithout training/ feA 2eo2le Aill bother to turn off muscles e>2licitlyB normally/ you
sim2ly forget about them Ahen their Aor< is done. oAever/ in fast finger Aor</ you need to
rela> ra2idlyB otherAise/ the fingers Aill never get any rest/ or be 2re2ared for the ne>t note.
A good e>ercise for 2racticing ra2id rela>ation is to start Aith one <ey doAn and to 2lay a
quic</ moderately loud note Aith that same finger. $oA you have to a22ly an u2 and doAn
force and turn it off. +hen you turn it off/ you must return to the feeling you had at the end
of a gravity dro2. Jou Aill find that the harder you 2lay the note/ the longer it ta<es to rela>.
Practice shortening this rela>ation time.
+hat is so Aonderful about these rela>ation methods is that after 2racticing them
for a short time 82erha2s a feA Aee<s9/ they tend to be automatically incor2orated into your
2laying/ even into 2ieces that you have already learned/ as long as you 2ay attention to
rela>ation. /ela:ation 'involving the whole bod(! arm weight 'gravit drop(! and
46
avoidance of mindless repetitive e:ercises were ke elements in 2hopin7s teachings.
"ela>ation is useless unless it is accom2anied by musical 2layingB in fact/ Cho2in insisted
on musical 2laying before acquiring technique because he <neA that rela>ation/ music and
technique are inse2arable. This may be Ahy most of Cho2inDs com2ositions 8unli<e
1eethovenDs9 can be 2layed Aithin a Aide range of s2eeds.
15. Post Practice Im/rovement 1PPI2
There is onl a specific amo#nt of improvement o# can e:pect d#ring practice at
one sitting! because there are tAo ma*or Aays in Ahich you im2rove. The first one is the
obvious im2rovement that comes from learning the notes and motions/ resulting in
immediate im2rovement. This occurs for 2assages for Ahich you already have the
technique to 2lay. The second one is called post practice improvement '**I( that res#lts
from phsiological changes as o# ac8#ire new techni8#e. This is a sloA 2rocess of
change that occurs over Aee<s or months because it requires the groAth of nerve and
muscle cells.
Therefore/ as you 2ractice/ try to gauge your 2rogress so that you can quit and go to
something else as soon as a 2oint of diminishing returns is reached/ usually in less than 16
minutes. -ike magic! o#r techni8#e will keep improving b itself for at least several das
after a good practice. Therefore/ if you had done e(erything right/ then/ the ne>t day/ you
should discover that you can noA 2lay better. &f this ha22ens for *ust one day/ the effect is not
that big. oAever/ the cumulative effect of this occurring over months or years can be huge.
&t is usually more 2rofitable to 2ractice several things at one sitting and let them all
im2rove simultaneously 8Ahile you are not 2racticingO9/ than Aor<ing too hard on one thing.
#ver:2racticing can actually hurt your technique if it leads to stress/ bad habits or in*ury. Jou
do have to 2ractice a certain minimum amount/ about a hundred re2etitions/ for PP& to ta<e
effect. 1ut because Ae are tal<ing about a feA bars 2layed at s2eed/ 2racticing do?ens or
hundreds of times should ta<e only a feA minutes. Therefore/ donCt fret if you 2ractice hard
but donCt see much immediate im2rovement. This might be normal for that 2articular
2assage. &f you canCt find anything Arong Aith Ahat you are doing/ it is time to sto2 and let
PP& ta<e over/ after ma<ing sure that you made enough re2etitions for PP&. Also/ be sure to
2ractice rela>ed because you donDt Aant PP& of a stressed motion.
There are many ty2es of PP& de2ending on Ahat is holding you bac<. #ne of the
Aays in Ahich these different ty2es manifest themselves is in the length of time over Ahich
PP& is effective/ Ahich varies from one day to many months. The shortest times may be
associated Aith conditioning/ such as the use of motions or muscles you had not used before/
or memory issues. &ntermediate times of several Aee<s may be associated Aith neA nerve
connections/ such as T 2lay. 7onger times may be associated Aith actual groAth of
brainHnerveHmuscle cells/ and conversion of sloA to fast muscle cell ty2es 8see &&&.;.a9.
Jou must do everything right to ma>imi?e PP&. 0any students do not <noA the rules
and can negate the PP& Aith the result that/ Ahen they 2lay the ne>t day/ it comes out 'orse.
0ost of these mista<es originate from incorrect use of fast and sloA 2racticeB therefore/ Ae
Aill discuss the rules for choosing the right 2ractice s2eeds in the folloAing sections. Any
stress or unnecessary motion during 2ractice Aill also undergo PP& and can become a bad
habit. The most common mista<e students ma<e to negate PP& is to 2lay fast before quitting
2ractice. The last thing you do before quitting should be the most correct and best e>am2le
of Ahat you Aant to achieve/ Ahich usually a moderate to sloA s2eed. 1o#r last r#n<
thro#gh seems to have an inordinatel strong **I effect. The methods of this boo< are
ideal for PP&/ mainly because they em2hasi?e 2racticing only those segments that you cannot
2lay. &f you 2lay T sloAly and ram2 u2 the s2eed for a long section/ PP& is insufficiently
conditioned because you donDt have enough time to ma<e the necessary number of
re2etitions. &n
41
addition/ the PP& 2rocess becomes confused because you mi> a large 2ro2ortion of easy
material Aith the small amount of difficult ones and the s2eed/ motions/ etc./ are also
incorrect.
PP& is nothing neAB letCs loo< at three Aell :<noAn e>am2les% the body builder/
marathoner/ and golfer. +hile lifting Aeights/ the body builderCs muscles donCt groAB he Aill
in fact lose Aeight. 1ut during the folloAing Aee<s/ the body Aill react to the stimulus and
add muscle. All the muscle groAth occurs after the e>ercise. Thus the body builder does not
measure hoA much muscle he gained or hoA much more Aeight he can lift at the end of the
e>ercise/ but instead concentrates on Ahether the e>ercise 2roduces the a22ro2riate
conditioning. The difference here is that for 2iano/ Ae are develo2ing coordination and s2eed
instead of strength and bul< muscle. Thus/ Ahereas the bodybuilder Aants to groA the sloA
muscles/ the 2ianist Aants to convert the sloA muscles into fast ones. Another e>am2le is the
marathon runner. &f you had never run a mile in your life/ and tried it for the first time/ you
might be able to *og for a quarter mile before you need to sloA doAn for a rest. After some
rest/ if you tried to run again/ you Aill still tire out in a quarter mile or less. Thus the first run
resulted in no discernible im2rovement. oAever/ the ne>t day/ you may be able to run a
third of a mile before tiring :: you have *ust e>2erienced PP&. This is hoA marathoners
condition themselves to be able to eventually run (6 miles. =olfers are familiar Aith the
2henomenon in Ahich they can hit the ball Aell one day/ but terribly the ne>t because they
2ic<ed u2 a bad habit. Thus hitting the driver 8the most difficult club9 too many times tends
to ruin your sAing/ Ahereas 2racticing Aith the F- Aood 8a much easier club9 can restore itB
therefore it is im2ortant to 2ractice Aith a easier club before quitting 2ractice. The analogy in
2iano is that 2laying fast/ full tilt/ tends to ruin the PP& Ahereas 2racticing sim2ler material
8short sections 39 tends to im2rove it.
**I occ#rs mainl d#ring sleep. Jou can not re2air your car Ahile driving it on a
highAayB li<eAise/ most of the groAth and maintenance of the body cannot occur during the
Aa<ing hours. 3lee2 is not only for resting/ but also for groAth and maintenance of the
body. This slee2 must be the normal/ over:night ty2e Aith all of its ma*or com2onents/
es2ecially "!0 slee2. 1abies need so much slee2 because they are groAing ra2idly. Jou
may not get good PP& if you did not slee2 Aell that night. The best routine for using PP&
may be to 2ractice in the evening for conditioning and then revieAing it the ne>t morning.
PP& is triggered by cell deathB hard 2ractice causes 2remature cell death/ and the body over:
com2ensates for this Ahen there are e>cess cell deaths. Jou might thin< that 166 re2etitions
canDt 2ossibly cause cell death/ but cells are alAays being re2laced/ and any e>tra Aor< Aill
increase this re2lacement rate.
16. )angers of Slo8 Play 4 Pitfalls of the Intuitive .ethod
;h is repetitive slow pla 'int#itive method( harmf#l when starting a new pieceI
+hen you start/ there is no Aay of <noAing Ahether the sloA 2lay motion you are using is
right or Arong. The 2robability of 2laying incorrectly is nearly 166Y/ because there is almost
an infinity of Aays to 2lay incorrectly but only one best Aay. +hen this Arong motion is
s2eeded u2/ the student Aill hit a s2eed Aall. Assuming that this student succeeded in
overcoming the s2eed Aall by finding a neA Aay to 2lay/ sHhe Aill then need to unlearn the
old Aay and relearn this neA 2lay/ and <ee2 re2eating these cycles for each incremental
increase in s2eed until sHhe reaches the final s2eed. Thus the method of sloAly ram2ing u2
the s2eed can Aaste a lot of time.
7etCs loo< at an e>am2le of hoA different s2eeds require different motions. Consider
the horseCs gait. As the s2eed is increased/ the gait goes through Aal</ trot/ canter/ and gallo2.
!ach of these four gaits usually has at least a sloA and fast mode. Also/ a left turn is different
4(
from a right turn 8the leading hoof is different9. ThatCs a minimum of 16 motions. These are
the so:called natural gaitsB most horses automatically have themB they can also be taught .
more gaits% 2ace/ fo>trot/ and rac</ Ahich li<eAise have sloA/ fast/ left/ and right% all this/
Aith only four legs of relatively sim2le structure and a com2aratively limited brain. +e have
16 com2le> fingers/ more versatile shoulders/ arms/ and hands/ and a much more ca2able
brainO #ur hands are therefore ca2able of 2erforming many more RgaitsR than a horse. 0ost
students have little idea of hoA many motions are 2ossible unless the teacher 2oints these out
to them. TAo students/ left to their oAn devices and as<ed to 2lay the same 2iece/ Aill be
guaranteed to end u2 Aith different hand motions. This is another reason Ahy it is so
im2ortant to ta<e lessons from a good teacher Ahen starting 2ianoB such a teacher can
quic<ly Aeed out the bad motions.
"am2ing u2 a sloA 2lay in 2iano is li<e forcing a horse run as fast as a gallo2 by
sim2ly s2eeding u2 the Aal< :: it canCt be done because as the s2eed increases/ the momenta
of the legs/ body/ etc./ change/ requiring the different gaits. Therefore/ if the music requires a
Rgallo2R/ the student ends u2 having to learn all the intervening RgaitsR if you ram2 u2 the
s2eed. Forcing a horse to Aal< as fast as a gallo2 Aould erect s2eed Aalls/ 2roduce stress/
and cause in*ury.
A common sloA:2lay mista<e is the habit of su22orting or lifting the hand. &n sloA 2lay/
the hand can be lifted betAeen notes Ahen the doAnAard 2ressure is not necessary. +hen
s2eeded u2/ this RliftR habit coincides Aith the ne>t <eydro2B these actions cancel/ resulting in a
missed note. Another common error is the Aaving of the free fingers :: Ahile 2laying fingers 1
and (/ the student might be Aaving fingers 4 and - in the air several times. This 2resents no
difficulties until the motion is s2eeded u2 so fast that there is no time to Aave the fingers. &n this
situation/ the free fingers Aill not automatically sto2 Aaving at faster s2eeds because the motion
has been ingrained by hundreds or even thousands of re2etitions. &nstead/ the fingers are as<ed to
Aave several times at s2eeds they cannot attain :: this creates the s2eed Aall. The trouble here is
that most students Aho use sloA 2ractice are unaAare of these bad habits. If o# know how to
pla fast! it is safe to pla slowl! b#t if o# don7t know how to pla fast! o# m#st be caref#l
not to learn the wrong slow plaing habits or to end #p wasting tremendo#s amo#nts of time.
