Attributed to J.S. Bach
“It’s easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.”
I say “a” secret ingredient of piano technique in regards to this topic because there is no one “cure-all” for one’s pianistic woes and the subject of technique is subject to many individual characteristics of the pianist. Just compare Horowitz, Rubinstein, Argerich, Gilles, Richter, Trifonov, Lang Lang, etc. We also find, as George Kochevitsky pointed out, one’s own artistic personality and sound world will influence the technique needed to accomplish one’s goals.
However, there is one foundational concept that I find missing in many students of today: playing from the key.
What I mean is, placing one’s finger on the key to be played before actually initiating any downward movement. This allows for both utmost control of the key speed (dynamics), but also allows for incredible economy of motion, the key to fast passagework.
I have my own little method of practicing passagework, which can be viewed as analogous to scales, arpeggios, and the like. It’s not the only method I use, but it works wonders as a basis for other practice variations (perhaps I’ll say more about this in a future post). Here is the “recipe”:
- Play from the key
- Use only the flexors (gripping) muscles of the finger tips
- Have the arm in a weightless, floating position. Not resting down, but not holding up either
- Play with vigorous key speed, resulting in a relatively forte sound (also practice with a slow key speed for a pianissimo sound).
- Keep the hand knuckles level with keys generally, but allow the hand to rotate ever so slightly when playing the outer fingers.
Give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments!
Joseph Kingma, DMA, NCTM
Kingma Piano Studio