20th Century Pedagogy

Twentieth-century single authors books

Presented a mixture of historical theory
Newly explored psychological and physiological
concepts
personalize thought on the subject.

Karl Leimer
(1858-1944)

Most famous student Walter Gieseking

Piano Technique
Traditional Weight Technique

Clear

Musical Imagery

Careful listening

Rapid

memorization

Intense Concentration
Security

Study AWAY from instrument

Total

Abby Whiteside

Trained in United States

study with Rudolph Ganz (1908-germany)
Career : private studio teaching (1st in Portland, Oregon and lastly in
New York City)
Most influential book: Indispensables of Piano Playing (completed in
1948 & published in 1955)

Does not believe in:

Stressing fingering
Developing hand position
Slow practice
Counting
Use of time-honored technical materials (Hanon &
Czerny)
Traditional exercises

tone quality at the piano

Questions the teaching of TOUCH
Total coordination -ex. Athletes
Intense inner hearing & strong rhythmic drive ex:
jazz pianists
Careful reconsideration of concept: rotation,
relaxation, weight technique
Whitesides concept of rhythm:
- large playing units ( torso, whole arms, buttocks)
- total involvement results in: emotional response,
control of dynamic & touch, balance between large &
small playing units
damper pedal (the better the playing, the less the
damper pedal is used)
overemphasizing larger physical and mental
concepts

William S.Newman
(1912-2000)
Born in Cleveland, Ohio

The Pianists Problem

Published in 1956 and reedited in 1974
Simple, direct exposition of the issues of
piano playing
Clear style
Five topics: musicianship, technique,
practice, performance & methodology.

Musicianship
Play by ear & sight-reading
Expand creativity playing ensemble
Take time to study appropriate research - style
and choice of editions

Technique
Lever mechanisms inherent to human physiology
(Ortmann & Schultz)
Finger action: relaxation, weight technique,
rotation
QUESTIONS the extensive use of exercises
Focus on Coordinative skills and acute
observations

Practice
Foster students ability to become independent

Accurate learning of notes & rhythm + good

fingering
Rhythmic patterns in the context of metric pulse
Metronome
Develop the ability to count aloud while playing.

Performance
5 Factors of good/bad tone quality (pg 321)
Pedaling Attentiveness of ear

+
Active Imagination in the are of color image

Methodology
Developing an ability to recognize possible
mistakes before they occur
Slow Practice
Type of memorizing
Ear + Feel + Analysis + Visualization = Secured
As a regular part of practice routine

9 Steps in learning new piece (page 322)

Heinrich Neuhaus
(1884-1964)

Russian pianist & teacher

family was musical
Chief influences on Neuhauss development: Felix Blumenfeld &
Leopold Godowsky
Early playing career: centered in Germany & Russia
Neurological disorder of his hand put an end to his performing
Career teaching at Moscow Conservatory
Pedagogical work: The Art of Piano Playing
-published in 1967
His approach: both personal & eclectic

Importance of clear musical conception behind all technical

development
Consideration of rhythm
Consideration of tone
- links perception of : quality to dynamic control, type of attack,
continuity of pianos tone, level of projection
Natural hand position
Slow & heavy practice
Flexibility & relaxation
8 elements of technique: playing simple notes, playing 2-5 note
patterns, scales, arpeggios, double notes, chords, skips & playing
polyphonic texture.

Jozsef Gat
(1913- 1967)
Hungarian

Background
Born in Hungary in 1913
Studied with Bartok and Kodaly at the
Franz Listz Academy in Budapest.
Concertized in Europe
Taught at High School of Music in Budapest
The Technique of Piano Playing (1958)

Approaches

 Sitting Position: (pg 325)

Forearm & upper arm are FREE, body can
move forward and backward easily

5 elements to enhance legato &

staccato
Relationships of bodys inner
response to music & the instrument
Emotional responses
Strong inner aural perception

Against excessive repetition

Dilute the intensity of emotional

 Slow practice control velocity &

facilitate memorization
Fixed, arched hand position is
recommended for octave and chord
playing
General exercises to be performance
away from the instrument
Setting forth gymnastics for the shoulders, arms,
wrists, hands and fingers

George Kochevitsky

concert pianist and music teacher

was born in Velikiye Luki in Russia
Died in the age of 90
was arrested in 1933 and sent to Siberia for three years as
a political prisoner.
Wrote "The Art of Piano Playing: A Scientific Approach"
(1967), which explored the function of the central nervous
system (brain & spinal cord) in piano technique and
performance.
receives incoming information
(impulses), analyzes and organizes
it, and initiates appropriate action.
Fundamental role in controls
behaviors in the body.

