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Feldenkrais Method for pianists II; just this
condition... In all
things of the Nature there is something marvelous. - Aristotle
Let us say, we discuss here The Craft of Piano Method
basic thoughts and piano-technical solutions. On the Page, quoted at the end of
First Part of this article, one could found a truly rational suggestion given
by the creator of this Method, Mr. Alan Fraser: "...do not curl your fingers this spoils the
whole thing. Its not curling! The instant you curl your fingers you are no
longer doing the whole-finger lever. You lose the ease and clarity of
contact with the key. The relatively flat finger is fundamentally a much
simpler entity than the curled one. Leave them relatively flat, keep it
simple!" This and some other pearls that positively differentiate
Piano Craft from some analogous systems, are still merely getting lost
in clump of rhetorically shining sentences, which practical value presents
rather disputable character. For a sample: who would like to believe that the reflexes can act much more precisely than our thinking mind [the full quotation could be
found at the end of this page; Thank you!]?
Of course, only they, of which the thinking mind works slower than their
muscles, are ready to believe that the reflexes can
act much more
precisely than our thinking mind; firstly acting, and just after
judging what exactly and how has happened, or even NOT JUDGING at all, is
rather immature way of doing the job. Only in very special cases this Mr.
Fraser's opinion could be seen as the right one: for instance, in the cases
of W. A. Mozart or J. S. Bach, or in a case of the improvising Chopin,
maybe. They, whose MUSICAL INTUITION represents so high quality as it had happened
not many times in the entire history of music, they really do not must deliberate
about HOW to do this or that; thinking and doing are very-very
close, one to each other, in their mind & body. Still even a
little bit smaller talents must persistently look for solutions that could
firstly improve their MENTAL skills, including the AURAL skills of course,
which if start to work actually well, they as the side result could
improve the MANUAL skills as well, too. That is so, because it is beyond
doubts that the way to the real improvement of any motion done by human's
body must go through his/hers active mental and emotional preparation. Just
later, when such kind of formation becomes completed, the musically
formed basis could start to form the new and better technical habits on these
levels of unconsciousness, which rule the physical part of moving of the human's
body. Before it may happen, our mind
must truly decide any unique motion in order to eliminate the accidental,
pointless motions, which habitually are being done by many pianists without
any connection to the general line of interpretation of an actually studied
musical opus, undertaken by them.
Understanding music? Reading, hearing, singing, thinking... Besides, the connotation of the word reflex [an
uncontrollable physical reaction to something] origins the following interpretation:
the muscles are able to properly REACT only on the musically adequate
impulses coming from the pianist's brains. Getting artistically false impulse
the muscles will falsely react, which automatically will cause the
artistically defective sounding result. If I may ask now, what the original
Feldenkrais Method would like to say about such interpretation of the matter?
You, Feldenkreisers, are used to say Awareness
Through Movement. Well! But, who knows, just the opposite phrase, Proper
Movement Through Adequate Musical Understanding, would work evidently
better? Welcome!
Let you have a look at the real Wisdom and
Beauty, which are hidden under the surface of these photos, please! Thank you! Thinking about my dissatisfaction related to The
Piano Craft Method's approach to piano technical problems, I would like
to declare I profoundly believe that applause falls asleep, when the criticism
[especially sharp] wakes definitely up. My Wife, Lidia, is even of the
opinion that "mainly, we owe our development to our
enemies". Of course, I am definitely NO ONES enemy! The situation
looks just the other way round! I feel very sad, seeing how so creative
person as Mr. Fraser doubtlessly is, directs his development into completely
strange side: he evidently believes in MUSICAL omnipotence of the SOMATIC
features, which factually are shaping only peripheral elements of the matter.
The Feldenkrais method had never been invented to become the fundament
of any piano-technical formula. Could it still be used by the pianists? Yes,
certainly yes, but in my opinion as the physically aiding TOOL only,
which may not persistently be present in the pianists' mind as the competent
fundamental feature, because it factually disturbs the creative musical
thinking, pretending to decide what is good or/and bad in playing the piano. In
the last end yet, piano playing must surely be understood as a kind of
MUSICAL, but not the PHYSICAL acting. This is truly sorrowful that the Teacher
of MUSIC is striving to focus the piano students' attention mainly on the
hands' MOTIONS, forgetting the most important role of the artistically
oriented, dynamic "anticipative hearing".
