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Home » Hobbies Articles » How To Play The Piano Expressively Part 1

How To Play The Piano Expressively - Part 1

This series of articles will help everyone who is learning to play the piano to attain that all-important part of the whole process of learning the piano, the ability to produce a good tone.

It is necessary for the piano student to observe, and learn fully and precisely, as much of the mechanism of the piano as possible. It is only with careful study that a scientific knowledge of piano-touch can be attained. No piano student, however musically gifted they may be, can, in these days of "higher development," afford to depend solely on the aesthetic side of his nature for the cultivation of his technique.

If the technical study of the piano is approached in a spirit of calm inquiry, there is no reason why a study of the piano should not brace the mental system of the student, and do him as much good as would a careful study of grammar or geometry. And although this technical study is not sufficient of itself to make an artist, still the benefit derived from it will be always at hand to help the piano student unravel many difficulties which otherwise could cause a great deal of frustration, and would slow the learners progress.

Of all musical instruments, the piano is perhaps the one, which a player can, quite easily misuse. The pianist has an almost unlimited freedom of movement for the body, arms, and hands; and the instrument imposes few conditions to its use. Therefore, it is necessary for the student to have a knowledge

(1) of the correct use of his limbs,
(2) of how to use correctly the mechanism peculiar to the piano, and
(3) of how to adapt the one exactly to the other, before he can acquire an unexaggerated style of playing.

It is unfortunately a commonly accepted idea that the piano, like the organ, is dependent for its quality of tone on the manufacturer alone, and that "Broadwood" or "Bechstein," as the case may be, is wholly responsible for the kind of sound, which the player produces. And parallel with this opinion runs the generally accepted one that touch, or, the method of producing correct tone, cannot be taught, and is entirely a "gift."

When a great pianist plays, there is a beauty, delicacy, and richness of tone in what the piano player produces. This is usually thought to piano players touch being born with the player. Or to the fact that his fingers have been for so many years never off the keys, or to his large hands, or long fingers. Or to some other qualification possessed only by pianists of similar rank, and quite out of the reach of less gifted players.

In examining the question of how one may learn to produce good tone, the following fact should offer a foundation for observation and reasoning, that is to say, that both the great artist and the poor player have one common field of action in the external mechanism of the piano, that is, its Keyboard.

The great artist and the poor player may both be seen at work, and notes may therefore be taken of their different methods of using the means given them for the production of tone. The hands of both obey the same primary laws of muscular movement and the piano, is a keyboard instrument that will reproduce accurately what is being played on it, good or bad, and no respecter of who is playing. It is simply the acted-upon, and not the agent.

When therefore the great artist is seen to use his hands differently from the poor player. The reason of the different character of the tone must partly be that the method of touching the instrument is different. Part of the reason lies, of course, in the fact, that the great piano player starts with a greater degree of musical talent than the poor piano player does.

But as this article discusses not so much musical feeling itself, but rather the expressing of musical feeling, and as it is very evident that the great piano player does use the hand differently from the poor piano player.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Double Your MLM Earnings

Network marketing, also known as multi level marketing (or MLM), comes in many forms. One of the most popular network marketing methods is selling by brochure, and one of the biggest companies using this method is Avon, the worldwide cosmetics company. The Avon rep distributes her brochures around the neighborhood, collects them again in a few days together with the orders, and, at the end of the 3 week campaign, she passes her orders to Avon. After a few days the orders arrive, she (or he!) delivers the orders, collects her money and, after deducting her commission, pays the remainder of the money to Avon.

If you are distributing brochures in this way there is a good way to double the money you make.

Around ninety five percent of the time taken to sell through brochures is spent traveling from house to house. When you get to the house, instead of placing one brochure in the postbox, try two different ones! It takes very little extra work and can result in double the sales.

It seems so obvious yet so few people do this, there are certainly none in our area or where my friends and family live. Instead people deliver just the one, maybe feeling some sort of loyalty to the company producing the brochure â€" 'I'm an Avon Lady' or whatever. That's OK, but how about loyalty to you and your family? You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to maximize your income.

Of course there is no point delivering two brochures that sell the same or similar things. But there are different ones available: Avon is well known for its cosmetics, and there are various other ones: vitamins, household goods etc.

Two different brochures will bring you more money, and don't forget your down lines: your team members will be happier if their earnings increase and they will be more likely to stay in your team. Think double!