Sandor's "On Piano Playing"

[hoffmanntales]

I play as an autodidact and some time ago I bought Gyorgy Sandor's "On piano playing", to get an approach to techniques and then integrate the pieces I'm used to play (Bach's 2 part Inventions, Mozart and Clementi easiest Sonatas and so on)

I have to say that I found Sandor's book too technical and a little tedious so I gave it up...

What do you suggest, could it be still a good guide to the techical side of playing for who, like me, has chosen to study without teacher?

Or do you have something else to suggest to improve my technique, apart from taking lessons?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

[MikeThePianist]

I have also purchased Sandor's "On Piano Playing."  Unfortunately, it is an awefully dry book.  However, the information contained in it is amazing.  My current teacher utilizes it constantly in his lessons (it's his Bible, in a way).  I would advise trying to give it another chance.  Take it in small doses, and perhaps highlite the information you find useful so that the next time you go back to it you can easily refresh yourself without rereading the entire passage.  The main reason I say to gave it another chance is simply becauseit has possibly the best indepth theories on tension-free playing that I've ever seen.  The other suggestion I have is to not go too long without a teacher.  I've tried to last all summer while my teacher is gone, and well, it hasn't been too fun.  ;-)  Anyway, good luck in your endeavors.

Mike

[tiklivry]

Hello! I thought I'd jump in to this topic since I was a student of Sandor's back in the day and I just made a Youtube video about the 5 basic motions he talks about in his book. I know his book can read "dry" and very academic, so I thought it would be easier to digest in a video format. I hope you enjoy it and find it useful. If you do, please hit the like and subscribe button! Thanks!

[martinn]

Great video ! I have Sandor’s book, but as a beginner the explanative video is good.

[tiklivry]

Thanks Martinn! I'm glad it was useful - thanks for watching and commenting!:-)

[lelle]

I found Sandors book too difficult to use practically. The words he uses to explain his concepts have the problem all words have - they can be interpreted a myriad of ways and it's difficult to know if you understood them the way he intended without guidance. Thanks for making a video with some demonstrations.