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What is piano technique?

10/24/2019

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Good piano technique has several characteristics:

The hands can execute at the level of demand put to them. In other words, they can do what they are told. In the Jazz world this is known as "chops". I've now accumulated over 50 years of practice. My technique has matured even as my endurance has waned a wee bit with age.
The hands can execute what we hear in our "musical imagination'. The big question for me is how do I enrich my musical imagination? My best answer is this. What I hear comes from my musical education, musical experience playing for or with others, and a lifetime of cultural experience. So, I'm vigorously continuing these activities.

Best regards,

David
Revised August 2022

Great advance from a brass teacher.

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Mastery Mindset

10/10/2019

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Do it for yourself.
Trust the process of focused practice and a steady pace. It's a marathon not a sprint.
Read books on the science of improvement and learning.
Remember that Babe Ruth was also the strike out king of his time. That guy swung at everything.
Be present when warming up, practicing technique, working on theory, listening to music, attending lessons, and concerts.
Think of decades, not years or months, or worse, weeks. I'm a decade in on the drums; it changed my life. I'm enthusiastically embracing the next decade with the idea that if I stick to the plan of incremental improvements I will get better. I've had nearly five decades of piano playing behind me. My plan this decade is to return to lessons. So, I have. What a revelation and transformation in my thoughts, perspective, and abilities that has made.

Best,

David
Revised August 2022

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“There is nothing more fatal for our musical sense, than to allow ourselves – by the hour – to hear musical sounds without really listening to them”
-Tobias Matthay
The Musician’s Way, p. 16

Please have a quick read of Gerald Klickstein's blog post on recording ourselves in practice. I agree completely with his point that, "Self-recording in practice provides us with the means to compensate for glitches in our self-perception and memory."

https://www.musiciansway.com/blog/2009/09/self-recording-in-practice/?fbclid=IwAR0eBPKJA-RzGi8BVVyl2_Wv6HuKh8nDtUySP5S3EIrI3uTL1PcEl8GbIv8

Enjoy,

David
PS. Over the last decade I've accumulated a few hundred gigabytes of practice recordings.

Revised August 2022

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Pavarotti and devotion

10/4/2019

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“People think I’m disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference. ”Luciano Pavarotti, opera singer, 1935-2007

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Tips, free lessons, and inspiration

What is piano technique?

Mastery Mindset

Self-Recording in Practice

Pavarotti and devotion

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