[…continued from previous post]
I will follow with Dohnanyi the same procedure I did with Hanon: I will examine what he has to say in his preface to “Essential finger exercises for obtaining a reliable piano technique” (First published in 1929) and se if it makes any sense.
I have italicized Dohnanyi´s words, while my comments are in normal typeface. He starts:
In music schools piano tuition suffers mostly from far too much exercise material given for the purely technical development of the pupils, the many hours of daily practice spent on these not being in proportion to the results obtained. Musicality is hereby badly neglected and consequently show many weak points. The fault lies on one side that pupils are not taught to practise properly, and on the other hand, that far too many studies and exercises are given from which only little value can be gained, whilst not enough time is left for the study of repertory pieces. A few show pieces are usually repeated to excess, as they are needed for public production, whereby the teacher’s reputation is generally more benefited than the pupil’s progress. Correct sense of style can however, only be furthered by a sufficient knowledge of musical literature.
Needless to say, I wholeheartedly agree with Dohananyi´s assessment of the situation.
Therefore, before all else, the amount of studies must be reduced and this can be done without harm if they are replaced by such exercises which in lesser time, bring forth the same benefits. Finger exercises are preferable to studies, if only for the reason that they can be practised from memory and consequently the whole attention can be concentrated on the proper execution, which is most important.
Now we have here in this paragraph a comedy of errors, and it is difficult even to decide where to begin unraveling it.
Certainly the amount of studies should be reduced. They should in fact be relegated to the dustbin altogether – unless one is interested in playing them as part of one’s repertory – this is the logical follow-up to the first paragraph. Instead Dohnanyi comes up with yet another book of exercises to add to the already voluminous opus around. Sure this is the mother of all exercise books according to him, and we should drop all the others in favour of his. But he would say that, wouldn’t he? And so have every other author of piano exercises claimed in their prefaces, from Hanon to Cortot. They all deplore the fact that too much time is wasted on exercises, just to come up with another bunch of them, this time the ultimate ones.
So, Dohnanyi continues, let us replace all these exercises by just a few (40 in his case) that will bring forth the same benefits. All right, but what exactly are these benefits? In no point in his preface does Dohnanyi discloses this information. In no point in the book does he mention what exactly is the particular exercise supposed to achieve in any specific way. Sure, in exercise 1 he tells us: “Exercises for the independence and strengthening of the fingers”. One would expect that by now (1929), the basics of anatomy should be part of the knowledge a pianist should have. And if so, to talk about finger independence (impossible anatomically) and finger strength (even more impossible, since there are no muscles in the fingers) should be a definite no-no.
Anyway, after exercise 1, no other direction whatsoever is given as to how to perform the exercises until one gets to exercise no. 38, where the following gem can be found:
This exercise is to be practised forte from the arm and piano from the wrist; both always with different fingering, i.e. once throughout with 15, and then alternating 15 with 14 whereby 15 come on the white keys, and 14 on the black keys.”
Ah! Now everything is clear!
Back to the preface, Dohnanyi continues:
Finger exercises are preferable to studies, if only for the reason that they can be practised from memory.
No, finger exercises are to be shunned altogether, because what one wants to develop is not isolated finger whatever (independence, strength, flexibility) but total co-ordination of the playing apparatus which in its most restricted sense goes from the shoulder girdle to the fingertips, but in its most general sense must necessarily involve the whole body (as Richter is reputed to have said: “I played that note with my big toe”). And if the only reason Dohnanyi can think of for preferring finger exercises is facility of memory, think again.
The fact is, finger exercises are mostly meaningless, and there is nothing as difficult to memorise as meaningless information. It is always easier to memorise a line of meaningful text than a line of random letters. Typically of many exercise proponents, Dohnanyi seems oblivious to such contradictions, even when he himself points out the difficulty of memorising his exercises: He feels obliged to produce in exercises no. 9, no. 10, no. 11 convoluted schemes to facilitate the memorising of these exercises!
The preparatory degrees are not considered here. Beginning with the middle stages, a judicious choice of studies by Cramer and Bertini suffices; later a selection from Clementi’ Gradus with the subservient exercises, is sufficient for obtaining a reliable technique. Everything else, even Czerny, is superfluous; it does not contain anything of essential importance which might not be acquired through finger-exercises, or by conscientious practising of appropriate passages of pieces. The etudes by Chopin and Liszt belong of course to the category of concert-pieces, and play a role as important for higher and highest stages, as Bach’s Two and Three part Inventions in connection with Bertini and Cramer, and the Well-Tempered Clavier with Clementi.
