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Growing technique of playing and teaching the piano: Chopin &
Neuhaus' Method. Motto I: "Whoever is moved by music
to the depths of the soul, and works on the instrument like possessed one,
who loves music and his instrument with passion - will acquire virtuoso
technique; he/she will be able to recreate the artistic image of the composition;
he/she will be a performer." Harry Neuhaus Motto II: "Music lives within us, in
our brain, in our consciousness; its "domicile" can be accurately
defined: it is our hearing." Harry Neuhaus Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Searching for the system 3. Some words about
Energy 4. Forming basic
sound 5. A question of The
Beauty 6. Two options in a
view 7. New inspirations 8. Touch the keys! 9. Strengthening
fingers 10. Coordination in
its best 11. Creating
patterns 12. Artistic honesty 13. An anecdote and
the conclusion Introduction "A
Pole at hearth, but due to his genius - a citizen of World". This is how
C. Norwid, a poet, wrote of Frédéric Chopin, whose music is enjoyed, studied
and played with a greater love world-wide for more than 150 years. His
compositions and life were examined and documented thoroughly. Unfortunately
his piano method which has never been finished in writing, is being gradually
forgotten even in teaching of the academic levels. In truth, Chopin's Method
has never been admitted by the Western piano tradition as idea of really
great practical value. That is why it is much better known among
musicologists, then familiarized by the pianists. Meanwhile, due to its
far-sighted wisdom, the Chopin's Method might be seen as remarkably
profitable support for the pianists: for beginners as well as for
professionals. This formula fulfils all the requirements that contemporary
musicians could expect from professional piano schooling system. Though,
they, maybe, would need some kind of guidance that will help them to
assimilate the Chopin's teaching armory. The
article you actually are reading through offers the help of such kind - this
text interprets some basic aspects of the Chopin's Method that might be seen
as elements of the key importance. My personal way to this formula was not
direct and took quite a long time. That is why I am afraid, at first I should
briefly explain some additional belongings until I start to introduce the
capital substance of my discoveries. I am
still afraid that being not an English native speaker, I probably cannot
shape my explanations as clearly as it should be done. Therefore I would like
to appeal for your patience: let you just try to recognize the cantus
firmus that I just try to illuminate from many points of view. This is a
name of the matter! One
of my Friends had given such comment to my interpretation of the Chopin's
Method: "I
gather that we should concentrate on sound production and tonal control
rather than thinking purely of the mechanical aspects of playing the
piano." However
his opinion is truly right, as I think - it might better be shaped in such
form as below: "We
should firmly focus our attention on sound production and tonal &
emotional control because only in this way we can truly upgrade our
instrumental technique as a whole." As
John Ruskin said: "Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the
heart of man go together." My interpretation of the Chopin's Method
surely tries to go toward this side. Searching
for the system Searching
for a system that could provide the decisive success in professional piano
schooling, we might have to look for a special skill, which will give a
possibility to combine the imaginable artistic image of the musical Form
with the real pianist's action. By surprise, in 1995 I have got some truly
remarkable help in this way reading a book by Barry Sears, Ph.D.: "The
Zone; A Dietary Road Map" (Regan Books; USA, 1995). Dr. Sears took a
zone, a notion this book tells about, from sport's language: the American
athletes' elite uses it for quite a long time. The zone means them - a
near euphoric state of maximum physical, mental and psychological
performance. Being a medical researcher, Dr. Sears describes such condition
as the metabolic state in which the body works at peak efficiency. Thanks to
various free associations, the zone settled my thinking about piano
technical schooling on the absolutely new path. Firstly I started to test a
particular zone in the sound's quality that according to
Chopin's statement might be used as the factor that can help to focus
attention in piano playing on, professionally seen, the most important
aspects of the sound. As
Chopin wrote in his Projet de méthode: In this immensity
of sounds we should find a region in which the vibrations are more easily
perceptible to us (look at: J-J. Eigeldinger, Chopin: pianist and
teacher as seen by his pupils, Cambridge University Press, 1986). This
very precise and concrete suggestion, unfortunately, has never been noticed
in theory of the piano as something of greater importance for
the piano technical schooling. Just suddenly I discovered - how the zone
should be applied in practicing the piano... Afterwards, in the Tellefsen's Treatise
of piano technique (Frédéric Chopin. Esquisses pour une méthode de
piano. Textes réunis et présentes par Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger. Paris,
1993; Chapter 3) I found some declarations of this Chopin's scholar that
fully certify the adequacy of my suppositions in this matter. In
1999 I found the next greatly intriguing Chopin's indication at the
introductory part of the Sketches. This is, inter alia, how he
wrote about real problems of the piano technique: "...[you have]
to learn how to properly realize the long and short sounds..." (Frédéric
Chopin. Esquisses pour une méthode de piano. Textes réunis et présentes par
Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger. Paris, 1993). Reading
such advice I was truly confused - what does it should actually mean?
Why just "long and short sounds"? Which kind of difficulties might
be hidden here? Why for he would like to introduce the "long and short
sounds" as the particular piano technical problem? These
both indications: - "a zone of the dynamic value in which the
sounds are most easily perceptible to us" - and the problem of "longer and shorter
sounds" must
been used in our tries to interpret the Chopin Method's entirety as a
real bottom of the matter. Having no evidences of similar kind, still
searching for basically substantial information, we would be involved in
operating among hypotheses and possibilities of unverifiable character only. In
any case, these both indications, especially in alliance with easily
determinable character of Chopin's definitions of the music, are giving
enough much light on the problem. From this reason, quite soon after, I
started to experimentally test their practical worth. I was sure that this
path in thinking about possibilities of the practical usage of Chopin's
Method could open surprisingly great perspectives. Of course, I was not the
first teacher who tried to use the Chopin's Method in his piano practice. For
example, this method has been very successfully used by one of the greatest,
in my opinion, piano masters in the whole history of the piano teaching - by Prof.
