Confira minha obra publicada no Clube de Autores em Novembro 2018

Confira minha obra publicada no Clube de Autores em Novembro 2018

ANTOLOGIA DA FLOR (POEMAS E CRÔNICAS)

O meu livro Papagueno esta sendo publicado agora pelas Edições Chiado.https://www.wook.pt/livro/papagueno-maria-saboya/22254339 e no https://www.chiadobookskids.com/livraria/papagueno

ALEXANDER SIENKIEWCZ

Alexander Sienkiewicz. Fragmento de un cartel que promocionaba uno de sus conciertos en Brasil  © Fotografías del 
archivo personal de la familia Rechnitzer

Brasil salvó la vida a un virtuoso del piano. Alexander Sienkiewicz
tuvo que abandonar sus estudios en el Conservatorio de Berlín para
 refugiarse en Suiza de la macabra mano negra del nazismo. Su maestro
 Ignacy Paderewski, líder de la disidencia polaca en el exilio y uno de
 los grandes compositores del siglo pasado, lo hospedó en su casa, a
escasos pasos del lago Lemán, donde las interminables partidas de
ping-pong eran la única forma de amortiguar el helaje producto de la
escasez de carbón y leña que atizaba a Europa. Uno de los destinos
 posibles para la huida fue una nación remota llamada Colombia.
El músico polaco dirigió una petición manuscrita, fechada el 12 de junio
 de 1941, al Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores para viajar en calidad de
 profesor de música. Las autoridades nacionales respondieron el 21
de agosto en un párrafo apretado, donde comunicaban la negativa a su
 petición de entrada al país debido a “las actuales restricciones migratorias”.

La fecha de nacimiento de Sienkiewicz no está clara. En la ficha consular
 brasileña consta que fue en mayo de 1898. Otras fuentes señalan junio de
1903. Todas coinciden, sin embargo, en que fue en Kazimierz Dolny, un
 pueblo de graneros con techos escalonados que miran sobre los
márgenes del río Vístula. Su número de expediente es el 136 y forma parte
 de la lista de ciudadanos judíos de toda Europa rechazados por Colombia
 durante los años más espinosos del Tercer Reich. Se habla de alrededor de
20.000 solicitudes entre 1933 y 1942. La Enciclopedia Judaica indica que
 en ese lapso ingresaron 3.595 judíos al país. Otros estudios suben la cifra
 a 6.000. De cualquier forma, los números son engañosos y dejan vacíos,
 si se tiene en cuenta que muchos entraron con documentos falsos o por
otro puerto suramericano antes de cruzar la frontera ilegalmente. Como el
galerista e historiador de arte Kazimiro Eiger, quien además de haber tenido
que renegar de su fe, y como tantos otros declararse católico, pasó estancado
 una temporada larga en Curazao antes de entrar al país en el 43.

 

 

MY PEDAGOGY

Improving Coodination

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dl3uwruawigb8z7/clavier_companion_20170102.pdf?dl=0

Learning

&

Teaching

Improving coordination

C

lavier

C

ompanion

30

January/February 2017

W

Piano

technique:

Improving

coordination

hen we consider what makes

a pianist good or even great,

we usually think of her mastery of the

basic aspects of piano playing: correct

attention to the music itself, its dynamics and phrasing,

individual expression that hears and can evoke

the music and the silence between the notes, and

command during public performance. Together, these

aspects contribute to what is called “good technique,”

where the pianist’s movements are measured and

controlled. This article will address how a pianist can

reach this level of equilibrium through movement, and

by so doing, enhance her musicality. This is largely

addressed to those who have reached a certain level of

proficiency, though beginners, too, can no doubt learn

from this approach.

Most pianists are taught to have fluidity in their

hands but to keep their bodies rigid. I argue that this

approach often leads to physical and mental tension

and playing which, though it may be note-perfect, does

not evoke a response in either the player or audience. I

will further argue that rapid improvement in technique

can be made by making one major shift, namely, a

pianist’s centering her every action

on the axis of gravity. By this I mean

a constant adaptation of our bodies,

i.e., moving our torso sideways,

backwards and forwards, in

conjunction with the movements of

our arms and hands on the keyboard.

The aim of this body synchronicity is

a deeper, truer sound, a much freer

and more expressive performance.

The resulting freedom allows for a

very intimate contact with the music

itself, and the expression of one’s

own emotions.

I am advocating a concept of

freedom in which the “right position”

is never totally fixed. The great pianist Heinrich Neuhaus

used to say that the best position is the one that can be

changed as fast and as easily as possible.

1

Among the

first things any budding pianist learns is that he must

sit at the center of the keyboard. His arms should fall

parallel to the torso in a very relaxed manner, while the

forearm is parallel to the keyboard. The wrist should

be slightly lower than the knuckles, while the fingers

must be fixed in a relatively curved position. This last

statement is essential, because the finger joints must

learn to be stabilized in order to become firm and

resistant. These qualities are fundamental to good

technique. If the fingers have weak joints that collapse

easily, a pianist will never be able to control his sound,

nor build up a rich palette. Apart from the idea that

the fingers should always be firm and strong, these

aspects undergo changes at every moment of playing.

By attending to the axis of gravity, both our hands and

bodies connect with the music we are playing, and the

interpretation becomes fluent and clear.

Mechanically speaking, a pianist presses down the

keys on a horizontal surface measuring about one

meter and thirty centimeters long, and each arm covers

by Maria Saboya

C

lavier

C

ompanion

31

January/February 2017

a distance of about fifty centimeters, with

another fifteen centimeters to reach the

middle of the keyboard. But music is never

limited to such measures, and a pianist is

often called on to play far beyond these

limits. She can go to the right or to the

left with one hand, or with both, as for

example, in Chopin’s Etude Op. 25, No.

12. The concurrent long stretches of the

hand this piece calls for require a changing

movement of the trunk as well as the

opening and closing of the arms. This

affects the wrist and the elbow, making

them move up and down or around.

Indeed, the whole hand has to adapt its

basic position constantly.

Once we understand this, we see that

a pianist needs to constantly adapt and center her

position. I hope that it is becoming clear from this

that my concept of equilibrium is in opposition to the

more restrained technique that is taught to many piano

students. Equilibrium, answering the call to the axis of

gravity, is not a fixed bodily state, but a centered mental

state that leads to a resulting

centered action. This is essential

for coordination and for a free

and excellent technique.

A second major element

that enables us to attain better

coordination is closely related

to the muscular work required

during performance. The pianist

Thomas Mark, who dedicated a

long period of his teaching career

to a research on the psycho-

physiological aspects of piano

playing, points out the following

causes of injury:

1. Co-contraction, the simultaneous and non-

coordinated contraction of the opposing muscles during

one action.

2. Awkward positions that stress the tendons.

3. Static muscular activity, when the muscles do not

relax or do not correctly pull in order to perform the

necessary action.

Maria Saboya as a young pianist.

