Selected Czerny Studies by Emil Liebling

[permata]

Hi,
I have played piano for years, but my foundation is rather shaky. Currently, I am thinking of learning from the Selected Czerny Studies by Emil Liebling. Does anyone here know or have any comment about the book?

[lelle]

I'm not familiar with that unfortunately. But Czerny studies can be useful if used mindfully. Do you have the option to find a teacher to guide you? Playing etudes will unfortunately not automatically teach you everything that's necessary to progress your technique.

[permata]

Thank you for the response.

No, I don't have a teacher now. A good piano teacher can sure help, but my situation does not permit it. I had teachers at two different times.

The first one is truly laughable. She taught book one out of Thompson's. All the notes were numbered for the fingering, and both hands remained in the same positions. When I finished the book, the teaching ended because she could not play piano. I was in the same boat with all her students.

The second one was a church pianist. He taught me for a few years. At every lesson, he played the music; then sent me home to practice. I worked hard at it till I made no mistakes before coming back for the next lesson. He said nothing about the posture, how to move or turn the hands. He said I was his best student because I always worked hard at it. This is yet another joke. At the end of each book, when I turned back to the first piece in the book, I could not even begin to play. He was a nice teacher though, but he died of old age.

After those two, I played out of RMC's repertoire from one to 8. On the 9th, I realize I have no firm foundation.

But I have no complaints. Not having a piano teacher is the least of  my problems.

[martinn]

One Czerny book may not be varied enough. Don’t lock yourself too tightly. Get at least a few ’study’ books from different composers. I for example like Bartok, but don’t know what and which level you need. However, many composers and piano pedagogues wrote studies.

[permata]

One Czerny book may not be varied enough. Don’t lock yourself too tightly. Get at least a few ’study’ books from different composers. I for example like Bartok, but don’t know what and which level you need. However, many composers and piano pedagogues wrote studies.

Bartok's compositions sound dreadful. It sounds like trash can banging.

I have seen what's in Czerny's books; they look rather dry, but I have a cousin, whose teacher insisted on Czerny's studies for the techniques. My cousin isn't a concert pianist, but she is quite competent at piano playing. Her teacher no doubt was very good. I just know competent pianists don't necessarily know how to teach, and most piano students don't succeed. It's reality.

I have a book on Mendelssohn's compositions, compiled by Alexander Shealy. They are beautiful music and more fun to play. There are some in the book that are not for me because of my technical deficiency.

I am still not sure I want to commit to Czerny studies. I am quite realistic. I play at my level. I practice what I enjoy doing. If I don't enjoy it, it sits on my bookshelf for a time. When the dust is thick, I becomes a library donation.