Balance between excitation and inhibition

Emphasizes importance of inner aural activity
-sound must be the activator of impulse
-sound ----- impulse ----- muscular movement ----- sound
Technique in developing fast playing:
Constant muscular contraction & relaxation
-use of the larger playing units must be coordinated with
finger movement & strength. (finger strength + flexible
wrist)
Ways against Stage fright:
-careful analysis
-constant control
-diligent preparation

Max W.Camp
Developing Piano Performance: A
Teaching Philosophy (1981)
Holistic Approach
Emphasizes the importance of developing
musical understanding and independent
learning processes

Physical responses to rhythmic units

Seymour Bernstein

an internationally known writer, composer, teacher,

and lecturer.
studied with Alexander Brailowsky, Nadia Boulanger
and etc.
an Adjunct Associate Professor of Piano at New York
University.
Pedagogical guidance on piano technique &
performance through 2 books & a videotape.
1st Pedagogical book: With Your Own Two Hand (1981)
- preparing & performing music can be a powerful
catalyst in the overall integration of ones psyche.
- benefits of achieving such wholeness (to both
professional musician & amateur)
- psychology of motivation & concentration
- suggestions with regard to movement at the
keyboard (specific passages of repertoire)
- ways to deal with selected problematic areas

2nd pedagogical book: Lessons in Keyboard Choreography

(1991)
Videotape: You and the Piano
music making contains healing & spiritual power.

Isabelle Vengerova
(1877-1956)
Background:
Was a Russian, later became an American
Taught at Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (1924death)
Celebrated pupils such as Samuel Barber, Lukas
Foss, Leonard Bernstein, Gary Graffman and Slyvia
Zaremba
Wrote NO technique book but her ideas on technique
are set forth in writing of her students

The Vengerova Systems of Piano Playing by Robert D.

Shick (1982)
Beloved Tyranna: The Legend and Legacy of Isabelle
Vengerova by Joseph Rezits (1995)

Approaches:
Close approach to key at all time
Active and Flexible Wrist
Generated

Power
Falling Weight (Dropped wrist)
Scale practice in groups of 2 notes with an up/down
motion of the wrist, gradually moving to group of 3
notes

Close Approach
Successful legato relationship between notes
Desirable tone at instruments

Seymour Fink

Nelita True
Nelita True at Eastman Technique
Listening (1991)
Lecture-demonstrations in tape
Taped before a live audience at the
Eastman School of music, where Trues
teaches.

Technique Approaches:
Importance of studying technique to
achieve freedom and preventing injury
Listening as an integral part of the
technique practice
Incorporated torso
Role of abdomen
An upper-arm position is almost perpendicular
Flexible wrist
Relatively open hand position

Series of Exercises she demonstrates

focuses on releasing weight into the
keyboard (pg 334)

Throws
Round
Rhythmic
Ringing

retired senior piano professor in the Department of Music,

University of New York at Binghamton
An active solo and chamber pianist
more than 35 years of piano teaching experience.
made a lifetime study of piano technique and its pedagogy.
Treatise: Mastering Piano Technique (1993)
- offers a comprehensive approach to technique (holistic approach)
- part 1: 10 basic movements

- part 2: applies those movements to 19th century piano literature

- part 3 : survey of more complex movements

Dorothy Taubman

American music teacher, lecturer and founder of the

Taubman Institute of New York
Formerly a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music
of Queens College and a professor at Temple University.
developed the "Taubman Approach" to piano playing
approach to piano technique
Approach to piano playing
Points of sound---Matthays concept of key spot (small bit of resistance felt
in key depression when hammer escapes from the hopper & sent its way to
strike the string) .
Forearm rotation:
- fundamental to all finger technique
- 2 basic rotation motions : single & double
- use of rotation results in a smooth movement
Mainly focus on : Minimize tension & avoid injury.