A rich collection of learn-by-doing lessons in Piano Technique… how to use your ears, intellect, eyes, and muscles to play the piano with natural ease and artistry…
Table of Contents
Prerequisites
The LOVE of music and willingness to study and practice the right things the right way!
Piano Technique Questions & Answers
A rich collection of piano technique questions and answers… priceless lessons learned about piano technique by self-taught piano player Frank… so many crucial insights he wishes his teachers taught him decades ago…
Q: What is the single biggest obstacle to developing a fluent piano technique?
A: Hands down it’s the widespread and horribly damaging myth that the path to a fluent technique is paved with mechanical finger training exercises.
Q: Why do you think the “mechanical finger training school” is so widely accepted?
A: The mythical claims of the finger training school of piano technique are perpetuated by four conspiring problems:
First, in the early stages, doing finger training exercises seems to improve one’s playing.
Second, ignorant but well meaning teachers continue to regurgitate the finger training myth by the millions.
Third, trusting students continue to believe the finger training myth by the millions.
and fourth, publishers continue to publish “exercise” books (Hanon, Cortot, Czerny, etc) into the musical canon by the millions.
Q: What’s your take on the usefulness of Hanon the Virtuoso Pianist for improving one’s piano technique?
A: I’ve been widely criticized by many players and teachers who claim that Hanon has made them better players, but such a claim begs the question: “Compared to what?” The point is that doing something is better than doing nothing, but the same may be said about doing anything more than nothing. Furthermore, anyone who subscribes to the finger training school will never master anything. They will just get slightly better at doing things the wrong way–the hard way. Any improvements will be extremely small and painfully slow. And because progress will be extremely small and painfully slow, they will eventually quit, mistakenly believing they are untalented. Tragic for anyone who loves music.
Q: If not finger training, what is the proper way to approach piano technique?
A: First and foremost, to realize that technique and interpretation are inseparable. In other words, the way you move your body is how the music is going to sound and feel.
Q: I’m almost following you, but can you say a but more about what you mean?
A: It’s all about full body choreography. Technique is not about little well-trained hammers (fingers) on the end of a stick (your arm). It’s about learning how to dance using ALL your body parts.
Q: Are you saying then that there is no such thing as a general technique?
A: There are certainly general principles, but each choreography is absolutely specific to the particular passage in question and how you want to perform it. By the way, even if you did exercises the “right” way, all of the exercise books in the world will never be comprehensive enough to solve every technical problem that you are going to encounter in real music.
Q: It sounds like you are saying to get your “exercises” from the music you want to play.
A: YES!!! Once you understand the basic principles of technique, and the rudiments of scales and chords, go right to the music that you want to play. You get good at Bach by studying and practicing Bach. You get good at Rock by studying and practicing Rock. You get good at Jazz by studying and practicing Jazz. In studying the music that you want to play, you will discover the particular technical problems that you need to solve, problems that you can now give your focused attention.
Q: I think I understand now. You get good at speaking Hungarian by studying and speaking Hungarian not by doing mouth, tongue, and lip exercises.
A: Bingo! That’s a great analogy. And if you study and practice the right things the right way, you should expect quantum leaps in improvement, not slight improvements over years and years of arduous effort.
Q: Any particular insights that might inspire our readers to get their technique going in the right direction?
A: You bet. Thanks for asking. Three huge insights come immediately to mind:
One, The keyboard is not a gymnasium’ it’s a DANCE floor!
Two, The solution to a technical problem is always found in the direction of MENTAL & PHYSICAL EASE.
And three, All progress in piano technique is achieved by changing your BRAIN, not by changing your muscles.
Fresh questions are always welcome. Please ask in the comments below or email frank@piano-ology.com
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Piano Technique (Micro-Lessons)
Frank’s personal collection of short and sweet insights to get your whole attitude toward Piano Technique moving in the right direction!
Fluent Piano Technique
is achieved by learning how to dance,
not by training your fingers
to be well behaved little hammers
on the end of stick.
Technique & Interpretation
are INSEPARABLE.
How you MOVE your body
is the way the music
is going to SOUND and FEEL.
Suggesting that you play the piano
using only your fingers
is like saying that you dance ballet
using only your feet.
BEWARE of anyone who claims
that you need to build strength
& endurance in order to play the piano.
You cannot make beautiful music
if you play using just your fingers,
no matter how dexterous
& well-trained they might be.
Musical technique is achieved
by fluid CHOREOGRAPHY,
not machine-like precision.
The solution to a technical problem
is always found in the direction
of MENTAL & PHYSICAL EASE.
