M.

ARKADIEV

THE SYSTEM OF HIGHEST PIANO TECHNIQUES

(summary)

[english transl. by A. M.]

“The most elemental in piano art is the highest”

S. Richter

“If you hear a technique then it is a bad technique”

Anton Rubinshtein

CHAPTER 1

J. S. BACH

1. Creative meter organization: the principle of intensive pulse

It is very typical for Baroque music and particularly for Bach’s music the ability to pulse with short notes (mainly with eights or sixteenth).
Thus, this is the internal “sub-measure” pulse.

The rule: generally, to determine what value should be selected for central pulse we select the value that is double of the shortest note
in a piece.

For instance, if there are quarters, eighths and sixteens in a piece of Bach then the internal or central pulse would be of eights (the
middle value)1.

“Goldberg-variations”, piece 12

1 If there are halfs, quarters and eights in a Baroque or Bach’s piece then the central pulse would be of quarters (double longer than the

eights), and so on.

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 It is possible that there are two levels of pulse presented, the main and additional.

Important: this pulse is internal, emotional, creative and “live” – this is NOT the metronome’s mechanical “ticks”.

2. Motive articulation: the pickup or upbeat principle

This principle is familiar to most of the musicians, but our goal is to intensify it. The Bach’s music upbeats are presented variously, for
instance:

(schematically) from:

to:

There could be more complicated forms. The “suffering” motives (we mean the motives of descending second) are much more seldom in
Baroque music than the upbeat motives. The upbeat (or, more correctly, “double-upbeat motive” – I. Braudo) looks like:

Each passage, scale-like movement or an arpeggio should be articulated as a sequence of upbeat or double-upbeat motives.

That motives should be played with an accent on the FIRST note of a motive.

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 The aim is to make this impulse-accent on the beginning note lead to the final on-beat note through the second note. See the scheme:

For instance, the symphony C-dur consists of this stringing micro-motives:

This articulation should be used on all of the rhythmic levels, from the half- of whole-note motives…

… to the micro-motives of 32- or 64-th:

The first and second principles are in the creative “conflict” with each other: the upbeat motives interact with the central pulse,
engendering the intension and expression of the music.

3. Principle of the “paradox slur”

That principle comes from the well-known contradiction between the upbeat-form of the Bach’s texture and the articulation (slurs) that
Bach used in his scores. Remember the slurs that ended before the “down-beat” or a stressed “beat” - an accented beat in a measure:

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 The role of these “paradox slurs” is truly general to all of the West-European instrumental music. For instance, they are very important for
the music of Mozart, who used them in every piece, writing the slurs very carefully (Bach wrote them mainly in orchestral scores). The most
significant is its use in dotted figures like these:

Examples:

Bach. Messa A dur, BWV 234

Cantata BWV 108

Mozart. Sonata №5 G-dur

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Mozart. Sonata №8 a-moll, K310

Mozart. Sonata №12, F dur, K332

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 Mozart. Adagio h moll, K540

Brahms. Sonata №1 e-moll

This “paradox slur” should be performed with an active micro-accented ending. This could be achieved by using an additional weight
(gravity) of a FREE hand on the last slurred note.

The accent on the next note AFTER THE SLUR should completely be avoided.

The note after the slur should be played free & silently after the last active slurred note. There also is a very-very short pause after the slur
WITHOUT any ritenuto and lateness.

Please note, that the “active ending of a slur” is played with a finger, NOT with a wrist.

As we can see, the 3rd Principle adds one more “level of conflictness” into the Bach’s music and as a result to all the piano music in
general.

Additional attention should be payed for making that technique “unhearable”. Performing of these Principles must be natural part of
music speech, not distinguishing the listener’s ear.

Remember: a technique is often heard when it is just not accurately performed. “If you hear a technique then it is a
bad technique”.

4. Principle of “stereophony”

Maybe it is a dream of every pianist to reach that level of playing when each voice lives its own separated soundspace. Then we should not
only talk of the polyphony of voices but of the polyphony of soundspaces. That can be called the stereophony.

