One of my favorite verbal prompts to students who have a choppy approach to scales and arpeggios, is: "drag" your fingers from note note--"feel" the weight transfer with imagined resistance. I often talk about flowing "vowels" not consonants through an arpeggio. Other mental images are equally effective: Think of the piano as a bowl of… Continue reading Piano Technique: Playing LEGATO can be a drag!
Tag: legato playing
Piano Technique: Psychological and physical approaches to staccato (Video)
Today's romp in F# minor (melodic form) brought new awakenings in the universe of bouncy staccato through scales and arpeggios--(in big Forte projection, followed by a soft, piano range rendering) Within the psychological universe where mental images abound, catchwords like "THINKING UP" through rapid fire 32nds, kept the notes percolating without falling down FLAT with… Continue reading Piano Technique: Psychological and physical approaches to staccato (Video)
Growing piano technique in baby steps: Rina, 5, advances to hands together five-finger positions (adding in 10ths)
Rina may not know the words "pentascales" and "tenths," but she has the intelligence to notice when her fingers move up and down together, playing the same notes an "octave" apart. With a sound knowledge of the music alphabet in both directions, she has good cognitive reinforcement. (She also knows "running notes" or 8ths, "long… Continue reading Growing piano technique in baby steps: Rina, 5, advances to hands together five-finger positions (adding in 10ths)