I agree that Czerny is superfluous. But so are Cramer, Bertini and Clementi. And so are finger exercises. All you need – as Dohnanyi himself points out – is the conscientious practising of appropriate passages of pieces. The proposition that finger exercises, Cramer et al. is all you need to obtain a reliable technique, is as laughable as the proposition that doing 100 press-ups every morning will turn you into an irresistible lover. Such propositions simply reveal how limited one’s idea of what playing the piano – or love-making - is.
Thus, by diminishing the amount of studies, time is won for repertory music, and this time can be utilised still better, if only some of the pieces are practised up to finishing stage; concerning the large number of pieces the teacher should be satisfied as long as they are played by the pupil in a clear and efficient manner. In the long run the pupil will benefit from this.
Well, by getting rid of studies and exercises altogether, even more time will be won for repertory music. I must say that I am not sure what benefit can come from half learning pieces. Maybe at the time when he wrote this (1929) this (sight-reading and learning only part of a piece) was the only way to get acquainted with repertory. Nowadays, we have CDs for that purpose, so if you are going to learn something do it to your best ability.
A wide knowledge of music literature can only be acquired by sight reading. I cannot recommend pupils to start early with sight-reading: piano as well as chamber music. I do not mean playing a piece once through, but to play it several times, so as to become well acquainted with it. It may be argued, that this must lead into superficial, untidy (“sloppy”), amateurish playing. The disadvantages of much sight-reading has however advantages, which are unfortunately not sufficiently considered. Independently of the great advantage of a wider knowledge of musical literature, thus acquired, the sense of style is improved, and it is also of use, in regard to technique, for the deftness and the surety of the fingers are increased.
Although I agree in general, sightreading is certainly not the only way to get acquainted with the literature. It may well have been so in 1929, but nowadays we have CDs, notation software and its associated MIDI, and these are by far a much more efficient way to get a first acquaintance with pieces one may be interested in playing. I myself am a firm believer in sight-reading, but for different reasons. Just like there is great pleasure in reading a book, there is great pleasure in playing (through sight-reading) and exploring repertory for itself with no ulterior motives. (You should eat broccoli because you like it, not because it is good for you).
The less time spent on purely technical studies, the more important it is to practise with full concentrated thought. It is absolutely useless to practise exercises in a thoughtless, mechanical manner, especially when the eyes are riveted on the music. When playing, even the simplest of finger exercises, the full attention must be fixed on the finger-work, each note must be played consciously, in short: not to practise merely with the fingers, but through the fingers with the brain”
Sure. But then why go to the trouble of publishing 40 brain-killing exercises?
As far as finger exercises are concerned, there are a number of works, which offer a vast field of profit and interest. They contain however too many exercises, the usefulness of which are questionable, when it comes to practical playing. After all, however technically well equipped a pianist may be, certain difficulties have to be conquered by special practice during the study of the piece itself. I do not speak of special cases, such as hands spoiled by bad training, deeply rooted faults, etc., where special exercises are necessary.
A vast field of profit – maybe for the writer/publisher, especially if they can convince the public that their exercises are better and fit to replace all others – but interest?
Then we have the next two sentences: either the exercises are profitable and interesting, or their usefulness is questionable. Which one is it?
And finally Dohnanyi puts the finger in the wound, so to speak:
After all, however technically well equipped a pianist may be, certain difficulties have to be conquered by special practice during the study of the piece itself.
Exactly. At the end of the day, it is the repertory that matters, and it is the repertory that will show a pianist´s limitations (technical and/or musical) and it is through work on repertory that such limitations will be best addressed and hopefully overcome.
In the following exercises, I have endeavoured to collect material in condensed form, yet as complete as possible which should help piano students to acquire a reliable technique. They are even all-sufficient for finished pianists to keep in training, and to retain the already acquired technique. Many exercises are new, they do not however lay any claim either to originality or beauty. I hope withal that they will prove useful.”
A reliable technique for what? To play the Dohnanyi exercises, I am sure. Like Hanon preposterous claims that his 60 exercises would turn anyone into a “virtuoso”, Dohnanyi exercises do not even scratch the surface of the tip of the iceberg. None of his exercises will help with the proper performance of Baroque articulation and ornamentation, for instance.
[to be continued…]
Topic: Practise Finger Exercises...how?