Unbelievable! Maybe the Feldenkrais method is the actually miraculous
system for all them, who do NOT suffer from lack of artistic creativity? I
mean, who do not see any necessity of such activity in teaching and playing
the piano? Besides, I wonder, whether anybody could just for fun depict Glenn
Gould's training of the Theme of Goldberg Variations? Would it be
possible that he decided the conclusive sound result ACCORDING to position
his elbows should be keep in? Or Horowitz, who practices The Poet speaks
from the Schumann's Scenes
from Childhood... Personally said, I profoundly believe, The Master FIRSTLY is looking
for the acceptable sounding result and eventually AFTER that he might like to
adjust some physical aspects of the playing IF HE NOTICED that something is
going not as good as he formerly expected. After many years of experiments and
studies on the piano playing I am coming to such a "revolutionary" conclusion: ONLY lack of
musicality and musically oriented thinking causes the piano technical
troubles and ONLY via improving this deficiency one could improve ones piano
playing technique; here does not exist any other way round. If somebody would like to think about possibilities to
adapt the Feldenkrais Method to his particular piano instrumental needs, he
should firstly very clearly decide, WHICH elements of this system can bring
the positive results into the PARTICULAR piano instrumental action, and WHEN
the elements of this method could practically be used. It should become lager
likes the sun that NO ONE muscularly based decision may be allowed to decide
any slightest alteration in any musically basic aspect of the playing am I
right? Thoroughly reading the Alan Fraser's papers published in the Internet,
one could get the impression that without possibly active usage of that
method, actually, the piano students have TOTALLY NO POSSIBILITIES to develop
their piano technical skills. I must openly say, perceive such an opinion as the truly
grave mistake... Frankly said, I do not see any necessity to propose any
extra SOMATIC exercises in situation in which the student's body works nearly
perfectly well. If the muscularly oriented tutors would not persistently
focus their students' attention on muscular aspects of the piano playing, it
would very shortly come to light, we have dramatically more few cases of any
tendonitis-like and similar illnesses among the pianists worldwide. Let you
have a look at this video
please! In my opinion, if something should be improved herein, this is the
quality of UNDERSTANDING of the artistic IMAGE that must actively work as a
background of the playing piece, indeed. Of course, the students' ACTIVITY of and in
CREATING the emotionally and intellectually fascinating musical FORMS must
become the main, chief and first aspect the piano teachers' attention should
be focused on!
I am very sorry I do NOT see here any necessity for the biomechanical
interference if the sounds just flow...
Habitually yet, many piano teachers would like to start
working with even very talented students focusing their attention on ALWAYS [in
the TEACHERS' eternal opinion] DEFECTIVE way they are used to use their fingers
and hands. In the same moment they, completely unconsciously are starting to
ruin the students' physically good feelings and are putting the technical
UNCERTAINTY into the students' technique. This DEFINITELY MUST HAPPEN because
focusing the students' attention on hands, the teachers are taking away the
most natural OBJECTS that must persistently and actively be watched in
playing the piano. These OBJECTS are as follows: the artistic IDEAS &
IMAGES, plus consequently the quality of producing sounds; as well the
very important is a class of the physical pleasure inside of the entire
acting pianist's hands and the body, in general. I must say, I experienced very many samples of such
pedagogically devastating actions, watching piano lessons, given by tens and
tens of piano teachers from several countries; I am very sorry, but I have to
say even in the Moscow Conservatory of Music. Who knows, maybe, the
MANUALLY oriented approach to playing and teaching the piano is the causing reason
that so many child prodigies so often lose the artistic swing and the
momentum, and in the last end are being led around into serious troubles from
the road of the artistic progress? In my opinion, they, who are
instrumentally able to do nearly all that that the pianists should do, they
very often dramatically need in the intellectual, emotional and/or even
spiritual guidance. Maybe, the very secret of such Great Piano Masters as
were Chopin, MATURED Liszt, Leszetycki and Neuhaus, was the Art they were
able to recognize the Mental and Emotional needs of their greatly talented
students? And the way, they were able to offer them the factually necessary kind
of support? According to conclusions taken after my nearly 40 years
long pedagogic experience, I must say that it is truly much better to believe
in existence of even smallest specks of Musical Gift in our, SOMETIMES, even
almost musically helpless students, and try to focus their attention on the
musically most basic things than to actually be convinced over their
unmusicality and try to make correct some functions of the bodily elements of
their playing! Very interesting sample ◄ could
be found under this link; be patient yet, please!
If the piano technique can be interpreted as a structure
of the WELL-MANAGED MOTIONS, which one may explore in isolation from all the
aural, emotional and intellectual relations and dependences, the Feldenkrais-Method,
maybe, could offer quite much help to all the piano users suffering from
their deficient understanding of WHAT THEY factually should PHYSICALLY do.
