Slow Practice

[green]

What is ur regiment, how to u begin learning the notes? My teacher, an astounding concert pianist, swears by 'slow practice'. His particular method of slow practice involves keeping the hand in a closed position, moving the entire hand from one note to the next, with a vertical motion from the knuckle only (finger motion), he prefers no sound, or to the level of escapement only, then relax and allow the key to return the finger to the surface, about a 1-2 second pause, move to the next note etc. It is essential he says that each note be given attention to all 3 steps of 1.attack 2.sustain 3.finish. This and also it is to learn 'distances', which he says are the same whether in a closed hand position (a minimum of hand tension) or stretching - opening the hand- to reach for the next note (encouraging slopping finger motion eg: leaving the note before the 'finish'.)

Supposedly Glenn Gould worked very hard to polish this type of practice but via 'finger tapping', he said it took him 32 hourse to tap out the Goldberg variations (for the first recording). He did this as a 'first' regiment', followed by the type of practice I outlined above.

I have practiced this way, and seen remarkable changes in note accuracy and expressive range.

[Bob]

Can you explain this more?

You're not talking about playing with a metronome, are you?  The motions you're talking about are so slow they're not even in a tempo, correct?

[green]

No, not using a metronome, but each note is given the same time value whether a 16th or whole note. So trhere is a beat, but it is very slow. I see it as a method to reduce the act of playing down to the minimum amount of movement required to bring awareness between finger motion and the internal coherence of the actual music. My teacher has warned against 'injecting' any 'sentiment' into the music. Hear it in ur head, but at this stage, no 'expression'. He maintains that the performer has no 'right' to 'interpret' the music (my teacher was a student of Michaelangeli), the music must 'speak' through you, u must wait for that to happen.

Here is a quote:

Glenn Gould adopted two main features of his teacher's keyboard method:

1. a pure finger-technique as opposed to a 'weight technique'
2. finger-tapping.


The "pure finger technique" means that the main action of playing is executed by the fingers with less employment of the hands, elbows and trunk. This technique was also characterized by finger separation, quick non-legato touch or so-called, playing in a detach้ style. When practicing, Gould applied finger tapping, where the fingers of one hand are tapped by the non-playing hand. William Aide says:

The left hand taps the fingers successively to the bottom of the keys. The right-hand fingers are boneless; they reflex from the keybed and return to their original position on the surface of the keys. The left hand should tap near the tips of the right-hand fingers, either on the fingernails or at the first joint. The motion of the tapping should be as fast as possible. The second stage of this regimen is to play the notes with a quick staccato motion, one finger at a time, from the surface of the key, quick to the surface of the keybed and back to the surface of the key. This is slow practice, each note being separated by about two seconds of silence (The Idler, No.38, p.59).

Turning to Heinrich Neuhaus, the great Russian pianist and pedagogue (and the teacher of both Richter and Gilels), adapted practice habits designed to enhance musical expression. Those who knew him report that he practiced slowly with great expression.To open up the "inner ear", he recommended practicing slowly, very quietly (pianissimo) and espresivissisimo.

[jeff]

"(my teacher was a student of Michaelangeli)"

ooOOOOoo~!! cool!


A couple of months ago i came across that description of glenn gould's practicing methods. The way i see it, that way of practicing is about teaching you destinations, and how you move from one destination to the next is taken care of sort of subconsciously. it seems like the opposite of the physical practicing methods of Bernhard, from this forum (correct me if i'm wrong here Bernhard) - who tends to firstly pay attention to the general finger-hand-arm movements needed to play a certain passage.
I like to use a combination of both those methods, and sometimes focus on one or the other, depending on what the passage requires.

[bernhard]

Do you know the story of the guy driving a car through a road at the top of a mountain? There were precipices on both sides of the road, and the passenger was getting increasingly nervous. He would say to the driver: “to the right, toe the right!”, and then a bit later “to the left! To the left!”. And then again “to the right! To the right!”. And then “to the left! To the left!” At which point the driver lost his patience and said: “Will you please decide which way you want me to go and stop giving me contradictory requests?”

Practice methods are pretty much the same. The instruction one gives depends on who is asking the question and on the results one wants.

For instance the Gould method described above, although the actual procedure is described in great detail there is no explanation on what aim such a method would target. I personally do not like Gould’s way of playing (I am not referring to the sound he produced, but to his way of achieving it – which incidentally was largely due to a heavily engineered piano). I actually believe that he may have left the stage on account of back problems rather than all that intellectual justification. Also I would take any description of Gould’s practice methods with a very large pinch of salt. First he is on record saying that he never practised at the piano. Second he was known for being a practical joker. Thirdly, whatever way Gould practised was adequate for him and no one else (at his prime). I would be much more interested in learning how he practised as a beginner.

Also Gould had several technical deficiencies (e.g. he could not play octaves). In short, his highly idiossincratic way of playing was perhaps excellent for his own purposes, but it was also limiting for everything else (nothing wrong with that). The danger is in reading such an account and taking it at face value and applying it wholesale.

I myself would only practise in such a fashion for the purpose of stopping  hand memory (= movement) so that other memories could develop. And I most certainly would never start the learning of a piece with this kind of practice. This sort of practice should be reserved for the perfecting stage. But then I am hoping that perhaps someone can expand on this and convince me otherwise.

Yes, Jeff you are right, I start with the large movements, and only later will concentrate on the fingers (although the fingers never act alone). This does not mean that this and other kinds of work are not important, but one must know why one is doing it and when to do it.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[green]

Yes, finger tapping is advanced technique, not for beginners, and not for slow work. It is to develop clarity and speed within quick finger work. Which gould was brilliant for. To stop hand memory is something I have wondered about. Or 'muscle' memory, another term I hear used sometimes. I wonder if muscle, or hands, do in fact have memory? The memory is in the mind (or brain somewhere) isn't it? Muscle reponds to that stimulus, not the hand tells the brain what to do.

Slow practice in general is to gain greater 'conscious' control over the movements involved in learning the 'music'. When we consiously raise our awareness to the complexity of 'steps' involved in playing a note, and attempt to coordinate our motions 'slowly', we are also forcing ourselves to 'hear' in slow motion. This is difficult. But the point is to gain a higher degree of (conscious)control over the stimulus being learned and sent to the unconscience. This is IMO. This is only a way to practice, it must be tailored and adapted to different contexts for different purposes. Some will say why not just allow 'natural' movments to happen by playing the music at a more 'natural' tempo and thus allow the body repond to 'that' stimulus. Again this is another WAY to practice. The difficulty with slow practice is u MUST be able to hear the music in ur mind.

Practising fast, or at tempo, ecourages learning sloppy movements and 'mistakes'. These require 'relearning'. I often observe stds start a piece, make a 'mistake', start again, make the same 'mistake', and then try again. I usually let them continue for a bit to make a point. I stop them and ask 'what is the problem'? They say they keep making the same mistake. I tell them, and I maintain that they did not make a mistake, they 'learned' a mistake, and not just once, but 5 times and counting!

"I start with the large movements, and only later will concentrate on the fingers (although the fingers never act alone)."

Can u explain in more detail about this?