Expressive piano technic: basics of healthy movement, technic and interpretation

Abstract

In the 19th century, leading piano pedagogues stressed the importance of accuracy and speed in piano playing. "Nothing is worse than wrong notes," wrote Czerny, only to be chastised by Beethoven asking for more musical teaching. 20th and 21st-century research has shown that this technic-interpretation divide is a false dichotomy: even early-level students are able to discern emotional expression and musical form while simultaneously building their piano technic. It is time to fully integrate technic and interpretation into one holistic teaching approach. A knowledge-based approach to piano teaching will incorporate insights derived from current research into aural perception and motor learning. These include audiation: the ability to sing inwardly, think in sound and understand every detail of music making without the physical presence of sound. Building a student’s sense of interoception, the awareness of sensations inside the body; and proprioception, the consciousness of limb position and movement outside the body, will facilitate technical development. Helping a student integrate all of this into their executive control, the ability to switch rapidly from task to task and quickly focus attention in different parameters, has been proven to improve brain function. “Technic comes from the mind (Geist), not the fingers,” said Liszt. In light of the growing interest in neurologically informed teaching, current research is summarized and cited, and practical, step-by-step applications are provided for immediate use in the teaching studio, demonstrating a new integrated schema for building a strong technical foundation in all piano students.

Keywords

• audiation
• interoception
• executive control
• kinesthetic learners
• proprioception
• visual learners

Expressive piano technic: basics of healthy movement, technic and interpretation

Abstract

In the 19th century, leading piano pedagogues stressed the importance of accuracy and speed in piano playing. "Nothing is worse than wrong notes," wrote Czerny, only to be chastised by Beethoven asking for more musical teaching. 20th and 21st-century research has shown that this technic-interpretation divide is a false dichotomy: even early-level students are able to discern emotional expression and musical form while simultaneously building their piano technic. It is time to fully integrate technic and interpretation into one holistic teaching approach. A knowledge-based approach to piano teaching will incorporate insights derived from current research into aural perception and motor learning. These include audiation: the ability to sing inwardly, think in sound and understand every detail of music making without the physical presence of sound. Building a student’s sense of interoception, the awareness of sensations inside the body; and proprioception, the consciousness of limb position and movement outside the body, will facilitate technical development. Helping a student integrate all of this into their executive control, the ability to switch rapidly from task to task and quickly focus attention in different parameters, has been proven to improve brain function. “Technic comes from the mind (Geist), not the fingers,” said Liszt. In light of the growing interest in neurologically informed teaching, current research is summarized and cited, and practical, step-by-step applications are provided for immediate use in the teaching studio, demonstrating a new integrated schema for building a strong technical foundation in all piano students.

Keywords

• audiation
• executive control
• delayed continuity practice
• executive control
• interoception
• kinesthetic learners
• proprioception
• visual learners
• visual learners

References

1. Bamberger, Jeanne. “Learning from the Children We Teach.” Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education 142 (Fall, 1999): 48-74.
2. Cameron, Claire E., Laura L. Brock, William M. Murrah, et al. “Fine Motor Skills and Executive Function Both Contribute to Kindergarten Achievement.” Child Development 83 no. 4 (July-August, 2021): 1229-1244.
3. Czerny, Carl. Letters to a Young Lady on the Arts of Playing the Pianoforte. Translated by J.A. Hamilton. New York: Hewitt & Jacques, 1837-1841. Reprint Da Capo Press, 1982.
4. Dunning, David and Justin Kruger. “Unskilled and Unaware of it: How Difficulties in Recognition of One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 77 no.6 (December, 1999): 1121-1134.
5. Goertzen, Valerie Woodring. “By Way of Introduction: Preluding in 18th- and Early 19th-Century Pianists.” The Journal of Musicology 14 no.2 (Summer, 1996): 299-337. in Music. Chicago: G.I.A. Publications, 1980.
6. Goertzen, Valerie Woodring. “By Way of Introduction: Preluding in 18th- and Early 19th-Century Pianists.” The Journal of Musicology 14 no.2 (Summer, 1996): 299-337.
7. Gordon, Edwin E. Learning Sequences in Music. Chicago: G.I.A. Publications, 1980.
8. Habibi, Assal, Beatriz Ilari, Katrina Heine, et al. “Changes in Auditory Thickness Following Music Training in Children: Converging Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Results.” Brain Structure and Function 225 (2020): 2463-2474.

