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Fundamentals of Piano Practice
This is the first book that teaches piano practice methods systematically, based on mylifetime of research, and containing the teachings of Combe, material from over 50 pianobooks, hundreds of articles, and decades of internet research and discussions with teachersand pianists. Genius skills are identified and shown to be teachable; learning piano can raiseor lower your IQ. Past widely taught methods based on false assumptions are exposed;substituting them with efficient practice methods allows students to learn piano and obtainthe necessary education to navigate in today's world and even have a second career. See
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
February 24, 2024
Full disclosure, I am the author's daughter. Our piano teacher Mlle. Yvonne Combe studied at the Paris Conservatory when Debussy, Fauré, Saint-Saëns and Ravel were alive and Fauré was Director of the Conservatory. I'm now 52 and she was in her 80s when I was a child. I played in Carnegie Recital Hall nine times as a child, sis played there ten times, countless other classmates played there and our family alone has 14 years of Carnegie programs to prove it. I am one of at least 8 alumni from my time who attended Juilliard, and I'm in the Evening Division for music composition and orchestration.
Mlle. Combe's teaching methodology clearly worked, but all of us alumni were steeped in that methodology and unaware of how bad music lessons can be outside of the French School of Music (Plainfield, NJ) methodology. My dad, on the other hand, had a mediocre piano teacher as a child and struggled to get to intermediate level. So when he saw what Mlle. Combe was doing he understood immediately how valuable her techniques were. This book basically comprises decades of family conversations at the dinner table, where dad would innocuously ask questions like: so what is it like having perfect pitch?
2/5/2022 update: there is an upcoming second edition of "The Unstoppable Musician" at http://www.eileensauer.com/unstoppabl... (the first link will always point to the most up to date PDF), because solfege was the other vital component to this comprehensive French School methodology and that's why we were wickedly efficient when it came to learning new music. When we lost Mlle. Combe in 1990, her student Stephen Waters took over the school. When we lost him in 2014, I was eventually drafted (somewhat unwillingly) into resuming solfege lessons at The French School because the director realized after nearly two years that no one taught solfege in the US the way we were taught. At the one year mark two students started demonstrating perfect pitch. At the two year mark a 5th grader played recorder, ukulele, jazz saxophone, and a little piano. And I have a tech background, no degree in education or from a music conservatory. It's the methodology. At the two and a half year mark, those who initially exhibited "tone deaf" characteristics can now sing on pitch with piano accompaniment, and the now 6th grader is experimenting with music composition.
8/20/2020 update: There is a rough set of 8 piano practice videos that demonstrate these piano practice techniques, along with some lecture.Go through the lecture at the end first, then the demonstrations. http://www.eileensauer.com/piano-prac... 2/24/2024 update: Regrettably, won't be able to create a more polished set of piano practice videos.
If you've been discouraged because you think you aren't a "gifted" or "talented" musician, complete poppycock. You weren't exposed to the right teaching methodology.
For better or worse, this is our family's best attempt to make available to future generations of music students what was once available to us.
Mlle. Combe's teaching methodology clearly worked, but all of us alumni were steeped in that methodology and unaware of how bad music lessons can be outside of the French School of Music (Plainfield, NJ) methodology. My dad, on the other hand, had a mediocre piano teacher as a child and struggled to get to intermediate level. So when he saw what Mlle. Combe was doing he understood immediately how valuable her techniques were. This book basically comprises decades of family conversations at the dinner table, where dad would innocuously ask questions like: so what is it like having perfect pitch?
2/5/2022 update: there is an upcoming second edition of "The Unstoppable Musician" at http://www.eileensauer.com/unstoppabl... (the first link will always point to the most up to date PDF), because solfege was the other vital component to this comprehensive French School methodology and that's why we were wickedly efficient when it came to learning new music. When we lost Mlle. Combe in 1990, her student Stephen Waters took over the school. When we lost him in 2014, I was eventually drafted (somewhat unwillingly) into resuming solfege lessons at The French School because the director realized after nearly two years that no one taught solfege in the US the way we were taught. At the one year mark two students started demonstrating perfect pitch. At the two year mark a 5th grader played recorder, ukulele, jazz saxophone, and a little piano. And I have a tech background, no degree in education or from a music conservatory. It's the methodology. At the two and a half year mark, those who initially exhibited "tone deaf" characteristics can now sing on pitch with piano accompaniment, and the now 6th grader is experimenting with music composition.
