Piano technic is the study of coordinate motion. It is the way we move our body so that we can play effortlessly without tension, with brilliance, tonal control, in speed, and be able to execute any passage of music with clarity and facility. . . . all the components of virtuosity!
Pianists who wish to develop virtuosity at the piano need to discover the best movements at the piano which will allow them to move freely and easily across the keyboard.
Piano technic is NOT the study of how to build muscles, strength and endurance.
Rather, pianists who wish to develop virtuosity at the piano need to discover the best movements at the piano which will allow them to move freely and easily across the keyboard. When pianists learn the proper way of playing the piano, which involve no tension or limitation, they will always be able to play, without having to "warm-up". A pianist who has mastered a coordinate, healthy technic will be able to go right to the piano and play, even if he or she hasn't been at the instrument for days or weeks.
If you think about it, talented, young children can play enormous literature ---Chopin and Rachmaninoff ---without an adult’s strength. As the great piano pedagogue, Dorothy Taubman, explained "Unfortunately, the idea that developing a strong technic requires long, hard, athletic training is held in spite of the fact that child prodigies emerge with stunning techniques without those many years of practice, while most of us usually do not develop that kind of virtuosity even after years of practice.”
“Training for endurance also implies that fatigue is the inevitable price of a virtuoso technique, and one must therefore be trained to endure the fatigue.”
So, instead of wasting time mindlessly playing Hanon exercises, a pianist would be better served to master coordinate motion at the piano, so that he or she will master a piano technic that involves NO tension or fatigue -- a technic that is as natural as talking or walking.
With a healthy and virtuosic technic, there is no need to find ways to relax, because there is never any tension from which the pianist needs to relax from in the first place!
Some important principles of coordinate motion: 1) That all the parts of the body are being used at their best mechanical advantage. 2) To always use minimum effort for maximum result. 3) Mid-range of motion
Watch this video to discover what a piano virtuoso is and discover the secret motions behind a virtuosic piano technic!
What is the Taubman Approach?
Components of technic:
Alignment (All the parts of the body must be used at the best mechanical advantage)