Learning

&

Teaching

Improving coordination

Every action that we perform in our

daily lives requires the contraction of

certain muscles. At the same time, the

“opposing” (antagonistic) muscles must

control the rate of the necessary tension

required to perform any movement, by

setting up a certain resistance. If there

were no antagonistic muscles, we could

not control our movements. For example,

when we lift an arm, if the antagonistic

muscle does not offer a certain resistance

to that movement, the arm will be lifted

without any control, and could potentially

go anywhere. The human capacity to

master the body and its actions is closely

related to the perfect coordination

between the active muscle (agonistic)

and the antagonistic.

As a dance instructor teaches his

students to attend to their bodies, so

should piano teachers. This means that

a piano student should learn a large

repertory of “touch-forms” and positions

so that she can carry out the muscular

work required to play the piano. Once

she acquires this repertory of gestures

and memorizes all the possible hand

positions on the keyboard, with the

C

lavier

C

ompanion

32

January/February 2017

respective postures of arms and trunk, she is ready to perform

in a very coordinated way.

Otto Ortmann was a pianist who also trained as a physiologist.

His research on the physiological aspects of piano playing is

the most complete to this day. He insists on the importance

of equilibrium between the agonistic and the antagonistic

muscles. He explains that when the agonistic muscle is called to

produce a force of intensity 70, the antagonistic has to produce

a force of 30 in order to maintain the equilibrium. Therefore, an

antagonistic force of 40 or 50 would be excessive, in the present

case, and would prevent the coordination of the gesture.

3

This is what Thomas Mark means when he speaks of “co-

contraction.” When he speaks of bad positioning he means the

torso, since the arms and hands do not correctly connect to

the directions of the movement on the keyboard. This failure

forces the tendons to exert excessive twists that are useless and

even dangerous. At the same time, the muscles are forced to

perform non-coordinated efforts. The results of these errors can

be a real disaster for a pianist, especially if repeated over a long

period of time.

One of France’s leading hand specialists, the late Dr. Raoul

Tubiana, treated a great number of musicians whose serious

ailments forced them to stop playing. He said, “Wrong

positioning is the source,

the main cause of ailments

faced by musicians. When

the wrong positioning is

not quickly addressed,

treatment becomes extremely difficult.”

4

He

continues:

Prevention is the only way to protect students

and avoid these conditions. We must alert music

teachers in the conservatories who usually do

not receive any education on the anatomy and

physiology of the human body. These teachers

must understand the importance of observing

their pupils, in order to correct and change their

dangerous positioning from the very beginning.

This illustrates the importance of guiding

students to learn correct positioning so that they

can, as much as is possible, play on the gravity

axis, where effort is reduced to a minimum.

The worst possible positioning is that in which

the trunk is rigid, tense, fixed. This also concerns

the elbow, the wrist, and the hands.

These issues must be fixed each instant they arise,

but always keeping a certain degree of flexibility,

of mobility, so as not to lose the muscular work

and the speed which is required to play well. When

articulation is rigid, it leads to excessive tension of

the muscles, and to a lack of coordination.

However, we must also avoid excessive relaxation

of certain joints, which produces a surplus of

contraction in the other joints. In most cases, it is

the finger joints which are not sufficiently fixed, and

this requires the wrist or elbow to be fixed in order

to compensate. The excessive immobility of these

compensating joints will spread to the muscles of

the forearm, causing pain and forcing the pianist

to stop playing, or in some extreme cases, quit

altogether. Some novice pianists believe that one

should resist pain; they therefore force themselves

to go on playing. This only increases the tension

of the sore or injured muscles. With the passing of

time, this practice will lead to serious ailments.

In conclusion, the joints of a pianist must be able to

be fixed or relaxed at any given moment, but never

excessively. The finger joints must be stabilized, but

the hand knuckle and the wrist joint of the hand

must also be flexible so as to be fixed or relatively

relaxed according to the requirements of the score.

To improve coordination then, pianists should

work on the following:

•

Finger techniques that help strengthen the

finger joints, including non-articulated

finger pressure technique, and finger

stroke technique that increases finger

resistance and power.

•

Balanced hand and wrist technique to help

maintain flexibility.

•

Rebounding techniques that allow weight

transfer from one finger to the other, or

during jumps. These develop and liberate

the dynamic impulse that moves the arms

and fingers during performance.

•

Staccato

technique that helps stabilize the

finger joints and improves the flexibility

of certain joints, such as the wrist. This aids

in assisting subsequent muscle relaxation.

•

The technique of rotation that liberates

articulation and teaches us the varied

possible positions the hand, wrist and

elbow can take.

These techniques, together with those designed to

center the pianist’s movements on the gravity axis,

will offer us all the possible means to develop our

technical capacities, while protecting and assuring

our physical integrity. The pianist will feel at ease, and

this freedom will allow her to express her musicality

as far as her craft and talent will take her.

Editor’s note:

To view a video of Maria Saboya

discussing technical principles, please visit our

website at www.claviercompanion.com.

Maria Saboya

lives in Paris,

where she founded the

Association Ars Viva. She

earned degrees in piano from

the University of Rio de Janeiro

and Indiana University. Her

YouTube

video on “The Best

Piano Technique” has attracted

more than 150,000 viewers.

1

Neuhaus, H. (1971).

L’Art du Piano.

Éditions Van de Velde, 104.

2

Mark, T. (1999, Spring). “Pianist’s Injuries: Movement

Retraining Is the Key to Recovery,”

The Oregon Musician,

11-13.

http://www.pianomap.com/injuries/causes.html

3

Ortmann, O. (1962).

The Physiological Mechanics of Piano

Technique.

NY: E.P.Dutton, 59-63.

4

Tubiana, R. (1994, Nov. 26). Jean-Marie Gavalda,

“La Musique

n’Adoucit pas les Muscles,”

Midi Libre Montpellier,

lors des

Journées “Main et Musique.”

5

Ibid.

C

lavier

C

ompanion

33

January/February 2017

• Commentaires

?

Ajouter un commentaire

Ajoutez un commentaire pour démarrer une discussion. @Mentionnez une personne pour Learning

&

Teaching

Improving coordination

C

lavier

C

ompanion

30

January/February 2017

W

Piano

technique:

Improving

coordination

hen we consider what makes

a pianist good or even great,

we usually think of her mastery of the

basic aspects of piano playing: correct

attention to the music itself, its dynamics and phrasing,

individual expression that hears and can evoke

the music and the silence between the notes, and

command during public performance. Together, these

aspects contribute to what is called “good technique,”

where the pianist’s movements are measured and

controlled. This article will address how a pianist can

reach this level of equilibrium through movement, and

by so doing, enhance her musicality. This is largely

addressed to those who have reached a certain level of

proficiency, though beginners, too, can no doubt learn

from this approach.

Most pianists are taught to have fluidity in their

hands but to keep their bodies rigid. I argue that this

approach often leads to physical and mental tension

and playing which, though it may be note-perfect, does

not evoke a response in either the player or audience. I

will further argue that rapid improvement in technique

can be made by making one major shift, namely, a

pianist’s centering her every action

on the axis of gravity. By this I mean

a constant adaptation of our bodies,

i.e., moving our torso sideways,

backwards and forwards, in

conjunction with the movements of

our arms and hands on the keyboard.

