Need help with Cortot's pianoforte technique

[keithjarrett]

Hi, I have just started working with Alfred Cortot's book called "Rational Principle of Pianoforte technique". Have anyone else on this forum ever used it?

If so, I have some questions:

1. The daily practice routine ex. no. 1 says metronome speed: 16th notes 60 to 80. Is this really possible? I can't even get close to that speed with the specific tasks you have to do in those drills.

2. In the introduction text, it says that it will take 12 days preparatory work on each series in a chapter, because you transpose to a new key every day. However, the drills are very hard to just play in one key. Should I complete all the drills at full speed (4th note 144) in one key, before moving on to the next? This will probably take me months to even master in one key, and that's only the first series. Cortot says you shouldn't continue to the next series until you're done with the first, but it might take a year before I'm finished with the first series.

3. Where are these rhythmic and harmonic transfer tables he speaks of?

[laglag305]

Hi, I have just started working with Alfred Cortot's book called "Rational Principle of Pianoforte technique". Have anyone else on this forum ever used it?

If so, I have some questions:

1. The daily practice routine ex. no. 1 says metronome speed: 16th notes 60 to 80. Is this really possible? I can't even get close to that speed with the specific tasks you have to do in those drills.

2. In the introduction text, it says that it will take 12 days preparatory work on each series in a chapter, because you transpose to a new key every day. However, the drills are very hard to just play in one key. Should I complete all the drills at full speed (4th note 144) in one key, before moving on to the next? This will probably take me months to even master in one key, and that's only the first series. Cortot says you shouldn't continue to the next series until you're done with the first, but it might take a year before I'm finished with the first series.

3. Where are these rhythmic and harmonic transfer tables he speaks of?

1. Just listen to his recordings! Do you think he could do the drills? No. Why would you?
2. The problem is the "rational". Not all that is "rational" is also feasible. Sometimes you should trust the empirisme more than the rational (I admit that other times you can think of solutions, but is problamtic to generelize the approach)
3. The tables are in the book, I think they are back, before the repertoire book.

I abandonned his book for some of the same reasons you mention a. o. you spend a lot of time and you gain is questanable.'
Regards

[keithjarrett]

Thanks for your reply!

I came to the conclusion aswell, that it is indeed too much to work on, so I will study the material my own way instead. However, it's hard to know if I should start working on other chapters now aswell, or stick until chapter 1 is well under my fingers?

And I would really like to do the daily gymnastics, but his descriptions of how to do those drills are kind of vague.