3loA 2lay can Aaste huge chun<s of time because each run:through ta<es so long. As you s2eed
u2/ you Aill need to increase the doAnAard 2ressure because you are 2ressing more <eys in the
same interval of time. Th#s
$feeling gravit% doesn?t work most of the time beca#se different downward press#res
are needed as o# pla.
Another 2roblem associated Aith the intuitive sloA 2ractice a22roach is
unnecessary body motions. These motions create more difficulties at higher s2eeds. Bnless
the video record their plaing and watch caref#ll for strange bod motions! most
pianists are #naware of all the motions the make. These can ca#se #npredictable
mistakes at #npredictable times! creating pschological problems with insec#rit and
nervo#sness.
Cultivating an aAareness of body motions can eliminate this 2roblem. +e see that intuition
can lead to a myriad of difficultiesB instead of intuition/ Ae need a <noAledge based system.
17. Im/ortance of Slo8 Play
aving 2ointed out the dangers of sloA 2lay/ Ae noA discuss Ahy sloA 2lay is
indispensable. 9lwas end a practice session b plaing slowl at least once. This is the
most important r#le for good **I. Jou should also cultivate a habit of doing this Ahen
sAitching hands during 3 2racticeB before sAitching/ 2lay sloAly at least once. This ma
be one of the most important r#les of this chapter beca#se it has s#ch an inordinatel
large effect on techni8#e improvement. &t is beneficial to both the immediate im2rovement
and to
4.
PP&. #ne reason Ahy it Aor<s may be that you can com2letely rela> 8see section &&.149.
Another reason may be that you tend to 2ic< u2 more bad habits than you reali?e Ahile
2laying fast/ and you can ReraseR these habits Aith sloA 2lay. Contrary to intuition/ 2laying
sloAly Aithout mista<es is difficult 8until you have com2letely mastered the 2assage9.
Thus sloA 2lay is a good Aay to test Ahether you have really learned this 2iece of music.
The effect of a final sloA 2lay on PP& is so dramatic that you can easily demonstrate it
for yourself. Try one 2ractice session in Ahich you only 2lay fast and see Ahat ha22ens the
ne>t day. Then try one in Ahich you 2lay sloAly before quitting/ and see Ahat ha22ens on the
ne>t day. #r you can 2ractice a 2assage fast only and another 2assage 8of the same difficulty9
sloAly at the end and com2are them the ne>t day. This effect is cumulative/ so that if you
Aere to re2eat this e>2eriment Aith the same tAo 2assages for a long time/ you Aill
eventually find a huge difference in the Aay you can 2lay them.
oA sloA is sloA, That is a *udgment call/ and de2ends on your s<ill level. 1eloA a
certain s2eed/ the sloA 2lay Aill lose its beneficial effects. &t is im2ortant/ Ahen 2laying
sloAly/ to maintain the same motion as Ahen 2laying fast. &f you 2lay too sloAly/ this may
become im2ossible. Also/ 2laying too sloAly Aill ta<e too long/ Aasting time. The best s2eed
to try first is one at Ahich you can 2lay as accurately as you Aant/ around 1H( to .H4 s2eed.
3loA 2lay is also needed for memori?ing 8see &&&.6.h9. The o2timum sloA s2eed for
memori?ing/ beloA about 1H( s2eed/ is sloAer than that needed for PP& conditioning. As
technique im2roves/ this sloA s2eed can become faster. 3ome famous 2ianists have been
observed to 2ractice (ery slo'lyO 3ome accounts document 2ractice at one note 2er second/
Ahich sounds almost irrational/ but may benefit memory and musicality.
9n important skill to practice when plaing slowl is to think ahead of the m#sic.
+hen 2racticing a neA 2iece fast/ there is a tendency to mentally fall behind the music and
this can become a habit. This is bad because that is hoA you lose control. Thin< ahead Ahen
2laying sloAly and then try to maintain that lead Ahen you get bac< u2 to s2eed. 1y
thin<ing ahead/ you can usually foresee flubs or difficulties coming and have the time to
ta<e a22ro2riate action.
18. Fingering
!>ce2t in beginnersC boo<s/ the basic fingerings are not indicated in music scores.
For those basic fingerings/ go to the scales 8&&&.-.d and &&&.-.h9 and ar2eggio 8&&&.-.e9
sectionsB note that it is the scales that determine the fingerings for practicall all r#ns.
Therefore it is important to memorize the fingerings for all the scalesB this is not difficult
because most scales folloA a standard fingering and the e>ce2tions folloA sim2le rules/ such
as avoiding the thumb on blac< <eys. Playing a blac< <ey Aith the thumb 2ositions the hand
too close to the fallboard/ Ahich ma<es it difficult to 2lay the Ahite <eys Aith the other
fingers. 0ost scores shoA fingerings for unusual situations Ahere s2ecial fingerings are
needed. FolloA these fingerings unless you have a better oneB if you donCt folloA the
indicated fingering/ you Aill 2robably get into trouble. An indicated fingering may feel
aA<Aard at first but it is there for good reasons. These reasons often do not become a22arent
until you get u2 to s2eed andHor you 2lay T. It is most important to fi: o#r fingering and
not change it #nless there is a good reason. $ot having a fi>ed fingering Aill sloA doAn
the learning 2rocess and give you trouble later/ es2ecially during a 2erformance/ Ahen a
fingering indecision can cause a mista<e. &f you do change the fingering/ ma<e sure that you
alAays stic< to the neA one. 0ar< the change on the music so that you donDt inadvertently
change it during 2racticeB also/ it can be very annoying to come bac< to this music months
later and not remember that nice fingering you had 2reviously Aor<ed out.
$ot all suggested fingerings on the music score are a22ro2riate for everyone. Jou
44
may have large or small hands. Jou may have gotten used to a different fingering because of
the Aay you learned. Jou might have a different s<ill setB e.g./ you might be a better triller
using 1/. than (/.. 0usic from different 2ublishers may have different fingerings. For
advanced 2layers/ the fingering can have a 2rofound influence on the musical effect you
Aant to 2ro*ect. Fortunately/ the methods of this boo< are Aell suited to quic<ly changing
fingerings. #nce you have become familiar Aith the methods of this boo</ you Aill be able
to change fingering very quic<ly. 0a<e all the changes before you start T 2ractice because
once fingerings are incor2orated into T 2lay/ they become very difficult to change. #n the
other hand/ some fingerings are easy 3 but become difficult T/ so it 2ays to chec< them
T before 2ermanently acce2ting any changes.
&n summary/ fingering is critically im2ortant. Deginners sho#ld not start practicing
witho#t knowing the proper fingerings. &f you are uncertain about fingering/ try to find
sheet music Aith 2lenty of fingering indications or go to an internet 2iano forum and as< for
hel2. &f you loo< at hoA the scales and ar2eggios are fingered/ you Aill find some sim2le
Mcommon senseN rules of fingeringB these should be enough to get you started.
19. Accurate Tem/o and the .etronome
3tart all pieces b co#nting caref#ll! especiall for beginners and o#ngsters.
Children should be taught to count out loud because that is the only Aay to find out Ahat
their idea of counting is. &t can be totally different from the intended oneO Jou should
understand the time signature at the beginning of each com2osition. &t loo<s li<e a fraction/
consisting of a numerator and a denominator. The numerator indicates the number of beats
2er measure and the denominator indicates the note 2er beat. For e>am2le/ .H4 means that
there are three beats 2er measure and that each beat is a quarter note. Ty2ically/ each bar
contains one measure. EnoAing the time signature is essential Ahen accom2anying/
because the moment that the accom2anist starts is determined by the starting beat Ahich the
conductor indicates Aith the baton.
An advantage of 3 2ractice is that you tend to count more accurately than T.
3tudents Aho start T can end u2 Aith undetected mista<es in counting. &nterestingly/ these
mista<es usually ma<e it im2ossible to bring the music u2 to s2eed. There is something about
Arong counting that creates its oAn s2eed Aall. &t 2robably messes u2 the rhythm. Therefore/
if you run into 2roblems Aith bringing it u2 to s2eed/ chec< the counting. A metronome is
very useful for this.
Bse the metronome to check o#r speed and beat acc#rac. & have been re2eatedly
sur2rised by the errors & discover Ahen chec<ed in this Aay. For e>am2le/ & tend to sloA
doAn at difficult sections and s2eed u2 at easy ones/ although & thin< it is actually the
o22osite Ahen 2laying Aithout the metronome. 0ost teachers Aill chec< their studentsC
tem2i Aith it. As soon as the student gets the timing/ it should be shut off. The metronome is
one of your most reliable teachers :: once you start using it/ you Aill be glad you did.
)evelo2 a habit of using the metronome and your 2laying Aill undoubtedly im2rove. All
serious students must have a metronome.
0etronomes should not be over used. -ong practice sessions with the metronome
accompaning o# are harmf#l to techni8#e ac8#isition and leads to non<m#sical plaing.
+hen the metronome is used for more than about 16 minutes continually/ your mind Aill
start to 2lay mental tric<s on you so that you may lose the timing accuracy. For e>am2le/ if
the metronome emits clic<s/ after some time/ your brain Aill create anti:clic<s in your head
that can cancel the metronome clic< so that you Aill either not hear the metronome
anymore/ or Aill hear it at the Arong time. This is Ahy most modern electronic metronomes
have a light 2ulse mode. The visual cue is less 2rone to mental tric<s and also does not
interfere
4-
acoustically Aith the music. The most frequent abuse of the metronome is to use it to ram2
u2 s2eedB this abuses the metronome/ the student/ the music/ and the technique. &f you must
ram2 u2 the s2eed gradually/ use the metronome to set the tem2o/ then turn it off and then
<ee2 on 2racticingB then use it again briefly Ahen you increase the s2eed. The metronome
is for setting the tempo and for checking o#r acc#rac. It is not a s#bstit#te for o#r
own internal timing.
The 2rocess of s2eeding u2 is a 2rocess of finding the a22ro2riate neA motions.
+hen you find the correct neA motion/ you can ma<e a quantum *um2 to a higher s2eed at
Ahich the hand 2lays comfortablyB in fact/ at intermediate s2eeds/ neither the sloA nor the
fast motion a22lies and is often more difficult to 2lay than the faster s2eed. &f you ha22en to
set the metronome at this intermediate s2eed/ you might struggle at it for long 2eriods of
time and build u2 a s2eed Aall. #ne of the reasons Ahy the neA motion Aor<s is that the
human hand is a mechanical device and has resonances at Ahich certain combinations of
motions naturally Aor< Aell. There is little doubt that some music Aas com2osed to be
2layed at certain s2eeds because the com2oser found this resonance s2eed. #n the other
hand/ each individual has a different hand Aith different resonance s2eeds/ and this 2artly
e>2lains Ahy different 2ianists choose different s2eeds. +ithout the metronome/ you can
*um2 from resonance to the ne>t resonance because the hand feels comfortable at those
s2eeds/ Ahereas the chances of your setting the metronome at e>actly those s2eeds are very
loA. Therefore/ Aith the metronome/ you are almost alAays 2racticing at the Arong s2eed/
unless you <noA about the resonances 8nobody does9 and set the metronome accordingly.
.lectronic metronomes are s#perior to the mechanical ones in every res2ect
although some 2eo2le 2refer the a22earance of the old models. !lectronics are more accurate/
can ma<e different sounds or flash lights/ have variable volume/ are less e>2ensive/ are less
bul<y/ have memory functions/ etc./ Ahile the mechanicals alAays seem to need reAinding at
the Aorst 2ossible times.
20. +eak 0eft &and9 Using #ne &and to Teach the #ther
3t#dents who do not practice =3 will alwas have a stronger /= than -=. This
ha22ens because the " 2assages are generally more difficult/ technically. The 7 tends to
get 2assages that require more strength/ but it often lags behind in s2eed and technique. Thus
MAea<erN here means technically Aea<er/ not strength:Aise. The =3 method will balance
the hands beca#se o# will a#tomaticall give the weaker hand more work. For 2assages
that one hand can 2lay better than the other/ the better hand is often your best teacher. To let
one hand teach the other/ select a short segment and 2lay it ra2idly Aith the better hand/ then
re2eat immediately Aith the Aea<er hand/ one octave a2art to 2revent collisions. Jou Aill
discover that the Aea<er hand can often Rcatch onR or Rget the ideaR of hoA the better hand is
doing it. The fingering should be similar but does not need to be identical. #nce the Aea<er
hand Rgets the ideaR/ gradually Aean it off by 2laying the Aea<er hand tAice and the stronger
hand once/ then three against one/ etc.