The aim of this body synchronicity is

a deeper, truer sound, a much freer

and more expressive performance.

The resulting freedom allows for a

very intimate contact with the music

itself, and the expression of one’s

own emotions.

I am advocating a concept of

freedom in which the “right position”

is never totally fixed. The great pianist Heinrich Neuhaus

used to say that the best position is the one that can be

changed as fast and as easily as possible.

1

Among the

first things any budding pianist learns is that he must

sit at the center of the keyboard. His arms should fall

parallel to the torso in a very relaxed manner, while the

forearm is parallel to the keyboard. The wrist should

be slightly lower than the knuckles, while the fingers

must be fixed in a relatively curved position. This last

statement is essential, because the finger joints must

learn to be stabilized in order to become firm and

resistant. These qualities are fundamental to good

technique. If the fingers have weak joints that collapse

easily, a pianist will never be able to control his sound,

nor build up a rich palette. Apart from the idea that

the fingers should always be firm and strong, these

aspects undergo changes at every moment of playing.

By attending to the axis of gravity, both our hands and

bodies connect with the music we are playing, and the

interpretation becomes fluent and clear.

Mechanically speaking, a pianist presses down the

keys on a horizontal surface measuring about one

meter and thirty centimeters long, and each arm covers

by Maria Saboya

C

lavier

C

ompanion

31

January/February 2017

a distance of about fifty centimeters, with

another fifteen centimeters to reach the

middle of the keyboard. But music is never

limited to such measures, and a pianist is

often called on to play far beyond these

limits. She can go to the right or to the

left with one hand, or with both, as for

example, in Chopin’s Etude Op. 25, No.

12. The concurrent long stretches of the

hand this piece calls for require a changing

movement of the trunk as well as the

opening and closing of the arms. This

affects the wrist and the elbow, making

them move up and down or around.

Indeed, the whole hand has to adapt its

basic position constantly.

Once we understand this, we see that

a pianist needs to constantly adapt and center her

position. I hope that it is becoming clear from this

that my concept of equilibrium is in opposition to the

more restrained technique that is taught to many piano

students. Equilibrium, answering the call to the axis of

gravity, is not a fixed bodily state, but a centered mental

state that leads to a resulting

centered action. This is essential

for coordination and for a free

and excellent technique.

A second major element

that enables us to attain better

coordination is closely related

to the muscular work required

during performance. The pianist

Thomas Mark, who dedicated a

long period of his teaching career

to a research on the psycho-

physiological aspects of piano

playing, points out the following

causes of injury:

1. Co-contraction, the simultaneous and non-

coordinated contraction of the opposing muscles during

one action.

2. Awkward positions that stress the tendons.

3. Static muscular activity, when the muscles do not

relax or do not correctly pull in order to perform the

necessary action.

Maria Saboya as a young pianist.

Learning

&

Teaching

Improving coordination

Every action that we perform in our

daily lives requires the contraction of

certain muscles. At the same time, the

“opposing” (antagonistic) muscles must

control the rate of the necessary tension

required to perform any movement, by

setting up a certain resistance. If there

were no antagonistic muscles, we could

not control our movements. For example,

when we lift an arm, if the antagonistic

muscle does not offer a certain resistance

to that movement, the arm will be lifted

without any control, and could potentially

go anywhere. The human capacity to

master the body and its actions is closely

related to the perfect coordination

between the active muscle (agonistic)

and the antagonistic.

As a dance instructor teaches his

students to attend to their bodies, so

should piano teachers. This means that

a piano student should learn a large

repertory of “touch-forms” and positions

so that she can carry out the muscular

work required to play the piano. Once

she acquires this repertory of gestures

and memorizes all the possible hand

positions on the keyboard, with the

C

lavier

C

ompanion

32

January/February 2017

respective postures of arms and trunk, she is ready to perform

in a very coordinated way.

Otto Ortmann was a pianist who also trained as a physiologist.

His research on the physiological aspects of piano playing is

the most complete to this day. He insists on the importance

of equilibrium between the agonistic and the antagonistic

muscles. He explains that when the agonistic muscle is called to

produce a force of intensity 70, the antagonistic has to produce

a force of 30 in order to maintain the equilibrium. Therefore, an

antagonistic force of 40 or 50 would be excessive, in the present

case, and would prevent the coordination of the gesture.

3

This is what Thomas Mark means when he speaks of “co-

contraction.” When he speaks of bad positioning he means the

torso, since the arms and hands do not correctly connect to

the directions of the movement on the keyboard. This failure

forces the tendons to exert excessive twists that are useless and

even dangerous. At the same time, the muscles are forced to

perform non-coordinated efforts. The results of these errors can

be a real disaster for a pianist, especially if repeated over a long

period of time.

One of France’s leading hand specialists, the late Dr. Raoul

Tubiana, treated a great number of musicians whose serious

ailments forced them to stop playing. He said, “Wrong

positioning is the source,

the main cause of ailments

faced by musicians. When

the wrong positioning is

not quickly addressed,

treatment becomes extremely difficult.”

4

He

continues:

Prevention is the only way to protect students

and avoid these conditions. We must alert music

teachers in the conservatories who usually do

not receive any education on the anatomy and

physiology of the human body. These teachers

must understand the importance of observing

their pupils, in order to correct and change their

dangerous positioning from the very beginning.

This illustrates the importance of guiding

students to learn correct positioning so that they

can, as much as is possible, play on the gravity

axis, where effort is reduced to a minimum.

The worst possible positioning is that in which

the trunk is rigid, tense, fixed. This also concerns

the elbow, the wrist, and the hands.

These issues must be fixed each instant they arise,

but always keeping a certain degree of flexibility,

of mobility, so as not to lose the muscular work

and the speed which is required to play well. When

articulation is rigid, it leads to excessive tension of

the muscles, and to a lack of coordination.

However, we must also avoid excessive relaxation

of certain joints, which produces a surplus of

contraction in the other joints. In most cases, it is

the finger joints which are not sufficiently fixed, and

this requires the wrist or elbow to be fixed in order

to compensate. The excessive immobility of these

compensating joints will spread to the muscles of

the forearm, causing pain and forcing the pianist

to stop playing, or in some extreme cases, quit

altogether. Some novice pianists believe that one

should resist pain; they therefore force themselves

to go on playing. This only increases the tension

of the sore or injured muscles. With the passing of

time, this practice will lead to serious ailments.

In conclusion, the joints of a pianist must be able to

be fixed or relaxed at any given moment, but never

excessively. The finger joints must be stabilized, but

the hand knuckle and the wrist joint of the hand

must also be flexible so as to be fixed or relatively

relaxed according to the requirements of the score.

To improve coordination then, pianists should

work on the following:

•

Finger techniques that help strengthen the

finger joints, including non-articulated

finger pressure technique, and finger

stroke technique that increases finger

resistance and power.

•

Balanced hand and wrist technique to help

maintain flexibility.

•

Rebounding techniques that allow weight

transfer from one finger to the other, or

during jumps. These develop and liberate

the dynamic impulse that moves the arms

and fingers during performance.

