Cortot's "Rational principles of pianoforte technique"

[fnork]

 Any opinions on this book? I just bought it to see if it's any good, but... well, I don't know if I'm doing things the wrong way, but when I play the excercises the way Cortot wants you to, my fingers hurt and I feel that if I will go on playing the excercises, then I'm really going to injure my fingers. But perhaps I need help from a good teacher to do it the right way.

Let me know what you think of it. Personally I'm not sure yet, because on the other hand, some of the excercises seem very good... Right now, I'm most confused with the "daily keyboard gymnastics" excercises. Some of them don't make much sense to me, others (like the first one) really makes my fingers hurt...

[pianonut]

i have never read it, so take the following for what it's worth.  there are several types of technique.  one is more easily controlled (cortot's method) and the other takes perhaps more intellectual 'hearing' of the sounds you want to produce and then striving to make them by a sort of experimentation process by which you eliminate all movement that produces strain to the hands/fingers.  this is harder to control (imo) at first (for a long time!).  but, i think, in the end, you have a soaring bird type technique that may have less tension and more fluidity.

[Barbosa-piano]

 It is basically the science of the keyboard. I've never read it, but there is a description of it. I have other Cortot's editions of music, and all of them refer: "For more fingerings view Rational principles of pianoforte technique" on the footnotes. Especially on the Chopin Etudes edition. I wanted to buy it, but they are very hard to find, and it is always out of stock at amazon... It seems very good. It applies many different and interesting fingerings that are incredible. One friend said it is the technique problem solver.