8/20/2020 update: There is a rough set of 8 piano practice videos that demonstrate these piano practice techniques, along with some lecture.Go through the lecture at the end first, then the demonstrations. http://www.eileensauer.com/piano-prac... 2/24/2024 update: Regrettably, won't be able to create a more polished set of piano practice videos.
If you've been discouraged because you think you aren't a "gifted" or "talented" musician, complete poppycock. You weren't exposed to the right teaching methodology.
For better or worse, this is our family's best attempt to make available to future generations of music students what was once available to us.
December 27, 2013
I find it hard to credit that anyone can think this is a good book. I have given it one star, but only because I was not sure that you can give zero stars. Perhaps those that have written positive reviews are unfamiliar with the huge existing literature on piano playing.
It is dreadfully written, in a verbose, rambling style, and hopelessly laid out. Full of weird and unhelpful analogies (memory buckets anyone?) and pseudo-scientific rubbish (). It is true that it contains many true observations and correct advice, but they are so mixed up with huge doses of nonsense and irrelevance that they might as well not be there. The person at whom, this book is aimed cannot be expected to reliably separate the sensible stuff from the errant nonsense, and the more advanced student, that can already see which is which does not need this book.
On top of that is the amazing arrogance of the author. He claims that his is the first and only book that explains the correct way to practice. What rubbish. There are dozens of older books that describe effective practice methods. Then there is the idiocy of presenting his method as the ONLY correct way. There are MANY effective ways to become a proficient pianist. Different methods work for different people. What is more, what is effective changes as the pianist becomes more skilful. The kind of work that a beginner needs to do is very different from that of someone in the mid-grades, which is very different again from the way that a competent concert pianist learns a new piece.
And most ridiculous of all is the claim that you will learn up to 1000x faster with his method than that terrible "intuitive" method that he rails against (but was nevertheless good enough for that excellent pianist Ruth Slenczynska). But what am I saying? Even more ridiculous are the calculations of the economic value of the time that could be saved by using his methods!
What I can say for sure is that anyone that could learn 1000x faster than I learned would go from beginner to a professional standard in less than a week! I guess the get-out clause is that little weasel phrase "up to".
I am left with the impression of an author with a monstrous ego, and a lack of critical faculties. He claims to be a physicist. I only hope that his research papers are better written than this book.
My advice to any wannabee pianist is to stay away from this book and buy yourself a good classic book instead, from someone that knows what they are talking about, and has some of the humility that is so sadly lacking in this book. If they are also recognised as an outstanding pianist than that would be a bonus. Something like Kendall Taylor's superb "Principles of Piano Technique and Interpretation" would serve most learners far better than this pretentious, jumbled mess.
It is dreadfully written, in a verbose, rambling style, and hopelessly laid out. Full of weird and unhelpful analogies (memory buckets anyone?) and pseudo-scientific rubbish (). It is true that it contains many true observations and correct advice, but they are so mixed up with huge doses of nonsense and irrelevance that they might as well not be there. The person at whom, this book is aimed cannot be expected to reliably separate the sensible stuff from the errant nonsense, and the more advanced student, that can already see which is which does not need this book.
On top of that is the amazing arrogance of the author. He claims that his is the first and only book that explains the correct way to practice. What rubbish. There are dozens of older books that describe effective practice methods. Then there is the idiocy of presenting his method as the ONLY correct way. There are MANY effective ways to become a proficient pianist. Different methods work for different people. What is more, what is effective changes as the pianist becomes more skilful. The kind of work that a beginner needs to do is very different from that of someone in the mid-grades, which is very different again from the way that a competent concert pianist learns a new piece.
And most ridiculous of all is the claim that you will learn up to 1000x faster with his method than that terrible "intuitive" method that he rails against (but was nevertheless good enough for that excellent pianist Ruth Slenczynska). But what am I saying? Even more ridiculous are the calculations of the economic value of the time that could be saved by using his methods!
