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How to create a beautiful sound on the piano? Written
by Lin Xiu Min Dedicated to
Professor Stefan Kutrzeba From my personal
understanding of the Chopin &
Neuhaus’ Method, the “beautiful sound” could be divided into the external and internal aspects. The “beautiful sound" – external aspect The main active physical
component of the body in creating the sound comprises of the fingers and
hands. It is usually unnecessary to use the power from above the hand, i.e.
forearm, arm or even torso, in creating the sound. Many pianists are not
aware that by doing this, their sounds become harsh and ugly, and they often
feel frustrated at being unable to control the sounds.
One should start to imagine
a Zone in the depths of the key
levels (Zone in the keys), which
relates to a Zone of the
"beautiful sound". Pressing the keys till above the upper boundary
of the Zone in the keys will result in a sound being too weak; pressing the
keys will below the lower boundary of the Zone of the keys will result in a
sound too harsh. One needs only to find the
Zone in the keys, and drop the liberated weight of the finger into this Zone.
I have personally witnessed that the key could be depressed by a mere weight
of 50 grams.
The finger should depress
the key with a motion curling slightly backwards, as well as steering towards
the side (depends on the direction of the musical line) and upwards. The wrist, forearm and arm
should be free and flexible, and act only as a support and facilitator for
the fingers and hand. The forearm should not have a “gripping” action that
many pianists tend to have but do not realize. The wrist, forearm and arm
should contain zero strain, and could be likened to an empty flexible vessel.
The forearm should direct the hand towards the side like a violinist moving
the bow on the violin. It is not enough just to be
able to create this “beautiful sound”. It is just as important to judge if
the sound created is within the Zone of the “beautiful sound”, by one’s
active "listening" with
the ears. This should act as a "quality detector", like quality
control of the products in a factory. Unfortunately, many
pianists only care about mistakes, or concentrate on making flamboyant facial
and body movements, or enjoy the immense tactile pleasure from playing the
piano etc etc etc, but fail to realize that the goal should be the sound
itself. They turn a “deaf” ear to the quality of the sound. In this active “listening”
of the sound, one should ask oneself: 1. Is the sound within the Zone of the
"beautiful sound"? 2. Is the sound comparable to the "anticipative inner
sound" that one The Zone in the keys
differs in each piano and for each pianist. Therefore, one should constantly
judge the sound by this active “listening”, and then adjust the finger and
hand to refine the sound towards the Zone of the “beautiful sound”. This
process should be active and continuous when one plays anything on the piano.
A new kind of concentration has to be cultivated to develop and “sharpen”
this active “listening”. In one’s search for the
“beautiful sound”, one should, first of all, strive to create a basic “beautiful sound”. This could
be described as a mezzo piano sound
which is rather thin but not weak; it is still within the Zone of the
“beautiful sound”. Only after this basic “beautiful sound” is mastered, could
one develop “beautiful sounds” with virtually unlimited gradations of
colours. The "beautiful sound" – internal
aspect The internal aspect of the
“beautiful sound” should be fulfilled by one's emotions and imagination,
which I'll collectively term as the "soul". One must discover and develop one’s "soul"
by oneself, and be able to "activate" it and channel it freely into
the sounds. This “soul” should flow freely inside the Zone of the “beautiful
sound”. Since the action of the key
has to be downwards to produce a sound, the “soul” should “float” upwards
together with the sound, so that the sound is “alive”, otherwise it would
always be sinking downwards and become inevitably “dead”. After the production of the
sound, the “soul” should continue to flow throughout the sound and “float”
upwards. This applies to both long and short sounds.
Conclusion One has to aim to create
not only “beautiful” but also artistically
meaningful sounds. Listening to recordings by the greatest pianists, for
example, Artur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels
etc etc etc, would give one an idea of such kind of sounds. After much
experimenting myself, I am fully convinced that the Chopin and Neuhaus’ Method is the most effective solution. Of course, it is not enough
to read the theories alone – practical experience and learning are more
essential. I was very fortunate to attend master-classes by Professor Stefan Kutrzeba, who is the
creator and promoter of the Chopin and Neuhaus’ Method. These decisive events
of my life have been “ear-openers”. All are absolutely welcome! Most of you might be
bewildered while reading this Method or attending the lessons, and might even
dismiss it as sheer philosophical nonsense. Do not worry! I have also been
bewildered initially, in fact, almost to the point of giving up piano
totally! However, if one has the capacity to understand, and dares to unwind
from previous habits and experiment with the “new” Method, a whole new world
of sensory and spiritual pleasures awaits him or her! “In one’s pursuit of the
greatest level of skill or art, one has to lose oneself and find back
oneself.” – Lin Xiu Min
Some words about the Author of this
text: Mr. Lin
Xiu Min is one of the most talented young pianists I have ever met… He took
part in our Master-Courses (under this link one could
find the appropriate photos) in Olsztyn twice, and was invited by the Joseph Hofmann Society in Wroclaw (Poland) to give
the gala-recital that added splendor to the Wroclaw-City Cultural and Art's Award
celebration. Before we started our artistic
co-operation, Mr. Lin Xiu Min studied privately with several prominent piano
professors in Australia. He is currently studying medicine (!!!) in
Australia, but wishes to embark on formal music studies after graduation. The repertoire of Mr. Lin Xiu Min
includes large amount of the piano concert pieces and, in my opinion, his
talent could bring his into the larger musical scene in the very short time.
Mr. Lin Xiu Min - performing the
III-rd Part of Chopin's Concerto in E Minor in The Olsztyn Philharmony (Poland)
Published: 2005-10-14 |
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