Still because we CANNOT isolate the things from their natural environment
wanting to finally understand HOW THEY really work, desiring to know how it
could be possible to efficiently operate such multifaceted structure as is
the IMAGE-CREATING, KEYBOARD-USING and the MUSICAL FORMS-BUILDING IN
SOUNDS, we may not be interested in such as thin part of the entire
issue, as are the purely physically considered motions only. Once all the
piano technical troubles are coming from the DEFICIENTLY WORKING musicality,
which roughly said is very often totally unable to produce the musically
adequate IMPULSES that should be generated in a proper time in our brains and
become fully READABLE to the particular neuromuscular applications serving
manual elements of the pianist's playing apparatus, consequently, all the
IMPROVING PROCESS cannot mainly be concentrated on the mechanical aspects of
the entire matter [biomechanical is the euphemism only,
nothing more] because the quality of its acting is fully dependent on quality
of the brains' work, if I may so unkindly say.
We should think rationally about HIGHER ASPECTS of our
ART: in any case, even Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), being rather clever
fellow, was unable to adequately clarify the basic questions of any weighty
mathematical theory, and this had happened on the exactly similar basis,
another clever fellow, Mr. Isaac Newton (1642-1727), was unable to paint even
a "Portrait of the Pig",
not mentioning about "Mona Lisa". Every Art has the secrets of its own... The musicians
must know HOW to listen to the sounds but PROFESSIONALLY, not in the way,
any concert-listener is able to listen, too! The next very clever gentleman in our story doubtlessly is
Dr. Feldenkrais! His biography is rich enough with occurrences to generate
several Bond-kind movies and at least some
of the Indiana Jones-style,
too. I must say very frankly, I profoundly appreciate and love such kind of
the human's determination and braveness HIS BEING has brought onto the Earth.
I still almost cry over the peculiar limitation of his talent, or better
said over particular kind of intellectual blindness presented by some of
His devotees. Why, why writing as truthfully: "Movement is the basis of awareness" Dr. Moshe
Feldenkrais would NOT like to add that THIS judgment is FACTUALLY RELATED to
the mental mobility as well? Let us put our mind into motion! That's all.
Being NOT the real PSYCHOLOGIST [I am NOT, too, as well;
S.K.], but rather factually being a PSYCHOANALYST-AMATEUR [I am too,
certainly; S.K.], Dr. Feldenkrais
had written such fully acceptable judgment, as: - All behavior is a complex of mobilized
muscles, sensing, feeling and thought. But unfortunately,
at the same occasion he had articulated several judgments of the sub-standard
character, which stays in contradiction not only with actual science, but as
well with the everyday practice: - A fundamental change in the motor basis within any
single integration pattern will break up the cohesion of the whole and
thereby leave thought and feeling without anchorage in the patterns of their
established routines. In this condition, it is much easier to effect changes
in thinking and feeling, for the muscular part through which thinking and
feeling reach our awareness has changed and no longer expresses the patterns
preciously familiar to us. - Habit has lost its chief support, that of the muscles,
and has become more amenable to change.
The CHIEF SUPPORT of any habit surely is NOT related to
the muscles, but to the neuromuscular memory. Hence, all what we PHYSICALLY
DO, happens on the very similar basis all the visual incidents could happen
on the computer's screen. Nothing, factually, can come about on the screen IF
the adequate bits of information, formerly SAVED on the hard disc
or in other sort of the computer's, so called, memory [in our
particular sample we could only speak about unfathomable depths of the molecular switch that triggers
long-term memory storage by mobilizing the protein synthesis machinery], might became DISABLED. In the very short words: before the
muscles become physically active, the human's neurological system must
PRODUCE some COMPREHENSIBLE [to the muscles] impulses. In any case, however
the BASIC INSTINCTS finally determine HOW we actually behave in the extreme circumstances,
still WHAT is bad or good to us cannot be understood in the purely
instinctive categories. If such catastrophe would happen, it would mean the
End of the Humanity, in any case to me. These are just PICTURES OF SOMETHING let you put your
fantasy into action... As the most expressive sample in this matter is to me
I beg your pardon, please! a sample of the paralyzed
human's body. Discussing the Dr. Feldenkrais views, we should take into
consideration the fact, the MUSCLES do physically EXIST even if the human's
body is totally disabled, just physically; its musculature is just unable to
act because "something
wrong has happened with the system, the messages are [NOT] passing through
between the brain and the muscles". Friedrich Schiller
poetically said, "Hence the Spirit builds the body for itself"...