What I can say for sure is that anyone that could learn 1000x faster than I learned would go from beginner to a professional standard in less than a week! I guess the get-out clause is that little weasel phrase "up to".
I am left with the impression of an author with a monstrous ego, and a lack of critical faculties. He claims to be a physicist. I only hope that his research papers are better written than this book.
My advice to any wannabee pianist is to stay away from this book and buy yourself a good classic book instead, from someone that knows what they are talking about, and has some of the humility that is so sadly lacking in this book. If they are also recognised as an outstanding pianist than that would be a bonus. Something like Kendall Taylor's superb "Principles of Piano Technique and Interpretation" would serve most learners far better than this pretentious, jumbled mess.
March 19, 2024
If only I knew these things before I went off to college! Maybe I would have completed my music education studies. I'd had several years of piano lessons and accompanying choirs. Despite my poor audition, a university piano professor saw past my limited technique to my musicality and admitted me to the program. Two hours of practice a day and challenging music wasn't enough to overcome my subconscious realization that my piano practice was ineffective. Progress painstakingly slow, I left the music program.
Fast forward about 17 years. My dad mentions this book by C. C. Chang. It's amazing! Not a light read, but thorough and practical. He draws from notes he took while his children took lessons from a piano instructor in the lineage of Debussy. He draws on his technical background as an engineer and on his knowledge as voluminous reader.
To put the major methods of this book to the test, I selected about 32 measures from Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto. I had always wanted to learn its soaring melody, but the complex inner fingerings and left hand arpeggios stopped me. By following Chang's methods, I had the excerpt comfortably under my hands within weeks. I learned to
-break down problem spots into small bites (almost the whole excerpt was a string of problem spots)
-solve technical difficulties hands separately. That's a HUGE key.
-let my hands take turns to avoid fatigue (I might have avoided wrist problems in college had I known)
-memorize the problem spots as soon possible
-memorize the excerpt hands separately (weird, but it creates a stronger memory trace)
-cycle
-make the last practice of a problem spot slow and soft
-practice mentally when not at the piano
My test with Rachmaninoff convinced me that the methods worked. Next, I tackled a whole piece. I had always, always wanted to learn Gershwin's 3rd piano prelude, but it had always, always been beyond reach. Not anymore. By first analyzing the piece for structure and repetition (Chang's project management approach), I located the problem spots. I began problem solving these and cycling the solutions right away. This piece had a lot more technical difficulties and took longer, BUT my progress was obvious from the start.
Now even though my daughters have a stellar piano teacher, I'm letting them in on the Chang's secrets. They make a difference.
Download the entire book free from the author himself at http://www.pianopractice.org/book.pdf
Fast forward about 17 years. My dad mentions this book by C. C. Chang. It's amazing! Not a light read, but thorough and practical. He draws from notes he took while his children took lessons from a piano instructor in the lineage of Debussy. He draws on his technical background as an engineer and on his knowledge as voluminous reader.
To put the major methods of this book to the test, I selected about 32 measures from Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto. I had always wanted to learn its soaring melody, but the complex inner fingerings and left hand arpeggios stopped me. By following Chang's methods, I had the excerpt comfortably under my hands within weeks. I learned to
-break down problem spots into small bites (almost the whole excerpt was a string of problem spots)
-solve technical difficulties hands separately. That's a HUGE key.
-let my hands take turns to avoid fatigue (I might have avoided wrist problems in college had I known)
-memorize the problem spots as soon possible
-memorize the excerpt hands separately (weird, but it creates a stronger memory trace)
-cycle
-make the last practice of a problem spot slow and soft
-practice mentally when not at the piano
My test with Rachmaninoff convinced me that the methods worked. Next, I tackled a whole piece. I had always, always wanted to learn Gershwin's 3rd piano prelude, but it had always, always been beyond reach. Not anymore. By first analyzing the piece for structure and repetition (Chang's project management approach), I located the problem spots. I began problem solving these and cycling the solutions right away. This piece had a lot more technical difficulties and took longer, BUT my progress was obvious from the start.