This ability of one hand to teach the other is more im2ortant than most 2eo2le
reali?e. The above e>am2le of solving one s2ecific technical difficulty is *ust one e>am2le ::
more im2ortantly/ this conce2t a22lies to 2ractically every 2ractice session. The basic reason
for this broad a22licability is that one hand al'ays 2lays something better than the other/
such as rela>ation/ s2eed/ quiet hands/ and the innumerable fingerHhand motions 8Thumb
#ver/ Flat Finger/ etc./ see folloAing sections9 :: anything neA that you are trying to learn.
Therefore/ once you learn this 2rinci2le of using one hand to teach the other/ you Aill be
using it all the time.
46
21. uilding !ndurance- reathing
R!nduranceR is a controversial term in 2iano 2ractice. This controversy originates from
the fact that piano plaing re8#ires control! not m#scle power! and many students have the
Arong im2ression that they Aill not acquire technique until they groA enough muscles. #n the
other hand/ a certain amount of endurance is necessary. This a22arent contradiction can be
resolved by understanding e>actly Ahat is needed and hoA to get it. #bviously/ you canCt 2lay
loud/ grandiose 2assages Aithout e>2ending energy. 1ig/ strong/ 2ianists can certainly 2roduce
more sound than small/ Aea</ 2ianists if they are equally s<illful. And the stronger 2ianists can
more easily 2lay RdemandingR 2ieces. !very 2ianist has enough 2hysical stamina to 2lay 2ieces
at herHis level/ sim2ly because of the amount of 2ractice that Aas required to get there. Jet Ae
<noA that endurance is a 2roblem. The ansAer lies in rela>ation. +hen stamina becomes an
issue/ it is almost alAays caused by e>cess tension.
#ne e>am2le of this is the 7 octave tremolo in the first movement of 1eethovenCs
Pathetique. The only thing over 56Y of the students need to do is to eliminate stressB yet
many students 2ractice it for months Aith little 2rogress. The first mista<e they ma<e is to
2ractice it too loud. This adds e>tra stress and fatigue Ahen you can least afford it. Practice it
softly/ concentrating on eliminating stress/ as e>2lained in section &&&...b. &n a Aee< or tAo/
you Aill be 2laying as many tremolos as fast as you Aant. $oA start adding loudness and
e>2ression. )oneO At this 2oint/ your 2hysical strength and endurance is not much different
from Ahat it Aas Ahen you started a feA Aee<s ago :: the main thing you did Aas to find the
best Aay to eliminate stress.
Playing demanding 2ieces requires about as much energy as a sloA *og/ at about 4
miles 2er hour/ Aith the brain requiring almost half the total energy. 0any youngsters cannot
*og continuously for over one mile. Therefore/ as<ing youngsters to 2ractice difficult
2assages continually for (6 minutes Aould really strain their stamina because it Aould be
about equivalent to *ogging a mile. Teachers and 2arents must be careful Ahen youngsters
start their 2iano lessons/ to limit 2ractice times to under 1- minutes in the beginning until the
students gain sufficient stamina. 0arathon runners have stamina/ but they are not muscular.
Jou need to condition the body for stamina for 2iano/ but you donCt need e>tra muscles.
$oA there is a difference betAeen 2iano 2laying and running a marathon because of
the need to condition the brain for stamina in addition to the muscular conditioning.
Therefore mindless 2racticing of e>ercises for stamina does not Aor<. The most efficient
Aays to gain stamina are to either 2lay finished 2ieces and ma<e music/ or 2ractice difficult
sections 3 continuously. Again using the *ogging com2arison/ it Aould be hard for most
students to 2ractice difficult material continuously for more than a feA hours because ( hours
of 2ractice Aould be equivalent to *ogging 6 miles/ Ahich is a terrific Aor<out. Therefore/
you Aill have to 2lay some easy 2ieces betAeen the hard 2ractice sessions. Concentrated
2ractice sessions longer than a feA hours may not be that hel2ful until you are at an
advanced level/ Ahen you have develo2ed sufficient R2iano staminaR. &t is 2robably better to
ta<e a brea< and restart 2ractice after some rest. 2learl! hard piano practice is stren#o#s
work and serio#s practicing can p#t the st#dent in good phsical shape. 3 2ractice is
most valuable in this regard because it alloAs one hand to rest Ahile the other Aor<s hard/
alloAing the 2ianist to Aor< as hard as sHhe Aants/ 166Y of the time/ Aithout in*ury or
fatigue. #f course/ in terms of stamina/ it is not difficult 8if you have the time9 to 2ut in 6 or
4 hours of 2ractice a day by including a lot of mindless finger e>ercises. This is a 2rocess of
self:delusion in Ahich the student thin<s that *ust 2utting in the time Aill get you there :: it
Aill not. &f anything/ conditioning the brain is more im2ortant than conditioning the muscles
because/ for most students/ it is the brain that needs more conditioning. 1rain conditioning is
es2ecially im2ortant for 2erforming. 3trenuous conditioning of the muscles Aill cause the
4;
body to convert fast muscles to sloA muscles 8they have more endurance9 :: this is e>actly
Ahat you do not Aant. Therefore/ contrary to common belief/ 2ianists do not need more
muscleB they need more nerve control and conversion of sloA to fast muscles T see &&&.;.a.
+hat is stamina, &t is something that enables us to <ee2 on 2laying Aithout getting
tired. For long 2ractice sessions of over several hours/ 2ianists get their second Aind *ust as
athletes do 8es2ecially marathoners9. Therefore/ if you feel general fatigue/ loo< for the
second Aind to <ic< in T this conscious <noAledge of the second Aind can ma<e it <ic< in
more reliably/ es2ecially after you have e>2erienced it several times so that you <noA Ahat it
feels li<e. Therefore do not get into the habit of resting every time you feel tired if there is a
chance that you might be able to catch the second Aind.
Can Ae identify any biological factors that control stamina, EnoAing the biological
basis is the best Aay to understand stamina. &n the absence of s2ecific bio:2hysical studies
for 2ianists/ Ae can only s2eculate. 2learl! we need s#fficient o:gen intake and ade8#ate
blood flow to the m#scles! certain organs! and the brain. The biggest factor influencing
o>ygen inta<e is lung efficiency/ and im2ortant com2onents of that are breathing and 2osture.
This may be one reason Ahy meditation/ Aith em2hasis on 2ro2er breathing using the
dia2hragm/ is so hel2ful. Bse of onl the rib m#scles to breathe over<#tilizes one breathing
apparat#s and #nder<#tilizes the diaphragm. The resulting ra2id 2um2ing of the chest or
e>aggerated chest e>2ansion can interfere Aith 2iano 2laying because all of the 2iano 2laying
muscles eventually anchor near the center of the chest. Use of the dia2hragm interferes less
Aith the 2laying motions. &n addition/ those Aho do not use the dia2hragm consciously can
tense it Ahen stress builds u2 during 2lay/ and they Aill not even notice that the dia2hragm is
tense. 1y using both the ribs and the dia2hragm/ and maintaining good 2osture/ the lungs can
be e>2anded to their ma>imum volume Aith least effort and thereby ta<e in the ma>imum
amount of o>ygen.
The folloAing breathing e>ercise can be e>tremely hel2ful/ not only for 2iano/ but
also for general Aell:being. !>2and your chest/ 2ush your dia2hragm doAn 8this Aill ma<e
your loAer abdomen bulge out9/ raise the shoulders u2 and toAards your bac</ and ta<e a
dee2 breathB then e>hale com2letely by reversing the 2rocess. +hen ta<ing a dee2 breath/
com2lete e>halation is more im2ortant than a full inta<e. 1reathe through your throat/ not
through the nose 8the mouth can be o2en or closed9. 0ost 2eo2le Aill constrict the nasal air
2assage if they try to suc< air through the nose. &nstead/ rela> your nose muscles and suc< air
through the throat region close to the vocal chords :: even Aith the mouth closed/ this
2rocedure Aill rela> the nose muscles/ alloAing more air to 2ass through the nose. &f you had
not ta<en dee2 breaths for a long time/ this breathing should cause hy2er:ventilation :: you
Aill feel di??y :: after one or tAo such e>ercises. 3to2 if you hy2er:ventilate. Then re2eat
this e>ercise at a later timeB you should find that you can ta<e more breaths Aithout hy2er:
ventilating. "e2eat this e>ercise until you can ta<e at least - full breaths in succession
Aithout hy2er:ventilating. $oA/ if you go to the doctorDs office and he chec<s you out Aith
his stethosco2e and as<s you to ta<e a dee2 breath/ you can do it Aithout feeling di??yO
1reathing normally/ Ahile 2laying something difficult/ is an im2ortant element of rela>ation.
Perform this e>ercise at least once every several months and incor2orate it into your normal
breathing habit at and aAay from the 2iano.
Piano 2ractice can be healthy or unhealthy de2ending on hoA you 2ractice. 0any students
forget to breathe Ahile 2racticing difficult materialB this bad habit is unhealthy. &t reduces
o>ygen floA to the brain Ahen it needs it most/ resulting in a2o>ia and sym2toms similar
to slee2 a2nea 8organ damage/ high blood 2ressure/ etc.9 . The lac< of o>ygen Aill ma<e
musical and mental 2lay difficult/ and ma<e it im2ossible to increase mental stamina.
#ther methods of increasing stamina are to increase the blood floA and to increase
44
the amount of blood in the body. &n 2iano 2laying/ e>tra blood floA is needed in the brain as
Aell as the 2laying mechanismB therefore! o# sho#ld f#ll and sim#ltaneo#sl e:ercise the
m#scles and the brain d#ring practice. This will ca#se the bod to man#fact#re more
blood! in response to the higher demand for blood. 0indless re2etitions of e>ercises/ etc./
are not hel2ful in this res2ect because you can shut off the brain/ thus reducing the need for
more blood. Practicing after a large meal also increases the blood su22ly and conversely/
resting after every meal Aill reduce stamina T there is a Aell:<noAn Ia2anese saying that
claims that you Aill turn into a coA if you slee2 after a meal. 3ince most 2eo2le do not have
enough blood to engage in strenuous activity Aith a full stomach/ the body Aill rebel initially
by ma<ing you feel terrible/ but this is an e>2ected reaction. 3uch activity must be conducted
Aithin safe medical limitsB for e>am2le you may tem2orarily e>2erience digestive 2roblems
or di??iness 8Ahich is 2robably the rationale behind the misguided belief that you should not
e>ercise after a large meal9. #nce the body manufactures the necessary e>tra blood/ these
2roblems Aill disa22ear. Therefore/ you should stay as active as you can after a meal/ in
order to 2revent anemia. Practicing immediately after a meal Aill require blood for
digestion/ for the 2laying muscles/ and for the brain/ thus 2lacing the greatest demand on
blood su22ly. Clearly/ 2artici2ation in s2orts/ 2ro2er health/ and 2hysical e>ercise are hel2ful
for gaining stamina in 2iano 2laying.
&n summary/ beginners Aho have never touched a 2iano 2reviously Aill need to
develo2 their stamina gradually because 2iano 2ractice is strenuous Aor<. Parents must be
careful about the 2ractice time of very young beginners and alloA them to quit or ta<e a rest
Ahen they get tired 8about 16:1- min.9. ,ever allow a sick child to practice piano! even
eas pieces! beca#se of the risk of aggravating the illness and of brain damage. At any
s<ill level/ Ae all have more muscle than Ae need to 2lay the 2iano 2ieces at our level. !ven
2rofessional 2ianists Aho 2ractice over 6 hours every day donCt end u2 loo<ing li<e Po2eye.
Fran? 7is?t Aas thin/ not muscular. Thus acquiring technique and stamina is not a matter of
building muscle/ but of learning hoA to rela> and to use our energy 2ro2erly.