It is obvious that when playing a polyphonic piece, the voices should be contrast in dynamics and articulation. But for reaching the
stereophonic multi-spatial effect there are two techniques.

1. The maximum contrast dynamics

2. The maximum contrast articulation

For example, we have two voices. If one of them is played forte legato (or quasi legato) and the other is played pianissimo non legato
(or staccato) then audibility of both the voices is increasing – not only of that voice which plays forte.

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 This is a “stereophonical” playing, or a playing of utmost contrast. This effect of better audibility is based on our ear’s property to hear
the utmost contrast. Also it is important to pay attention to “highlight” long notes AFTER such note been played, when other voices “hiding in the
shadow of the dynamics of a long note”.

From the principle of a contrast articulation comes the sub-principle of the silent staccatissimo. In some cases when we have in bass a
movement of eights (most often, but sometimes quarters or 16-s) being played non legato or staccato – and the other voices play legato (ex. Bach’s
Sinfony a-moll), then it is recommended to increase the level of contrast: to play bass very-very silent and “sharp”, “burning”
staccatissimo with minimal movement of a hand and with free wrist - play almost "on / in the keyboard"

5. Principle of syncope

Any syncope (or an offbeat note) on any of the rhythmical levels is always played using THREE universal methods (or one, or two of
them).

These methods are grouped in the order of it’s power increment:

1. To add a micro-pause before a syncope (this doesn’t mean any change of tempo – the syncope itself is played on the “right” time).

2. A syncope played with a little accent.

3. The syncope is heard not only at the moment of playing the note, but generally at the NEXT moment on a downbeat (“strong
time”).

In the following example should be used the 2nd and 3rd, but the 1st should be avoided, because we have a sequence of syncopas here (it is
not good to interrupt it with pauses):

This ability to hear a syncope AFTER it has been played is based on an ability to perceive the so called “second wave of sound”. The pianist
should remember: what he hears is what the public hear.

CHAPTER 2

UNIVERSAL TECHNIQUES OF CONTEMPORARY ACADEMIC PIANISM

1. Principle of double repetition

Double repetition is a piano device that provides the ability to play with a small part of a pressed key without letting dempher to fall on a
string. This can be used to make a quasi-pedal effect without real touching a pedal.

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 This device is invented not only for the “virtuoso repetition” (as most musicians believe), but for the unique “instrument” which is
analogical to that of singers’ vocal cords “closing” or touching a string with a bow. So, the purpose if this device is to make a “live
connection” between the pianist and his instrument – and on the micro-level – between fingertip’s nerves and the string.

Let’s remember a term touché – which is almost forgotten in our times. The similarity with touché in fencing is not so accidental, such
as a term virtuosity comes from the latin virtus – “valor, courage”. The virtuosity of a violinist or a pianist is a “heritage” of a sword or an epee of
a noble man. The art of piano playing is comparable in complexity with the eastern martial arts, including all spiritual techniques (meditation,
concentration, etc.)

All the secrets and nuances of the piano touché come from the device of double repetition. It is a device of “dematerializing” the key in
order to “establish a direct link” to a string – double repetition allows a pianist to play not on the keyboard, but directly on strings.
Moreover, when a pianist can use the double repetition perfectly, it gives him constant physical enjoyment from touching the instrument. The great
masters could really enjoy playing, and that is what should be brought to the public. Hence, the device of double repetition is the true and the first
“soul of a piano” (the pedal would be the “second”). It is the sanctum sanctorum of the pianists’ art.

From this comes the need to exercise on piano without pedal at all, trying to reach the maximum of “coherence” , beauty, texture
clearness, “pedal” sound endurance, muscle freeness and physical enjoyment.

Also the non-pedal playing is very good for dividing the pedal movements & rhythms from hand rhythms and movements in the pianists’
consciousness and muscle reflexes.

To play a piano means to “play out of piano”, not on or into it! And this is somehow connected with the 1st and the 2nd principles:
the lower curve and the double repetition.