•

Staccato

technique that helps stabilize the

finger joints and improves the flexibility

of certain joints, such as the wrist. This aids

in assisting subsequent muscle relaxation.

•

The technique of rotation that liberates

articulation and teaches us the varied

possible positions the hand, wrist and

elbow can take.

These techniques, together with those designed to

center the pianist’s movements on the gravity axis,

will offer us all the possible means to develop our

technical capacities, while protecting and assuring

our physical integrity. The pianist will feel at ease, and

this freedom will allow her to express her musicality

as far as her craft and talent will take her.

Editor’s note:

To view a video of Maria Saboya

discussing technical principles, please visit our

website at www.claviercompanion.com.

Maria Saboya

lives in Paris,

where she founded the

Association Ars Viva. She

earned degrees in piano from

the University of Rio de Janeiro

and Indiana University. Her

YouTube

video on “The Best

Piano Technique” has attracted

more than 150,000 viewers.

1

Neuhaus, H. (1971).

L’Art du Piano.

Éditions Van de Velde, 104.

2

Mark, T. (1999, Spring). “Pianist’s Injuries: Movement

Retraining Is the Key to Recovery,”

The Oregon Musician,

11-13.

http://www.pianomap.com/injuries/causes.html

3

Ortmann, O. (1962).

The Physiological Mechanics of Piano

Technique.

NY: E.P.Dutton, 59-63.

4

Tubiana, R. (1994, Nov. 26). Jean-Marie Gavalda,

“La Musique

n’Adoucit pas les Muscles,”

Midi Libre Montpellier,

lors des

Journées “Main et Musique.”

5

Ibid.

C

lavier

C

ompanion

33

January/February 2017

• Commentaires

?

Ajouter un commentaire

Ajoutez un commentaire pour démarrer une discussion. @Mentionnez une personne pour Learning

&

Teaching

Improving coordination

C

lavier

C

ompanion

30

January/February 2017

W

Piano

technique:

Improving

coordination

hen we consider what makes

a pianist good or even great,

we usually think of her mastery of the

basic aspects of piano playing: correct

attention to the music itself, its dynamics and phrasing,

individual expression that hears and can evoke

the music and the silence between the notes, and

command during public performance. Together, these

aspects contribute to what is called “good technique,”

where the pianist’s movements are measured and

controlled. This article will address how a pianist can

reach this level of equilibrium through movement, and

by so doing, enhance her musicality. This is largely

addressed to those who have reached a certain level of

proficiency, though beginners, too, can no doubt learn

from this approach.

Most pianists are taught to have fluidity in their

hands but to keep their bodies rigid. I argue that this

approach often leads to physical and mental tension

and playing which, though it may be note-perfect, does

not evoke a response in either the player or audience. I

will further argue that rapid improvement in technique

can be made by making one major shift, namely, a

pianist’s centering her every action

on the axis of gravity. By this I mean

a constant adaptation of our bodies,

i.e., moving our torso sideways,

backwards and forwards, in

conjunction with the movements of

our arms and hands on the keyboard.

The aim of this body synchronicity is

a deeper, truer sound, a much freer

and more expressive performance.

The resulting freedom allows for a

very intimate contact with the music

itself, and the expression of one’s

own emotions.

I am advocating a concept of

freedom in which the “right position”

is never totally fixed. The great pianist Heinrich Neuhaus

used to say that the best position is the one that can be

changed as fast and as easily as possible.

1

Among the

first things any budding pianist learns is that he must

sit at the center of the keyboard. His arms should fall

parallel to the torso in a very relaxed manner, while the

forearm is parallel to the keyboard. The wrist should

be slightly lower than the knuckles, while the fingers

must be fixed in a relatively curved position. This last

statement is essential, because the finger joints must

learn to be stabilized in order to become firm and

resistant. These qualities are fundamental to good

technique. If the fingers have weak joints that collapse

easily, a pianist will never be able to control his sound,

nor build up a rich palette. Apart from the idea that

the fingers should always be firm and strong, these

aspects undergo changes at every moment of playing.

By attending to the axis of gravity, both our hands and

bodies connect with the music we are playing, and the

interpretation becomes fluent and clear.

Mechanically speaking, a pianist presses down the

keys on a horizontal surface measuring about one

meter and thirty centimeters long, and each arm covers

by Maria Saboya

C

lavier

C

ompanion

31

January/February 2017

a distance of about fifty centimeters, with

another fifteen centimeters to reach the

middle of the keyboard. But music is never

limited to such measures, and a pianist is

often called on to play far beyond these

limits. She can go to the right or to the

left with one hand, or with both, as for

example, in Chopin’s Etude Op. 25, No.

12. The concurrent long stretches of the

hand this piece calls for require a changing

movement of the trunk as well as the

opening and closing of the arms. This

affects the wrist and the elbow, making

them move up and down or around.

Indeed, the whole hand has to adapt its

basic position constantly.

Once we understand this, we see that

a pianist needs to constantly adapt and center her

position. I hope that it is becoming clear from this

that my concept of equilibrium is in opposition to the

more restrained technique that is taught to many piano

students. Equilibrium, answering the call to the axis of

gravity, is not a fixed bodily state, but a centered mental

state that leads to a resulting

centered action. This is essential

for coordination and for a free

and excellent technique.

A second major element

that enables us to attain better

coordination is closely related

to the muscular work required

during performance. The pianist

Thomas Mark, who dedicated a

long period of his teaching career

to a research on the psycho-

physiological aspects of piano

playing, points out the following

causes of injury:

1. Co-contraction, the simultaneous and non-

coordinated contraction of the opposing muscles during

one action.

2. Awkward positions that stress the tendons.

3. Static muscular activity, when the muscles do not

relax or do not correctly pull in order to perform the

necessary action.

Maria Saboya as a young pianist.

Learning

&

Teaching

Improving coordination

Every action that we perform in our

daily lives requires the contraction of

certain muscles. At the same time, the

“opposing” (antagonistic) muscles must

control the rate of the necessary tension

required to perform any movement, by

setting up a certain resistance. If there

were no antagonistic muscles, we could

not control our movements. For example,

when we lift an arm, if the antagonistic

muscle does not offer a certain resistance

to that movement, the arm will be lifted

without any control, and could potentially

go anywhere. The human capacity to

master the body and its actions is closely

related to the perfect coordination

between the active muscle (agonistic)

and the antagonistic.

As a dance instructor teaches his

students to attend to their bodies, so

should piano teachers. This means that

a piano student should learn a large

repertory of “touch-forms” and positions

so that she can carry out the muscular

work required to play the piano. Once

she acquires this repertory of gestures

and memorizes all the possible hand

positions on the keyboard, with the

C

lavier

C

ompanion

32

January/February 2017

respective postures of arms and trunk, she is ready to perform

in a very coordinated way.

Otto Ortmann was a pianist who also trained as a physiologist.

His research on the physiological aspects of piano playing is

the most complete to this day. He insists on the importance

of equilibrium between the agonistic and the antagonistic

muscles. He explains that when the agonistic muscle is called to

produce a force of intensity 70, the antagonistic has to produce

a force of 30 in order to maintain the equilibrium. Therefore, an

antagonistic force of 40 or 50 would be excessive, in the present

case, and would prevent the coordination of the gesture.

