This acquiring of the cup-like position of the hand will be found enormously useful later on, in the playing of scales and arpeggios , as it allows easy passage of the thumb under the other fingers. In connection with the striking of the keys by the fingers, I would further say that merely putting down the finger and letting it strike with its own weight, is no good, as the sound produced thereby is inadequate and uncontrolled. My idea is that when lifted, the finger must be brought down with a certain amount of pressure upon the note which is struck.

This pressure should be produced from the forearm and transmitted through the fingers to the key, the wrist being all the time absolutely relaxed. Later on, as the student arrives at a higher development of finger technique, the articulation can be exercised purely from Read more

The artists who have really great command of means are the ones who, no matter how hard or elaborate in musical writing the passages are which they have to play, manage to make those passages sound so beautiful and full of expression that the listener will never notice whether the music that is being performed is difficult or not, so absorbed will he be in the delight the playing gives him.

Playing piano with music expression

How much consummate technique is there sometimes expended upon the execution of a quite simple melody, slow, soft and melting, the tones flowing into each other, so that no one who listens can realize that the piano which is being played is only a mechanical instrument with hammers that strike upon copper strings. What patience and study, too, is needed to develop the deep sonority of touch in massive chords, and the light brilliancy of rippling progressions. All this is impossible without technical command, and it is only when mastery of every kind of vehicle for expression has been acquired that interpretation can be approached with confidence. There is no greater suffering to the artist than to have in his mind a certain impression which the music has created in it, and not to be able to reproduce the picture on his piano, because he has shortcomings in technique which deter him.

Technical limits to reproduce music expression on piano

On the other hand, what joy it is to a pianist to resume the playing of some great masterpiece, which he had studied diligently in former years, and at that time had never succeeded in giving to it the rendering that he sought, owing to insufficient mastery of means. But upon starting upon it again after this long period during which he had doubtless been developing gradually, and probably unconsciously, he finds that now he can at last do with ease what he wants in the piece, and which he never could arrive at before. To attain such a reward is worth all the labours of Hercules!

It is a great fallacy to think that it is more difficult to play passages and intricate ornamentation in music very fast, or very loud, than softly and at a moderate speed. It is often the contrary which is the case. Pianists sometimes increase their tone and their tempo more than they intend to do through nervousness and want of confidence or from fear of failure of memory.

How to play difficult passages : piano ornamentations

The pianist who can play a long series of intricate and more or less rapid successions of passages in a slow tempo, and pianissimo, with a lot of rhythm, is often doing thereby something that is actually harder to achieve than the more showy splash-dash which to the uninitiated might seem most wonderful. Of course the greatest technique implies absolute mastery and judgment in everything, so that the brilliant fast passage is given with the necessary force and lean, while the soft elegant ornamentation receives in its turn grace and finish.

Finger articulation : play rhythmically

To play rhythmically the pianist must possess technique of finger articulation, to play with color he must acquire the technique of the pedal, to play with feeling and emotion he must have the technique of touch, to play with power he must learn the technique of how to apply strength.All these many branches go to make up the one comprehensive material called technique which the pianist must work with to produce his aesthetic objective. Therefore no student may despise or undervalue even its most mechanical aspects. For as in architecture every humble and uninteresting stone has its own indispensable aesthetic necessity in the building of the palace or cathedral, even so is it also in pianoforte playing; to attain the noblest results no details of workmanship, however insignificant, should be neglected. Genius means not only imagination and temperament, but also the capacity of conveying them to the world through the vehicle of some medium, over which a complete mastery has been obtained.

The bare word technique, when applied to piano playing,seems often to give people an erroneous impression of its real significance. It seems to mean to them just the power of being able to play very rapidly, and also to perform very difficult passages, upon the keyboard, and often the word seems to carry with it a strange sort of odium to certain kinds of music-lovers.

About piano technique

“A wonderful technician,” they cry, about some pianist, “but nothing more.” How can this prejudice against great development of technique have arisen? I think that it is just because technique is sometimes considered as meaning only that one-sided capability of being able to move the fingers and hands with special agility “digital dexterity”, as the critics call it! That particular capacity is no doubt a very important and necessary branch of technique on the piano, but it is only one small part of the whole immense subject; and the pianist who has given all his attention to that branch alone can certainly not be called in the best sense of the word a great technician, nor can he arrive at the highest results with only that development.