Harry Neuhaus (1888-1964). In particular sense of the word - he even developed
and made the Chopin's Method more clear for piano teachers of our
time; especially his clarification concerning manual aspects of the piano
technique should be perceived as the absolutely adequate one. In any case
yet, such objective elements of the Chopin's Method that are presented
in this article - have never been formerly noticed, even in the Prof.
Neuhaus' writings. After
sufficiently long and many-sided test period in Finland, Germany and Poland I
may actually say that the practical solutions proposed by Chopin's Method and
presented in this article, are thoroughly helpful and might seriously support
the technique of playing and teaching the piano. After all, they represent
such kind of clarity, that the each one pianist should be able to put them
into his/her practice without any external help. Some
words about Energy Many
musicians are truly able to play the piano very well but in spite of it they
play poorly, without joy or satisfaction. That is the question - why? For a
long time I have been particularly interested in relations between the
technique of piano playing and the artistic vision of
the music that one tries to play. My attention, especially, has been focused
on practical usage of such vision as a working background in
the instrumental action. Because it was very clear to me that the result of
any action strictly depends on way of handling the energy in
it, I started just from this fundamental question. Here are my conclusions: I. Irrational management of energy produces the most common tribulations
in the piano technique; it appears as result of combined influence of some
nearly inadvertent defects, as: - The players'
deficient desire to animate the interpreted music. - The players'
incomplete consciousness of artistic sense of the musical Form that is
being shaped in playing. - The players'
incomplete vision of the piano sound's quality as of something that definitely
rules the piano technique. - The players'
inadequate knowledge of the "policies" that determine the energetic
interaction between hands as organs of the body, and the piano keyboard. Well, if the
players' thinking, hearing and manual acting are
organized on such deficient base - the whole work must bring only little effect.
A conception that interprets the technical side of piano playing as something
purely functional and therefore - artistically neutral, totally sterilizes
fantasy, makes the play boring and, at last, overloads the
players physically, too. Due to practicing directed by artistically and
mechanically inadequate base one obviously must feel a lack of satisfaction
and try to look for the formula that will clear up this unpleasant situation.
In this case the idea of making the fingers stronger and stronger
surely can appear at the first place as something "rational". The
idea of that kind focuses the pianist's attention on second-class elements of
the matter yet: the various finger-exercises must reappear in the
center of regard... Many pianists can
interpret it as the most natural solution, but in fact such approach
definitely establishes the whole work in fully ineffective shape. The wrong option,
too - are attempts to acting in the world of pure fantasy and tries to solve
all the operational problems in piano playing in this way only. These both
magical circles -: purely mechanical and purely mental - have
to be conjoined "by and in" the pianist's hearing. Something at
last should connect all the elements of playing into one fully
effective system; unfortunately such stimulus would very rarely arise from
the player's own inside. II. The technical education of pianists based on mechanistic,
anatomic-physiological or purely psychological order induces an irrational
management of energy in playing the piano. Irrational
management of energy in piano playing is at least not accidental only. It
might even be determined by quasi-scientific theories, which in essence
regard the pianist as a composite of mechanisms of
nearly pure physical nature. However, sometimes, the pianist could be wrongly
portrayed as almost metaphysical being that can solve all the
technical questions in piano playing solely using his/her mental
powers. It has been known
for very many years that a mastery in the piano does not mean the
manual perfection only, but rather an art of creating the virtual
Beauty in really sounding musical appearance.
So, it should be understandable, that the mastery in such kind of art might
be reached only through use of professionally appropriate techniques that
makes possible many-sided processing of one's own musical ideas.