3

This is what Thomas Mark means when he speaks of “co-

contraction.” When he speaks of bad positioning he means the

torso, since the arms and hands do not correctly connect to

the directions of the movement on the keyboard. This failure

forces the tendons to exert excessive twists that are useless and

even dangerous. At the same time, the muscles are forced to

perform non-coordinated efforts. The results of these errors can

be a real disaster for a pianist, especially if repeated over a long

period of time.

One of France’s leading hand specialists, the late Dr. Raoul

Tubiana, treated a great number of musicians whose serious

ailments forced them to stop playing. He said, “Wrong

positioning is the source,

the main cause of ailments

faced by musicians. When

the wrong positioning is

not quickly addressed,

treatment becomes extremely difficult.”

4

He

continues:

Prevention is the only way to protect students

and avoid these conditions. We must alert music

teachers in the conservatories who usually do

not receive any education on the anatomy and

physiology of the human body. These teachers

must understand the importance of observing

their pupils, in order to correct and change their

dangerous positioning from the very beginning.

This illustrates the importance of guiding

students to learn correct positioning so that they

can, as much as is possible, play on the gravity

axis, where effort is reduced to a minimum.

The worst possible positioning is that in which

the trunk is rigid, tense, fixed. This also concerns

the elbow, the wrist, and the hands.

These issues must be fixed each instant they arise,

but always keeping a certain degree of flexibility,

of mobility, so as not to lose the muscular work

and the speed which is required to play well. When

articulation is rigid, it leads to excessive tension of

the muscles, and to a lack of coordination.

However, we must also avoid excessive relaxation

of certain joints, which produces a surplus of

contraction in the other joints. In most cases, it is

the finger joints which are not sufficiently fixed, and

this requires the wrist or elbow to be fixed in order

to compensate. The excessive immobility of these

compensating joints will spread to the muscles of

the forearm, causing pain and forcing the pianist

to stop playing, or in some extreme cases, quit

altogether. Some novice pianists believe that one

should resist pain; they therefore force themselves

to go on playing. This only increases the tension

of the sore or injured muscles. With the passing of

time, this practice will lead to serious ailments.

In conclusion, the joints of a pianist must be able to

be fixed or relaxed at any given moment, but never

excessively. The finger joints must be stabilized, but

the hand knuckle and the wrist joint of the hand

must also be flexible so as to be fixed or relatively

relaxed according to the requirements of the score.

To improve coordination then, pianists should

work on the following:

•

Finger techniques that help strengthen the

finger joints, including non-articulated

finger pressure technique, and finger

stroke technique that increases finger

resistance and power.

•

Balanced hand and wrist technique to help

maintain flexibility.

•

Rebounding techniques that allow weight

transfer from one finger to the other, or

during jumps. These develop and liberate

the dynamic impulse that moves the arms

and fingers during performance.

•

Staccato

technique that helps stabilize the

finger joints and improves the flexibility

of certain joints, such as the wrist. This aids

in assisting subsequent muscle relaxation.

•

The technique of rotation that liberates

articulation and teaches us the varied

possible positions the hand, wrist and

elbow can take.

These techniques, together with those designed to

center the pianist’s movements on the gravity axis,

will offer us all the possible means to develop our

technical capacities, while protecting and assuring

our physical integrity. The pianist will feel at ease, and

this freedom will allow her to express her musicality

as far as her craft and talent will take her.

Editor’s note:

To view a video of Maria Saboya

discussing technical principles, please visit our

website at www.claviercompanion.com.

Maria Saboya

lives in Paris,

where she founded the

Association Ars Viva. She

earned degrees in piano from

the University of Rio de Janeiro

and Indiana University. Her

YouTube

video on “The Best

Piano Technique” has attracted

more than 150,000 viewers.

1

Neuhaus, H. (1971).

L’Art du Piano.

Éditions Van de Velde, 104.

2

Mark, T. (1999, Spring). “Pianist’s Injuries: Movement

Retraining Is the Key to Recovery,”

The Oregon Musician,

11-13.

http://www.pianomap.com/injuries/causes.html

3

Ortmann, O. (1962).

The Physiological Mechanics of Piano

Technique.

NY: E.P.Dutton, 59-63.

4

Tubiana, R. (1994, Nov. 26). Jean-Marie Gavalda,

“La Musique

n’Adoucit pas les Muscles,”

Midi Libre Montpellier,

lors des

Journées “Main et Musique.”

5

Ibid.

C

lavier

C

ompanion

33

January/February 2017

• Commentaires

?

Ajouter un commentaire

Ajoutez un commentaire pour démarrer une discussion. @Mentionnez une personne pour Learning

&

Teaching

Improving coordination

C

lavier

C

ompanion

30

January/February 2017

W

Piano

technique:

Improving

coordination

hen we consider what makes

a pianist good or even great,

we usually think of her mastery of the

basic aspects of piano playing: correct

attention to the music itself, its dynamics and phrasing,

individual expression that hears and can evoke

the music and the silence between the notes, and

command during public performance. Together, these

aspects contribute to what is called “good technique,”

where the pianist’s movements are measured and

controlled. This article will address how a pianist can

reach this level of equilibrium through movement, and

by so doing, enhance her musicality. This is largely

addressed to those who have reached a certain level of

proficiency, though beginners, too, can no doubt learn

from this approach.

Most pianists are taught to have fluidity in their

hands but to keep their bodies rigid. I argue that this

approach often leads to physical and mental tension

and playing which, though it may be note-perfect, does

not evoke a response in either the player or audience. I

will further argue that rapid improvement in technique

can be made by making one major shift, namely, a

pianist’s centering her every action

on the axis of gravity. By this I mean

a constant adaptation of our bodies,

i.e., moving our torso sideways,

backwards and forwards, in

conjunction with the movements of

our arms and hands on the keyboard.

The aim of this body synchronicity is

a deeper, truer sound, a much freer

and more expressive performance.

The resulting freedom allows for a

very intimate contact with the music

itself, and the expression of one’s

own emotions.

I am advocating a concept of

freedom in which the “right position”

is never totally fixed. The great pianist Heinrich Neuhaus

used to say that the best position is the one that can be

changed as fast and as easily as possible.

1

Among the

first things any budding pianist learns is that he must

sit at the center of the keyboard. His arms should fall

parallel to the torso in a very relaxed manner, while the

forearm is parallel to the keyboard. The wrist should

be slightly lower than the knuckles, while the fingers

must be fixed in a relatively curved position. This last

statement is essential, because the finger joints must

learn to be stabilized in order to become firm and

resistant. These qualities are fundamental to good

technique. If the fingers have weak joints that collapse

easily, a pianist will never be able to control his sound,

nor build up a rich palette. Apart from the idea that

the fingers should always be firm and strong, these

aspects undergo changes at every moment of playing.

By attending to the axis of gravity, both our hands and

bodies connect with the music we are playing, and the

interpretation becomes fluent and clear.

