Playing while standing

[kghayesh]

My teacher told me that some teacher at the Moscow Conservatory (I don't remember his name) who teached to Richter and Gould required them sometimes to play while they were standing up. She said that this makes you like, play the music from a different perspective.

Just wanna know if anybody knows anything about this.....

[thalbergmad]

My teacher told me that some teacher at the Moscow Conservatory (I don't remember his name) who teached to Richter and Gould required them sometimes to play while they were standing up. She said that this makes you like, play the music from a different perspective.

st wanna know if anybody knows anything about this.....

The only pianist i have seen play standing up was Jerry Lee Lewis.

Not sure if he went to the Moscow Conservatory.

[allthumbs]

The only pianist i have seen play standing up was Jerry Lee Lewis.

Not sure if he went to the Moscow Conservatory.

No,  he went to the "Bull in a China Shop" school of heavy handed meat hook techinique.

[janne p.]

Keith Jarrett occasionally stands up while playing. Don't think he does that when performing classical music, though.

[pianistimo]

thanks, guys!  i needed a laugh today.  jerry lee lewis, keith jarrett.  why don't you add mozart?  but, what's really hard is if you have rollerblades on.

[janne p.]

but, what's really hard is if you have rollerblades on.

Yeah or cross country skis. Makes the pedaling somewhat tricky.

Also, try a snowboard - great for playing clusters on an organ!

[leahcim]

Isn't it one way to help grok this arm weight thing?

[pianohopper]

what about playing upside-down?  (Scene from "Amadeus")

Or playing while rolling across the floor?  (Scene from "Legend of 1900")

[abell88]

I heard a woman on the radio who played sitting on the floor under the piano (facing away from the piano), with her hands over her head...well, she was on the radio and she said she was doing all that...hmm

[rob47]

what about playing upside-down?  (Scene from "Amadeus")

Or playing while rolling across the floor?  (Scene from "Legend of 1900")

a tip if u want to pull a mozart in front of people:

play sonata k545 underneath the piano with your hands reaching  backwards above your head onto the keys.  But cross your arms....it looks so tricky, but really your right hand is still where it would be if you were sitting as is the left.  hahahaha....mildly.

[will]

To learn the technique for octaves I found standing up and playing very useful.
I was first taught to play 'wrist' octaves - to keep the arms still and flap the hands around as a unit. My octave technique was pathetic. 
     It improved when a different teacher advised me to stand and play octaves. Doing this meant that I could not involve a flapping hand in the action.  Instead, I had to play using an arm action (like a push up, but with the back of the hand in line with the arm) to produce any sound. I then practiced at a few different heights between the standing and normal sitting height. At each height different types of movements are required to effectively sound the octaves. Practicing in such a way gave me an insight into different movements that I had never used before when playing piano.  If I ever felt I was reverting to hand flapping I would sit higher or stand up and play to remind myself of the better action.

[musicsdarkangel]

One time I was  having major difficulty with the speed of octaves in La Campanella.


My teacher got me to stand up, look forward, and to focus on breathing.


Standing up helped me use only my arm (try it, you can't use wrist) which I was not using enough of, looking forward took my mind off of the technical difficulty, and breathing.... well it helps hehe.


Anyway, I sat back down and nailed the hell out of it.