Practicing this basic touché could be such: non-pedal and beautiful playing with double repetition (not removing the fingers from the keys
and not allowing the demphers to fall and mute the strings).

This technique can be practiced when there are progressions of three or four chords (or notes) – as in slow movement of Beethoven’s
Sonata № 11. After such practicing a pianist will be able to play any note or a chord in any dynamics with this out-of-the-piano-way.

2. Principle of the “lower curve”

There is one basic linking movement on a piano (a physical movement without pedal), and it is the lower curve.

Please note: it is namely LOWER curve, not an upper one (which is on a first sight more essential).

Lower curve (correct) Upper curve (incorrect)

Examples:

Beethoven. Sonata op. 2 №2 (right hand)

Schubert “Wanderer” (right hand)

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Chopin (left hand)

Brahms Rhapsody op.76 №1 (both hands)

Brahms Sonata for Cello and piano №1 e moll, 1 mvm.

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 Tchaikovsky Concerto b moll, 1 mvm. (both hands)

Mussorgsky “Pictures at an Exhibition” (both hands)

2a. the principle of the “paradox slur” applied to the music from Bach and till Schostakovich (see CHAPTER 1)

Its performance is based on the principle of the lower curve applied to fingers.

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Bach Cantata BWV 111

Mozart. Sonata №8 a-moll, K310

Beethoven Sonata op.2 №2

Beethoven Sonata op.22

Schubert Moment musical №2

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 Brahms Sonata f moll, 1.

Schumann Symphonische Etuden, final

Tchaikovsky “Seasons”

Tchaikovsky “Dumka”

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 Lower curve unites ALL linking movements on piano – from the first touch of a key and microarticulation – and to the largest hand
movements across the keyboard.

From these examples we can see that a pianist should distinguish the *slurs* from the *ligatures* (meaning the distinction between
articulation and phrasing):

1. Articulation slurs (mostly "paradox slurs")

2. Phrasing slurs (ligatures) (matching with motive and phrase structure)

Actually, these types of slurs (ligatures) relate to different "layers" of performing. The not actually contradict each other, but they
complement each other - if a pianist can play both of them well. The articulation slurs relate to the fingers' micro-movements, the phrasing ligatures
mostly relate to the understanding of the unity of the phrase or motive. Unfortunately often the first type is sacrificed in the name of the second.
This reduces the level of professional articulating (for example, see Feinberg's book "Pianism as Art", M, 1965, p. 191-200).

The following examples are especially taken from Bach and Schostakovich in order to demostrate their universality. It is clear here: the
composers use the ligatures simultaneosly with the articulation ("paradox") slurs, the latter complementing the first. This could and should be done
in ALL CASES of the phrasing ligatures in all world piano music.

3. Basic pedal movements

Pedal is a “principal”, “consciousness” thing, hence it shoulde be fearless.

The goal is to get rid of any type of the “seconds-scaring”, and from the habitual “hand-foot” connection – when the foot reflectively
changes the pedal in any obvious change of texture (in bass or melody). It is not so easy to unlearn this habit as it forms yet in the child-time.

An easy piece of Khatchaturyan we can learn the entire romantic pedal art.

Example: Khatchaturyan’s Andantino

The so called “false pedal” in the music of romanticism is very often comes not from the feet, but from the “false” hand behavior, from the
insufficient clearness of melody and the whole music texture. A pianist should overcome the fear of “mixtured harmonies” and learn to hear the
natural beauty of such mixtures.

Examples: Beethoven. Sonata № 17.

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Concerto № 3 (2rd movement).

Chopin. Prelude cis-moll op. 45

Chopin. Nocturno Des-dur op. 27

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 Schumann. Fantasy C dur, 1 mvmt.

In most cases it is a mistake to change a pedal fast in order to “reach clearness” – an additional clear, an additional change is a
mistake.

a. Minimal or zero pedal in Bach and Baroque.

b. The “orchestral” pedal technique (exact sounding of the notes and rests’ values) – in classical style, except a few special cases of
original Beethoven’s pedal.

c. Maximal pedal technique (which was invented by Haydn, approved by Beethoven, and fully used by Chopin and Schumann).

