I tried to look up Chaun C. Chang but the only thing I could find is references to his book.
I'm reading Chuan C. Chang's Fundamentals of Piano Playing. It is a book of treasure. However, the author's language strikes me as particularly odd and I have difficulty understanding the book.What are Parallel Sets? I think I've got the general idea down. Say if I practice a 2-3 trill with my right hand, do I go 2-3 fast, then lift my fingers fast and do 2-3 again and repeat? Or do I just do 2-3-2-3-2-3 like a real trill? I'm not sure. Just tell me what are parallel sets and how I could practice a 2-3 trill with my right hand. I know the author explains that example specifically but I just cannot understand the explanation clearly.And what are quiet hands??? Chang calls it a "mode." I don't understand a single clue about quiet hands. All I know is quiet hands can function only at fast momentum songs or something.. Something about momenta. yikes..I did not address parallel sets or quiet hands in the subject title because I am in progress of reading this book. Meaning, as I read the book, more questions will pop up and I'll put 'em here.One last question, irrelevant - am I putting too many posts on the forum? Is there a limit? I'm sorry for all the questions.. I am of a very curious person.
I could be wrong of course but I would take anything you read in that book with a grain of salt.If you haven't already read it I would recommend Josef Hoffman's book https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39211Or this one by Tobias Matthay https://imslp.org/wiki/The_Visible_and_Invisible_in_Pianoforte_Technique_(Matthay,_Tobias)
This is book that is very easy to misunderstand . . . mostly because the author isn't a pianist (as far as I know). I'd stay away from it and get a teacher. If you have a teacher and want some piano-related reading, look at the books by Gieseking, Sandor, Berman, Neil Stannard, etc. If you want something on practice, go to Graham Fitch's blog or get Gerald Klickstein's book "The Musician's Way." Chang's book is more dangerous that it is helpful, to be completely frank.
As I recall, Mr. Chang has two daughters who studied with a good teacher, he is a physicist who also learned piano, and he tried to write down the principle he understood from the experience in laymen's terms - and maybe a bit from the view of a physicist. It's been a long time so I may be fuzzy on the details.
Though it presents some valid methods of practicing (which are already well known among teachers and pianists), some other parts of it are dubious, to say the least.
There are much better books written on that subject.
Since you mention Bernhard, I think in a post he suggested a very good book by György Sándor, "On piano playing". But there are countless works on this subject.My personal favorites which have guided me through my piano study, and are very thought-provoking rather than a dogmatic collection of dos and dont's, are Heinrich Neuhaus' "The art of piano playing" and Josef Dichler's "Der Weg zum künstlerischen Klavierspiel", though I am not sure the second is available in English. Now if you need something very concrete to work with, I would suggest this e-book, written by an assistant professor of piano (that can't be wrong), available for free here:https://brenthugh.com/piano/piano-practice.htmlIf you ask for my opinion, piano practicing really boils down to the practice methods provided in that ebook. Of course, again there are cases where you will be on your own, but most of the times those methods (or combination of them) should be sufficient to solve the problem.
So I'm curious, which parts of Chang's book do you find dubious?
I see these same silly criticisms over and over. As to why people don't think Chang is a pianist I will never understand…
Klavieronin makes a good point.Also, the suggested book by Hoffmann is definitely worth reading. Here a quote from his book, concerning our situation:"About Reading Books on Music. And speaking of books on music, let me advise you to read them, but not to believe them unless they support every statement with an argument, and unless this argument succeeds in convincing you."
My attention has been caught by a reference a second time to Bernhard supporting this book. I am familiar with Bernhard's ideas and know of his long background as a teacher. could we have some references to that support, to know what that consists of and the context? Thx.
While slowly reading through his older comments, I have come across several posts where he's recommending Changs book, and a few posts from Chang also recommending bernhards posts. Here's a few I can reference off hand..........
"After about two years of piano lessons (or even sooner for some), you should be able to tackle this piece using the learning tricks of this book." the author is referring to Fantaisie-Impromptu. Now, if that doesn't sound wrong to you, there is no point in discussing further.
Here on Pianostreet, there is a person who had legitimately got the first minute or so of FI down in a month, starting from scratch. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.
Can you get an electrical engineering degree from MIT for free, in one year?It's been done. The classes are all online. The guy was a journalist who took this on for a project, and could devote 40 hours a week to study. It cost him about $1000 USD in textbooks and he finished it in a year.