About the Thumb and piano playing: I always receive a needed infusion of ideas from many inquisitive and creative teachers who post at the Facebook Piano Pedagogy forum.
So there, I thankfully found the springboard for today’s discussion.
“How do we teach the thumb?” Must we be anatomical about what triggers thumb motions at the piano. Where are they derived? Do they come from the forearm, or wrist, or elsewhere?
I guess I was unable to chime in with a full proof physiological approach isolated from the music I work with every day either as teacher or self-propelled learner.
Therefore, my posted contribution came with a reference to my thumb’s marriage to repertoire in its infinite shapes and forms.
Rather than dissect my every thumb advance, I decided to make a video that interspersed examples from my recent you tube postings of Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook selections, taking a few and noticing my thumb’s behavior in the context of phrasing and expression.
I don’t think I could give an ORAL lecture on the thumb, per se, unless I was simultaneously immersed in a composition, or even in a scale/ arpeggio since ALL of the aforementioned are MUSIC to my ears.
