TABLE OF CONTENTS

Internet Links: How to Use Them

Foreword

Introduction: The Challenges of the Performer

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PART ONE — THE BODY: PIANO TECHNIQUE

I — The Basics of the Problem

1. Technique — Playing Without Effort

2. The Arm, the Fingers: What Should Be Engaged?

3. The Quest for Legato

II — The Actions

Activating the Hand

1. Arm support on extended fingers

2. Transferring arm pressure from one finger to another

3. Vertical lengthening of the fingers

4. Gradual acceleration of key depression

5. Upward and downward movements of the wrist

Summary of Actions 1 to 5: Activating the Hand (Definition)

Actions for Physical Ease and Perfect Control of the Sound Palette

1. Pinching

2. Lengthening the arm

3. Incomplete key depression

4. Immediate release of pressure at the bottom of the keyboard

5. Gathering the hand

6. Rebound of the hand through wrist articulation

7. Lateral and circular movements of the wrist

8. Rapid lifting of the fingers after playing

III — Which Actions for Which Dynamics?

1. Forté (ƒ) playing

2. Piano playing

3. Pianissimo playing

IV — The Body

1. Tone and the body — defining weight

2. Hand position

3. The role of the wrist

4. A supple arm, but firm fingers

5. The shoulder

V — Scales and Arpeggios

1. Thumb crossing

2. Scales

3. Arpeggios

VI — Playing Techniques, Different Types of Touch

1. Isolating the notes of a melody within a chord

2. Staccato playing

3. Non-legato playing

4. Connected playing, but not legato

5. Pearly playing

6. Our toolbox — if I were a percussionist

7. Slow and expressive playing

8. The notion of the consonant — what if legato did not exist? — if I were a flutist

VII — The Pedal and Listening

1. The pedal and half-pedal

2. The soft pedal

3. Active listening, inner listening

VIII — Choosing Fingering

 

PART TWO — THE MIND: MUSIC AND ITS MYSTERY

I — The Mystery

1. The greatness and misery of the score

2. The mysterious role of the performer

3. The fundamental equations

II — Phrasing

1. The musical phrase — the wave shape

2. Phrasing

3. Mastery of sound

4. Mastery of time

III — Rubato

1. Tension and release

2. Rubato — definition

3. Rubato — when should it be used?

IV — Interpretation

1. Expressive accentuation — rhythmic accentuation

2. Changes of color

3. Breathing

4. Musical structure, rhythm, tempo

5. Musical discourse, diction

6. The weight of notes

V — The Craft

1. The concert, stage fright

2. Intuition

3. Memory

4. Sight-reading

5. Improvisation

 

Conclusion

Appendix 1: A Selection of Essential Artists

Appendix 2: List of Video Tutorials

Appendix 3: List of Musical Examples

Acknowledgements

Brief Biography