Consequently, the professionally adequate piano technique cannot be
achievable via practice exclusively supported by the mechanistic, anatomic-physiological
or solely psychological base. In such cases the focus of attention
to entirely mechanical or purely mental aspects of playing will
automatically set the major questions of our art far away from any one
possibility to solve them. It should be clear for us all, that the Musical Art mainly affects the
hearing and therefore our attention has to firmly be focused on development of
professionally proper hearing skills. III. The conviction that physical power and velocity of fingers decide the
technical development in playing the piano - is the fundamental mistake and
reason for all instrumental troubles in the piano education. Factually, I hope,
every piano teacher could agree that artistic growth in the piano is
achievable, firstly, through development of creative musical hearing and
through activation of the musical fantasy, which both should act in our work
as the powerful command center. At the same time
yet, almost constantly, the power and velocity of fingers are the dominant
problems in the piano technical schooling. Placing such elements at central
point of ones thinking about technique of the piano certainly will cause very
bad results because such interpretation does not respect the basic role of
imaginary side of the sound's quality complex in shaping the
musical form in performance. Such interpretation, firstly, does not even
conceive HOW musical fantasy's activity and the sound's quality inspection
can induce the technically proper hands' action in playing the piano. That is why the everyday piano teaching
practice is still usually divided into technical and artistic
part. Due to this fact, for example, Chopin's art of touché (a kind of
touch, beloved by Chopin as a manner of not only physical
contact with a keyboard in his art of piano playing) is at time almost
unachievable. It is nearly clear - why so. As I think, it happens because of
very common tendency to handle matters in piano playing strictly logically. I
mean - through all possible sorts of analysis that are natural procedures in
scientific research. That tendency, unfortunately, destroys artistic
creativity and totally dries the matter. In
our art we need of course analyses, but at first we have to obtain the
skills of creating a musically rational [mobile] vision of the piano sound (http://www.pianoeu.com/russianpiano.html) that could
activate our desire for creativity. As well we need some practical hearing
skills that must actually direct the whole technical side of playing. The
creative musical hearing that should guide the pianist's acting, must give
the hands the proper operational commands. Of course, we have to intensely
listen to our inner voices if we would like to create the musical form on
really abundant base. But at first we have to be adequately inform
what about actually happens in the technically most essential levels of
sounds' external (dynamic) and internal (motional &
emotional) sides. Well, seeking for these specific hearing skills we
have to determine the object that we ought to intensely watch over in
playing. The Chopin's answer is very clear - "In this immensity of
sounds we should find a region in which the vibrations are more easily
perceptible to us"; of course we have to determine some
specific attributes of this object that have to be primarily observed. Forming
basic sound In
opposition to many questionable orders that factually disintegrate the
hands' action, Chopin's priceless touché smoothly connects
all elements in playing the piano. Such touch practically makes the
fingers strictly dependent from quality of players' abilities to hear
creatively and, as well, of acting of theirs artistic fantasy. Because the touché
of Chopin's mode really means a great deal more than only a special kind
of contact with a keyboard: it thoroughly assists the whole
operational part of creating an artistic idea in playing the piano. How is
possible to achieve such kind of a touch - is the main question of my
article. I
started my searches from problem of energetic management in the technical
side of playing. Not only in my opinion exactly this question is of key importance
in the whole piano technical schooling. In the all probability just F. Liszt
personally said: "All technique originates in the art of touch and
returns to it" (J-J. Eigeldinger, Chopin: pianist and teacher,
op. cit., p. 17). Well, because unfortunately there is only one
share of energy in a human being, the pianists ought to economize their
own powers: if ineffective kind of touch uses up too much
energy, the lack of energy for the higher, creative activity,
must come to light "earlier or later". Pianists, of course, must
exert their powers and however they do need rather not much of them, they do
need the particular power only - the benevolent one. Unfortunately, in the
same way as good and bad cholesterol exists, or good and
bad super-hormones, which Dr. Sears wrote about in his book - good
and bad kinds of power in the hands of pianist also exist. In
attempts to obtain such "good" powers I have written in foregoing
paragraph about, the pianist will get an essential help using the "sound's
quality detector" alias - the Zone. The notion of The Zone
should firstly be interpreted as "the dynamic vision of a sound in ones
fantasy", and after then - should be practically used as "the
reference value" in practicing and playing the piano. Working on the piano
technique without any help of such kind, one actually must engage much too
much physical energy even for realization of truly easy-care tasks. In any
case, only having the ideal pattern that the pianist should
formerly create, he could be able to professionally censure the quality
of his playing. Having such pattern in central point of the attention one can
start to searching for the best kind of power for one's hands. It cannot
happen through purely physical exercising of fingers but it should particularly
be realized likely oppositely to any other type of the physical
effort! One
surely will find and be able to develop the benevolent power in his/her
hands, but solely through a distinct kind of a soft touch, born
in assistance of precise ear control and of the active artistic
imagination. Due to powerful impact of these factors, the pianist's
co-operation with "resistant forces" of the keyboard will work
without any disturbances and with minimal participation of a raw physical
power. The pianist's fingers will consequently achieve the similar kind of
contact with the keyboard, as the right hand of the skilful cellist has with
the bow. Using the zone as the operational facility can help to
install the genuine Chopin's touché into the technical practice of the
pianists. It will develop the creative musical hearing up to such quality,
that at last all the applicable elements in the playing will be conjoined
into one, well-integrated system. In my
own experience I may say that especially at the first phase of work one
obviously should focus one's hearing on quite thin, mezzo -
still, dynamically - not weak zone of the sound's power. Even
very small non-controlled growth of sound's energy mostly
directs unskilled hearing into a specific insensibility. As
well even relatively small reduction of dynamic pitch could make such ears "non-interested"
in hearing. That happens, probably, on the same physiological basis, as it
can be observed in seeing, feeling of a taste, of a temperature, a lighting,
etc. So, for the best, one should start one's personal search for the supreme
piano technique exactly from this dynamic zone, he/she really can
experience with the whole accuracy and with greater personal enjoyment. It
should be - for her, for him, for you and me - just the most natural and
beautiful kind of the sound. Chopin's scholar, Th. D. A. Tellefsen wrote in
his Treatise of piano technique (Frédéric Chopin. Esquisses pour
une méthode de piano. Textes réunis et présentes par Jean-Jacques
Eigeldinger. Paris, 1993; Chapter 3) - "such homogeneous,
peaceful and not exalted sound forms the basis of music and is being achieved
not for many pianists". Approach
to the quality of such basic sound should remember the process of
forming of the human voice by bel canto. The everyday practicing must
be started neither - from shouting, nor from crying - but just from humming.
After then the singer may carefully start singing. For me, the next useful
similarity could be found in the image of an ancient well. One cannot get the
best water drawing it from too low depths; it cannot be drawn, as well, from
too high levels of the well - one has to draw it from just the exact
level. There
exist the next, very important aspect of the matter - our imaginable source
must be alive: the vision of the sound, which forms the virtual
basis of the real sound - has to be mobile; it must actually flow
along! If not - due to uncompromising impact of the emotional resonance (http://members.surfeu.fi/kutrzeba/rezonans.html),
played sounds (motives, phrases, the whole musical Forms) would be perceived
as something emotionally stagnant, and therefore - would be boring. A
question of The Beauty Well,
a question of The Beauty must persistently be present in center of our
work. As Chopin said, again: "In this immensity of sounds we find
a region in which the vibrations are more easily perceptible to us".
