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The Pianistic Learning Process

The document discusses several important aspects of the pianistic learning process including technique, reading, memorization, and interpretation. It emphasizes that technique is the most important foundational component and must be developed before focusing on reading or memorization. Several tips are provided for technique, reading, fingering, learning new music, memorizing, and determining optimal tempos for interpretation. The overall message is that pianists must make conscious choices about all musical elements, especially tempo, to successfully learn and perform pieces.

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Júnior Medeiros
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156 views3 pages

The Pianistic Learning Process

The document discusses several important aspects of the pianistic learning process including technique, reading, memorization, and interpretation. It emphasizes that technique is the most important foundational component and must be developed before focusing on reading or memorization. Several tips are provided for technique, reading, fingering, learning new music, memorizing, and determining optimal tempos for interpretation. The overall message is that pianists must make conscious choices about all musical elements, especially tempo, to successfully learn and perform pieces.

Uploaded by

Júnior Medeiros
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The pianistic learning process

Technique --> Reading --> memorization


To memorize music, one MUST first be proficient in technique and
reading. To read music well, one MUST have good technique. Therefore, the
most important component of the pianistic learning process in the early
stages is developing good technical skills. For example, if one cannot play
octaves or broken chords well, one will never be able to memorize Maple
Leaf Rag. In other words, it is impossible to memorize anything that cannot
be played technically.

Some tips for good piano technique


1. Economy of motion is the single most important factor in efficient
technique.
2. Let gravity work for you. All of your natural arm weight results from
gravity rather than from force or tension.
3. Keep your shoulders down and never raise them.
4. Do not move the wrists up and down or the elbows dramatically to
either side.
5. Never cave in the first knuckle of any finger. In other words, always
try to play rounded fingers.
Some tips for reading and fingering
1. Sightreading music every day or on a regular basis is the only way to
learn to sightread better.
2. Always push yourself to learn new music.
3. This goes against standard convention, but I highly recommend NOT
writing fingering in the music AT ALL. This is because it will force you
to remember it better and you will have an easier time memorizing it.
Furthermore, fingerings chance over time and if you come back to the
music later it is distracting to have different fingerings written all over
the music. I keep a clean score and NEVER write in fingerings.
Some tips for learning new music
1. Always learn music with no pedal, even in music that requires lots of
pedal (like Chopin or Debussy). In fact, 80% of your practice should
be with no pedal at all.
2. Do not write fingerings into the score.
3. Do not be so concerned with speed in the beginning. Never practice
faster than you can play it musically.
4. Try to memorize new music as early as possible. Sightread the work
perhaps only once or twice and then start memorizing small portions
at a time. Add pedal only after the piece is almost completely
memorized.
5. Determine your ideal tempo for the piece and work towards this goal,
but mostly after it is all memorized.
Some tips for memorizing music
1. Memorize a little each day even if only half a page.
2. Memorizing music works best first thing in the morning when your
mind is clear. Try to set some time aside each morning to memorize
new material.
3. Mark or number sections in your music and be able to start from any
section. Learn the piece backwards!
4. Go to the difficult parts immediately and try to memorize then cleanly
with no pedal and at a slow tempo.
5. Play slowly looking at the music, but gradually begin looking at your
hands more to wean yourself off from having your eyes on the music.
Some general rules for interpretation (even at
a slower practice tempo)
1. Never just learn notes when learning a new piece.
2. Always plan which notes or chords to emphasize over others. This
creates phrasing and voicing.
3. Treat pedaling as if it were the most important aspect of
interpretation. Pedaling can make or break a good performance and is
the soul of the piano.
4. Determine your ideal tempo for the piece and always re-evaluate it.
Sometimes it takes some creative experimentation to finally decide
on your own ideal tempo.
Tempo determination
Tempo is probably the most important aspect of musical
interpretation. The choice of tempo invariably has a profound and direct
influence on the character or mood the performer wishes to create. In
general, slower tempos create more expressive or introverted moods
while faster tempos create more lively or extroverted moods.
Performers should always be aware of the tempos they choose and
whether or not they convey the character or mood desired. Contrary to
common belief, it is the performer, not the composer, who has the final say
on tempo.
Once the character and tempo have been decided, everything else
often seems to fall into place, such as touch and articulation, pedaling, and
dynamics. One should always decide on his/her own ideal tempo for
everything practiced or performed. Otherwise, this would be like an artist
never deciding on which colors to use in a painting. An artist HAS to
eventually decide on which colors to use.
Likewise, a pianist HAS to decide on what tempo to play and what
character to create. Nothing should ever be left to chance! Too many
pianists do not put careful consideration into tempo, and as a result the
music often suffers!

Optimal tempos for all music


This is explained in Unified Theory of tempo relativity. Your own
ideal tempo can always be found among these possibilities. Use process of
elimination to help decide. For example, if 72 bpm seems too slow and 96
bpm seems too fast, then 84 bpm is the optimal tempo (highlighted in blue
in following matrix). The ideal tempo for any piece of music from any period,
Bach to Debussy, can be found in the following matrix!

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