Mechanically speaking, a pianist presses down the

keys on a horizontal surface measuring about one

meter and thirty centimeters long, and each arm covers

by Maria Saboya

C

lavier

C

ompanion

31

January/February 2017

a distance of about fifty centimeters, with

another fifteen centimeters to reach the

middle of the keyboard. But music is never

limited to such measures, and a pianist is

often called on to play far beyond these

limits. She can go to the right or to the

left with one hand, or with both, as for

example, in Chopin’s Etude Op. 25, No.

12. The concurrent long stretches of the

hand this piece calls for require a changing

movement of the trunk as well as the

opening and closing of the arms. This

affects the wrist and the elbow, making

them move up and down or around.

Indeed, the whole hand has to adapt its

basic position constantly.

Once we understand this, we see that

a pianist needs to constantly adapt and center her

position. I hope that it is becoming clear from this

that my concept of equilibrium is in opposition to the

more restrained technique that is taught to many piano

students. Equilibrium, answering the call to the axis of

gravity, is not a fixed bodily state, but a centered mental

state that leads to a resulting

centered action. This is essential

for coordination and for a free

and excellent technique.

A second major element

that enables us to attain better

coordination is closely related

to the muscular work required

during performance. The pianist

Thomas Mark, who dedicated a

long period of his teaching career

to a research on the psycho-

physiological aspects of piano

playing, points out the following

causes of injury:

1. Co-contraction, the simultaneous and non-

coordinated contraction of the opposing muscles during

one action.

2. Awkward positions that stress the tendons.

3. Static muscular activity, when the muscles do not

relax or do not correctly pull in order to perform the

necessary action.

Maria Saboya as a young pianist.

Learning

&

Teaching

Improving coordination

Every action that we perform in our

daily lives requires the contraction of

certain muscles. At the same time, the

“opposing” (antagonistic) muscles must

control the rate of the necessary tension

required to perform any movement, by

setting up a certain resistance. If there

were no antagonistic muscles, we could

not control our movements. For example,

when we lift an arm, if the antagonistic

muscle does not offer a certain resistance

to that movement, the arm will be lifted

without any control, and could potentially

go anywhere. The human capacity to

master the body and its actions is closely

related to the perfect coordination

between the active muscle (agonistic)

and the antagonistic.

As a dance instructor teaches his

students to attend to their bodies, so

should piano teachers. This means that

a piano student should learn a large

repertory of “touch-forms” and positions

so that she can carry out the muscular

work required to play the piano. Once

she acquires this repertory of gestures

and memorizes all the possible hand

positions on the keyboard, with the

C

lavier

C

ompanion

32

January/February 2017

respective postures of arms and trunk, she is ready to perform

in a very coordinated way.

Otto Ortmann was a pianist who also trained as a physiologist.

His research on the physiological aspects of piano playing is

the most complete to this day. He insists on the importance

of equilibrium between the agonistic and the antagonistic

muscles. He explains that when the agonistic muscle is called to

produce a force of intensity 70, the antagonistic has to produce

a force of 30 in order to maintain the equilibrium. Therefore, an

antagonistic force of 40 or 50 would be excessive, in the present

case, and would prevent the coordination of the gesture.

3

This is what Thomas Mark means when he speaks of “co-

contraction.” When he speaks of bad positioning he means the

torso, since the arms and hands do not correctly connect to

the directions of the movement on the keyboard. This failure

forces the tendons to exert excessive twists that are useless and

even dangerous. At the same time, the muscles are forced to

perform non-coordinated efforts. The results of these errors can

be a real disaster for a pianist, especially if repeated over a long

period of time.

One of France’s leading hand specialists, the late Dr. Raoul

Tubiana, treated a great number of musicians whose serious

ailments forced them to stop playing. He said, “Wrong

positioning is the source,

the main cause of ailments

faced by musicians. When

the wrong positioning is

not quickly addressed,

treatment becomes extremely difficult.”

4

He

continues:

Prevention is the only way to protect students

and avoid these conditions. We must alert music

teachers in the conservatories who usually do

not receive any education on the anatomy and

physiology of the human body. These teachers

must understand the importance of observing

their pupils, in order to correct and change their

dangerous positioning from the very beginning.

This illustrates the importance of guiding

students to learn correct positioning so that they

can, as much as is possible, play on the gravity

axis, where effort is reduced to a minimum.

The worst possible positioning is that in which

the trunk is rigid, tense, fixed. This also concerns

the elbow, the wrist, and the hands.

These issues must be fixed each instant they arise,

but always keeping a certain degree of flexibility,

of mobility, so as not to lose the muscular work

and the speed which is required to play well. When

articulation is rigid, it leads to excessive tension of

the muscles, and to a lack of coordination.

However, we must also avoid excessive relaxation

of certain joints, which produces a surplus of

contraction in the other joints. In most cases, it is

the finger joints which are not sufficiently fixed, and

this requires the wrist or elbow to be fixed in order

to compensate. The excessive immobility of these

compensating joints will spread to the muscles of

the forearm, causing pain and forcing the pianist

to stop playing, or in some extreme cases, quit

altogether. Some novice pianists believe that one

should resist pain; they therefore force themselves

to go on playing. This only increases the tension

of the sore or injured muscles. With the passing of

time, this practice will lead to serious ailments.

In conclusion, the joints of a pianist must be able to

be fixed or relaxed at any given moment, but never

excessively. The finger joints must be stabilized, but

the hand knuckle and the wrist joint of the hand

must also be flexible so as to be fixed or relatively

relaxed according to the requirements of the score.

To improve coordination then, pianists should

work on the following:

•

Finger techniques that help strengthen the

finger joints, including non-articulated

finger pressure technique, and finger

stroke technique that increases finger

resistance and power.

•

Balanced hand and wrist technique to help

maintain flexibility.

•

Rebounding techniques that allow weight

transfer from one finger to the other, or

during jumps. These develop and liberate

the dynamic impulse that moves the arms

and fingers during performance.

•

Staccato

technique that helps stabilize the

finger joints and improves the flexibility

of certain joints, such as the wrist. This aids

in assisting subsequent muscle relaxation.

•

The technique of rotation that liberates

articulation and teaches us the varied

possible positions the hand, wrist and

elbow can take.

These techniques, together with those designed to

center the pianist’s movements on the gravity axis,

will offer us all the possible means to develop our

technical capacities, while protecting and assuring

our physical integrity. The pianist will feel at ease, and

this freedom will allow her to express her musicality

as far as her craft and talent will take her.

Editor’s note:

To view a video of Maria Saboya

discussing technical principles, please visit our

website at www.claviercompanion.com.

Maria Saboya

lives in Paris,

where she founded the

Association Ars Viva. She

earned degrees in piano from

the University of Rio de Janeiro

and Indiana University. Her

YouTube

video on “The Best

Piano Technique” has attracted

more than 150,000 viewers.

1

Neuhaus, H. (1971).

L’Art du Piano.

Éditions Van de Velde, 104.

2

Mark, T. (1999, Spring). “Pianist’s Injuries: Movement

Retraining Is the Key to Recovery,”

The Oregon Musician,

11-13.

http://www.pianomap.com/injuries/causes.html

3

Ortmann, O. (1962).