To catch it up there must be used in playing a next supplementary value:
a feeling of the physical comfort and pleasure in the hands.
Such one is achievable only through precise internal control and could be
defined as the sensitively determinable level of the ease in
the pianist's hands, which if crossed over, causes very undesirable
consequences in the sound's quality. One should remember that even relatively
small growth of non controlled stress in working unskilled hands readily
directs into the specific muscle's insensibility which if combined with ears'
passivity, gives at last the truly non-professional, boring and artistically
unhappy piano playing. Reversibly,
even some minutes long, quiet, still intensive training in such a "region
in which the vibrations are more easily perceptible to us", so -
in the proper (basic) dynamic zone of the sound - will unconditionally
bring the very improvement of playing quality. Various instrumentally
important details will be explained some paragraphs below and, especially -
in files that could be reached by links added at the end of this page. Without
special professional training only very great musical talents could achieve
truly good instrumental technique. A commonly talented pianist just need in a
tutoring of that kind to obtain the proper hearing skills by certain way of
training. Unfortunately, there are not many sources that can precisely tell how
one must listen to one's own playing as the truly skilful pianist does. As
well it would be not easy to get an answer on such questions as: - "how is possible to detect such
details in playing that operationally are most important "? - and "how
they should be processed "? Doubtlessly,
the both of them are very important in the piano technical schooling.
Generally, the question we are actually speaking about could be defined as
"how exactly looks the object that one must strongly
control if tries to find the technically most effective solution in
playing the piano?" In
many occasions the students can read and hear about the sound's quality,
or about the tone, timbre, color, etc. These words are very poetic.
They all are the beautiful and instructively useful notions, but in the
deeper sense of a matter using them only will bring not enough worthy
results. The students need in artistically firm impulses for their fantasy.
Therefore we have to use many characteristic notions, thoughts and ideas to
growing theirs mental activity. At the same time they must obtain very
simple, real and handy tools for developing their hearing technique
yet; these tools must firmly serve theirs piano technique. The
main technical thought of the Chopin's formula is, as I see, just as handy
and functional: the pianists should find the zone of
exactly this kind of sound's quality that they really can control with the
greatest accuracy. The
next step should be characterized as the phase of work that will give
the sound's vision enough virtual energy to flow inside the Zone. This
conclusion comes easily to light after joining together Chopin's indication
concerning "the short and long sounds" and his definitions of the
music in which he constantly tells about "speaking",
"revealing", "presenting", etc. He always speaks about acting
then, and this is very apparent - why so! It is because of the piano sound's
terrible attribute of physical immobility and due to incontestable great
impact of the emotional resonance. Just therefore the pianists
have to put their fantasy into action and create the flowing vision of
a sound despite real duration of the sounds. The staccato (short)
sounds CANNOT destroy the general FLUENTNESS of the musical drive. As well
the length of the longer sounds must be fulfilled with emotional and
mental motion that will positively affect the listeners, giving the pianists
possibility to practical realization of cantabile via
the piano (likely) immobile sound. Of
course, I would not like to say that in my opinion Chopin has personally
interpreted his vision of the matter in the similar categories. I must still
admit that such interpretation of the problem to the dots agree with the all
evidences one can get looking for substantial information about Chopin's
manner of teaching and playing the piano. For me it is extremely joyful that
exactly this model of the piano technical solution I am actually writing
about has been practically approved many hundred times at my master-classes
in several European countries. Furthermore it has been acclaimed as truly
beneficial one by very many highly talented piano youngsters as well as by
their teachers. Two
options in a view You,
surely, remember well this J. Ruskin's sentence: "Fine art is
that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together."
These all, nice, hearable and imaginable things - as "head,
hearth..." could be practically efficient only in case if
the students would be able to "find and touch" the third value of
the similarly great importance yet: the particular level of freedom
and sensual pleasure in theirs hands. And - reversibly: this
value could be detectable and attainable only in case if they
correspondingly would like to search for, and be able to find the proper zone
in the sound's quality. Only creating the Flowing Vision of the Sound
they would be at last able to obtain their individual basic sound. At
this place I would like to bring in the Tellefsen's name again. He was the
Chopin's student within about five years and Chopin appealed just personally
him to finish up the Méthode. Tellefsen writes clearly that the
quality and volume of a sound thoroughly depend upon the use of hands'
weight. We may add here - "via rational help of fingers' agility
and theirs energy", of course. In any case, it has to be really evident
that there exist only the two eventualities: A. Or - the pianists would like to utilize the weight of fingers,
forearms and hands - separately or as an entirety, in agree to any concrete
circumstances (http://members.surfeu.fi/kutrzeba/pict.html). B. Or - they will have to persistently cope with the force
of gravitation, use theirs muscles for keeping hands in the air, and in spite
of it employ them in a fight against resistant force of the keys. These
both options concern the mechanic part of playing the piano.
