Seven pillars of the piano technique

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5965/2525530406012021e0001

Keywords:

piano technique, corporal conscience, categories of healthy and efficient movements

Abstract

Piano technique has been widely discussed, and yet we are frequently confronted with outmoded beliefs concerning its dependence on factors such as natural talent, repetitive effort or hand size. The perpetuation of these antiquated notions can culminate in pain, injury, emotional problems, and even the definitive interruption of any artistic activity. This article aims to analyze and systematize approaches that strive for a healthy, rational and musical ways of thinking piano technique and categorize them into seven pillars: body posture, movement coordination, arm functions, including semi-circular and rotational  ovements, lateral displacement on the keyboard and note grouping for enhanced cognition and technical mastery. It is concluded that, despite of small disagreements between the authors, there is a convergence in the search of pianistic efficacy through  hysical well-being, translated into the development of body awareness and, consequently, in the quality and  ariety of sound. The categorization of the pillars, in turn, promotes easier access to the analyzed concepts and allows greater efficiency in their application.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Laura Boaventura Melo, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

Laura Boaventura, professora de piano e música de câmara da UFMG, graduou-se na classe da Professora Dra Celina Szrvinsk (UFMG), obteve o título mestre pelo Conservatório Rimsky Korsakov de São Petersburgo (Rússia) na classe de piano solo de Nadezha Esmond, música de câmara de Yulia Fedoseeva e acompanhamento de cantores de Irina Sharapova e de doutora em Música- Práticas interpretativas pela UFRGS sob a orientação da Professora Dra Cristina Capparelli. Sua pesquisa de doutorado investiga abordagens saudáveis, musicais e eficientes da técnica pianística.

Foi premiada em concursos nacionais e internacionais: Jovens solitas UFMG, Svet Rozhdestvenskoi Zvesdy (Finlândia), Grand Prix Vituoso Paris e Londres e Golden Classical Music Awards Competition ( EUA).

Tem se apresentado em vários países, tais como Argentina, Uruguai, México, Espanha, Suíça, Finlândia, Estados Unidos e Rússia, em importantes salas, dentre elas o Glazunov Hall de São Petersburgo e o Weil Hall do Carnegie Hall de New York.

 

Cristina Capparelli Gerling, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)

Cristina Capparelli GERLING distingue-se por conciliar as atividades de pianista, pedagoga e pesquisadora.  Professora na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul desde 1985, foi a primeira coordenadora do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Música iniciado em 1987, tendo se tornado professora titular em 1996. Com vários CDs de música brasileira e latino americana gravados, e com uma expressiva carreira artística, seus trabalhos investigativos voltam-se para a prática efetiva do instrumento, a projeção da expressividade na execução ao piano, bem como tópicos pontuais sobre a ansiedade do músico, memorização e bem estar na execução musical.  Além de premiados em concursos de instrumento, seus orientandos têm sido igualmente selecionados como docentes em escolas de renome no país e no exterior. Os resultados de suas pesquisas têm sido divulgados em revistas especializadas tais como Frontiers in Pschology- Performance Science da qual é editora convidada.

References

BERNSTEIN, Seymour. With your two hands. New York: Schirmer Books, 1981.

BIENFAIT, Marcel. As bases da fisiologia da terapia manual. Trad.Angela Santos. 2. ed.

São Paulo: Summus, 2000.

BONPENSIERE, Luigi. New Pathways to Piano Technique. New York: Philosophical Library, 1953.

BREITHAUPT, Rudolf Maria. Natural Piano-Technique: School of Weight-Touch. 2. ed. Trad. John Bernhoff. Leipzig: C.F. Kahnt Nachfolger, 1909.

CHIANTORE, Luca. Historia de la técnica pianística. Madrid: Alianza, 2001.

DEPPE, Ludwig. Armleiden der Klavierspielen. Deutsche Musikerzeitung, p. 325, 1885.

FIELDEN, Thomas. The science of pianoforte technique. London: Macmillan and Co, 1949.

FINGER Use: Curling versus Curving - an excerpt from the Taubman 10 DVD Series. [S.l.: s. n.], 2008. 1 vídeo (1 min). Publicado pelo canal The Golandsky Institute. Disponível em: https://youtu.be/_ydx84Sp1rc. Acesso em: 17 jan. 2018.

FINK, Seymour. Mastering Piano Technique: A Guide for Students, Teachers, and Performers. Portland: Amadeus Press, 1992.

FRASER, Alan. The Craft of Piano Playing: A New Approach to Piano Technique. 2. ed. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 2011.

GAT, Jozsef. The technique of piano playing. London: Collet’s, 1980.

GERIG, Reginald. Famous Pianists and Their Technique. 2. ed. Bloomington: Indiana

University Press, 2007.

