changing piano technique
Hi Tonebase friends, Merry Xmas! I recently changed to a new teacher who taught exclusively playing with arm weight (dropping motion) and not lifting fingers, while my previous two teachers taught a combination of arm weight and lifting fingers. I'm practicing this new technique slowly with scale/familiar old music (as I have the temptation/habit to raise/lift fingers as I move). I watched Robert's Taubman teaching videos on Tonebase, as my new teacher's technique is somewhat based on Taubman although she is not a certified Taubman teacher. I'm wondering if you have similar experience having to change your piano technique, and welcome any comments on your experience and how long it took you to get comfortable. I feel that I am only practicing technique, not able to play pieces for now (because I revert back to playing with fingers quickly). Just wonder how long this phase would be in general? I'm between level 3 and level 4 in Tonebase.
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One thing that has been important to me about technique is that all levers from tip to shoulder are being used just in proportion to what sound is required so fingers, wrist, forearm and upper arm are always buoyant and supple to some degree where in baroque there could be more finger emphasis, in classical more hand say, or in big romantic repertoire the arms are more active. If your attitude is technique equals sound and youâve developed all the possible coordinated movements between the playing levers like using the two knobs of an Etch-A-Sketch to create curves (vertical PLUS lateral movement) then youâve got a total technique. Just add sonic imagination and an understanding of style and phrasing ET VOILĂ!! This is such a fun and important topic. Letâs keep it going!!!
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Roy James-Pike I decided to go the Taubman approach when I was watching many of the YouTube videos of Dorothy Taubman's masterclasses when she was alive. It seemed to make a lot of sense to me, so I decided to look up Taubman teachers via the Golandsky Institute. Like what George Lopez has observed, playing the piano has some elements in physics. I also observed that it also involves an understanding of the muscles, particularly as they relate from the forearm all the way down to the hand. So, it's like a combination of physics and anatomy to have the most efficient movements on the keyboard. Very fascinating and intriguing.
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George Lopez Ah! I don't want to start an argument but I think the different rotations are arguably combinations of vertical and horizontal motion. Also, I saw last night (it's now 10:30am in the UK) a video on Youtube describing Martha Argerich's technique, which said effectively that sometimes she is using her 2, 3, and 4 fingers vertically, when she is playing octaves at ferocious speed (to get them out of the way) and when doing repeated notes, say in the Scarlatti. It's clear to see.
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Agnes I think we need to bear in mind that, put simply, DT starts from a position that the approach of the child piano player is 'organic'. The child-player does not over-complicate matters in the way that adults do later, which leads to injuries.
It is worthwhile bearing in mind that Lang Lang has said recently, about his own two-year old child, that he won't be doing to his own child, what was done to Lang Lang himself as a two year old.
My view is try everything. I have decided this year that I shall study the Hanon exercises, which I have avoided to date because there are so many cautionary opinions about how dangerous Hanon exercises can be for our musculature. I won't be doing anything that leads to pain and discomfort, and I shall certainly not do too much of it.
The Taubman course(s) on TB are also on my 2024 To-Do-List.
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Roy James-Pike I also studied the Hanon and Czerny exercises when I was young and I don't have injuries. I always chalked it up to it's because I never practiced very much! My teachers never really thought me any of the various schools techniques that I have seen being discussed in this forum. So, I don't know if the Hanon or Czerny exercises themselves would lead to injuries and therefore 'dangerous'. I think it's 'how' one use one's hands and fingers to play these exercises that could lead to injuries, especially over a long period of time. I'll be interested to know your opinions after you try out the various approaches. I feel that there is probably not just one method that is more superior than the others, but rather whether that approach works for the student or not, provided it doesn't lead to injuries. It'll be interesting to see how Lang Lang will teach his own child...
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George Lopez i have gone through a great deal of changes myself, and found that muscle motion, if done naturally, has much more to do with intention, goal, than anything else ! I guess what I am saying, is just trying to warn anyone from trying to control muscle movement through mental orders,,,, it seems to me the body does not work that way !! Create a mental âpictureâ (ausuarios?) of how you want it to sound, follow certain principles (like âdo not digâ) and let the body , your body, guide you to its own solution. It seems to work for me. All the best !!!!
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Timothy said:
I would recommend NOT using familiar pieces as a means of practicing your new technique. You are much more likely to revert to old habits while playing music you already learned. Try digging into short sections of new repertoire instead.During Covid, I took lessons online from a teacher who was not certified as a Taubman teacher but taught their techniques. She too did not want me to play any music I had already learned.
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In college many years ago my teacher had me make a change in the resting posture of my right hand. It took about a month of extreme vigilance to change the hand position. The gravy bit is more evolutionary. Iâm always conscious of mechanics, and Iâm always experimenting with it. Check out books on technic by Abbey Whiteside, and Gyorgy Sandor. Both are reputable, and the writing is quite detailed.
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Christopher Macy I have not heard of Whiteside and Sandor, but just looked up their books on Amazon. Abby Whiteside's book appears to talk about the horizontal and vertical movements and the in-and-out, which are techniques that Dorothy Taubman's approach also use. I thought that was interesting. I have always been curious as to how a piano sounds the way it does and how it sounds different between pianists. I am hoping that Gyorgy Sandor's book will touch on that. I just ordered the two books and am looking forward to ready them. Thanks for sharing.
