Chang's Parallel Set Exercises/Technique

[arigatuso]

Has anyone hear something about Chuan C. Chang book "Fundamentals of Piano Practice" , especifically his theory about parallel playing, parallel sets, etc. The book its very interesting; but I'm not sure about his approach. Does anyone read it/use it?

Sorry my english, I'm from Argentina.
Thanks,
Ale

[bernhard]

It is excellent approach. However it is also just the tip of the iceberg. Master his approach, though and more will come your way.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[mosis]

I've looked through Chang's book, and a lot of his stuff is BS. He say Hanon and Czerny exercises are useless, and that the intuitive method will destroy your playing, when that is not at all true. Although some of this techniques have greatly helped me (such as the parallel set exercises: not for tremolos though), he has a very biased, closed-minded approach. Take everything he writes in that book with a grain of salt: if something works for you and he says it's bad, don't try to conform and start doing things you've never done just because he says they're proper. You should use what works for you, even if it's against what he says.

[cellodude]

I've looked through Chang's book, and a lot of his stuff is BS. He say Hanon and Czerny exercises are useless, and that the intuitive method will destroy your playing, when that is not at all true. Although some of this techniques have greatly helped me (such as the parallel set exercises: not for tremolos though), he has a very biased, closed-minded approach. Take everything he writes in that book with a grain of salt: if something works for you and he says it's bad, don't try to conform and start doing things you've never done just because he says they're proper. You should use what works for you, even if it's against what he says.

Mosis,

Quote - 'Don't let the good keep you from the best'. If you are comfortable with something and someone suggests something else don't put it down without trying it first.

Whenever my wife cooks something new and my 6 year old son (picky eater) refuses to eat it and says 'It doesn't taste good', I always ask him 'How do you know it doesn't taste good if you have not tried it?'.

You may not have found Chang's advice good for you (or maybe you have, you seem to be ambivalent in your post) but please do not tell others not to try something new or different. They may find that the new way may actually suit their temperament better.

I have found some useful hints on practicing in that book but the one part that puzzled me was the parallel sets exercises. When the original poster started this thread about parallell sets I thought that I might be able to find an explanation that would satisfy me. So since you found that helped you greatly maybe you can elaborate on the parallell sets and how to practice them.

Thanking you in anticipation,

dennis lee

[zhiliang]

Yeah i would also really like to know how the parallel sets and chords attack method works. Can someone who has read it help me?

Zhiliang

[arigatuso]

I tried this kind of exercise. To me it was very helpful to acquire speed fast, but when I'm working with passages that are not too fast I find parallel sets useless because my fingers do not play "parallel" at this speeds, they play "serial".

I used parallel set exercises to find the best positions of the hand but when I start working on musicality I lost a lot of "parallel" motion; in medium speed staccatto passages I lost all the parallel motion.  

Also, I have problems integrating parallel set with other techniques like forearm joggles.

What do you think? Perhaps I'm doing something wrong.

Sorry my english,
Best wishes.
Alejandro.

[sephethus]

Chang does not explain it very well. I'm still really confused about what he's trying to say that I should do with my hand, arm, fingers, etc.  It'd be better if there were video demonstrations of this rather than writing a description of it.  It's like IKEA making their instructions without illustrations.

[gerryjay]

dear sephethus,
did you notice the date of the original post and the answers above? well, chang book and bernhard approach were widely discussed and exemplified in the last eight years. i think you will have a great time searching the forum. a suggestion: use the search term you want (hand, arm, fingers, sonata, mozart, technique, anything you like) and limit the author to bernhard.

then you will get what you want!

[nyiregyhazi]

Chang does not explain it very well. I'm still really confused about what he's trying to say that I should do with my hand, arm, fingers, etc.  It'd be better if there were video demonstrations of this rather than writing a description of it.  It's like IKEA making their instructions without illustrations.

In many ways Chang's book is not really a good book about piano technique, as such. It's more a book about practise technique. In that respect it's very useful indeed. However, I don't think it offers much about the foundations of movement that you will need to get the fullest from such methods.

[casaet]

I have only studied and used Changs book for a week, and so far I agree with Bernhard: "It is an excellent approach." And Gerryjays comment about using the search engine is very useful. I think Changs book deserves a bit of study before making a judgment on it, and it can be downloaded for free from his homepage. The latest version is available in book form, and the best price I have found is on Amazon US.

[gerryjay]

It's more a book about practise technique. In that respect it's very useful indeed.

This is a most important remark. Indeed, his approach somewhat blurs the traditional division between technical study and pure repertory.