KOCHEVITSKY, George. The Art of Piano Playing: A scientific approach. Miami: Summy-Bichard Company, 1967.

KOGAN, Grigory. Feruccio Busoni. Moscow: Compositores Soviéticos, 1971.

LISTER-SINK, Barbara. Let’s Get Physical: Técnica - uma conversa com Barbara Lister-Sink. [Entrevista cedida a] Scott McBride Smith. Keyboard Companion, v. 11, n. 1, Spring 2000.

LISTER-SINK, Barbara. Freeing the caged bird. Developing well-coordinated injury-preventive piano technique with Barbara Lister-Sink. Wingsound International, 2005. 1 DVD. Disponível em: www.freeingthecagedbird.com.

MARK, Thomas. What Every Pianist Needs to Know About the Body. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2003.

MATTHAY, Tobias. The act of touch in all its diversity: an analysis and synthesis of pianoforte tone-production. London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1903.

MATTHAY, Tobias. The Visible and Invisible in Pianoforte Technique. New York: Oxford University Press, 1932.

MATTHAY, Tobias. Piano fallacies of to-day. London: Oxford University Press, 1939.

MATTHAY, Tobias. The Visible and Invisible in Pianoforte Technique. 2. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1947.

MILANOVIC, Therese Elaine. Healthy virtuosity with the Taubman approach. APPCA Conference papper. Wagga Wagga: Charles Sturt University, 2011a.

MILANOVIC, Therese Elaine. The Taubman Approach to Piano Technique: What it is and What it isn’t. APPCA Conference paper. Wagga Wagga: Charles Sturt University, 2011b.

MILANOVIC, Therese Elaine. Learning and Teaching Healthy Piano Technique: Training as an Instructor in the Taubman Approach. Tese de doutorado. Queensland Conservatorium Arts, Education and Law. Brisbane: Griffith University, 2011c.

NEUHAUS, Henrich. The art of piano playing. Trad. K. A. Leibovich. Longwood Academic: Michigan University, 1973.

ORTMANN, Otto. The physiological mechanisms of piano technique. New York: Da Capo Press, 1929.

OSADA, Mayumi. The Lister-Sink method: A holistic approach to injury preventive piano technique. Thesis (PhD) – University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 2009.

SANDOR, Gyorgy. On piano playing: Motion, sound and expression. New York: Schirmer, 1981.

SAVSHINSKY, Samariy Ilich. O pianista e seu trabalho. Leningrado: Compositores Soviéticos, 1961.

SCHULTZ, Arnold. The riddle of the pianist’s finger and its relationship to a touch-scheme. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1936.

TAUBMAN INSTITUTE. Choreography of the hands: The work of Dorothy Taubman. Amherst, MA: Sawmill River Productions, 1986. 1 vídeo, extensão mp4.

TAUBMAN INSTITUTE. The Taubman Techniques: An in-depth analysis of a technique for virtuosity and prevention of injuries among musicians. Medusa, NY: Taubman Institute, 1995. Vols. 1-5. 1 vídeo, extensão mp4.

TAUBMAN INSTITUTE. Virtuosity in a box: The Taubman techniques. Medusa, NY: Taubman Institute, 2003. Vols. 6-10. 1 vídeo, extensão mp4.

TIMAKIN, Evgeny Mikhailovich. Educação do pianista. Moscow: Compositores Soviéticos, 1984.

TORRES DEL RINCÓN, Marta. La escuela anatómico-fisiológica de técnica pianística en Inglaterra y Alemania entre 1900 y 1939. Tesis (Doctorado) – Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2017.

WHITESIDE, Abby. Indispensables of piano playing. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1955.

WHITESIDE, Abby. On Piano Playing. Indispensables of Piano Playing, and Mastering the Chopin Etudes and Other Essays, ed, Joseph Prostakoff and Sophia Rosoff. Portland: Amadeus Press, 1997.

Artigos Temática Livre - Publicação Contínua

Downloads

Published

2021-06-17

How to Cite

MELO, Laura Boaventura; GERLING, Cristina Capparelli. Seven pillars of the piano technique. Orfeu, Florianópolis, v. 6, n. 1, 2021. DOI: 10.5965/2525530406012021e0001. Disponível em: https://periodicos.udesc.br/index.php/orfeu/article/view/18567. Acesso em: 16 jul. 2024.

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2021): Artigos Temática Livre - Publicação Contínua

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2021 ORFEU

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who submit their manuscripts to be published in this journal agree to the following terms:

1.    Authors retain the copyright and grant to the journal the right of first publication, whilst simultaneously permitting their work to be licensed under the Creative Commons License Attribution, which allows the sharing of work with recognition of the authorship and initial publication in this journal.

2.    Contributions in this journal are open access; this means they are based in free use, and non-commercial applications.