"Soft" hands

[kaiwin]

When I was young like around Elementary and Middle School my relatives referred my hands very "soft" when I play. What does it mean?

 

[faulty_damper]

Maybe you played softly, not loud.

[kaiwin]

Not like "soft" in dynamics.. I mean like technique wise.

Like soft in this quote

Although he had not practised for a long time, Debussy still had a delicate touch and supple fingers which seemed to mould the sound that was overtaken by the rapidity of his soft, agile hands, and to spread it out smoothly in fluid, transparent layers. [Priest p. 49]

[arbisley]

People used to tell me I played in a "hard" way, very possibly because I didn't use to listen enough to the quality of the sound I was producing. I would take it as a compliment personally, because you can only improve onto a solid touch from having softer hands, but I would think more difficult to do the other way round!

There was someone who posted a performance of Debussy with a rather hard approach, and the result is that you get very harsh tones jumping out at you, and particularly for Debussy, it's not really nice. It is suitable on the other hand for pieces by Liszt, Beethoven possibly etc.

I like playing Debussy personally, because I can respond very easily to the gentle feeling, rather like Ravel's music. There were more problems when I played Schumann's Pappillons, which I think is due to "soft hands".

[franz_]

Play very Russian. Russians play very IN to the note, not on the surface, other wise it will sounds like blah blah... no energy, no power. That is softly.
Russians plays 'hard', with energy. When they play Bach, Mozart or Rachmaninoff. It is the good way.

[arbisley]

Play very Russian. Russians play very IN to the note, not on the surface, other wise it will sounds like blah blah... no energy, no power. That is softly.
Russians plays 'hard', with energy. When they play Bach, Mozart or Rachmaninoff. It is the good way.

That is a rather vast generalization! I think you're not quite talking about the same thing here. I think the original comment was on the touch, not the amount of power or energy you put into it. I'm not sure either that the same style of playing is appropriate for every single composer, though no doubt the deep russian method is extremely appealing. Come to mention it, I use it sometimes in playing my Mozart concerto for the solo passages that are very lyrical and require very fluent phrasing. I try to sink into the note to give the full force of tone, but without using a hard "touch". I don't know how I could explain the difference, but there certainly is one, between playing with a hard "touch" and playing with a deep sonority.

As a russian singing teacher told me once (Arcady Volodos by the way), tone is much more a matter of "hearing" the colour of it than actually using a certain technique to produce it.

[franz_]

As a russian singing teacher told me once (Arcady Volodos by the way), tone is much more a matter of "hearing" the colour of it than actually using a certain technique to produce it.

You had lessons with him?? How was it? Tell me everything about it 

[arbisley]

not the junior, the senior. He is also called Arcady, and I went to have a chat about what I want to do in life. I didn't know at that stage how famous his son was, and it was because he lives close by and my mum had conducted with several of his (the senior's) singing pupils. It was quite an experience of course, he waas extremely attentive, and started with absolute basics, as any really good teacher would. He was extremely generous with his time, and is also a very charming, gentle kind of person.

Well, that's it really, it's quite an impressive thing to be able to say that here on piano forum of course! I feel quite chuffer, rubbing shoulders with the famous, even though I didn't know then apart from the effusive musicality of the family. My mum went to see the junior in Paris and said he was truly impressive. He actually learnt the piano from the age of 16 or something, his first instrument was singing. That's maybe why he needs so much effort and energy for playing.

Nice to have some attention!

[barnowl]

You got my atteention, too, arbisley.

Such a charming story. Thank you!