The Physiological Mechanics of Piano

Technique.

NY: E.P.Dutton, 59-63.

4

Tubiana, R. (1994, Nov. 26). Jean-Marie Gavalda,

“La Musique

n’Adoucit pas les Muscles,”

Midi Libre Montpellier,

lors des

Journées “Main et Musique.”

5

Ibid.

C

lavier

C

ompanion

33

January/February 2017

Learning

&

Teaching

Rhythm

boxes,

Part

II

Create & Motivate

he last column introduced placing Xs

in “rhythm boxes”

to represent well-known

tunes. Here are more ideas to enhance rhythmic

understanding by teaching with this versatile tool.

Rhythm box activities

Start by making and printing blank tables like those

below. Then, try these activities with your students.

• Speak nonsensical sentences rhythmically over a

steady beat. Then ask students to convert your words

to rhythm boxes.

•

Prompt students to invent their own words, then

convert these to rhythm boxes. Tell them it can be anything

at all: what they had for lunch, something that happened

that day, a favorite saying, motto, product slogan...

• Convert challenging rhythms in the student’s current

repertory to rhythm boxes.

• Transcribe rhythms

and melody

to rhythm boxes by

correlating colored markers to particular pitches.

• Ask students to mark boxes randomly without

prior thought, then improvise on the resulting

rhythm by choosing notes from the current scale/

key they are learning.

• When introducing a new piece, work with your

student to identify a characteristic rhythmic motif.

Then locate and/or count additional places where

that rhythm occurs on the page.

• Practice two-handed piano rhythms by

designating the top row of the rhythm boxes as

the right hand/treble clef and the bottom row as

the left hand/bass clef.

• Turn a previously marked rhythm box from an

earlier activity upside down and ask students to

play the resulting rhythm.

Next time, we’ll look at how to use rhythm boxes

to teach advanced rhythmic concepts.

Until then, enjoy your creative music-making

journey!

Bradley Sowash

is a composer,

performer, and educator known

for his best-selling jazz piano

method,

That’s Jazz

, published by

Kjos Music, and as the co-founder

with Leila Viss of 88 Creative Keys

improvisation camps for piano

students and teachers.

by Bradley Sowash

T

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

Meas. 1:

Meas. 2:

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Right hand:

Left hand:

X

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lavier

C

ompanion

34

January/February 2017

Page 33 sur 76

• Commentaires

?

Ajouter un commentaire

Ajoutez un commentaire pour démarrer une discussion. @Mentionnez une personne pour &

Teaching

Improving coordination

C

lavier

C

ompanion

30

January/February 2017

W

Piano

technique:

Improving

coordination

hen we consider what makes

a pianist good or even great,

we usually think of her mastery of the

basic aspects of piano playing: correct

attention to the music itself, its dynamics and phrasing,

individual expression that hears and can evoke

the music and the silence between the notes, and

command during public performance. Together, these

aspects contribute to what is called “good technique,”

where the pianist’s movements are measured and

controlled. This article will address how a pianist can

reach this level of equilibrium through movement, and

by so doing, enhance her musicality. This is largely

addressed to those who have reached a certain level of

proficiency, though beginners, too, can no doubt learn

from this approach.

Most pianists are taught to have fluidity in their

hands but to keep their bodies rigid. I argue that this

approach often leads to physical and mental tension

and playing which, though it may be note-perfect, does

not evoke a response in either the player or audience. I

will further argue that rapid improvement in technique

can be made by making one major shift, namely, a

pianist’s centering her every action

on the axis of gravity. By this I mean

a constant adaptation of our bodies,

i.e., moving our torso sideways,

backwards and forwards, in

conjunction with the movements of

our arms and hands on the keyboard.

The aim of this body synchronicity is

a deeper, truer sound, a much freer

and more expressive performance.

The resulting freedom allows for a

very intimate contact with the music

itself, and the expression of one’s

own emotions.

I am advocating a concept of

freedom in which the “right position”

is never totally fixed. The great pianist Heinrich Neuhaus

used to say that the best position is the one that can be

changed as fast and as easily as possible.

1

Among the

first things any budding pianist learns is that he must

sit at the center of the keyboard. His arms should fall

parallel to the torso in a very relaxed manner, while the

forearm is parallel to the keyboard. The wrist should

be slightly lower than the knuckles, while the fingers

must be fixed in a relatively curved position. This last

statement is essential, because the finger joints must

learn to be stabilized in order to become firm and

resistant. These qualities are fundamental to good

technique. If the fingers have weak joints that collapse

easily, a pianist will never be able to control his sound,

nor build up a rich palette. Apart from the idea that

the fingers should always be firm and strong, these

aspects undergo changes at every moment of playing.

By attending to the axis of gravity, both our hands and

bodies connect with the music we are playing, and the

interpretation becomes fluent and clear.

Mechanically speaking, a pianist presses down the

keys on a horizontal surface measuring about one

meter and thirty centimeters long, and each arm covers

by Maria Saboya

C

lavier

C

ompanion

31

January/February 2017

a distance of about fifty centimeters, with

another fifteen centimeters to reach the

middle of the keyboard. But music is never

limited to such measures, and a pianist is

often called on to play far beyond these

limits. She can go to the right or to the

left with one hand, or with both, as for

example, in Chopin’s Etude Op. 25, No.

12. The concurrent long stretches of the

hand this piece calls for require a changing

movement of the trunk as well as the

opening and closing of the arms. This

affects the wrist and the elbow, making

them move up and down or around.

Indeed, the whole hand has to adapt its

basic position constantly.

Once we understand this, we see that

a pianist needs to constantly adapt and center her

position. I hope that it is becoming clear from this

that my concept of equilibrium is in opposition to the

more restrained technique that is taught to many piano

students. Equilibrium, answering the call to the axis of

gravity, is not a fixed bodily state, but a centered mental

state that leads to a resulting

centered action. This is essential

for coordination and for a free

and excellent technique.

A second major element

that enables us to attain better

coordination is closely related

to the muscular work required

during performance. The pianist

Thomas Mark, who dedicated a

long period of his teaching career

to a research on the psycho-

physiological aspects of piano

playing, points out the following

causes of injury:

1. Co-contraction, the simultaneous and non-

coordinated contraction of the opposing muscles during

one action.

2. Awkward positions that stress the tendons.

3. Static muscular activity, when the muscles do not

relax or do not correctly pull in order to perform the

necessary action.

Maria Saboya as a young pianist.

Learning

&

Teaching

Improving coordination

Every action that we perform in our

daily lives requires the contraction of

certain muscles. At the same time, the

“opposing” (antagonistic) muscles must

control the rate of the necessary tension

required to perform any movement, by

setting up a certain resistance. If there

were no antagonistic muscles, we could

not control our movements. For example,

when we lift an arm, if the antagonistic

muscle does not offer a certain resistance

to that movement, the arm will be lifted

without any control, and could potentially

go anywhere. The human capacity to

master the body and its actions is closely

related to the perfect coordination

between the active muscle (agonistic)

and the antagonistic.

