The "Pearly Touch" and other techniques

[josh93248]

AJ Long and I had a discussion recently in which he brought up a technique he described as "The Pearly Touch" (More or less) He mentioned it in connection with the Op 90 No. 2 Schubert Impromptu (The one with all the triplets).

Basically the idea is (And AJ can come along and correct me on this if I have it wrong) is to play lightly and with a slight detachment of the notes so it isn't pure legato. It sounds simple enough but when he demonstrated the difference I realised immediately how important this was and that I had not thought about it at all previously.

The point of this thread is this:

What piano techniques do you know of that are at least a little obscure and really worth knowing about?

I ask because I want to know of them earlier rather than later in my development so I can incorporate them into my playing where it makes sense. I know this is a bit of a vague question but the example of the "Pearly touch" should give you some idea of what I'm after.

Also, for your consideration here's a funny technique a friend of mine showed me, not exactly the most practical but certainly worth seeing It's called "shooting" the keys Though there's quite a bit of creative technique going on...

[chopinlover01]

Methinks he got it from his teacher, Josh Wright, who made a video about the subject 

Sorry AJ, your brilliance is exposed.

[josh93248]

I don't think AJ claimed to have invented it and even Josh Wright doesn't really claim to have invented it either. but it's interesting to see this video so thanks.

[dcstudio]

I had a professor who would have us hold our hands over the piano and drop them onto different inversions of dominant 7 chords--the idea is to not pull up but land squarely on the chord and sink to the bottom.  You don't pound either--just let gravity pull them down.   this trains your brain to anticipate the exact amount of energy needed to produce different textures.

now how about some jazz technique...this is actually applicable to any genre

this is Chick Corea one of the foremost jazz players...like in history...demonstrating a finger drill for dexterity

[rubinsteinmad]

YAAS! YASSSS! YASSS! I FOUND IT!!!!!!

[josh93248]

YAAS! YASSSS! YASSS! I FOUND IT!!!!!!

I'm sorry but what are you on about?

[ajlongspiano]

chopinlover, I never claimed to own the technique. No need to be cynical about it . I did indeed get it from Josh.

[chopinlover01]

Didn't mean to sound like an ass, was intending that to be sarcastic humour. Obviously I need to work on it.

[rubinsteinmad]

I'm sorry but what are you on about?

I know how to do it now! YAAS!