The DIFFERRENCE between acceptation given to such kind
of thinking, The Piano Craft Method's clarifications [DVD, Web Site]
are representing, AND to such point of view that represents the "nontricky" tradition in teaching and playing
the piano, apparently relies on differences between the actual needs and
expectations of the piano students. They, whom the HANDS mean the most
PAINFUL ELEMENT of the playing machinery, and whose consciousness of the
entire pursuit is rather clear only to some extent, they surely are ready to
accept any shadow of hope, a slightest sign of the green light in the long
tunnel of weakness. All of them instead, whom the HANDS mean the very
suitable INSTRUMENTS, always ready to correctly transpose the particular
artistic Image created in the Fantasy into the real sounding
result, they certainly would like to see all these PHYSICALLY oriented
concepts in the piano technique as the truly strange concepts, indeed...
Mr. Fraser wrote: "I understand what you are saying..." - I'm profoundly afraid, Mr. Fraser actually understood what I have
written down, but definitely not, what my writing factually means about... Mr. Fraser asked: "If my approach is so old-fashioned (Malwine Bree and
many others have indeed espoused the arch long before I did), then why do so
many suffer from not using it properly?" - The response is very simple and Josef Hofmann
expressed it in the truly brilliant way answering on question asked by the
older lady, who was seriously surprised HOW, having so small hands, he had
been able to play the piano so greatly? Hofmann answered in that way, Madam, what makes you think that I play with my hands?
They, who think that all the piano technical difficulties are caused
by the unsuitably working hands and THEREFORE they [the difficulties, of
course...] could be removed via improvement of the hands' functioning, must
and will suffer FROM their hands' improper acting as long as they become to be
ready to change they outdated (since about 1849, a year when Chopin died...)
way of thinking about technique of playing the piano. Here is no other way
round. The MUSICALLY highly talented pianists could only
exceptionally experience some kind of physical discomfort in playing the
piano, of course! This will, yet, NOT BASICALLY occur because their hands
would working in such the way, they very often are used to think about, not
at all! This would primarily happened because their MUSICAL THINKING works
truly good completely independently of this, what they factually IMAGINE about the
entire physical side of technique of playing the piano in general... The highly talented musicians very clearly know WHAT
THEY MUSICALLY WANT to do, and they just simply are able to appropriately
listening to their playing [beyond doubts it must include the ANTICIPATIVE
HEARING, firstly]. This would always cause the musically if not interesting,
noble and beautiful, still in any case the ACCEPTABLE sounding results of
all theirs PHYSICAL actions on the piano. One could experience it personally
watching Mr. Fraser's demo published on the www.youtube.com.
What is truly PARADOXICAL herein, Mr. Fraser's musicality apparently is much
more firm and stable than any INTELLECTUAL structure He had created in order
to interpret his own muscular activity. I mean in general, our FACTUAL
artistic creativity enormously helps our muscles to act efficiently IN SPITE
of HOW we understand this all, what we actually can do on and at
the instrument. Not only at the piano, of course; this explanation clarifies
as well the very common and as well very sorrowful phenomenon: big singers
very rare are able to teach well; usually it is happening exactly the other
way round. Let us be completely silent for a while now [young Liszt, young
Liszt]!
Coming back to the former question, Mr. Fraser asked, "why do so many suffer from not using it [the
arch-concept] properly?" - In my opinion, firstly this is not true statement
that so many suffer from not using... etc, etc. All the piano
technical troubles have theirs roots in simple disproportion between FACTUAL
musical abilities of the particular pianist and his IRRATIONAL ambitions.
Persons, predestinated to become the piano users, who if VERY WELL taught
could averagely well perform the pieces of difficulty level NOT HIGHER than op.
636 of Czerny, starting to practice the Studies from op. 10 or 25 of Chopin and additionally BEING forced to complete all the MUSICAL
tasks focusing their humble musical THINKING mainly on the biomechanical aspects
of playing the piano, truly cannot experience anything more than just wide-ranging
discomfort. Yes, in spite they have good or bad understood the famous arch-idea,
they all ARE likely "condemned"
to become eternally unhappy with the piano; this file gives additional light on
this question. Welcome! This file is as well ready to give some additional light on the discussed
matter. Look, please, what these guys are promising: Improve Piano Playing and Piano
Speed, Piano velocity, piano eye hand coordination, reduce piano performance
anxiety through Sonny's Breathing, Relaxation, stretching and flow techniques
& Improve Piano Playing and Piano
Speed, Piano velocity, piano eye hand
Part Three
this way, please:
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Actualized: 2007-11-13 |
