Piano is not a blood sport

[myotherself]

get this: 

1.  Artistic Musical expression
2.  Proper phrasing
3.  Release of touch
4.  Pedalling

[Mozartian]

Brilliant.

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

I think Mozartian has provided a very good point, and despite her general predilection for many sports, she does understand the merits and possibilities of each sport, and consequently, piano (If that should count here next to sports(I think not)), a feat that deserves most encomia, because many do no realize that.

[mephisto]

1. Raw finger technic
2. Whrist technic
3. Insane Fury

[lostinidlewonder]

It is a blood sport... especially if you trip and hit your teeth on the keyboard.

[prongated]

It is a blood sport... especially if you trip and hit your teeth on the keyboard.

Ha! The only time I ever smeared blood on the keyboard was when I played rapid octave passages carelessly, smashing my fingers against the sides of the keys and creating too much an opening between the skin and the nail...

Otherwise no, it's not a blood sport...it's more about the muscle. Much like weight-lifting. You fight with yourself. You push yourself to the limit while making sure you don't get hurt. Case in point: Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody no. 6.

[counterpoint]

it often hurts the ears of the audience more than the fingers of the pianist   

[pianistimo]

explain 'release of touch.'  you mean like legato and staccato and everything in between.  do you try to go outside the boundaries of these.  is there another 'release of touch' that is more magical?  do you connect with the hammers of the instrument rather than the keys?  that is also about 1/16th of an inch to worry about - and not 1/2 inch - right?

now the double escapement tricks.  those i want to work with more.

[invictious]

Actually,, in some people, the way you release the key is just as important as how you hit the key.

[counterpoint]

Perhaps "release  of touch" is meant to be relaxed fingers / hand ? 

[maxy]

it is a blood sport.

I saw someone bump his head while playing (it was bleeding).  I also saw some girl bleed all over the keys after some glissandi...  It was gross.

[rc]

Work used to erode my fingertips which would crack and bleed when I practiced.  Solved that with a little preventative medicine.

[lostinidlewonder]

I've cut my finger with glissando and left a trail of blood on the keys once.  Now I always test if the edges of the keys are sharp!

[burstroman]

Thank you, "myotherself".  When reading many of these postings, one begins to think that many who post here believe it truly is a blood sport.  I copied your original post and have it sitting on my piano where I can see it every time I play. 

[pianowelsh]

sand paper helps (file the keys down so not so sharp!)

[dnephi]

There is more than you said, but that's a good starting point.  Remember: there are pianists and executioners.  Become a pianist.

[maxy]

There is more than you said, but that's a good starting point.  Remember: there are pianists and executioners.  Become a pianist.

Indeed! Pianists are expected to bleed!  Executioners make others bleed! 

[prongated]

Remember: there are pianists and executioners. Become a pianist.

...Theodor Leschetitzky to Artur Schnabel:
"Artur, you will never become a pianist. You are a musician"

I understand you are thinking along similar lines, but please pardon my pedantic manner in this: I like to distinguish between a pianist and a musician ^^

I think a musician has a consummate soul who are engaged with the art. I think this is vital to realising in pianistry what myotherself has put in the earliest post. Music is a form of art, and throughout history all the art forms have had various influences upon each other. To learn, understand and engage with the other art forms is therefore paramount in any musician's life.

On the other hand, a pianist's engagement with the "art" is probably not much more than piano practise 8-12 hours a day...[thus in this sense, the pianist is not different to an "executioner"]

[letters]

well in fact it is. for once i was playing the piano 2 part to march of the royal lion and in practising the glissando had formed a blister. and when i played it properly in the actual performance ..... pop! and it hurt. luckily i only had that and the hens one to play so there wasn't too much gore.

[m1469]

1. Raw finger technic

As opposed to steamed ?

[Bob]

(Bob imagines a gladiator pianist, "This!.. Is!... Chopin's Etude!"  A bloody body lies nearby.)

[counterpoint]

(Bob imagines a gladiator pianist, "This!.. Is!... Chopin's Etude!"  A bloody body lies nearby.)

 

[rc]

At the end of the etude, he crushes the piano with his bare hands.  Screams to the ceiling in bloodlust, jumps off the stage and runs out into the street.

The next day on the front page of the paper:  PIANIST ESCAPES CONCERT HALL 3 OFFICERS INJURED.  After being subdued with several shots of tranquilizers and a firehose, the stray musician has been returned to the safety of the practice room.  Trainer in interview doesn't know what went wrong "he's usually so well behaved, smiling at the audience, doing tricks for peanuts..."

[opus10no2]

As opposed to steamed ?

Well, he means raw finger mech.

As opposed to finger tech, which isn't practical, as the technique isn't raw at all, just that a discernable portion of it has to do with finger mech.

[m1469]

Well, he means raw finger mech.

As opposed to finger tech, which isn't practical, as the technique isn't raw at all, just that a discernable portion of it has to do with finger mech.

As opposed to steamed ?

[opus10no2]

No.

[m1469]

Oh, along with steamed ?   

[opus10no2]

Stop being so naughty.

[pianistimo]

did anyone hear the 13 year old playing something by rachmaninov today on 'from the top?'  his teacher calls him 'the animal.'  he plays very well - but rather brazenly.  he had a lot of fortitude throughout, though.