22. ad &abits: A Pianist:s +orst !nemy
Dad habits are the worst time<wasters in piano practice. &ost bad habits are
ca#sed b stress from practicing pieces =T! that are too diffic#lt. 0any of the bad habits
from T 2ractice are difficult to diagnose/ Ahich ma<es them that much more dangerous.
Clearly/ the best defense against bad habits is 3 2ractice. $on:musical 2lay is one ty2e of
bad habitB therefore/ donDt forget that musical 2lay starts Aith 3 2ractice.
9nother bad habit is the over<#se of the damper or soft pedal as discussed beloA.
This is the surest sign of an amateur student ta<ing lessons Aith an unqualified teacher.
#veruse of these 2edals can only Rhel2R a severely technically deficient student.
9nother bad habit is to bang awa at the piano witho#t regard to m#sicalit. The
student equates loudness to e>citement. This often results because the student is so
engrossed Aith the 2ractice that sHhe forgets to listen to the sounds coming out of the 2iano.
This can be 2revented by cultivating the habit of alAays listening to yourself 2lay. 7istening
to yourself is much harder than many 2eo2le reali?e because many students 8es2ecially those
Aho 2lay Aith stress9 e>2end all their effort 2laying/ Aith nothing left for listening. #ne Aay
to reduce this 2roblem is to record your 2laying so that you can listen to it in a mentally
detached Aay. !>citing 2assages are often loud/ but they are most e>citing Ahen the rest of
the music is soft. Too much loud 2ractice can 2reclude you from gaining s2eed and
technique/ and ruin your sense of music. Those Aho 2lay loud tend to end u2 Aith a harsh
tone.
Then there are those with weak fingers. This is most common among beginners
and is more easily corrected than those Aho bang too loud. +ea< fingers is caused by not
45
releasing your arms and letting gravity ta<e over. The student subconsciously lifts the arms/
and this habit is a form of stress. These students must be taught the full dynamic range of the
2iano and hoA to ma<e use of this range.
3till another bad habit is 2laying at the Arong s2eed/ either too fast or too sloA/
es2ecially during a 2erformance Ahen you get too e>cited and lose your sense of tem2o. The
right s2eed is determined by many factors/ including the difficulty of the 2iece Aith res2ect
to your technical ability/ Ahat the audience might be e>2ecting/ the condition of the 2iano/
Ahat 2iece 2receded or Aill folloA this 2iece/ etc. 3ome students might tend to 2erform
2ieces too fast for their s<ill level and end u2 Aith many mista<es/ Ahile others are timid and
2lay too sloAly/ thus not ta<ing full advantage of the music. Playing sloAly can be more
difficult than 2laying at the correct s2eed/ Ahich com2ounds a timid 2layerCs 2roblems.
Those Aho 2erform too fast can become very discouraged because they ma<e too many
mista<es and become convinced that they are 2oor 2ianists. These 2roblems a22ly not only
to 2erformances but also to 2racticesB those Aho 2ractice too fast can end u2 thin<ing that
they are 2oor 2ianists because they ma<e so many errors. 3loAing doAn *ust a little may
enable them to 2lay accurately and beautifully and/ in the long run/ master the technique for
2laying fast.
Poor tone quality is another common 2roblem. 0ost of the time/ during 2ractice/ no
one is listening/ so tone doesnCt seem to matter. As a result/ if the tone degrades slightly/ it
does not bother the student/ Aith the result that the tone is ignored. 3tudents must alAays
strive for tone/ because it is the most im2ortant 2art of the music. =ood tone cannot be
2roduced on a lousy or unregulated 2ianoB this is the main reason Ahy you Aant a decent
grand instead of a 2oor quality u2right and Ahy tuning/ regulation/ and hammer voicing are
more im2ortant than most students reali?e. 7istening to good recordings is the best Aay to
Aa<e u2 the student to the e>istence of good tone. &f they only listen to their 2lay/ they may
have no idea Ahat good tone means. #n the other hand/ once you 2ay attention to tone and
start getting results/ it Aill feed on itself and you can readily learn the art of 2roducing
sounds that can attract an audience. 0ore im2ortantly/ Aithout good tone/ advanced technical
im2rovement is im2ossible because good tone requires control/ and technical develo2ment
de2ends on control.
3t#ttering is caused by sto2:and:go 2ractice in Ahich a student sto2s and re2lays a
section every time there is a mista<e. If o# make a mistake! alwas pla thro#gh it5 don7t
stop to correct it. 0a<e a mental note of Ahere the mista<e Aas and 2lay that section again
later to see if the mista<e re2eats. &f it does/ fish out a small segment containing that mista<e
and Aor< on it. #nce you cultivate the habit of 2laying through mista<es you can graduate
to the ne>t level in Ahich you antici2ate mista<es 8feel their a22roach before they occur9
and ta<e evasive action/ such as sloAing doAn/ sim2lifying the section/ or maintaining the
rhythm. 0ost audiences donCt mind/ and often donCt even hear/ mista<es unless the rhythm is
bro<en.
The worst thing abo#t bad habits is that the take so long to eliminate! especiall if
the are =T habits. Therefore nothing accelerates your learning rate li<e <noAing all the
bad habits and 2reventing them before they become ingrained. For e>am2le/ the time to
prevent st#ttering is when a st#dent first begins piano lessons. In the beginning! most
st#dents don?t st#tter5 however! the m#st be immediatel ta#ght to pla thro#gh mistakes.
&f 2laying through mista<es is taught at this stage/ it becomes second nature and is easyB no
effort is needed to learn this Rtric<R. To teach a stutterer to 2lay through mista<es is a very
difficult tas<.
The number of 2ossible bad habits is so large that they cannot all be discussed
here. 3uffice it so say that a rigorous anti:virus attitude toAards bad habits is a requisite to
ra2id
-6
im2rovement.
23. )am/er Pedal
*ractice an new piece witho#t the pedal =3! then =T! #ntil o# can pla it
comfortabl =T at final speed. This is a criticall important method of practice that all good
teachers #se with all their st#dents. &t may seem difficult/ at first/ to 2ractice musically Aithout
the 2edal Ahere it is neededB hoAever/ this is the best Aay to learn 2recise control so that you
can 2lay more musically Ahen the 2edal is eventually added. 3tudents Aho 2ractice Aith the
2edal from the beginning Aill become slo22y 2layers/ develo2 numerous bad habits/ and Aill not
even learn the conce2t of 2recise control or the real meaning of musicality.
"an< amateurs often over:use the dam2er 2edal. The obvio#s r#le is! if the m#sic
doesn7t indicate a pedal! don7t #se it. 3ome 2ieces might seem easier to 2lay Aith the 2edal
8es2ecially if you start sloAly TO9 but this is one of the Aorst tra2s a beginner can fall into
that Aill hold bac< develo2ment. The action feels lighter Aith the dam2er 2edal doAn
because the foot is holding the dam2ers off the strings instead of the fingers. Thus the action
feels heavier Ahen the 2edal is released/ es2ecially for fast sections. 3ome students do not
reali?e that Ahere 2edals are not indicated/ it is usually im2ossible to 2lay the music
correctly at s2eed if you use the 2edal.
For Fur !lise/ use the 2edal only for the large 7 bro<en chord accom2animents 8bar
. K similar9/ bars 4.:56 and the " ar2eggio 2assage 8bars 166:1649. Practically all of the
first difficult interru2tion should be 2layed Aithout the 2edal. #f course/ everything should
initially be 2racticed Aithout the 2edal until you have basically finished the 2iece. This Aill
encourage the good habit of <ee2ing the fingers close to the <eys and discourage the bad
habit of 2laying Aith too much *um2ing and lifting of the hands/ and not 2ressing firmly into
the <eys. An im2ortant reason for not using the 2edal initially is that technique im2roves
fastest Aithout the 2edal because you can hear e>actly Ahat you 2lay Aithout interference
from 2reviously 2layed notes. Jou should be actively controlling the tone.
Coordinating the 2edal and hands accurately is not an easy tas<. Therefore/ students
Aho start learning a 2iece T Aith the 2edal Aill invariably end u2 Aith inconsistent and
terrible 2edal habits. The correct 2rocedure is to 2ractice 3 first Aithout 2edal/ then 3
Aith 2edal/ then T Aithout 2edal/ and finally T Aith 2edal. &n this Aay/ you can
concentrate on each neA s<ill as you introduce it into your 2laying.
&nattention to the 2edal can sloA doAn technical develo2ment much more than many
students reali?eB conversely/ attention to the 2edal can hel2 technical develo2ment by
increasing your accuracy and adding another dimension to musicality. +hen you do one
thing Arong/ it becomes difficult to do all the other things right. +hen the 2edal is Arong/
you canCt even 2ractice the correct finger technique because the music comes out Arong
even Ahen the fingers are technically correct.
The 2edal Aas 2ractically non:e>istent before 0o?artDs timeB for e>am2le/ no 2edal is
used in any of I. 3. 1achDs music. 0o?art did not indicate any 2edaling although/ today/
some 2edaling is considered o2tional in some of his com2ositions and many editors have
added 2edal mar<ings in his music. The 2edal Aas basically fully develo2ed by 1eethovenDs
time/ although it Aas not yet totally acce2ted as a serious musical tool. 1eethoven used it
Aith great success as a s2ecial effect 8third movement of +aldstein 3onata9B therefore/ he
tended to use it a lot 8entire first movement of his 0oonlight 3onata9 or non at all 8entire
Pathetique 3onata/ first and second movements of the +aldstein9. Cho2in used the 2edal
e>tensively to in*ect an additional level of logic into his music and fully e>2loited all the
different Aays of 2edaling. Therefore/ Cho2in 8and many later com2osers9 cannot be 2layed
correctly Aithout adequate training in 2edaling.
-1
3ee the references for all the different Aays to 2edal/ Ahen to use them/ and hoA to
2ractice those moves 8=iese<ing and 7eimer/ Fin</ 3andor/ Pedaling the Modern Pianoforte
by 1oAen/ and The Pianist+s ,uide to Pedaling by 1anoAet?9. Try to master all these moves
before using the 2edal Aith an actual 2iece of music. There are some very hel2ful e>ercises
in the references for 2racticing 2ro2er 2edaling. +hen you do use the 2edal/ <noA e>actly
Ahich move you are using and Ahy. For e>am2le/ if you Aant as many sym2athetic strings
to vibrate as 2ossible/ de2ress the 2edal before 2laying the note. &f/ on the other hand/ you
Aant one clear note to sustain/ 2ress the 2edal after 2laying the noteB the longer you delay the
2edal/ the feAer sym2athetic vibrations you Aill get. &n general/ you should get into the habit
of de2ressing the 2edal a s2lit second after 2laying the note. Jou can get a legato effect
Aithout too much blurring by ra2idly lifting and de2ressing the 2edal every time the chord
changes. As Aith the <eys/ it is *ust as im2ortant to <noA Ahen to lift the 2edal as Ahen to
2ress it doAn. 2learl! the pedal m#st be "plaed" as caref#ll as o# pla the kes.
24. Soft Pedal: &ammer "oicing- Physics of the Piano Sound
Crand pianosH The soft pedal is #sed to change the mood of the so#nd from
perc#ssive to more serene and gentle when the soft pedal is depressed. &t should not be
used solely for 2roducing a softer sound because it Aill also change the timbre. &n order to
2lay 2ianissimo/ you must sim2ly learn hoA to 2lay more softly. Jou can 2roduce very loud
sounds Aith the soft 2edal de2ressed. #ne difficulty Aith the soft 2edal is that it 8una corda/
or more correctly due corda for the modern grand9 is often not indicated/ so the decision to
use it is often left to the 2ianist. 0or #prights! it mostl decreases the vol#me of the so#nd.
The soft 2edal on most u2rights has a negligible effect on timbre. Unli<e the grands/
the u2rights cannot 2roduce loud sounds Aith the soft 2edal de2ressed.