Never stop playing…
even in-between the notes…
ESPECIALLY in-between the notes!
Playing with a musical technique
is largely the process of learning
how to get out of your own way.
Even SMALL ADJUSTMENTS in how
you position and move your body
will absolutely LIBERATE your technique.
Fast playing is not a matter
of developing “speed”,
but about cultivating ACCURACY!
Grouping of notes into
meaningful musical PATTERNS,
both physically and mentally,
is essential to technical freedom and ease.
All progress in piano technique
is achieved by changing your BRAIN,
not by changing your muscles.
Expert piano technique
is a TEAM SPORT…
Your entire body contributes to
every musical idea, large and small.
Accuracy and musicality
are achieved by engaging
all four Musical Intelligences:
AURAL, ANALYTICAL,
VISUOSPATIAL, and KINESTHETIC.
A simple, coordinated GESTURE
is all that is required
to play any musical pattern
with freedom, ease, and confidence.
Musical technique is
always PREPARING & ANTICIPATING…
mentally and physically CONNECTING
one musical place to another!
The keyboard is not a gymnasium.
It’s a DANCE floor!
Please let Frank know if you’d like to get this lesson (and other micro-lessons) as a PDF or set of
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Piano Technique: General Principles
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Piano Technique: Body Awareness Training
A discovery-oriented exploration in how to position and move your piano-playing body parts in order to create beautiful music…
Body Awareness Training YouTube
Any interest in a text version of the highlights?
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Musical Mind
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Choreography
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Six Degrees of Freedom
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Muscle Memory
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Physical & Mental Ease
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Commentary on Hanon
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Piano Buying Guide
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How the Piano Works
[insert video on black note patterns!]
[insert video on velocity sensitivity!]
Keyboard Layout: The Four “Middles”
Did you know that there are four “middles” on an 88 key keyboard?
Let’s take them one by one and discuss why understanding where these “middles” are is so important to your piano technique.
A Typical 88 Key Keyboard
Before we talk about the four “middles” let’s remind ourselves that a standard 88 key keyboard has 52 white notes and 36 black notes…
Feel free to take a moment to go to your piano and count them for yourself.
Middle C
The first “middle” is middle C, the C closest to the middle of the keyboard and probably the very first note that every beginner learns…
But did you know that middle C is not quite in the physical center of an 88 key keyboard?
The Nameplate
The second “middle” is where the name of the piano maker is located. In this case, notice that the center of “Kawai” is just left of the crack between middle D and middle E…
Note: The advice of some teachers to sit in the center of the nameplate should be taken with a grain of salt because the nameplate location may vary from one piano maker to another and follows no particular standard except to be somewhere close to the middle.
The Crack between Middle E & Middle F
The third “middle” is the crack between E and F just above middle C…
Did you know that the precise middle of an 88 key keyboard is the “crack” between E and F above middle C? Prove it to yourself by counting the number of white keys on either side of the crack (26). It’s also the exact center point in terms of total number of keys on an 88 key keyboard–44 keys to the left of the crack and 44 keys to the right.
Middle D
The fourth middle is middle D, which has a very special property: the keys are perfectly symmetrical (a mirror image) in terms of white keys and black keys as you go from middle D in either direction: up or down…
Prove this to yourself by playing middle D with both thumbs, then work right with your right hand while going left with your left hand one key at a time. You’ll find the exact same sequence of white and black keys in both hands.
The real reason why middle D matters is this: It’s good practice to routinely center yourself–both physically and mentally–on middle D every time you sit down to play. Doing so serves at least three purposes: (1) It puts your body in a comfortable central location for playing most kinds of music, (2) It gives you a repeatable position for developing visuospatial awareness of the keyboard in your mind’s eye, (3) It cultivates a consistent sense of where your body is in relation to the piano keys.
The Big Takeaway
Unless a particular piece of music compels you to sit farther left or right, center yourself–both physically and mentally–on middle D. Doing so gives your proprioception and muscle memory a consistent point of reference to work from.
(By the way, don’t think you must sit rigidly aligned there… It’s OK to lean left or right as needed in order to play in very low or very high registers.
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The Black Keys
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Proprioception & Visualization
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Fingering
Fingering Charts
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Piano Technique: Special Topics
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Introduction to Phrasing
We don’t speak English one-syl-la-ble-at-a-time. We shouldn’t play music one-note-at-a-time, either!
Introduction to Phrasing YouTube Video
Introduction to Phrasing Highlights
Any interest in the transcript?
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Chunking & Continuity
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Circular Playing
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Connect the Dots
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Play Something!
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The Ten Finger Hand Concept
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Piano Technique Studies
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