re:Slow playing. Raised fingers GEORGE KOCHEVITSKY

[PaulNaud]

Posts: 7


  re:Slow playing. Raised fingers GEORGE KOCHEVITSKY
« on: November 08, 2005, 10:03:21 PM »   

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Dear Marik,

First of all, thank you for replying so fast.

Secondly, have you read my other post about George Kochevitsky? If you haven't done it please read it here:
                   George Kochevitsky: "...while practicing fingers should be raised to obtain the most distinct sensations from their action, but only as much as needed for this purpose. As a rule, the first joint of the finger should never be raised higher than the back of the palm: higher raising would cause overstrain of the muscles concerned. What is important is strong, active finger work, since we receive much weaker sensations from weak movements than from strong ones. A slight pressure into the key after its full depression is recommended in slow practicing. Tactile sensations as well sensations from finger muscle contractions will be strengthened in this way."

I don't know if he is contradicting himself, but 2 paragraphs further he tells us this: " Therefore, among several varieties of practice for finger articulation, the following is the best: first, fingers are prepared on the keys to be pressed. Each finger then presses with a light downward movement only,never leaving its key. (Thus the size of finger movement is equal to the depth of the key.) And playing proceedes very slowly, pianissimo, with the whole attention concentrated on the fingertips. The downward movement of one finger must be synchronized with the movement of the preceeding finger as it lets its key rise. At the lightest sensation of fatigue in the upper parts of the arm, this practice should be stopped."

Is this the Neuhaus system? Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis.


Thirdly, may I introduce myself?
I am 51 years old. I started playing the piano at the age of 14. At the age of 16, I changed my piano teacher and I studied with a Rumanian-born pianist in Montreal (Canada) for four years. (His name is Mircea Manole, he was a student of Florica Musicescu, Dinu lipatti's teacher in Bucarest).

The approach was the so-called weight technique. My teacher would often quote the Leimer-Gieseking method and sometimes Heinrich Neuhaus. I would start studying a piece by working the length of about one page of music. I would learn each hand separate (by heart). I would first play very slowly (I insist), raising as much as I could my fingers, watching each sound very carefully by using the weight of the arm, always preparing the next finger to play and then, I would put together both hands and work the same way. The next step was a new way of practicing. I would play a little bit faster (but still slow), this time my fingers very close to the keys ( not admitting a cigarette paper between my fingers and the keys, like prof. Neuhaus said in his book the Art of Piano Playing). And then I would accelerate little by little, sometimes going back to first steps.

My teacher always insisted on finger action and arm weight and also on the control of sound and the beauty of sound.

I went back to France because part of my family live over there and I met a well-known piano teacher at the Conservatoire de Marseille, prof. Pierre Barbizet. But I could not follow any of the new teachers I met. Their approach was so different and I thought that my Rumanian piano teacher was the best.

So I went back to Montreal but my former teacher could not teach me any more. So I searched for other teachers for 2 or 3 years without success.

I decided to continue playing the piano by my self after discovering a book called Guided Sight-Reading by Leonard Deutsch. His method: sight-read for pleasure, don't look at your keys, guide your hands with your ears and watch the sound you're producing. Play a piece of music as a whole. I did so for 20 years.

I tried all sorts of approaches while sight-reading.

Two years ago I read on the web a very interesting text by Stefan Kutrzeba: " The Chopin Neuhaus system" . He is talking about the "zone". It is very similar to what you wrote to me in your reply.

After exchanging some ideas with Stefan Kutrzeba, I decided last year to register at the music Faculty of the Université du Québec (I already have a bachelor of music). I was accepted after an audition. I am now studying with Henri Brassard. He is helping me to overcome some technical difficulties (He said to me it's all psychological), but I don't always agree with him. Especially when he gives me an exercice that I should practice 20 minutes every day: Hand almost flat, it should be over the keyboard at about 5 cm height, and then strike the key with only the weight of each finger. Scale is done in the same way with the thumb-over technique, I don't know if you heard about this technique.

MY QUESTIONS:
1) My problem is speed. I can't play fast. I can control the sound, beautiful sound but I can't reach the desired tempo.

2) In prof. Neuhaus book "The Art of Piano Playing" he talks about very active fingers as a way of practicing to build fingers muscles!!! opposed to the other very close key approach. Should we raise fingers when practicing?

3) May be that this whole idea that certain movements or positions of hands or arms will produce beautiful sounds is wrong. That's what I should start to understand.

Thank you for reading this very long post and if you have additionnal thoughts don't hesitate to send them to me.

Paul   

[nyquist]

Paul,

Have you looked at the Taubman technique?  I think you would find it interesting.  There is a series of ten video tapes that can usually be found through interlibrary loan.  There are brief excerpts of the vides at https://www.taubman-institute.com/html/web_videos.html

nyquist

[PaulNaud]

nyquist,

I thought they were only 3 brief excerpt videos on taubman technique. I'll have a look.
Thanks
Paul