In the huge number of cases the written notes and rests in romantic (and impressionistic) music do not represent the “acoustic reality”,
but reflect the hand movements on piano (hand “breathing”) – this intended for micro-time control (

Examples:

dotted rhythms of 32-s and 64-s in the right hand of Chopin’s Nocturno Des-dur

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 or second theme of Chopin’s Fantasie (introduction):

In both cases the difference between the dotted rhythm and the rhythm with a 16-s rest should be interpretated as a micro-agogical
prolonging a note on the same pedal (and not the releasing the pedal on 16-s rest).

At the same time it is important to see when the orchestral pedal in romanticism should be kept.

For instance, in the just beginning (1,2 bars) of Introduction to the Fantasie:

Technically there are two types of pedal: “on-time” or “direct” pedal and “late” pedal (“linking” pedal).

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 The term “late pedal” exactly represents the situation of the first micro-mixing and next clearing the sound.

The algorhythm of movements is such:

1. to play a note or chord

2. to press the pedal (or hold it if the notes have been already played “on pedal”)

3. play the next note or chord

4. hear the instantaneous micro-mixing with the previous sound

5. accurately and flexibly release the pedal, holding the note (chord)

6. hear the clear harmony (!)

7. only after this press the pedal supporting the heard (6) clear harmony

That would be the right pedalization using the “late pedal”.

4. Principles for the prolonging sound

a. the “second wave” of a sound

b. “the body of a pianist is an additional resonator”.

As a singer, the pianist should use his body as a resonator that is additional to the resonating piano’s plate. The necessity of relaxing
free muscles is bound up with the feeling of free sound resonation – first in hands, then in body of a pianist. From here comes the true longing
and beautiful piano sound.

Also, only with free muscles we can manage the effect of the “second wave of sound” in non-pedal played notes and chords.

The technique is as follows:

1. play a long note or a chord (with or without pedal)

2. immediately free the hand and the body –

3. fell the micro-resonance in hand and body

4. hear the second wave of sound.

Schumann. Fantasy C dur, 1 mvmt.

This should become a reflex.

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 Again, the effect of the “second wave” is bound with ability to relax hands after a note or chord was played (that relaxation should be
full but invisible!) . Sometimes that “wave” is so strong that we can see the effect of crescendo – the effect of increasing the power of sound after the
note (chord) was taken. The physical aspect of this may be explained as the second wave of resonance is mixing with the first fading wave of sound .
Here we can see a full illusion of influence to sounding after the playing impulse. But if the hand is not relaxed, there will be no “second wave”.

I think that keeping in mind the “programmé” to hear the second wave and to relax the muscles really effects on the hand behavior at a
moment BEFORE playing. And this naturally causes the after-play effect. But again – the mind should be concentrated on the moment AFTER
playing (relaxation and hearing), NOT on the previous moment. This controls the correspondence of conscious and unconscious behavior when
playing. Shortly, setting up to the “moment after” gives hands the ability to select right behavior in the “moment before”.

5. Principle of understanding the sheet notation

For the careful reading of musical text we should remember the division to intellectual (or basic, composer’s) level and emotional
(performance’s) level in the composers’ text [that division is studied by prof. E. Liberman]. According to this we can see that a composer’s text (“a
piece”) includes not only independent and unchangeable aspects (composer’s level) BUT also a composer’s “performance recommendations”
(emotional level), which are much more flexible and unstable. The composer’s level includes metro-rhythm, the pitch, duration and some of the
articulation notes. The emotional may include dynamics (most of the crescendo and diminuendo symbols are “performance recommendations”),
slurs and so on.

When playing or studying a piece we got the right to change some aspects of an emotional level (a kind of “dialogue” between interpreter
and composer). Of course this “dialogue” should be very careful, and it is good to ask yourself “what actually is the reading of a musical text?”