What can we say about mental & emotional part
of the matter? Chopin's
texts constantly maintain the acting. In my opinion, it should especially
affect the "longer and shorter sounds" which remorselessly betray
the pianist's artistic inactivity. The instrumentalists who play strings and
winds, or the singers - they all have possibilities to form the sound within
full time of its length. The pianists do not have such possibility and
therefore they absolutely HAVE TO DO SOMETHING, I mean - they have to activate
the piano sound (again: especially when playing the "longer or
shorter sounds" which remorselessly betray the pianist's inner
artistic inactivity). Because the emotional resonance works
invariably always and everywhere, the pianists should seriously take under
consideration such points as: A. Or they will vitalize the vision of a sound, changing purely mental
work into combined activity of fantasy and creative hearing. B. Or
they will be accursed to lose the fight against artistic immobility as well
as to lose the battle against the keyboard... Many
additional explanations concerning the technique of the piano could be found
via links "Special aspects of the piano technique" and
"Particular questions - individual answers" placed at the end of this
page. At this place I just like to remind that wanting to get more clear
image of the matter you unconditionally have to read Prof. Neuhaus'
clarifications concerning manual aspects of the piano technique in his famous
book "Art of Piano Playing"! Constantly
watching the alternations that take place in the sound's moving inside, the
pianists can adequately guide the evolution of the artistic idea in the
playing. And however, as I suppose, almost all piano players deeply believe
in necessity of highly correct hearing - many of them are listening to the
sounds just superficially, like concert listeners do. To be really well
informed about what is going on in the playing, they should
listen to the sound of the piano during ones playing on truly professional
way. So,
they should simultaneously try to: - Generate the proper
(mobile) vision of the sound, - Produce the sound
in possibly effortless way (utilizing the weight of fingers, forearms and
hands - separately or as an entirety, in agree to any concrete
circumstances), - Verify its quality
and realize the necessary corrections as soon as possible. I
would like to maintain now, and even stress again my deep belief in
irrationality of every physical movement in playing - if it not
directly promote the artistic idea of actually performing musical element.
For many reasons, especially in practicing classical music, it is possible to
use artistically "empty" movements to an alarming extent. The use
of the zone might change such practice definitely; if the empty
(artistically invalid) tone still arises - the player, as a result,
will lose a feeling of pleasure in the hands! I have understood
this aspect that put the finishing touches on my new comprehension of the
piano technique just accidentally associating a zone, which Dr. Sears
has used as a notion related to a medical question - with the idea of
perfectionism in playing the piano; the nuance of this notion (a zone)
has worked like a taste of madeleine or a sound of knocked flagstone
in "À la recherché du temps perdu" (by M. Proust). Many
things have appeared in my imagination in completely new colors. Relations
and similarities between matters that seemingly exist so far one from
another, like "Une Méthode de piano" of Chopin, TAO and the
technique of using a bow in the Russian method of the violin - have come to
light. New
inspirations The
old Chinese TAO (A WAY) is neither a religion nor a pure philosophy;
paradoxically - despite its mysterious character TAO is to me, clearly
worded, much closer to the earthly side of the everyday life, than religion
or philosophy commonly is. I have personally been helped very strongly
through its powerful mind & body techniques and others practical
skills. Its methods of physical relaxation, breathing, and more - that strengthens
stamina, improves mental concentration and refreshes memory, are incredibly
valuable in my personal life as well as in my pedagogy. Thanks to TAO I have
understood the meaning of soft, gentle and flexible type of motion as factors
that can strongly stimulate the benevolent power's growth in the hands of
pianists. I have noticed with a great joy that pedagogic opinions of Chopin
and his famous intolerance to dull finger exercises are very close to general
Taoist principles of training (the victory - through souplesse). I see
a similarly wise philosophy of motion in the Russian school of violin. I
became acquainted with the theoretical standpoint of these methods many years
ago and I was very lucky becoming personally acquainted with them in 1993, 1995
and 1997 in Bad Sobernheim, Germany, at the Mattheiser Summer-Academy.
Parallel to other activities I have accompanied here more than two
hundred lessons by the prominent Russian teacher and virtuoso, Prof.
Valery Klimov - D. Oistrakh's successor at the Moscow Conservatory. Generally
said, he dealt in the violin technique field with the sense of using just this,
not that part of the player's hand or body for the realization
of the concrete artistic task. Again: he tried to upraise the degree of rationality
in use of energy in violin playing. We have to admit that he acted in
fully accordance to the old-Eastern tradition as well, as to
the new Western point of view, that generally interpret the
problem of the body and it's acting in terms of energy. Thanks
to many clear similarities among D. Oistrakh school's pedagogy and my own
image of Prof. Neuhau's teaching mode I began to understand - what probably
Chopin had liked to say by himself about his own piano teaching in
his unfinished "Méthode". At first I can saw then - how
does it practically act? How the
fingers must work to animate the hand? How the palm
should work as a mobile base for the fingers? And what ought to happen in the
other parts of the arm that should continually be in assistance there as a
natural base in playing, but that may not work instead of the
fingers and palm's activity. Generally - what does it practically mean: the
rational division of roles and competencies inside the working mind &
body entirety. It is
also not strange that just Prof. Klimov, however thanks to analogies only,
showed me the convenient way to my new understanding of the Chopin's
technical idea. Leggiero and cantabile were both the very
remarkable pedagogic instruments in Chopin's piano teaching; later his students
and, in round numbers, generations of teachers almost forgot their great
operational convenience. Fortunately, these values fully survived in their
entirety in the Russian school of violin, in which the technical ease of
playing and the artistic abundance of cantabile enjoying the highest
honor, as in the bel canto - so much beloved by Chopin. Touch
the keys! Some
years ago (...!) I attended the `P. Tchaikovsky´ Conservatory of Music
in Moscow as a pedagogical trainee. Prof. J. I. Milstein, my mentor there,
was a wonderful pianist and a man of renowned learning. Formerly he worked
the assisting-professor of Prof. Konstantin Igumnov, one of the greatest
Russian piano masters of the 20th century. "Chopin's advice to the
pianists" (Moscow, MUSICA, 1967) by J. I. Milstein is not a lengthy
work, but unquestionably a very interesting one. He collected there and with
thorough knowledge put in order the very many sure facts on Chopin's views on
piano and piano pedagogy. Accidentally, not long ago, I looked up some pages
of this compendium again: In Part Four (p. 80) one can read as follows -
"... wanting to eliminate harnesses and a wrong tension from his hands,
one should start to play the piano not with legato, but rather with
the light, soft staccato, with attention to full flexibility and ease
in the palm and wrist. After that Chopin advises to go to a light portato,
legato marcato, and, in the end, to a true, full-valued legato,
which should be exercised through various tempos in forte as well as
in piano." And herein after (p. 85): "... the equality of the
touch should be achieved through the rational use of fingers - not
through dull knocking on the keys that is against the nature of a hand.
