The Secret Of Piano Mastery

Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by amauto in Uncategorized

Mastery of the piano is a long and difficult journey. There are some secrets though that can ease the frustration. It has been said that the sport of golf is frustrating even with the best golf instruction book in the world. The seemingly simple act of hitting a white ball should not present very many problems. You would think pressing down the black and white keys of the piano would be simple with all the many method books on the market. However, practicing exercises and boring pieces will hinder your journey towards mastering the piano.

Playing the piano well requires fine, complex motions of the body with precise eye hand coordination. The sound is not produced by the fingers. Energy directed from the torso and through the arms which is channeled through the fingers produce the sound. This technique is more easily felt and seen than described by words.

This rhythmic principle of energy channeling will produce sounds as soft as a pin drop to as loud as thunder. So loud and powerful that your audience will wear a black helmet to protect their hearing. You can recognize finger centered piano playing. It lacks the clarity of tone and expressive nature of piano playing produced by the whole body.

The method of many teachers of making students learn pieces at very slow tempo is unproductive. Not that you should play so fast that you need a digital sport watch to time it but pieces should be practice at real tempos. The same is true of practicing the right and left hand parts alone. You should always both hands together. The coordination of the two hands is what must be learned. Practicing one hand alone is a waste of time. It is the same with practicing at slow tempos. The physical coordination at the proper tempo is different than a slow tempo. Practicing at a slow tempo is a waste of time.

There are many real pieces of serious music that are not difficult. The Clementi sonatinas are beautiful gems that can be played by the beginning student. Bach has many pieces that are suitable for beginners. Other composer with beautiful music for beginning piano students are Bartok and Kabalevsky.

Instead of practicing scales, exercises and arpeggios, you should play actual music from the classical piano repertoire. Many great composers have written beautiful music that can be played by the beginning student. Actual piano music contains all the scale and arpeggios you would ever need to practice. Playing actual music will hold the students interest and motivate them.

Fine piano playing is produced by the rhythmic movements of the whole body. It does not come from wiggling your fingers. You do not become a good piano player by practicing scales and exercise. You become a piano player by playing real music.

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