&an pianists do not #nderstand the importance of proper hammer voicing for
the soft pedal to be effective. &f you tend to need the soft 2edal to 2lay softly/ or if it is
distinctly easier to 2lay 2ianissimo Aith the grand lid closed/ the hammer almost certainly
needs voicing. 3ee R@oicingR in Cha2ter TAo/ 3ection ;. +ith 2ro2erly voiced hammers/
you should be able to control soft 2laying to any desired degree Aithout the soft 2edal. +ith
Aorn/ com2acted/ hammers/ 2laying softly is im2ossible and the soft 2edal has less effect in
changing the tone. &n most cases/ the original 2ro2erties of the hammer can be restored by
voicing 8re:sha2ing/ needling/ etc.9. The action must also be Aell regulated/ Aith the let:off
2ro2erly minimi?ed/ in order to enable PPP.
The #se of the soft pedal is controversial beca#se too man pianists are #nfamiliar
with how it works. For e>am2le/ many use it to 2lay 2ianissimo/ Ahich is incorrect usage. As
shoAn in Ch. TAo/ section ;/ energy transfer from the hammer to the string is most efficient
at im2act/ before the string starts to move. A com2acted hammer transfers its energy during
an e>tremely short time interval at im2act and the hammer immediately bounces off the
strings. This high efficiency of energy transfer gives the im2ression of a very light action.
That is Ahy there are old grands that feel feather light. 3oft hammers on the same 2iano 8Aith
nothing else changed9/ Aould ma<e the action feel heavier. This is because/ Aith the softer
im2act 2oint of the hammer/ it stays on the string much longer/ and the string is 2ushed out of
its original 2osition before all the hammer energy is transferred to the string. &n this 2osition/
the energy transfer is less efficient 8see Ch. TAo/ section ;9 and the 2ianist must 2ush harder
to 2roduce the same volume of sound. Th#s voicing can be more effective in changing the
apparent ke weight than lead weights. Clearly/ the effecti(e <ey Aeight is only 2artly
controlled by the force required to de2ress the <ey/ since it also de2ends on the force required
to 2roduce a given amount of sound. The 2ianist does not <noA Ahich factor 8lead Aeights or
soft hammer9 is affecting the effective <ey Aeight. The 2iano technician must stri<e a
-(
com2romise betAeen voicing a hammer sufficiently soft so as to 2roduce a 2leasant tone but
sufficiently hard so as to 2roduce adequate sound. For all e>ce2t the highest quality 2ianos/
the hammer needs to be on the hard side in order to 2roduce enough sound and to ma<e the
action feel nimble/ Ahich ma<es such 2ianos difficult to 2lay softly. This in turn can R*ustifyR
use of the soft 2edal Ahere it should not be used. Piano oAners Aho neglect voicing can
ma<e the 2iano tunerDs *ob difficult because/ after the hammers are 2ro2erly voiced/ the
oAner Aill com2lain that the action is too heavy to 2lay. &n reality/ the oAner had gotten used
to 2laying a feather light action and never learned hoA to 2lay Aith real 2oAer to generate
that gorgeous 2iano sound.
&n most u2rights/ the soft 2edal causes all the hammers to move closer to the strings/
thus restricting hammer motion and decreasing the volume. Unli<e the grands/ loud sounds
cannot be 2roduced in an u2right Ahen the soft 2edal is de2ressed. #ne advantage of u2rights
is that a 2artial soft 2edal Aor<sB 2artial soft 2edaling is a com2le> sub*ect for grands and
Aill be treated in detail beloA. There are a feA u2scale u2rights in Ahich the soft 2edal Aor<s
similarly to that of the grands.
In modern grands! the soft pedal ca#ses the entire action 'incl#ding the hammers(
to shift to the right so that the hammers miss one string in the J<string section. Thus the
hammers hit only tAo strings/ causing a serendi2itous transformation in the character of the
sound/ as e>2lained beloA. The shift is e>actly half the distance betAeen ad*acent strings in
the .:string sectionB thus the tAo active strings Aill hit the less used 2ortions of the hammer
betAeen string grooves/ creating an even gentler sound. The hori?ontal motion must not
shift one string distance because then the strings Aill fall into the grooves made by ad*acent
strings. 3ince string distances and the amount of shift cannot be controlled sufficiently
accurately/ this Aould cause some strings to fall e>actly into the grooves Ahile others Aill
miss/ creating uneven sound.
+hy does timbre change Ahen tAo strings are struc< instead of three, ere/ timbre
is controlled by at least four factors% 819 e>istence of the unstruc< string/ 8(9 the
2rom2t:Hafter:sound ratio/ 8.9 the harmonic content/ and 849 vibrational 2olari?ation of the
strings. 7etDs e>amine these in more detail.
The unstruc< string acts as a reservoir into Ahich the other tAo strings can dum2
their energy and 2roduces many neA effects. 3ince the vibration of the .rd string is in anti:
2hase Aith the struc< strings 8a driven string is alAays in anti:2hase Aith the driver9/ it ta<es
the edge off the initial 2rom2t sound 8see beloA9 and at the same time/ e>cites vibrational
modes that are different from those that result Ahen all three are struc< in unison. This is
Ahy the soft 2edals in u2rights donCt Aor< as Aell :: all the strings are struc< even Ahen the
soft 2edal is de2ressed/ and the timbre cannot change.
The 2iano 2roduces an initial 2rom2t:sound and a sustaining after:soundB see the
M3cientific AmericanN and MFive 7ecturesN articles revieAed in the "eference section for
more details on to2ics discussed in this 2aragra2h. Unli<e the sim2lified 2icture of
fundamental and harmonic frequencies that Ae use Ahen tuning a 2iano/ the actual string
vibrations consist of a com2le> time de2endent series of events that are still incom2letely
understood. &n such situations/ the actual data from e>isting 2ianos are of more 2ractical
value/ but those data are closely held trade secrets of 2iano manufacturers. Therefore/ &
summari?e here some general <noAledge based on the 2hysics of the 2iano sound. The string
vibrations can be 2olari?ed/ either 2arallel to the soundboard/ or 2er2endicular to it. +hen
the strings are struc</ vertically 2olari?ed traveling Aaves are generated that move aAay
from the hammer in both directions/ toAards the agraffes 8ca2o bar9 and toAards the bridge.
These Aaves travel so ra2idly that they reflect bac< from both ends of the strings and 2ass
the hammer several hundred times before the hammer bounces off the stringsB in fact it is
these
-.
Aaves that throA the hammer bac<. ori?ontally 2olari?ed Aaves are generated from the
vertical Aaves because the 2iano is not symmetric. These traveling Aaves decay into
standing Aaves consisting of harmonics 8including the fundamental9 because the standing
Aaves are Mnormal vibration modesN 8see a mechanics te>t boo<9 that transfer energy sloAly
to the soundboards and are therefore long:lived. oAever/ from the very beginning/ the
conce2t of fundamentals and harmonics remains valid because the Fourier coefficients 8see a
math or 2hysics te>tboo<9 of the fundamental and harmonic frequencies are alAays large/
even for the traveling Aaves. This is easily understood because the ends of the strings do not
move/ es2ecially for Aell:constructed/ large/ heavy 2ianos. &n other Aords/ mostly
Aavelengths that have nodes 82oints of ?ero motion9 at both ends are generated Ahen the
ends are fi>ed. This e>2lains Ahy/ in s2ite of the traveling Aaves/ tuners can tune accurately
using only the fundamental and harmonic frequencies. The vertically 2olari?ed Aaves
transfer energy more efficiently to the soundboard than the hori?ontally 2olari?ed Aaves and
therefore 2roduce a louder sound but decay faster/ and create the 2rom2t sound. The
hori?ontally 2olari?ed standing Aaves 2roduce the after:sound Ahich gives the 2iano its long
sustain. +hen the soft 2edal is de2ressed/ only ( strings can 2roduce the 2rom2t sound but
eventually/ all . strings contribute to the after:sound. Therefore/ the 2rom2t:Hafter:sound ratio
is smaller than for . strings and the sound is less 2ercussive Aith the soft 2edal.
The harmonic content is also different because the energy of the hammer is
transferred to only ( strings instead of ./ Ahich is li<e hitting the string Aith a heavier
hammer/ and it is <noAn that heavier hammers 2roduce stronger fundamentals. The
2olari?ations of the strings also change Aith the soft 2edal because the third string Aill
be 2olari?ed more hori?ontally/ Ahich contributes to the gentler sound.
This ty2e of understanding hel2s us to use the soft 2edal correctly. &f the 2edal is
de2ressed before a note is 2layed/ the initial time de2endent traveling Aaves Aill e>cite all
strings/ creating a soft bac<ground roar. That is/ in the 2rom2t sound/ the non:harmonic
Fourier coefficients are not ?ero. &f you 2lace your finger on any string/ you can feel it
vibrate. oAever/ octave and harmonic strings Aill vibrate Aith higher am2litudes than the
dissonant strings/ Ahich is a consequence of the larger Fourier coefficients for the harmonics.
Thus the 2iano not only selectively tra2s the harmonics/ but also selectively generates them.
$oA if the 2edal is de2ressed after the note is struc</ there Aill be sym2athetic vibration in
octave and harmonic strings/ but all the other strings Aill be almost totally quiet because the
standing Aaves contain only 2ure harmonics. This 2roduces a clear sustained note. The
lesson here is that/ in general/ the 2edal should be de2ressed immediately after stri<ing the
note/ not before/ in order to avoid dissonances. This is a good habit to cultivate.
A 2artial soft 2edal Aor<s on an u2rightB but can you use a half soft 2edal on a grand,
This should not be controversial but is/ because even some advanced 2ianists thin< that if a
full soft 2edal gives a certain effect/ a 2artial soft 2edal Aill give a 2artial effect/ Ahich is
false. &f you use a 2artial soft 2edal/ you Aill of course get a neA sound. There is no reason
Ahy a 2ianist shouldnCt be alloAed to do that/ and if it 2roduces an interesting neA effect that
the 2ianist li<es/ there is nothing Arong Aith that. oAever/ this mode of 2lay Aas not
intentionally designed into the 2iano and & <noA of no com2oser Aho com2osed for 2artial
soft 2edal on a grand/ es2ecially because it is not re2roducible from 2iano to 2iano/ and from
note to note on the same 2iano. !>tensive use of 2artial soft 2edals on the grand Aill cause
some strings to shave off one side of the hammer/ thus throAing the system out of regulation.
Also/ it is im2ossible for the 2iano technician to align all hammers and strings so accurately
that the third string Aill miss the hammer at the same 2edal travel for all .:string notes. Thus
the 2artial soft 2edal effect Aill be uneven/ and different from 2iano to 2iano. Therefore!
#nless o# have e:perimented and are tring to prod#ce some strange and irreprod#cible
-4
new effect! half<pedaling is not recommended for the soft pedal on a grand. ,onetheless!
anecdotal acco#nts indicate that #se of partial soft pedal on a grand does occ#r! almost
alwas beca#se of ignorance on the part of the pianist abo#t how it works. The only Aay
to use a 2artial soft 2edal Aith re2roducible results is a very slight soft 2edal/ in Ahich case
all the strings Aill hit the sides of the grooves in the hammer. !ven this scheme Aill not
really Aor</ because it Aill affect only the .:string section/ resulting in a *arring transition
from (:string to .:string sections.
&n the double and single string sections/ the strings have much larger diameters/ so
Ahen the action moves sideAays/ the strings hit the side Aalls of the grooves/ thus giving
them a hori?ontal motion and increasing the after:sound by increasing the hori?ontally
2olari?ed string vibrations. Thus the change in timbre is similar to that in the . string
section. This mechanism is fiendishly ingeniousO
&n summary/ the name soft 2edal is a misnomer for a grand. &ts main effect is to
change the timbre of the sound. &f you 2lay a loud sound Aith the soft 2edal de2ressed/ it Aill
be almost as loud as Aithout the soft 2edal. This is because you have 2ut roughly the same
amount of energy into ma<ing the sound. #n the other hand/ it is easier to 2lay softly using
the soft 2edal on most grands because the strings hit the less used/ softer 2arts of the
hammers. Provided that the 2iano is Aell regulated and the hammers are 2ro2erly voiced/
you should be able to 2lay *ust as softly Aithout the soft 2edal. 9 partial soft pedal will
prod#ce #npredictable! #neven effects and sho#ld not be #sed for an aco#stic grand. A
2artial soft 2edal Aor<s on most u2rights and all electronic 2ianos.