Exercises should be played with a free hand, with slightly collected fingers
that one should not rise high, but rather keep in close contact with the
keyboard ("before one starts to play - one should touch the keys with
one's fingers" - is a very characteristic piece of Chopin´s
advice)." These
quotations of course shed not so much new light on actual information of
Chopin's method, indeed. Still thanks to them I have started to think more
deeply of the special meaning and importance of the whole Chopin's piano
pedagogy again. In 1995/6, I hope - definitely - I have understood its
absolutely great significance and, consequently, thanks to that happy advance
I started practically use such exclusively precious kind of touch that
was for me totally unknown before. Without Chopin's strictly determined way
of training - through the specific, light and soft staccato,
and in the following - through the specific, light and soft portato,
legato marcato, it could not be possible at all. Now -
let us describe how all these "specifics" of the
Chopin's mode virtually are looking alike? This is the very important
question! Strengthening
fingers My
personal way to the really well working piano teaching technique took quite a
long time and was not direct. I persistently tried and tried again to find
the best kind of motion, I observed a nature, I watched the children - how
they use their hands in the very common situations when they are free
of stress and fully absorbed in the action, etc. But only
after watching in detail how the authentic violin virtuoso uses
the bow and listening his clear explanations of it - at last I have
understood: what does it mean - "the singing instrumental legato".
Consequently, I think - I have found, maybe, the right way to understanding how
it should practically be fulfil in playing the piano, too. I understand, too,
that to find out this full-valued singing legato of Chopin's style
without clear imagination of such kind of motions that have been defined some
paragraphs above as typically Chopin's "specific, light and soft staccato"
and "specific, light and soft portato" - could be quite a
difficult job. At first I have to say that it unconditionally helps a great
deal if one uses a rule: "the fingers activate the hand - there is
not the other way round". A
phrase of entirely same meaning one can find, as well, in the earlier quoted
Prof. J-J. Eigeldinger's work: "In Chopin's playing, the fingers
activate the whole arm..." (Chopin: pianist and teacher, op.
cit., p. 18). Really, such kind of use of the hands has an incomparable
great importance for the piano technique. Commonly, the physical energy of a
player comes rectilinearly from higher parts of the hand and enforces
the fingers. In such a case one obviously must play in any
technically incompetent way, which Chopin ironically titled as
"striking", "crashing", "knocking",
"rattling", etc. Therefore, due to the hands' particular
properties, the way proposed by Chopin, through "...the light, soft staccato,
with attention to full flexibility and ease in the palm and wrist",
while the fingers really must activate the hands - might definitely be seen
as the most convenient one for the pianists. It quickly becomes apparent that
if using a touché of Chopin's style to develop one's technique, one
certainly has to use rather less power of ones muscles.
Optimizing their drive by active use of the Zone will produce better
harmony between hands and the keyboard, which will be experienced by the
players as real strengthening of the fingers. We
must say that the fingers and the palm always should act as a compact
unit that can operate properly thanks to "full flexibility
and ease" in wrist - that is the point of truly strategic importance
in the whole technical armory of piano playing. If such a joint becomes
"closed" or immovable due to any stress - the game is
nearly over...! The fingers and the palm, which should operate
together as a mobile base for the fingers - have at once quite enough weight,
power and capacity for implementation of surprisingly many technical duties.