Now even though my daughters have a stellar piano teacher, I'm letting them in on the Chang's secrets. They make a difference.
Download the entire book free from the author himself at http://www.pianopractice.org/book.pdf
May 10, 2017
First things first: this book's writing style is almost impenetrable. Paradoxically, a book written with the goal of making it simpler to learn complicated, difficult piano pieces utterly fails to communicate simply.
There are dozens of rambling pages promising unrealistic results and declaring the total superiority of the author's methods. I eventually took to skimming them to try to find what those methods actually were. When I finally found them, it was no surprise to discover that the author's claims of superiority were based on his own theories, which, while credible and plausible-sounding, are not based on real-world studies or observable results.
That said, there are indeed studies which have borne out some of the author's points. While much of this book is rambling and overwrought, many of the author's points have been borne out by recent research into deliberate practice, a term now used so heavily it is occasionally granted capitalization or abbreviation as DP.
Here are a few of my own takeaways from the book, which may save you the trouble of wading into its logorrheic waters if you just want the high points:
- When you practice, work hard on improving something specific you're having trouble with.
- Start learning a piece by practicing the hard parts. They are, of course, the parts you will need to practice the most.
- Pick very short sections to work on. You can attempt them over and over very quickly, saving time compared to starting all over again.
- Play through your mistakes.
- Play each hand separately until it can play the section faster that it needs to.
- Finish your practice by playing the piece slower than performance speed.
There are dozens of rambling pages promising unrealistic results and declaring the total superiority of the author's methods. I eventually took to skimming them to try to find what those methods actually were. When I finally found them, it was no surprise to discover that the author's claims of superiority were based on his own theories, which, while credible and plausible-sounding, are not based on real-world studies or observable results.
That said, there are indeed studies which have borne out some of the author's points. While much of this book is rambling and overwrought, many of the author's points have been borne out by recent research into deliberate practice, a term now used so heavily it is occasionally granted capitalization or abbreviation as DP.
Here are a few of my own takeaways from the book, which may save you the trouble of wading into its logorrheic waters if you just want the high points:
- When you practice, work hard on improving something specific you're having trouble with.
- Start learning a piece by practicing the hard parts. They are, of course, the parts you will need to practice the most.
- Pick very short sections to work on. You can attempt them over and over very quickly, saving time compared to starting all over again.
- Play through your mistakes.
- Play each hand separately until it can play the section faster that it needs to.
- Finish your practice by playing the piece slower than performance speed.
January 30, 2016
There are, at most, 50 sentences in total that give you the actual tips and rules to follow. It's a book where you are sorely tempted to just read the words in bold. The main problem, I felt, was that they were too focused on just validating WHY this book is something that you need. It builts you up to the tips, like a tease that takes it too far, and you are no longer interested in what said tease has to offer. Far from being attracted, it has the opposite effect: they irritate you and you just want to snap at them to stop or move on already. Something you expect from a bad marketing campaign, or the constantly delayed launch date of a much anticipated product.
Another book that taught me something about writing by setting a bad example:
If a reader is reading your book, they're already interested, and you should aspire to view them as enthusiasts, not skeptics. Give your reader what they are looking for: stop beating about the bush. Or we'll want to beat you about. Especially if it's a non-fiction book, and people are looking for facts, and not a constant drivel of reassurance that your content isn't just a pile of bollocks. It actually makes your book look like a brick of shit. For the love of all things wonderfully written, don't worry about backlash from readers so much, that you pad yourself up enough to be a sumo wrestler ready for battle. Make that two sumo wrestlers.
Another book that taught me something about writing by setting a bad example:
If a reader is reading your book, they're already interested, and you should aspire to view them as enthusiasts, not skeptics. Give your reader what they are looking for: stop beating about the bush. Or we'll want to beat you about. Especially if it's a non-fiction book, and people are looking for facts, and not a constant drivel of reassurance that your content isn't just a pile of bollocks. It actually makes your book look like a brick of shit. For the love of all things wonderfully written, don't worry about backlash from readers so much, that you pad yourself up enough to be a sumo wrestler ready for battle. Make that two sumo wrestlers.