Examples of “interpretative dialogue”:

Chopin’s 4th Ballade Let’s study the second motive of the first subject, namely “four 16-s, three 8-s, an 8th, four 16-s”. Chopin writes
this motive with constant shift upon the beats in every mesure. This leads to understanding the subtle, interesting “metric agogique” at the
composer’s, nuclear level of this musical text. Thus, we can change some “crescendos” and “diminuendos” – they belong to the performer’s
recommendations’ level (I shift the beginnings of half them). Chopins notation is so sophisticated, refined that in the second run of the theme
gets an inverse agogical and dynamic interpretation.

2 Ballade If we try to count bars by four as we play (I mean artistic or conductor’s count), we’ll find out that the harmonic cadenzas always relate
to the “weakest” fourth bar (the counting should begin from “three”). Here we have the exact situation when “what we see is what we get”. We
expect stops when comes the cadence (if we heard the play without seeing the score), but there cannot be a stop – because the weakest fourth bar
continue and flow to the first. Thus, the Chopin’s virtuoso notation breaks the inertia of our hearing and makes the “static” cadences “live”. We
can not understand the true depth of Ballade until we see the text.

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 2 th Scherzo The same simple but emotional “counting bars by four” in this piece leads to understanding of the Chopin’s rhythmic idea:
the theme fortissimo (5th bar) really is syncopated, the octave F in bass turns out to be of intensive syncope character. So does the next octave G-flat,
and two bars next the strong bar (3rd line) is paused (rest). This rest should be sensed and performed namely as the strongest downbeat
(“one”)!

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 Liszt’s Sonata:

1. The cancelling of author’s “performance” crescendo in 2nd and 5th bars leads to the more clear and powerful seeng (hearing) of the basic
composers level’ idea of the “orchestral pedal” of the low corni G.

2. The cancelling of “performance” crescendo in 15th and 17th bars and replacing it with subito piano nuance leads to the powerful second
wave of sound on sustained notes. Also in this case the sequence of “Wagnerian” 7-chords becomes more evident, which is usually not heard because
of the standard notation.

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 In both cases of Liszt’s Sonata, as in 4th Ballade of Chopin the interpretative dialogue means the change of somewhat
sketchy view of “performer’s level” dynamics notation, etc, to the more powerful understanding and performing the
composer’s level. The musician will hear in such interpretation “something interesting”, or “something to free”, but the truth is
that just the careful studying of the composer’s musical text could “automatically” engender the true new interpretation.

6. Principle of the “studying emotion”

The definite level of emotional concentration should be cultivated and kept as a professional minimum. The emotion could and should
be the thing of professional attention and training. This principle is applied less to the individual studying of pianist (although it is useful), but
mostly to the studying in class and rehearsal playing (including collective playing).

7. Principle of internal conductor

The pianist should know the conduction basics. That doesn’t mean “to know how to wave your hands” but to “understand the organization
of pulse and meter in the musical time”. Of course, conducing is individual and complex subject and it requires special studying. In that principle I
mean the ability of artistic control the meter and the time in music. A pianist at least should understand the conductor’s “slang”: how to
conduct – “by two”, “by four”, “by one”, “by twelve” and so on.The problem is that the real pulse may not match the “written meter”. For instance, a
written meter 3/4 may be conducted (“pulsed”) “BY ONE”, “BY THREE” and even “BY SIX”; 4/4 – “BY FOUR”, “BY TWO”, “BY EIGHT”, “BY
ONE”.

Thus, to “select a pulse” is an individual and not easy interpretation problem. G. Rozhdestvensky called it the “conductor’s fingering”.
Very often this is a selective problem of a composer’s style or style of an entire epoch:

Examples: Baroque – Classicism.

Bach Prelude As-dur, WTK 1:

a. “by three” – “Haydn” (Classicism)

b. “by six” – Bach (Baroque)

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 “Classicism” of Mozart and of Beethoven.

Adagio from the Beethoven’s Sonata № 1 .

a. “by three” – “Mozart” (Early Classicism)

b. “by six” – Beethoven

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