But, they could fulfil their tasks only if they are adequately
integrated in the action and - if the wrist helps them as a truly
flexible joint that connects them smoothly with other parts of the hand being
there as a basic, obviously - mobile support. In truth: the
mobile palm and other parts of the hand should continually support the
fingers. This is the next point of the very great importance in the
Chopin's idea of the piano technical schooling. Coordination
in its best The
very common mistake is to use, permanently, the whole arms or the major
parts of them for the fulfillment of the very delicate duties, which can
easily be realized by approximately small and mobile instruments. Normally,
such tasks have to be realized by the fingers in their excellent co-operation
with the palm and wrist. At any rate the other parts of the arm should
continually be in assistance as natural base for the whole action there. Such
assistance may not mean more than just a help, yet. Those
other parts of the arm should not work instead of the compact
unit's proper activity (the fingers and the palm ought to act together
as a well-integrated system). One must clearly understand the sense of
rational division of roles and competencies inside the working hands. According
to many opinions of former Chopin's students and persons who were close to
him - in search for the most easy way to staccato of the Chopin's
character a hand (a finger) should only to "skim a key as a wing of
dragonfly does" (C. Dzialynska - in: J-J. Eigeldinger, Fryderyk
Chopin, Szkice do metody gry fortepianowej, Musica Jagiellonica, Krakow
1995, p. 113). So, it should not happen "through the dull knocking on
the keys"! As well, a search for the really singing legato of the
Chopin's mode should be enriched by the particular kind of exercising with
precise portato cantabile, that through highly disciplined hearing
builds a tough connection between the idea of a sound and its real
sounding appearance. This
is how I see the question of the Chopin's "specifics". It is
naturally not the whole range of the subject; every player must remember that
even the most accurate kind of motion, even if totally agree with Chopin's
direction - represents just nothing more than solely the external, physical
part of piano playing. Factually, only using such hearing device as
the imaginable Zone, and being able to put it into motion - the
pianist would be able to practically achieve the miraculous touch of the
Chopin's kind. The best kind of coordination among all the virtual factors
and mechanic elements inside of acting mind & body entirety
would be finally achievable. Creating
patterns As it
happens in many other serious matters, the definite success in piano
technical schooling depends upon very delicate factors as well as upon very
weighty aspects of the thing - such as talent, luck, destiny, etc. I mean,
for instance, it depends - too - upon differences between the
kind of touch proposed by Chopin and a raw, non-professional, an
awkward one. On the surface these differences could be about invisible, but
in truth - they are of the basic importance. For better understanding of it
one should personally TRY to use the Chopin's touché in one's own
piano playing... Practically,
such work should be started from exercising the wished musical phrase just
without a rough force, totally. One could try to take some tones of a phrase
very gently, firstly - with light staccato "with slightly
collected fingers", very freely and intensely taking care of any aspect
of the sound's quality as well as of comfort in his/her fingers and arms.
"After that Chopin advises to go to a light portato, legato
marcato, and, at the end, to a true, full-valued legato, which
should be exercised through various tempos in forte as well as in
piano" (J. I. Milstein, op.cit.). Naturally, the whole exercising
must not resemble dull, mechanical making ready! For the best;
one has to go on and go ahead, persistently trying to gain possibly
full-bodied appearance of one's own artistic idea, searching for the proper Zone
of the sound's value and constantly activating the vision of a sound. At
this phase of work one ought to remember that the full-singing legato
(and - leggiero) is achievable just at the end of such a
relatively long preparative period; at the same time one will gradually
obtain this particular kind of touch that really joins all the
elements in piano technique. Essentially, the zone should act in the
playing all the time as the easily detectable border of the sound's
quality - which if crossed over, caused artistically very undesirable
consequences. Of course, its using requires close mental attention and a
permanent imaginative drive. Such a psychological compulsion for constant
intensity of the player's own attention to some concrete elements of his/her
own musical activity could be, in the didactic sense, as an aspect of
incomparable great worth. The player starts then to hear and "seen"
the all artistic reality of the musical form he/she would like to shape in
playing; clouded and uncertain will obtain contours and backgrounds,
changing itself into "rememberable", definite, and
emotionally - clear. Without
fail, depending on artistic purpose of the form one wants to create, he/she
must persistently create the patterns of quality of sound and
character that are necessary in the concrete phase of work. Pianissimo
or mezzo piano of a special timbre cannot be find - technically seeing
- in the same zone as another one. It is definitely logical.
Unfortunately, many piano players faithfully try and try to find all these
possible timbres and colors at the same place, which is, of course,
irrational and costs very much energy. This mainly happens due to an
imprudent, raw-hammered manner of articulation in piano playing, which
constantly directs all movements of the fingers to the same awkward place in
the similarly awkward manner. So, it happens due to absence of the
concrete sounding object that has to be watched and processed with
the similar genuine reality in which a carpenter handles his piece of wood. Using
the zone makes the whole piano sound's processing just as help as
possible because it makes clear the objective reality of the existing
sound. At this place I would like to maintain a fact,
that creative but professionally unskilled individuals usually listen rather
to their own imaginative internal sounds than to the really
existing sounding values. Using the Zone they might be greatly helped
in their way to normality in the piano. The staccato and portato
of the Chopin's kind can work as the truly benefit assistance in playing the
piano. The "common" staccato and portato rather
habitually divide a musical phrase into separately sounding details -
meanwhile these both of the Chopin's kinds really join the all elements of
musical reality that lives under sounding external appearance, giving them
possibility to act fluently and strengthening theirs internal integrity. I am
afraid that such a "theorem" could be proved only in the vivid
practice! As Chopin said by himself - "sound before word!" A
character, mood, artistic thought and idea - now come to light again as these
very important aspects of a subject, which should always be the leading
points of our work. I think, they really are the vital dominant motives
that should firmly be remembered in our artistic work, mainly,
because of such reason as below: - There exists
neither forte nor piano of a pure
acoustic value in the artistic musical interpretation. This
fact, unfortunately, is the most frequently forgotten thing in the whole
piano schooling. There lives in us rather too much deep faith in the
possibility of making beautiful music through the pure acoustic
motion of the sound, purely physically - without any personal
expressive, artistic intention. Or - through the pure mental activity, still
without any objective instrumental skills. The purely psychological point
of view in piano technical schooling is risky as well as the purely
mechanistic one: in longer perspective they both are similarly ineffective
due to absence of the professionally skilful hearing therein.