As a dance instructor teaches his

students to attend to their bodies, so

should piano teachers. This means that

a piano student should learn a large

repertory of “touch-forms” and positions

so that she can carry out the muscular

work required to play the piano. Once

she acquires this repertory of gestures

and memorizes all the possible hand

positions on the keyboard, with the

C

lavier

C

ompanion

32

January/February 2017

respective postures of arms and trunk, she is ready to perform

in a very coordinated way.

Otto Ortmann was a pianist who also trained as a physiologist.

His research on the physiological aspects of piano playing is

the most complete to this day. He insists on the importance

of equilibrium between the agonistic and the antagonistic

muscles. He explains that when the agonistic muscle is called to

produce a force of intensity 70, the antagonistic has to produce

a force of 30 in order to maintain the equilibrium. Therefore, an

antagonistic force of 40 or 50 would be excessive, in the present

case, and would prevent the coordination of the gesture.

3

This is what Thomas Mark means when he speaks of “co-

contraction.” When he speaks of bad positioning he means the

torso, since the arms and hands do not correctly connect to

the directions of the movement on the keyboard. This failure

forces the tendons to exert excessive twists that are useless and

even dangerous. At the same time, the muscles are forced to

perform non-coordinated efforts. The results of these errors can

be a real disaster for a pianist, especially if repeated over a long

period of time.

One of France’s leading hand specialists, the late Dr. Raoul

Tubiana, treated a great number of musicians whose serious

ailments forced them to stop playing. He said, “Wrong

positioning is the source,

the main cause of ailments

faced by musicians. When

the wrong positioning is

not quickly addressed,

treatment becomes extremely difficult.”

4

He

continues:

Prevention is the only way to protect students

and avoid these conditions. We must alert music

teachers in the conservatories who usually do

not receive any education on the anatomy and

physiology of the human body. These teachers

must understand the importance of observing

their pupils, in order to correct and change their

dangerous positioning from the very beginning.

This illustrates the importance of guiding

students to learn correct positioning so that they

can, as much as is possible, play on the gravity

axis, where effort is reduced to a minimum.

The worst possible positioning is that in which

the trunk is rigid, tense, fixed. This also concerns

the elbow, the wrist, and the hands.

These issues must be fixed each instant they arise,

but always keeping a certain degree of flexibility,

of mobility, so as not to lose the muscular work

and the speed which is required to play well. When

articulation is rigid, it leads to excessive tension of

the muscles, and to a lack of coordination.

However, we must also avoid excessive relaxation

of certain joints, which produces a surplus of

contraction in the other joints. In most cases, it is

the finger joints which are not sufficiently fixed, and

this requires the wrist or elbow to be fixed in order

to compensate. The excessive immobility of these

compensating joints will spread to the muscles of

the forearm, causing pain and forcing the pianist

to stop playing, or in some extreme cases, quit

altogether. Some novice pianists believe that one

should resist pain; they therefore force themselves

to go on playing. This only increases the tension

of the sore or injured muscles. With the passing of

time, this practice will lead to serious ailments.

In conclusion, the joints of a pianist must be able to

be fixed or relaxed at any given moment, but never

excessively. The finger joints must be stabilized, but

the hand knuckle and the wrist joint of the hand

must also be flexible so as to be fixed or relatively

relaxed according to the requirements of the score.

To improve coordination then, pianists should

work on the following:

•

Finger techniques that help strengthen the

finger joints, including non-articulated

finger pressure technique, and finger

stroke technique that increases finger

resistance and power.

•

Balanced hand and wrist technique to help

maintain flexibility.

•

Rebounding techniques that allow weight

transfer from one finger to the other, or

during jumps. These develop and liberate

the dynamic impulse that moves the arms

and fingers during performance.

•

Staccato

technique that helps stabilize the

finger joints and improves the flexibility

of certain joints, such as the wrist. This aids

in assisting subsequent muscle relaxation.

•

The technique of rotation that liberates

articulation and teaches us the varied

possible positions the hand, wrist and

elbow can take.

These techniques, together with those designed to

center the pianist’s movements on the gravity axis,

will offer us all the possible means to develop our

technical capacities, while protecting and assuring

our physical integrity. The pianist will feel at ease, and

this freedom will allow her to express her musicality

as far as her craft and talent will take her.

Editor’s note:

To view a video of Maria Saboya

discussing technical principles, please visit our

website at www.claviercompanion.com.

Maria Saboya

lives in Paris,

where she founded the

Association Ars Viva. She

earned degrees in piano from

the University of Rio de Janeiro

and Indiana University. Her

YouTube

video on “The Best

Piano Technique” has attracted

more than 150,000 viewers.

1

Neuhaus, H. (1971).

L’Art du Piano.

Éditions Van de Velde, 104.

2

Mark, T. (1999, Spring). “Pianist’s Injuries: Movement

Retraining Is the Key to Recovery,”

The Oregon Musician,

11-13.

http://www.pianomap.com/injuries/causes.html

3

Ortmann, O. (1962).

The Physiological Mechanics of Piano

Technique.

NY: E.P.Dutton, 59-63.

4

Tubiana, R. (1994, Nov. 26). Jean-Marie Gavalda,

“La Musique

n’Adoucit pas les Muscles,”

Midi Libre Montpellier,

lors des

Journées “Main et Musique.”

5

Ibid.

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January/February 2017

Learning

&

Teaching

Rhythm

boxes,

Part

II

Create & Motivate

he last column introduced placing Xs

in “rhythm boxes”

to represent well-known

tunes. Here are more ideas to enhance rhythmic

understanding by teaching with this versatile tool.

Rhythm box activities

Start by making and printing blank tables like those

below. Then, try these activities with your students.

• Speak nonsensical sentences rhythmically over a

steady beat. Then ask students to convert your words

to rhythm boxes.

•

Prompt students to invent their own words, then

convert these to rhythm boxes. Tell them it can be anything

at all: what they had for lunch, something that happened

that day, a favorite saying, motto, product slogan...

• Convert challenging rhythms in the student’s current

repertory to rhythm boxes.

• Transcribe rhythms

and melody

to rhythm boxes by

correlating colored markers to particular pitches.

• Ask students to mark boxes randomly without

prior thought, then improvise on the resulting

rhythm by choosing notes from the current scale/

key they are learning.

• When introducing a new piece, work with your

student to identify a characteristic rhythmic motif.

Then locate and/or count additional places where

that rhythm occurs on the page.

• Practice two-handed piano rhythms by

designating the top row of the rhythm boxes as

the right hand/treble clef and the bottom row as

the left hand/bass clef.

• Turn a previously marked rhythm box from an

earlier activity upside down and ask students to

play the resulting rhythm.

Next time, we’ll look at how to use rhythm boxes

to teach advanced rhythmic concepts.

Until then, enjoy your creative music-making

journey!

Bradley Sowash

is a composer,

performer, and educator known

for his best-selling jazz piano

method,

That’s Jazz

, published by

Kjos Music, and as the co-founder

with Leila Viss of 88 Creative Keys

improvisation camps for piano

students and teachers.

by Bradley Sowash

T

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

Meas. 1:

Meas. 2:

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Right hand:

Left hand:

X

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January/February 2017