Want to Play like a Concert Pianist?

This article is aimed at the beginner to the experienced pianist and all techniques are applicable to all.

 Let me introduce you to the piano factors:

• Forearm, Wrist, Fingers
  
• Legato/Staccato, AW (P/F)
• TSAPM, AEP, DT
• Palms of Hands Close to Keys

Now you are probably thinking 'oh dear, this is not the article for me, it is all so complicated'. Don’t give up, the above is the worst of it technically. I will now explain how it all works clearly:

Forearm

Wrist

Fingers

These are the only 3 parts of the body that the pianist uses. This is not a joke ie maybe you also use your feet. No, people sometimes want to use shoulders and upper arm, this is not allowed.

Forearm 

Used for playing chords/octaves (wrist and fingers are firm)

Wrist

Used for fast repeating chords/octaves (fingers firm)

Fingers

Used for playing scalic passages

I have simplified the above factors usage to exemplify the circumstance that the factor will be used in. An analysis of your music with respect to the 3 factors and when they should be used is not advised. Be aware of them and their usage will come automatically. The subconscious mind is one of the pianist's most powerful tools and this will facilitate you.

Legato/Staccato

AW (p/f)

There are only 2 ways of playing a piano keys. Smooth and connected (Legato) or Detached (Staccato). Some Concert pianist have built their reputation based on detached (Staccato) clear crisp playing whilst others play very smoothly (Legato). Experiment playing one piano key with the index finger of the right hand and become aware of the 2 different ways that the key can be played. Again as long as your subconscious mind is aware of these extremes then it will be able to assist you.

 At this stage I would like to take a break to allow your subconscious to process all of the information so far.

 I would like to tell you about p/f.

P=piano (soft)

F=Forte (loud)

Originally keyboard instruments were only plucked ie harpsichord and spinet (earlier). This meant that only one dynamic could be achieved ie only one loudness level. Then in 1709 an Italian man called Bartolomeo Cristofori (1665-1731) invented what he called the ‘gravicembalo col piano e forte’ the forte  piano ie the loud soft, known as this, as it could play both loud and soft notes. This opened up a whole vista of expression and now the piano is the most popular instrument of all time. It was not as powerful as our modern day instruments as it had gut strings (probably if Beethoven had had one of our modern day pianos his writing would have been a lot thinner). Our modern day instruments have about 50 tonnes of pressure exerted by the wire strings on the iron frame!

Did you know that the piano is not in the string section of the orchestra but in the percussion section as the hammers hit the strings.

AW = Arm weight. This is the most important factor in the pianists tool bag.

The Arm weighs about 2-3 bags of sugar. This weight alone is enough to make the loudest forte (loud) you will ever need on the piano. Big enough for a Rachmaninov piano concerto.

Just experiment for a moment. Lock your index finger of the right hand and wrist. Now let your full arm weight fall on to any key on the piano. Wow what a noise? It is really quite surprising.

 I said that this was the most important factor. The reason for this is that if you use arm weight properly it will do the following three things for you:

• Make your fingers work (articulate) properly ( Like a concert pianist)
• Will give you better tonal control
• Enable you to play big works without getting tired.

I have a sneaky little trick for becoming aware of arm weight and learning to use it effectively: Make a material wrap to go over your arms (a nice piano pattern is good) and put pockets in the ends so you can put weights in. The weight should be enough to make you more aware of your arm weight.

The trick is to support the weight through your fingers, and therefore learn to articulate you fingers and make them more powerful (like a concert pianist).

 Another trick for gaining the correct use of arm weight is to play FFF very loud using full arm weight, this extreme will show you the feeling of doing it correctly. Practice a lot in this way.

 It is important to note that expressive playing is achieved by putting in more/less weight.

 Do not play with these on all the time at all. Only use at the start of your practice to gain the feeling of using your arm weight effectively.

 Gaining the feeling of playing the piano correctly is very important as once you know how it feels to play correctly you can then switch correct technique on at will. Ie become a concert pianist when you want!

 Now don’t give up trying to understand what I am saying. You will need a teacher to help you realize this technique. Once you get it the sky is the limit and a whole vista of repertoire will open up to you. Stuff that you never thought possible. Ie Rachmaninov piano concerto no 3 for example.

TSAPM = Think small as possible movement (when playing ie don’t flap about)

AEP = Accurate energising pulses (to fingers) think of your fingers like little pistons.

 Just an aside the pianist maxim is arms of rubber fingers of steel.

DT = Don’t tense (any part of your body some people get pianist jaw. Or back ache. As they are tensing. Stop this right now)

Lastly, palms of hands close to keys. This is self-explanatory. A trick to make sure that your palms are close is to keys is to occasionally feel the white keys with your palms just to make your subconscious aware it will do the rest.

So that’s it, all you need to do now is to practice doing all the above.

Eventually you will develop a feeling engendering all of the above and it is fantastic once you can do it.

Now I am going to tell you how to practice to achieve concert pianist results.

Finger the piece right through (every note even if you think its silly. We do this to free our mind for more important technical issues. And to avoid blocks)

• Learn piece
  • Bar at a time
  • Repeat bar 5x
  • Move onto next bar
  • Repeat bar 5x
  • Put both bars together
  • Repeat 3x
  • Move onto next bar 5x
  • Play to that point 3x
  • Continue adding bars 5x each and then playing to that point 3x 

• Once whole piece is learned using the above method then you must practice piece using the following techniques
  • Unemotional practice ie repetition practice thinking about the correct technique of playing not feeling the music at this stage just like a robot. This will go on for quite a while whilst you get the piece under your hands and technically secure.
  • Emotional practice. This is where you perform the piece once each day putting full emotion onto the piece. It helps to have things (small piece) pictures (medium piece) and a story (large piece) in your mind as to what you are trying to say with the piece. Never perform music you don’t understand.

Finally I would like to tell you about the music pyramid.

Art sits at the top. Emotions lead to an art and feelings lead to emotions. And musical and technical logic lead to feelings. You can on a daily basis practise:

• Technically (repetition practice incorporating correct technique (unemotionally)) (most of your practice)
• Musically (Performance practice (using pictures in your mind) (emotionally))

You must keep your repertoire going using performance practice on a regular basis, i.e. if you don’t use it you will lose it. (Quote by a wonderful musician Fanny Waterman).

Andrew Evans Dip ABRSM.