Those quasi-systems just likely regard the necessity of professionally
excellent processing of the really existing sound as something practically
inessential for the matter. If I may modulate a little the John
Ruskin's quotation: "Our art is that in which the hand, the head, the
heart and the ears of man go together." Artistic
honesty It is
astonishing that - seriously considering this problem - so few pianists are
interested in Chopin's technique and try to assimilate and evolve it
in their own practice. Perhaps it is because of the suspicion that Chopin's
method is suitable only for studying of his own pieces. This belief seems to
be actually wrong because all these things that were the main problems to
Chopin in his pedagogy are still important today. We
actually need the ergonomically well ordered playing and we are seeking for
perfectionism of a touch, for naturalness in performance. We would like to be
rich in articulations and we are responsible towards the musical text and its
IDEA. Though at the same time we would like to be spontaneous in our interpretation,
etc. Besides, we should remember that we truly would like to precisely know how
to skillfully deal with problems of that kind, Chopin dealt
with in his own teaching. As
seen in the larger perspective, the Chopin's piano pedagogic idea in our
highly computed times is even much more actual and necessary than
whenever earlier. In our piano-art it actually looks like a symbol of
artistic honesty. Chopin strongly liked the order in every art and saw a
great necessity to put his own views into a clear form - so, he started to
write a book in which his system of the piano could be presented throughout.
Unfortunately, this book was never finished, but in spite of it, really -
there is much more wisdom in these pages than in the "ten thousand"
pages of other books dealing with the similar problems (it's the Neuhaus'
opinion, too). Chopin's
dispassionate and unpretentious method is the most efficient one for all
those who like to get such kind of the strictly benevolent power that
undoubtedly can give them the technical potentiality to play
right the all piano music. It should mean - not only Nocturnes and Waltzes
of "poor Chopin", as probably could think all they who
personally never have had the opportunity to become closer acquainted with
his truly miraculous piano technical idea. An
anecdote and the conclusion Once
I saw a very good cartoon: Albert Einstein is standing in a lecture-hall in
front of the blackboard on which there are about ten thousand numbers, and at
the end - his famous formula. Einstein is evidently confused, in his hand he
has a piece of paper that is full of numbers, too. The scientist says: "...
if necessary, I'll give you my word of honor...!" I
hope that I do not have to give my word of honor! The zone - the
facilitation that helps to understand, operationally seen - the most
important element of Chopin's piano-technical idea, is surely the very
practical piece of advice. With a great joy and satisfaction I would like to
recommend it as a real answer to many, not only technical questions in the
piano playing. Every pianist should be able to easily put such a small detail
(as the zone is) into his/her own piano praxis. Consequently, the use
of the zone can thoroughly improve a quality of one's creative
hearing. Practically connecting ones fantasy with one's fingers it could help
to mature one's own artistic abilities, at last giving the pianists a full
manual comfort, too. Finally,
again, I would like to emphasize the role of a "double-track"
control when practicing and playing the piano. The pianists should examine
the quality of cantabile and mobility at shortest sounds as well as in
longest, too. At once they continually should examine the true degree of ease
in theirs hands. The high quality of articulation will be guaranteed by the leggiero
that will give the pianists' fingers the sincerely benevolent power;
parallel - the strong wish to play cantabile will eliminate all
tendencies to formality in piano playing. It is beyond doubt, that cantabile
and leggiero will not cheapen or sentimentalize our playing. Cantabile
- controlling by the zone, and leggiero - watching by the
pianists from theirs own inside, are only the highly beneficial technical
elements of the method and they just act in it like oil in an engine... Well,
in practicing the piano leggiero and cantabile ought to be
operationally applied as the basic technical elements of the work.
Speaking about piano technique it has to be absolutely sure that a touch
of the Chopin's kind, being easy achievable by using of the zone, will
act in our technique as the objective factor that distinguishes
the truly refined piano technique of Chopin's mood from commonly well ordered
piano playing. Using
the zone builds a tough connection between reality of the objective,
beautiful - still meaningless world of a sound, and the basic
creative powers of our vivid imagination, which must deal with material of
that kind, give it form and fulfil it with meaning. That is why
the zone as an element of the whole system is so important to me: its
impact on piano playing is a holistic, strongly integrated one. Using of the
zone radically accelerates the piano technical schooling because this
manner of work helps to eliminate all those physical and mental brakes that
have formerly been brought into one's playing habits, for example, due to
almost mechanical, or - too narrow psychological understanding of our art. I am
afraid I can not to prove the verity of these all my opinions using the fully
scientific procedure. As I have maintained earlier, I am rather an artist
than a scientist, and - at time - I have no possibility to organize such a
necessary chain of pedagogic experiments and investigations to creating the scientifically
clear image of all those things that practically exist in my
pedagogic practice. On the other hand the positive interest toward my courses
firmly legitimates my stable faith in higher efficiency of my interpretation
of the Chopin & Neuhaus' system. I use it personally since about 1996
with the greater artistic and pedagogic satisfaction. There
exist various paths to Chopin's method of teaching the piano. I have
discovered the Chopin's method in perspective of the zone and, mainly,
thanks to my studies on pedagogic principles of Prof. Neuhaus, whom I see as
the one and sole teacher who put the Chopin's method into personal tutorial
practice. Nowadays the Chopin & Neuhaus Method's practical
use is the main source of my great optimism in the piano pedagogic field! I
am furthermore convinced that such help could be very beneficial to many
musicians in theirs personal search for competent solution in the way to
mastery in teaching and playing the piano. I am deeply convinced that
proposition of this kind might positively inspire not only the pianists. In
any case just the violin technique of David Oistrakh's style was, maybe, the
first inspiration that opened my eyes and ears on values being formerly
unreadable to me in the Chopin & Neuhaus' piano pedagogic legacy. Thank you for your interest in my
interpretation of the Chopin & Neuhaus' piano system! I would be very
pleased reading any yours personal comment! Last Revised: 24.2.2005. SITE MAP: http://www.chopin.strefa.pl/site.html |