25. &ands Together and .ental Play
;e can finall start p#tting the hands together '=T(! 3ome st#dents enco#nter
the most diffic#lties here! especiall in the first few ears of piano lessons. Although the
methods 2resented here should immediately hel2 you to acquire technique faster/ it Aill ta<e
about tAo years to be able to really ta<e advantage of everything that the methods of this
boo< have to offer.
Playing T is almost li<e trying to thin< about tAo different things at the same time.
There is no <noAn/ 2re:2rogrammed coordination betAeen the tAo hands li<e Ae have
betAeen our tAo eyes 8for *udging distance9/ our ears 8for determining the direction of
oncoming sound9 or our legsHarms 8for Aal<ing9. Therefore/ learning to coordinate the
fingers of the tAo hands accurately is going to ta<e some Aor<. The 2receding 3 Aor<
ma<es this coordination much easier to learn because Ae noA only have to concentrate on
coordinating/ and not coordinating A$) develo2ing fingerHhand technique at the same time.
The good neAs is that there is only one 2rimary RsecretR for learning T quic<ly.
That RsecretR is adequate 3 Aor</ so you already <noA itO 9ll techni8#e m#st be ac8#ired
=35 don7t tr to ac8#ire techni8#e =T that o# can ac8#ire =3. 1y noA/ the reasons
should be obvious. &f you try to acquire technique T/ you Aill run into 2roblems such as 819
develo2ing stress/ 8(9 unbalancing the hands 8the " tends to get stronger9/ 8.9 acquiring
bad habits/ 849 creating s2eed Aalls/ etc. $ote that all s2eed Aalls are createdB they result
from incorrect 2lay or stress. Premature T 2ractice can create any number of s2eed Aalls.
&ncorrect motions are another ma*or 2roblemB some motions 2resent no 2roblems Ahen
2layed sloAly T but become im2ossible Ahen s2eeded u2. The best e>am2le of this is
Rthumb underR 2lay 8section &&&.-9.
First/ you Aill need some criterion for deciding Ahen you have done adequate 3
2ractice. A good criterion is 3 s2eed. Ty2ically/ the ma>imum T s2eed you can 2lay is
-6Y to 56Y of the sloAer 3 s2eed/ either the " or the 7. 3u22ose that you can 2lay
the " at s2eed 16 and the 7 at s2eed 5. Then your ma>imum T s2eed may be ;. The
-
-
quic<est Aay to raise this T s2eed to 5 Aould be to raise the " s2eed to 1( and the 7
s2eed to 11. As a general rule/ get the 3 s2eed Aell above final s2eed. Therefore/ the
criterion Ae Aere see<ing is% if you can 2lay 3 at 116Y to 1-6Y of final s2eed/ rela>ed/ and
in control/ then you are ready for T 2ractice.
&f you still have trouble/ use the method of MoutliningN. 7etDs assume that you can
2lay 3 satisfactorily. $oA sim2lify one or both hands so that you can 2lay them T easily/
then gradually add the deleted material. There are many Aays to do this/ and you can develo2
really 2oAerful methods de2ending on hoA much music theory you <noA/ so outlining Aill
be discussed in more detail in &&&.4. oAever/ you donDt need theory to use outliningB one
e>am2le is the method of Madding notesN% ta<e a short segment of the difficult section/ then
2lay the more difficult hand 3/ re2eating the section continuously 8this is called cycling/
see section &&&.(9B noA start adding the easier hand note by note. First add one note and
2ractice until you can 2lay it satisfactorily. Then add another/ etc./ until the segment is
com2lete. 0a<e sure that/ as you add notes/ you <ee2 the same fingering as used during 3
2ractice. @ery often/ the reason Ahy you cannot 2lay T although you can 2lay 3 is that
there is an error someAhere. Frequently/ this error is in the rhythm. Therefore/ as you add
notes/ try to find out if there is an error in one handB this is best accom2lished by referring
bac< to the music score.
There is a Aorld of difference in hoA the brain handles tas<s in one hand and tas<s
that require tAo:hand coordination/ Ahich is Ahy it 2ays to learn them one at a time. 3
2ractice does not tend to form habits not directly controlled by the brain because the brain
controls each hand directly. T motions/ on the other hand/ can be cultivated only by
re2etition/ creating a refle> habit/ Ahich may involve nerve cells outside the brain. #ne
indication of this is the fact that T motions ta<e longer to learn. Therefore! bad =T
habits are the worst beca#se! once formed! the take forever to eliminate. To ac8#ire
techni8#e 8#ickl! o# m#st avoid this categor of bad habits.
0ental 2lay 80P9 is necessary for T 2lay e>actly as for 3 2lay but T 0P is/ of
course/ more difficult for beginners. #nce you become good at 0P/ 3 and T 0P Aill be
equally easy. 3ince you already <noA 3 mental 2lay 8section 1( above9/ the main remaining
*ob is to learn it T. +hen memori?ing 0P 3/ you should have encountered 2laces in every
com2osition Ahere you had to go bac< and chec< it at the 2iano T you can 2lay it at the 2iano
but not in your mind T those 2laces AerenDt entirely in your head yet. Those are the 2laces
Ahere you could have had blac<outs during 2erformances. As a test that you have solid 0P/
there are . things that you should be able to do in your mind% 819 can you start from
anyAhere in the 2iece and start 2laying T, 8(9 given any section that you are 2laying one
hand/ can you add the other hand, and 8.9 can you 2lay both hands simultaneously in your
head, Jou should find that if you can do these in your mind/ you can easily do them at the
2iano.
7et us noA 2roceed Aith real life e>am2les of hoA to 2ractice T. & have chosen .
e>am2les to illustrate T methods/ starting Aith the easiest/ the 1st movement of
1eethovenDs 0oonlight 3onata/ then 0o?artDs "ondo Alla Turca/ and finally/ the challenging
Fantaisie:&m2rom2tu 8F&9 by Cho2in. Jou should choose the one best suited to your s<ill
level. Jou might also try the 1ach &nventions that are covered in detail in sections &&&.6.l and
&&&.15. & Aill leave the Fur !lise/ discussed above/ for you to try by yourself/ as it is fairly
short and relatively straightforAard. For many 2ianists/ Fur !lise is Mtoo familiarN and often
difficult to 2layB in that case/ 2lay it in a subdued Aay/ concentrating on accuracy instead of
emotion 8no rubato9/ and let the music s2ea< for itself. &t can be quite effective Aith the right
audience. This MdetachedN 2lay can be useful for 2o2ular/ familiar music.
The three com2ositions chosen here 2resent certain challenges. The moonlight
-6
requires legato/ PP/ and the music of 1eethoven. The Alla Turca must sound li<e 0o?art/ is
fairly fast and requires accurate/ inde2endent hand control as Aell as solid octave 2lay. The
F& requires the ability to 2lay 4:against:. and (:against:. in the ( hands/ e>tremely fast "
fingering/ the romanticism of Cho2in/ and accurate 2edaling. All three are relatively easy to
2lay T in the mind because the 7 is mostly an accom2animent to the "B in the 1ach
&nventions/ both hands 2lay ma*or roles and T 0P is more difficult. This demonstrates that
1ach 2robably taught 0P and 2ur2osely com2osed challenging 2ieces for his students. This
increased difficulty also e>2lains Ahy/ Aithout 2ro2er guidance 8such as this boo<9/ some
students find the &nventions e>tremely difficult to memori?e and 2lay at s2eed.
eethoven;s .oonlight- <st .ovement- #/( =>- $o( =
The most notable controversy about this movement is the 2edaling. 1eethovenDs
instruction Msen?a sordiniN translates to MAithout dam2ersN Ahich means that the 2edal
should be doAn from the beginning to the end. 0ost 2ianists ha(e not folloAed this
instruction because on modern concert grands the sustain is so long 8much longer than on
1eethovenDs 2iano9 that the mi>ture of all those notes creates a bac<ground roar that is
considered crude in conventional 2iano 2edagogy. Certainly/ no 2iano teacher Aill alloA the
student to do thatO oAever/ 1eethoven Aas not only an e>tremist/ but loved to brea< the
rules. The 0oonlight is built on contrast. The first movement is sloA/ legato/ 2edaled/ and
soft. The .rd movement is the e>treme o22ositeB it is sim2ly a variation on the first
movement 2layed very fast and agitato T this is confirmed by the observation that the to2
double octave of bar ( in the .rd movement is an abbreviated form of the .:note theme
2rominent in the 1st movement/ discussed beloA 8see section &&&.- for discussions of the .rd
movement9. There is also a glaring contrast betAeen the dissonances and the clear harmonies
that give this first movement its famous quality. The bac<ground dissonance is created by the
2edal/ as Aell as the ninths/ etc. Thus the dissonances are there in order to ma<e the
harmonies stand out/ li<e a s2ar<ling diamond on a dar< velvet bac<ground. 1eing the
e>tremist that he is/ he chose the most harmonious theme 2ossible% one note re2eated three
times 8bar -9O Therefore/ my inter2retation is that the 2edal should be doAn throughout the
2iece *ust as 1eethoven instructed. +ith most 2ianos/ this should 2resent no 2roblemsB
hoAever/ Aith concert grands/ it gets difficult because the bac<ground din becomes louder as
you 2lay and you still have to 2lay PP 8Msem2re 2ianissimoN9B in that case you might reduce
the bac<ground slightly/ but never cut it out com2letely/ as it is 2art of the music. This is not
the Aay you Aill hear it in recordings/ Ahere the em2hasis is usually on the clear harmonies/
eliminating the bac<ground T the MstandardN convention for McorrectN 2edaling. oAever/
1eethoven may have decided to brea< that rule here. This is Ahy he did not 2ut any 2edal
mar<ings in the Ahole movement T because you never have to lift it. =aving decided to
f#ll engage the damper pedal thro#gho#t! the first r#le in learning this piece is not to #se
the pedal at all #ntil o# can pla it comfortabl =T. This Aill enable you to learn hoA to
2lay legato/ Ahich can only be 2racticed Aithout the 2edal. Although it is 2layed very softly/
there is no need for the soft 2edal in this 2ieceB moreover/ Aith most 2ractice 2ianos/ the
action is not sufficiently smooth/ Aith the soft 2edal de2ressed/ to enable the desired control
at PP.
3tart by memori?ing 3/ say bars 1:-/ and immediately commit it to mental 2lay.
Pay attention to all the e>2ression mar<ings. &t is in cut time/ but the ( first bars are li<e an
introduction and have only one 7 octave note eachB the rest are 2layed more strictly cut
time. 1eethoven tells us immediately/ in bar (/ that dissonance is going to be a ma*or
com2onent of this movement by inserting the octave 1 in the 7/ *arring the audience Aith a
dissonance. Continue memori?ing in segments until the end.
The 7 octaves must be held. For e>am2le/ 2lay the 7 CF octave of bar 1 using
-;
fingers -1/ but immediately sli2 the 4/ then . finger onto the loAer CF/ re2lacing the -/
holding this loAer CF doAn. Jou Aill end u2 holding the octave .1 before you reach bar (.
$oA hold the . as you 2lay the 1 octave of bar ( Aith -1. &n this Aay/ you maintain com2lete
legato in the 7 going do'n. Using this 2rocedure/ you cannot maintain com2lete legato
Aith the 1 finger/ but hold that as long as you can. &n the transition from bar . to 4/ the 7
octave must come up. &n that case/ 2lay the FF of bar . Aith -1/ then hold the - and 2lay the
ne>t =F octave Aith 41. 3imilarly/ for bars 4 to -/ 2lay the (nd =F octave of bar 4 Aith -1/
then re2lace finger 1 Aith ( Ahile holding it doAn 8you may have to lift the -9 so that you
can 2lay the folloAing chord of bar -/ fingers -(1/ and maintain the legato. The general idea
is to hold as many notes as you can/ es2ecially the loAer note for the 7 and the u22er note
for the ". There are usually several Aays to do these MholdsN/ so you should e>2eriment to
see Ahich is best for you in a 2articular situation. The choice of a s2ecific hold 2rocedure
de2ends mostly on the si?e of your hand. For e>am2le/ the 7 octave of bar 1 could have
been 2layed 41 or .1 so that you do not have to re2lace any fingersB this has the advantage of
sim2licity/ but has the disadvantage that you need to remember that Ahen you start the 2iece.
