| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Strength vs. Relaxation | |
| ziggysane -- 06/20/2007, 17:46:11 -- #35530 | |
| This topic was touched upon by the hand position thread, and I'd thought I'd create a new thread to address it rather than hijack that one. Is there any modern truth to the strengthening school/method? I've heard teachers and advanced students decry the practice of strengthening the hands through excessive playing and exercises as outdated and dangerous. They insist that it makes no sense physiologically (the hand of a child has all the strength it needs to play the piano) and that strength training only creates imbalance and is the product of outdated dogma passed down by teachers to students over many generations. I also know more people and teachers personally from this school. However, the modern strength school says that the "mental and physical relaxation" crowd went too far astray with all that new age-y mumbo jumbo, that pianists today are not the equals of past pianists because of it, and insists that five years of Hanon (at least the Russian School) in all keys is needed to prepare the hands for world class playing. I know far fewer of these people. Mostly I've only read their work. I've also heard, but mostly only from forums and interviews, from a fringe set that believes that relaxation is most essential, but that some minor strengthening process must still take place, if for endurance reasons if nothing else. I am somewhat biased as I tried strength and endurance based practice a few years ago and all it did was make my fingers and arms sore. Do any of the trained pianists here have any insight into this? I'm particularly interested in anyone who has proof or experience with a combination of both, but I'd like to hear from anyone with a perspective. | |
| hepcatmonk -- 06/20/2007, 20:59:10 -- #35530 | |
| I disagree with this - I think the modern "strengthening" school still supports the importance of relaxation. I personally feel that Hanon, Czerny, Chopin, and Moszkowski etudes will really improve one's playing, but only if they are practiced relaxed. I played through the Hanon book every day for about two years and it did a lot for my playing, but NOT until I made sure that I was completely relaxed, taking short breaks as necessary to make sure I didn't hurt myself. it's not Strength vs. relaxation. The best school of piano playing, in my opinion, remains relaxed, even while possessing finger strength and endurance. Think about it - you're a jazz pianist, you have to be able to compete with drums. I feel that your fingers should be trained so that you can posses great tone and volume, while playing EFFORTLESSLY and completely RELAXED. The strength you develop through practicing exercises is to help your fingers be strong while relaxed. Playing effortlessly with necessary strength is important. Don't think of it as dogmatic schools - I feel that all the great pianists have similar technical goals (strength and relaxation). hm | |
| DrJazz -- 06/27/2007, 17:54:02 -- #35530 | |
| This seems to me to be related to the flat fingers/curved fingers debate. I was trained to raise my fingers as high as possible, whilst keeping them CURVED, in order to get maximum velocity for loud notes, so this feels natural to me. I believe this is sometimes called the Leszetisky method (probably not the correct spelling, sorry). The Russian School also advocates arm weight from the shoulders as a means of obtaining strength when playing block chords, octaves, etc. However some pianists seem to be able to get just as good results with FLAT fingers - eg: Glenn Gould, who also sat very low, making the Russian method impossible. I guess at the end of the day it's a personal thing and depends somewhat on the shape of your hand and what you're comfortable with. I agree with eveyone above about the importance of relaxation WHATEVER method you decide on. Tension is fine, and a necessary part of music/perfomance, but you have to know how to release it, both musically and physically, otherwise it just builds up and leads to stiffness. Alexander Technique is very good at developing awareness of stored tension in the body, not just the fingers, but arms, shoulders and neck, too... I had a course of lessons some years ago and it sorted out a lot of my stiffness problems. Tim | |
| Mike -- 07/06/2007, 22:24:18 -- #35530 | |
| Well trying to avoid a dabate on what exactly a "world class" player is, I will say this. The Pianists that I have known personally who have travelled the world giving concerts (which is how I define "world class") (which totals three I think) are all Jazz pianists and have all done extensive hanon type technique work at some point in their lives. However I am not convinced that this proves that they would not have become world class pianists without the hannon. | |
| Mike -- 07/06/2007, 22:27:09 -- #35530 | |
| sometimes I think that the importance of the hannon thing in these in other pianists develpement is not technique, but that teachers insist they practice the drills with a metronome on. Thus the hanon stage helps along with a steady diet of bach a true understanding of and ability to play the eigth note and quarter note. | |
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