9. Hamilton, Kenneth. After the Golden Age: Romantic Pianism and Modern Performance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
10. Holst-Wolf, Jessica M, I-Ling Yeh, and Jürgen Konszak. “Development of Proprioceptive Acuity in Typically Developing Children: Normative Data on Forearm Position Sense.” Frontiers in Neuroscience10 (2016). Accessed July 28, 2021. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00436/full.
11. Hund-Georgiadis, Margret and D. Yves von Cramon. “Motor-Learning Related Changes in Piano Players and Non-Musicians Revealed by Functional Magnetic-Resonance Signals.” Experimental Brain Research 125 (1999): 417-425.
12. Kent, Michael.The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science and Medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
13. Komlós, Katalin. “Mozart and Clementi: A Piano Competition and Its Interpretation.” Historical Performance 2 no.1 (Spring, 1989): 3-9.
14. Lior, Lia. “In Music Nothing is Worse than Playing with Wrong Notes.” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 38 no.1 (October, 2016): 5-24.
15. Lloyd, Meghann, Travis J. Saunders, Emily Bremer, et al. “Long-Term Importance of Fundamental Motor Skills: A 20- Year Follow-Up Study.” Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly 31 (2014): 67-78.
16. Merrick, Frank. Practising the Piano. London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1958.
17. Muthkrishna, Michael, Joseph Heinrich, Waturu Tokokawa, et al. “Overconfidence is Universal? Elicitation of Genuine Overconfidence (EGO) Procedure Reveals Systematic Differences across Domain, Task Knowledge, and Incentives in Four Populations”, PLoS One 13 no.8 (2018). Accessed August 1, 2021. https:// journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202288.
18. Newcomb, Ethel. Leschetizky As I Knew Him. New York: Da Capo Press, 1967.
19. Ortmann, Otto. The Physiological Mechanics of Piano Technique. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1929, Da Capo Press reprint, 1981.
20. Price, Cynthia J. and Carole Hooven. “Interoceptive Awareness Skills for Emotion Regulation: Theory and Approach of Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT).” Frontiers in Psychology 9 (May 2018). Accessed June 19, 2021. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00798/full.
21. Price, Cynthia J., Elaine A. Thompson, Sheila A. Crowell, et al. “Immediate Effects of Interoceptive Awareness Training through Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT) for Women in Substance Use Disorder Treatment.” Substance Abuse 40 no.1 (2019): 102-115.
22. Seeger, Pete. Henscratches and Flyspecks. New York, NY: Berkley Medallion Books, 1973.
23. Thayer, Alexander. Life of Beethoven. Revised and edited by Elliott Forbes. Princeton University Press, 1991.
24. Wu, Tao, Piu Chan, and Mark Hallert. “Movement Automaticity Shows Less Activation, but More Connectivity: A Model for Brain Efficiency.” Physiology News 73 (Winter, 2009). Accessed July 30, 2021. https://www.physoc.org/magazine-articles/movement-automaticity-shows-less-activation-but-more-connectivity-a-model-for-brain-efficiency/.
25. Yasuda, Kazuhiro, Yuki Sato, Naoyuki Iiumra, et al. “Allocation of Attentional Resources Toward a Secondary Cognitive Task Leads to Compromised Ankle Proprioceptive Performance in Healthy Young Adults.” Rehabilitation Research and Practice (2014). Accessed August 5, 2021. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nihgov.www2.lib.ku.edu/pmc/articles/PMC3910264/?tool=pmcentrez&report=abstract.
26. Zuk, Jennifer, Christopher Benjamin, Arnold Kenyon et al. “Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Executive Functioning in Musicians and Non-Musicians.” PLOS ONE 13 no.1 (2014, corrected 2015 and 2018). Accessed July 29, 2021. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0099868.