Throughout this 2iece/ use the Mfinger re2lacementN method to hold as much legato as
2ossible. 1o# m#st decide on a specific replacement proced#re when o# first memorize
the piece and alwas #se that same one.
+hy hold the note legato Ahen you are eventually going to hold all the notes Aith
the 2edal anyAay, Firstly/ hoA you de2ress the <ey de2ends on hoA you hold itB therefore/
you can 2lay a more consistent and authoritative legato by holding. 3econdly/ if you lift the
<ey but hold the note Aith the 2edal/ the bac<chec< releases the hammer/ alloAing it to flo2
around/ and this MloosenessN of the action is audible T the nature of the sound changes.
0oreover/ as commander of the 2iano/ you alAays Aant the bac<chec< to hold the hammer
so that you have com2lete control over the entire 2iano action. This degree of control is
e>tremely im2ortant Ahen 2laying PP T you canDt control the PP if the hammer is flo22ing
around. Another reason for holding is that it 2rovides absolute accuracy because your hand
never leaves the <eyboard and the held note acts as a reference for finding the folloAing
notes.
0usic T hoA to ma<e music, 1ar 1 is not *ust a series of 4 tri2lets. They must be
logically connectedB therefore/ 2ay attention to the connection betAeen the to2 note of each
tri2let and the bottom note of the ne>t tri2let. This connection is es2ecially im2ortant Ahen
transitioning from one bar to the ne>t/ and the loAest note often has melodic value/ as in
bars 4: -/ 5:16/ etc. The " of bar - starts Aith the loAest note/ !/ and the music rises all the
Aay to the =F of the .: note theme. This theme should not be 2layed MaloneN but is the
culmination of the ar2eggic rise of the 2receding tri2let. &f you have difficulty reaching the
" ninth of bar 4/ 2lay the loAer note Aith the 7B similarly/ at bar 16. &n these instances/
you cannot com2letely hold the legato in the 7/ but the legato in the " is more im2ortant/
and the lifting of the 7 can be made less audible Ahen you use the 2edal later. oAever/ if
you can reach it easily/ you should try to 2lay the ninth Aith the " alone because that Aill
alloA you to hold more notes in the 7. Although the first note of the .:note theme is an
octave =F/ the to2 note should be distinct from/ and firmer than/ the loAer note. 1ars .(:.-
is a series of rising tri2lets of increasing tension. 1ars .6:.; should be connected/ because is
it one smooth release of that tension.
The beginning is PP to bar (- Ahere there is a crescendo/ decreasing to P in bar (4/
and returning to PP in bar 4(. &n most cresc. and decresc./ most of the increase or decrease
should come near the end/ not near the beginning. There is an une>2ected crescendo in bar 44/
and an abru2t *um2 to P at the first note of bar 45. This is the clearest indication that
1eethoven Aanted a clear harmony su2er2osed on a dissonant din created by the 2edal.
-4
The MendingN starts near bar --. 1e careful to observe the cut timeB in 2articular/
em2hasi?e the first and third beats of bar -;. +hat a22ears to be a normal ending is
indicated by the 8Arong9 accents on the 4th beat of bar -4 and the .rd beat of bar -5. The
first chord of bar 66 is a false ending. 0ost com2osers Aould have ended the music hereB it
is the same chord as the first chord of this movement : a characteristic of standard endings.
oAever/ 1eethoven often used double endings/ Ahich ma<es the real ending more MfinalN.
e immediately 2ic<s u2 the beat and leads you to the true ending/ using a nostalgic
reca2itulation of the .:note theme 2layed by the 7/ all 2layed PP. The final tAo chords
should be the softest notes of the entire movement/ Ahich is difficult because they contain so
many notes.
For T 2lay/ this movement 2resents no 2roblems. The only neA element is the
holding of notes for legato Ahich requires e>tra control over both hands simultaneously.
#nce you have memori?ed the Ahole movement and can 2lay it T satisfactorily/ add
the 2edal. &f you choose to <ee2 the 2edal doAn all the time/ the melody of the to2 notes in
bars -:5 can be 2layed as an ethereal a22arition su2er2osed on a bac<ground dissonance
created by the chord 2rogressions. 1eethoven 2robably chose this construction to
demonstrate the sonority of the neA 2ianos of that time and to e>2lore their ca2abilities. This
observation su22orts the idea that the dissonant bac<ground should not be com2letely
eliminated by *udiciously lifting the 2edal.
.o7art;s Rondo Alla Turca- from Sonata ?@AA 1?@@<2(
& am going to assume that you have already done the 3 homeAor</ and begin Aith
the T 2art es2ecially because 3 2lay is relatively sim2le Aith most of 0o?artDs music. The
discussions Aill center on the issues of technical difficulties and MhoA to ma<e it sound li<e
0o?artN. 1efore starting on the details/ letDs discuss the structure of the entire sonata
because/ if you learn its final section/ you may decide to learn the Ahole thing :: there is not
a single 2age of this sonata that is not fascinating.
The term sonata has been a22lied to so many ty2es of music that it does not have a
unique definitionB it evolved and changed Aith time. &n the earliest times/ it sim2ly meant
music or song. *rior to! and incl#ding! &ozart?s time! $sonata% meant instr#mental m#sic
with one to fo#r parts! consisting of 3onata! &in#et! Trio! /ondo! etc. 9 sonatina is a
small sonata. There is also a sonata allegro! initiall developed as the first part of a
sonata! smphon! concerto! etc.5 it generall contained an e:position! a development! and
a recapit#lation. The sonata allegro is im2ortant historically because this basic structure Aas
gradually incor2orated into most com2ositions. Curiously/ no 2art of this 0o?art sonata 8$o.
16/ E.669 is in sonata allegro format 8inson/ P. --(9. &t starts Aith a theme and 6 variations.
@ariation @ is Adagio and should not be rushed. Then comes a brea</ Ahich corres2onds to
the middle or sloA movement of a 1eethoven sonata. This brea< ta<es the form of a minuet:
trio/ a form of dance. The minuet originated as a French court dance Aith . beats and Aas the
2redecessor of the Aalt?. The Aalt? format also includes ma?ur<asB these originated as Polish
dances/ Ahich is Ahy Cho2in com2osed so many ma?ur<as. They differ from the 8@iennese9
Aalt?es that have the accent on the first beat/ in that their accent can be on the second or third
beat. +alt?es started inde2endently in =ermany as a sloAer dance Aith . strong beatsB it then
evolved into the 2o2ular dances that Ae noA refer to as M@ienneseN. Trios gradually Aent
e>tinct as quartets gained 2o2ularity. 1oth the minuet and trio in our sonata have the time
signature .H4. Thus every first beat carries the accentB <noAing that it is in a dance 8Aalt?9
format ma<es it easier to 2lay the minuet: trio correctly. The trio should have a totally
different air from the minuet 8a convention in 0o?artDs time9B this change in air gives the
transition a refreshing feel. MTrioN generally refers to music 2layed Aith .
-
5
instrumentsB therefore/ you Aill see three voices in this trio/ Ahich you can assign to a
violin/ viola/ and cello. )onDt forget the M0enuetto ). C.N 8)e Ca2o/ Ahich means return to
the beginning9 at the end of the TrioB thus you must 2lay minuet:trio:minuet. The final
section is the "ondo. "ondos have the general structure A1ACA)A. . . / Ahich ma<es good
use of a catchy melody/ A.
#ur "ondo has the structure 811D9A8CCD9A811D9AD:Coda/ a very symmetric
structure. The time signature is a lively cut timeB can you figure out the <ey of 11D, The rest
of this "ondo is all in A/ as is the formal <ey of this sonata. The entire sonata is sometimes
referred to as a variation on a single theme/ Ahich is 2robably Arong/ although the "ondo
resembles @ariation &&&/ and the Trio resembles @ariation &@. &t starts Aith the M1N structure/
constructed from a short unit of only - notes/ re2eated tAice Aith a rest betAeen them in bars
1:.B it is re2eated at double s2eed in bar 4B he cleverly uses the same unit as a con*unction
betAeen these re2etitions at the end of bar .. &t is again re2eated at half s2eed in bars ; and 4
and the last ( bars 2rovide the ending. 1ar 5 is the same as bar 4 e>ce2t that the last note is
loAered instead of raisedB this abru2t change in the re2eating 2attern is an easy Aay to signal
an ending. The half s2eed units are disguised by adding tAo grace notes in the beginning/ so
that/ Ahen the entire 1 is 2layed at s2eed/ Ae only hear the melody Aithout recogni?ing the
individual re2eat units. The efficiency of his com2osing 2rocess is astounding T he re2eated
the same unit ; times in 5 bars using . s2eeds to com2ose one of his famous melodies. &n
fact/ the entire sonata consists of these re2eated sections that are 4 to 16 bars long. There are
several sections that are 16 or .( bars long/ but these are multi2les of the basic 4 bar
sections. 0ore e>am2les of this ty2e of micro :structural analysis are discussed in section
&@.4 for 0o?art and 1eethoven. This ty2e of analysis can be hel2ful for memori?ation and
mental 2lay T after all/ mental 2lay is hoA he com2osed themO
The technically challenging 2arts are 819 the fast " trill of bar (-/ 8(9 the fast "
runs from bar .6:66 : ma<e sure you have good fingering/ 8.9 the fast bro<en " octaves of
bars 5;:164/ and 849 the fast 7 Alberti accom2animent of bars 115:1(-. !>amine these
elements to see Ahich is the hardest for you/ and start by 2racticing that element first. The
bro<en octave sequence of bars 5;: 164 is not *ust a series of bro<en octaves/ but tAo
melodies/ an octave and a half:ste2 a2art/ chasing each other. Practice everything 3/
Aithout 2edal/ until they are comfortable before starting T. Parallel set e>ercises are the <ey
to develo2ing the technique to 2lay these elements and 2arallel set e>ercise F1 8quad
re2etitions/ &&&.;b9 is the most im2ortant/ es2ecially for learning rela>ation. For fast trills/ go
to &&&...a. The bro<en chords in the 7 8bar (4/ etc./ and in the Coda9 should be 2layed very
fast/ almost li<e a single note/ and match the " notes. The T 2ractice should initially be
Aithout 2edal until you are comfortable T.
oA do you ma<e music that sounds li<e 0o?art, There is no secret :: the
instructions have been there all the timeO They are the e>2ression mar<ings on the musicB for
0o?art/ each mar<ing has a 2recise meaning/ and if you folloA e(ery one of them/ including
the time signature/ etc./ the music becomes an intimate/ intricate conversation. The MonlyN
thing you need to do is to su22ress the urge to insert e>2ressions of your oAn. There is no
better e>am2le of this than the last . chords at the end. &t is so sim2le/ that it is almost
unbelievable 8a hallmar< of 0o?art9% the first chord is a staccato and the remaining tAo are
legato. This sim2le device creates a convincing endingB 2lay it any other Aay/ and the ending
becomes a flo2. Therefore/ these last . chords should not be 2edaled although some scores
83chirmer9 have 2edal mar<ings on them. 1etter 2ianists tend to 2lay the entire "ondo
Aithout 2edal.
7etDs e>amine the first 4 bars in more detail.
R&: The first 4 note theme 8bar 19 is 2layed legato folloAed by an eighth note and e>act 4th
66
rest. The note and rest are needed for the audience to MdigestN the introduction of the unit.
This construct is re2eated/ then the 4:note theme is re2eated at double s2eed 8( 2er bar9 in
bar 4/ and clima>es at the C6 2layed firmly and connecting to the tAo folloAing staccato
notes. This doubling of s2eed is a device used by com2osers all the time. &n bars -:;/ the "
2lays staccato/ maintaining the level of e>citement. The series of falling notes in bars 4:5
brings this section to a close/ li<e someone ste22ing on the bra<es of a car.
