Bad News for Pianists!
If, as I have said before, endurance is not the most difficult thing to acquire in playing, what, then, is most difficult?
There are two greatest difficulties, tone and pedaling.
And the pedal is hardest of all to learn!
Vladimir Horowitz, 1932
Oh dear! It could be true - many many things are difficult in piano playing, but AFTER you have fixed them all, there is still a basic problem to solve!
Tone is a very fundamental thing. Some people don't believe in it. They think you can't change the sound of the piano. Well, that's like saying the conductor doesn't change the orchestra. Some people don't believe in that either.
And pedalling is something that affects the performance of a composition from the early years of study, yet it is something that is almost never given proper attention. It's really quite important. Exactly what goes on with the pedal beyond what we at the beginning called "a pedal change" is quite complex.
There are many technical issues in piano playing. No matter how many, the number is limited. So if you study it systematically, and fix your problems, then at some point you will ARRIVE AT THE END. Or actually, as we call it, the beginning.
There are two greatest difficulties, tone and pedaling.
And the pedal is hardest of all to learn!
Vladimir Horowitz, 1932
Oh dear! It could be true - many many things are difficult in piano playing, but AFTER you have fixed them all, there is still a basic problem to solve!
Tone is a very fundamental thing. Some people don't believe in it. They think you can't change the sound of the piano. Well, that's like saying the conductor doesn't change the orchestra. Some people don't believe in that either.
And pedalling is something that affects the performance of a composition from the early years of study, yet it is something that is almost never given proper attention. It's really quite important. Exactly what goes on with the pedal beyond what we at the beginning called "a pedal change" is quite complex.
There are many technical issues in piano playing. No matter how many, the number is limited. So if you study it systematically, and fix your problems, then at some point you will ARRIVE AT THE END. Or actually, as we call it, the beginning.
Labels: development, learning, pianists, piano, work
posted by Philip Howard at 10:02 PM
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