I’m sorry that I wrote that last bit about the “deaf, dumb”, etc., because now I have had to write yet another post, and it is not something that I enjoy doing. So this will certainly be my last post for quite some time, even though someone has said on this forum that he’s buying a piano with a hard, stiff action in order that he’ll be more adequately prepared for what he and others must apparently believe is a world filled with Steinway pianos having such actions. Amazing.
If they dare “run the gauntlet”, other brave souls will have to go to the rescue on that one.
Apparently people love to seek out “How to Play the Piano” recipes, so I’ve included my very own at the end of this post, and - joy of joys – (unlike the rest of the post) it’s short and sweet.
xvimbi,
Yes, I realized that your post was primarily about the issue of pain or injury and how it should be dealt with. I quoted the parts of your post that interested me and which I thought applied to m1469’s original post, and I’m sorry if I used them for a purpose which you had not yourself intended – especially if you disagree with the “point” I was trying to make with them. From the nature of your last paragraph, I guess maybe you did, but I liked what you said, nonetheless. (“Man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest” - it’s so true.)
I agree that you won’t get much therapy for tendonitis or a bum thumb by playing Chopin Etudes.
I meant what you quoted of my post to apply to those who don’t already do those behaviors – very young children. If similar effort and methodology that I have observed teachers employ hundreds of times to “impart knowledge of” playing the piano to students, were employed to “train” these “natural” things to very young children, I believe the success rate would probably be the similar to that in producing piano players, and we’d end up with the world I described.
(Of course the reality is that a piano is, unlike ears, vocal cords, eyes and legs, separate from the body and far too large for a child to operate as an adult would. This means that considerable time must pass before the child can dance the proper dance. I think an innovative piano manufacturer would make some money producing a high-quality instrument sized proportionally to fit the bodies of children say from 3 to 6 or 7 years old – maybe one quarter or one third of full size. The child’s earlier access to an instrument would be a tremendous help in their musical development. Combine this with a parent who plays well, and the piano world would almost certainly be much different.)
I do not think that knowing how something works will necessarily make the ability to do it well suddenly disappear, just as I also do not think that “knowing how something works” will necessarily make the ability to do it suddenly appear – unless you conclude, a prori, that if someone plays well they “know how something works”. (The latter cannot be the sense that this phrase is intended, because f it were, it would mean nothing unto itself and, therefore, add no explanation of why one plays well.)
If someone already does something very well, why would they then want to “know how it works”? - perhaps so he/she could then “teach” someone else? But if this knowledge is necessary for beautiful playing, the teacher must ALREADY “know how it works” - so he/she should be completely satisfied only in playing well and seek no further “knowledge”.
I think playing the piano is very different than fixing a car, but I think playing a piano is very similar to driving a car.
I don’t think that playing the piano is similar to fixing a piano, either, and no matter how well a person plays the piano, and how many books that person has read about playing the piano, and how much that person knows about human anatomy, there’s still a very good chance that this person won’t also be able to fix and maintain a piano.
The brilliant physician, who is also an amateur piano technician, can “know everything about how a piano and the human body works” and still not be able to play a single piece on a piano. .
I did not have to “know (in a book-learning, teacher-”taught”, I-can-describe-every-muscle-I’m-moving-as-I-play sense) how something works” when I started to hear, talk, see and walk. Once again, in the sense in which that phrase must be understood, TO THIS DAY I do not “know how” my hearing, speaking, talking, and walking “work”. What I DO know is that I simply did them after being with my parents 24 hours a day for the very early part of my life. (To paraphrase B. F. Skinner – Children learn to speak well and grammatically correctly long before “knowing the rules of grammar”.)
Later, as a young person, I threw a baseball a great distance and drove an automobile (at the age of eight; not on the road) by merely watching my parents, and I learned many other things by watching other people without receiving any “formal” (you know what I mean) lessons for any of this, nor did I have to read any “how to” books.
So what is it, exactly, that the brilliant physician/technician does not “know about” playing the piano, while I, on the other hand, can hear, speak, see and walk while “knowing nothing about” these acts?
I believe that the behavior of playing the piano is “generated” by exactly the same means as those “natural” behaviors and should be learned in exactly the same way – by emulation of a “role model”.