0&: The simple -= accompaniment provides a rigid skeleton5 witho#t it! the whole 9 bars
wo#ld flop aro#nd like a wet noodle. The clever 2lacement of the ties 8betAeen the 1st and (nd
notes of bar (/ etc.9 not only em2hasi?es the cut time nature of each bar/ but brings out the
rhythmic idea Aithin this e>2ositionB it so#nds like a fo: trot dance step ) slow! slow! 8#ick<
8#ick<slow in bars +<G! repeated in bars 6<9. 1ecause every note must be staccato in bars 6:4/
the only Aay to em2hasi?e the rhythm is to accent the first note of each bar.
1oth notes of bar 5 8both hands9 are legato and slightly softer in order to 2rovide an
ending/ and both hands lift at the same instant. &t is clear that Ae must not only <noA Ahat
the mar<ings are/ but also 'hy they are there. #f course/ there is no time to thin< about
these com2licated e>2lanationsB the music should ta<e care of that : the artist sim2ly feels
the effects of these mar<ings. The strategic 2lacing of legato/ staccato/ ties/ and accents is
the <ey to 2laying this 2iece/ Ahile accurately maintaining the rhythm. o2efully/ you
should noA be able to continue the analysis for the rest of this 2iece and re2roduce music
that is uniquely 0o?art.
T 2lay is slightly more difficult than the 2revious 0oonlight because this 2iece is
faster and requires higher accuracy. Perha2s the most difficult 2art is the coordination of the
trill in the " Aith the 7 in bar (-. )onDt try to learn this by sloAing it doAn. 3im2ly ma<e
sure that the 3 Aor< is com2letely done using bars (- and (6 as a single 2ractice segment/
then combine the ( hands at s2eed. 9lwas tr to combine things =T at speed 'or close to it(
first! and #se slower speeds onl as a last resort beca#se if o# s#cceed! o# will save lots
of time and avoid forming bad habits. Advanced 2ianists almost never have to combine
hands by sloAing doAn.
After you are comfortable T Aithout the 2edal/ add the 2edal. &n the section
starting at bar (;/ the combination of bro<en 7 chords/ " octaves/ and 2edal creates a
sense of grandeur that is re2resentative of hoA 0o?art could create grandeur from relatively
sim2le constructs. old the last note of this section a little longer than required by the
rhythm 8tenuto/ bar .-9/ es2ecially after the re2etition/ before launching into the ne>t
section. As stated earlier/ 0o?art Arote no 2edal mar<ingsB therefore/ after 2racticing T
Aithout 2edal/ add 2edal only Ahere you thin< it Aill elevate the music. !s2ecially Aith
difficult material such as "achmaninoffDs/ less 2edal is loo<ed u2on by the 2ianist
community as indicating su2erior technique.
%ho/in:s Fantaisie4Im/rom/tu- #/( 33- Fast Play )egradation 1FP)2
This e>am2le Aas selected because 819 everyone li<es this com2osition/ 8(9 Aithout good
learning methods it can seem im2ossible to learn/ 8.9 the e>hilaration of suddenly being able to
2lay it is unmatched/ 849 the challenges of the 2iece are ideal for illustration 2ur2oses/ and 8-9
this is the <ind of 2iece that you Aill be Aor<ing on all your life in order to do Rincredible
thingsR Aith it/ so you might as Aell start no'O 0ost students Aho have difficulty do so because
they canCt get started and the initial hurdle 2roduces a mental bloc< that ma<es them doubt their
ability to 2lay this 2iece. There is no better demonstration of the efficacy of the methods of this
boo< than demonstrating hoA to learn this com2osition. oAever/ because this 2iece is
reasonably difficult/ you should read section &&& before learning it.
Jou Aill need about ( yrs of 2iano lessons before you can start learning this 2iece.
61
For easier 2ieces/ try the above 0oonlight and "ondo/ or section &&&.6.l/ 1achCs &nventions.
0a<e sure you figure out the <ey before you start. int% after the =F MannouncementN/ it
starts Aith CF in bar . and the com2osition ends Aith CF/ and the 7argo starts Aith )b 8same
note as CFO9B but is each in a ma*or or minor <ey, The large n#mber of sharps and flats! as
in this composition! often worries beginners5 however! the black kes are easier to pla
than the white kes once o# know the flat finger positions 'see III.F.b( and the Th#mb
Over method 'see III.G(. 2hopin ma have chosen these $far o#t% kes for this reason!
beca#se the scale does not matter in the .8#al Temperament that he probabl #sed 'see
2h. Two! +.c!(.
+e start by revieAing the 2reliminary Aor< Aith 3 2ractice and mental 2lay.
Therefore you should 2ractice T Aith the ob*ective of attaining very accurate
synchroni?ation of the tAo hands. Although the last 2age might be most difficult/ Ae Aill
brea< the rule about starting at the end and start at the beginning because this 2iece is
difficult to start correctly but/ once started/ it ta<es care of itself. Jou need a strong/
confident beginning. 3o Ae Aill start Aith the first tAo 2ages/ u2 to the sloA cantabile 2art.
The 7 stretch and continuous Aor<out ma<es endurance 8ie/ rela>ation9 a ma*or issue.
Those Aithout sufficient e>2erience and es2ecially those Aith smaller hands/ may need to
Aor< on the 7 for Aee<s before it becomes satisfactory. Fortunately/ the 7 is not that fast/
so s2eed is not a limiting factor and most students should be able to 2lay the 7 faster 3
than final s2eed in less than tAo Aee<s/ com2letely rela>ed/ Aithout fatigue.
For bar - Ahere the " first comes in/ the suggested 7 fingering is
-.(1(4-4(1(.. Jou might start by 2racticing bar -/ 7/ by cycling it continually until you
can 2lay it Aell. Jou should stretch the palm/ not the fingers/ Ahich can lead to stress and
in*ury. 3ee section &&&.;e for 2alm stretching e>ercises.
*ractice witho#t the pedal. Practice in small segments. 3uggested segments are%
bars 1:4/ -:6/ 1st half of ;/ (nd half of ;/ 4/ 16 8s<i2 5 Ahich is the same as -9/ 11/ 1(/ 1.:
14/ 1-:16/ 15:(6/ (1:((/ .6:.(/ ..:.4/ then ( chords in .-. &f you cannot reach the (nd
chord/ 2lay it as a very fast ascending bro<en chord/ Aith em2hasis on the to2 note. After
each segment is memori?ed and satisfactory/ connect them in 2airs. Then 2lay the Ahole 7
from memory by starting from the beginning and adding segments. 1ring it u2 to final s2eed
and chec< your mental 2lay.
+hen you can 2lay this entire section 87 only9 tAice in succession/ rela>ed/ Aithout
feeling tired/ you have the necessary endurance. At this 2oint/ it is a lot of fun to go much faster
than final s2eed. &n 2re2aration for T Aor</ get u2 to about 1.- times final s2eed. "aise the
Arist slightly Ahen 2laying the 2in<y and loAer it as you a22roach the thumb. 1y raising the
Arist/ you Aill find that you can 2ut more 2oAer into the 2in<y/ and by loAering the Arist you
avoid missing the thumb note. In 2hopin7s m#sic! the pink and th#mb 'b#t especiall the
pink( notes are most important! so 2ractice 2laying these tAo fingers Aith authority. The
CartAheel 0ethod/ e>2lained in section &&&.-/ may be useful here.
+hen you are satisfied Aith it/ insert the 2edalB basically/ the 2edal should be cut Aith
every chord change Ahich generally occurs either once every bar or tAice every bar. The
2edal is a ra2id u2 and doAn 8Rcutting the soundR9 motion at the first beat/ but you can lift
the 2edal earlier for s2ecial effects. For the Aide 7 stretch in the second half of bar 14
8starting Aith !(9/ the fingering is -.(1(4 if you can reach it comfortably. &f not/ use -(1(14.
At the same time/ you should have been 2racticing the "/ sAitching hands as soon as
the Aor<ing hand feels slightly tired. The ro#tines are almost identical to those for the -=!
incl#ding practicing witho#t the pedal. 3tart by s2litting bar - into tAo halves and learn each
half se2arately u2 to s2eed/ and then *oin them. For the rising ar2eggio in bar ;/ use the thumb
over method because it is too fast to be 2layed thumb under. The fingering should be
6(
such that both hands tend to 2lay the 2in<y or thumb at the same timeB this ma<es it easier
to 2lay T. This is Ahy it is not a good idea to fool around Aith the fingerings of the 7 ::
use the fingerings as mar<ed on the score.
$oA 2ractice T. Jou can start Aith either the first or second half of bar - Ahere the
" comes in for the first time. The second half is 2robably easier because of the smaller
stretch of the 7 and there is no timing 2roblem Aith the missing first note in the " 8for the
first half9/ so letCs start Aith the second half. The easiest wa to learn the J!F timing is to do
it at speed from the beginning. 6on7t tr to slow down and fig#re o#t where each note
sho#ld go! beca#se too m#ch of that will introd#ce an #nevenness in o#r plaing that
ma become impossible to correct later on. ere Ae use the RcyclingR method :: see
RCyclingR in section &&&.(. First/ cycle the si> notes of the 7 continually/ Aithout sto22ing.
Then sAitch hands and do the same for the eight notes of the "/ at the same 8final9 tem2o
as you did for the 7. $e>t cycle only the 7 several times/ and then let the " *oin in.
&nitially/ you only need to match the first notes accuratelyB donCt Aorry if the others arenCt
quite right. &n a feA tries/ you should be able to 2lay T fairly Aell. &f not/ sto2 and start all
over again/ cycling 3. 3ince almost the Ahole com2osition is made u2 of things li<e the
segment you *ust 2racticed/ it 2ays to 2ractice this Aell/ until you are very comfortable. To
accom2lish this/ change the s2eed. =o very fast/ then very sloAly. As you sloA doAn/ you
Aill be able to ta<e notice of Ahere all the notes fit Aith res2ect to each other. Jou Aill find
that fast is not necessarily difficult/ and sloAer is not alAays easier. The J!F timing is a
mathematical device 2hopin #sed to prod#ce the ill#sion of hper<speed in this piece. The
mathematical e>2lanations and additional salient 2oints of this com2osition are further
discussed under RCyclingR in 3ection &&&.(. Jou Aill 2robably 2ractice this com2osition 3
for years after you initially com2lete the 2iece because it is so much fun to e>2eriment Aith
this fascinating com2osition. $oA add the 2edal. This is Ahen you should develo2 the habit
of accurately 2um2ing the 2edal.
&f you are satisfied Aith the second half of bar -/ re2eat the same 2rocedure for the
first half. Then assemble the tAo halves together. #ne disadvantage of the 3:T a22roach
is that 2ractically all technique acquisition is accom2lished 3/ 2ossibly resulting in 2oorly
synchroni?ed T 2lay. Jou noA have most the tools to learn the rest of this com2osition by
yourselfO
The cantabile section is the same thing re2eated four times Aith increasing
com2le>ity. Therefore/ learn 8and memori?e9 the first re2etition first because it is the easiest/
then learn the 4th re2etition because it is the most difficult. $ormally/ Ae should learn the
most difficult 2art first but/ in this case/ starting Aith the 4th re2etition may ta<e too long for
some students/ and learning the easiest re2etition first can ma<e it much easier to learn the
4th re2etition because they are similar. As Aith many Cho2in 2ieces/ memori?ing the 7
Aell is the quic<est Aay to build a firm foundation for memori?ing because the 7 usually
has a sim2ler structure that is easier to analy?e/ memori?e and 2lay. 0oreover/ Cho2in often
created different versions of the " for each re2etition Ahile using essentially the same
notes in the 7 as he did in this case 8same chord 2rogressions9B therefore/ after you learn
the first re2etition/ you already <noA most of the 7 2art of the 4th re2etition/ enabling you
to learn this last re2etition quic<ly.
The trill in the 1st bar of the 4th re2etition/ combined Aith the (/. timing/ ma<es the
(nd half of this bar difficult. 3ince there are 4 re2etitions/ you might 2lay it Aithout the trill
in the first re2etition/ then an inverted mordent the (nd/ a short trill the .rd/ and a longer
trill the last time around.
The third section 8PrestoO9 is similar to the first section/ so if you managed to learn
the first section/ you are almost home free. oAever/ this time/ it is faster than the first time
6.