The fact that I was - to severely understate it - strongly influenced by Abby Whiteside, is, rather than an endorsement for “knowing how something works”, a denunciation of everything that I had been taught before, and (from what I read on this forum) is still being “taught” and advised to poor souls who are endeavoring to play the piano.
With very little said and read, I believe that by merely watching another person learn and play piano pieces well, a person can him/herself learn to do the same. I am CERTAIN that if I had had such a role model, that I would have learned “what is required” to play the piano in an eternity less of time.
Like the abilities I mentioned above, people do not have to “know how things work” to play brilliantly, and, in fact, just as in learning a “difficult” piano piece, as more and more verbal and written attention is paid to the “details”, the less likely is a successful outcome.
So, yes, just as in learning the “natural” behaviors of talking, etc., a “gut approach” (imagination in emulating a role model) in learning to play the piano will be more effective than years of study and lessons in what other people have to say and write ad nauseum about piano playing, and decades of another’s comments, criticism and observation of your own. In fact, I would also say that the student’s mere knowledge of this fact will help produce a more satisfactory outcome than years of “study”.
Even in an ideal world, however, just as baseball pitchers are “ranked” in the baseball world, some people will speak, hear, walk, talk and play the piano “better” than others, but if everyone were to play the piano as well as they hear, speak, see and walk, that would be more than satisfactory - unlike this one, where good players are a relative rarity.
Attention all students of the piano!,
Look around you.
What do you observe about the “world” of piano playing?
Do you observe that your friends are successful in their endeavor to play the piano?
What do you see happen to their excitement of music as they proceed in their “music educations”?
What is by far the most common outcome of that education?
How would you rate the performance of the “education system” in producing excellent piano players and people who continue to love music?
How many people that you know continue to play the piano after their “educations”?
If you think everything’s hunky dory in the piano world, then stop reading right now and run to the keyboard! Otherwise, keep on reading.
What your endeavor to play the piano needs is a ROLE MODEL, not a “teacher”, another book, more study and analyses. If you want to learn a piece of music, find a person who plays it beautifully and use your entire body - as they use theirs - to COPY WHAT THEY DO!
If you must have a teacher, find one that agrees with the “emulation” philosophy of learning, and is willing to do most of the playing when you interact with him/her.
Remember, YOU are the model’s customer! Know what you want “going in”, and be sure to ask for it. Communication is the key.
If possible, sit or stand next to the performer and try to learn their rhythm as they play, and keep your attention more focused on the rest of their body rather than just their hands and fingers. Once again, communicate what you want to your model.
If possible, make a video of the performance so that you can play it often while trying to learn the piece on your own between “performances”. Do not be satisfied with a once-a-week, “pay-me-and-leave-me” style of “education”.
Do not attach too much importance to what is said or written by the model (performer). Do what they DO, rather than what they SAY about the performance.
At first, learn pieces by ear and in an outlined, but still rhythmic, fashion. DO NOT begin an intensive study of standard notation until AFTER learning “how to play the piano” (the understanding of the necessity of using the entire body). The necessarily slow, stodgy, thoughtful behavior which learning standard notation cultivates, greatly inhibits learning the particular “dance on the piano” which is required for each piece.
Be prepared to fail and be frustrated at first, but be absolutely certain that with enough observation and emulation of the model, “it will come”. Don’t be afraid to use your body in any way, shape, or form that will EASILY produce the desired result – the more imaginative, the better. Keep watching that model for clues as to how to dance.
BELIEVE IN YOUR OWN INNATE ABILITY, IMAGINATION, AND THE “EQUIPMENT” ALREADY IN YOUR POSSESSION – THEY ARE ALL YOU WILL EVER NEED.
.
As I’ve just said, reading is a very poor substitute for a playing role model, but if you are desperately looking for “something” to lead you forward toward brilliantly playing the piano, you just may find some inspiration in my other posts here:
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,1808.0.html and here:
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,5573.msg54956.html#msg54956and you will certainly find it in the writings of Abby Whiteside.
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Topic: Learning proper movements; reading and implementing ideas; concerns and Q's (Read 6134 times)