June 22, 2022
The first book on practicing the piano? Just that claim alone sums up the hubris of the author, who is as qualified to write on piano technique as I am to write on physics, having a physicist parent and having read a bit about physics.
Not only does Chang share his insights on practicing, he enlightens us as to good breastfeeding technique, as he is apparently also an expert lactation consultant, because he has some patents in the field of physics (“The important factor in breast feeding is regular feeding, equally with both breasts”). And where would we be without his child-rearing advice (“Feed foods with as many different smells and tastes as possible”)? This book is full of nuggets of wisdom! I only wish he’d delved into the world of fixing your own carburetor after tuning your own piano. How about conducting surgery on your own gall bladder afterward?
While there are some good points, for example about practicing difficult sections first, they do not warrant a book or even a pamphlet; nor do his own or his vicariously achieved accomplishments on the piano. He should have stuck to breastfeeding.
Not only does Chang share his insights on practicing, he enlightens us as to good breastfeeding technique, as he is apparently also an expert lactation consultant, because he has some patents in the field of physics (“The important factor in breast feeding is regular feeding, equally with both breasts”). And where would we be without his child-rearing advice (“Feed foods with as many different smells and tastes as possible”)? This book is full of nuggets of wisdom! I only wish he’d delved into the world of fixing your own carburetor after tuning your own piano. How about conducting surgery on your own gall bladder afterward?
While there are some good points, for example about practicing difficult sections first, they do not warrant a book or even a pamphlet; nor do his own or his vicariously achieved accomplishments on the piano. He should have stuck to breastfeeding.
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February 13, 2021Honestly kind of a mess, completely unorganized. The author has a habit of going off on tangents completely unrelated to piano, and each paragraph is full of strange asinine comments rather than anything useful to a piano student, some paraphrased examples:
"Piano strings emulate the string theory that creates the universe"
"The forearm muscles are the fastest as they are used for tree climbing"
"A demanding piece is equivalent to a light jog"
These are only from the first 50 pages or so, and there are comments like this every page more or less. It is also written in an extremely pseudo-scientific style (if you could not tell from the quotes above) which makes the book incredibly boring. There may be some good info for piano students included, but you need to decipher the text to find it, and given the state of the rest of the text its hard to trust the teaching methods here. Avoid
"Piano strings emulate the string theory that creates the universe"
"The forearm muscles are the fastest as they are used for tree climbing"
"A demanding piece is equivalent to a light jog"
These are only from the first 50 pages or so, and there are comments like this every page more or less. It is also written in an extremely pseudo-scientific style (if you could not tell from the quotes above) which makes the book incredibly boring. There may be some good info for piano students included, but you need to decipher the text to find it, and given the state of the rest of the text its hard to trust the teaching methods here. Avoid
February 27, 2015
This book is a physicist's very limited understanding of piano practice based on his struggles playing piano when he was younger, and observing his child's piano teacher because his child got very good at playing piano.
Having never read a book on piano practice before, there were a few techniques he described which I wasn't aware of. Some work, some don't.
This book is very badly organised, full of the author's opinions and theories, who is not an expert in this field. What really annoyed me were his attempts to convince the reader how important his opinions are, and to calculate how much time and money the reader will save by reading his book.
I skimmed through it and it gave me some keywords to google, to track down some piano practice books written by people who have studied and taught piano as a career.
Having never read a book on piano practice before, there were a few techniques he described which I wasn't aware of. Some work, some don't.
This book is very badly organised, full of the author's opinions and theories, who is not an expert in this field. What really annoyed me were his attempts to convince the reader how important his opinions are, and to calculate how much time and money the reader will save by reading his book.
I skimmed through it and it gave me some keywords to google, to track down some piano practice books written by people who have studied and taught piano as a career.
April 20, 2012
Strange book... along with interesting insights and good advice you find here almost silly statements (Beethove´s deafness was caused by his own compositions...). Written by a non-pianist, yet drawing from many solid resources. Author (a multi-experted scientist, who admits doesnt know much about music theory, but can play some piano himself) sometimes act like Sheldon Cooper, claiming this book is going to change the world completely... Only Bazinga on cover is missing. Otherwise the book definitely contains many passages worth of reading (and some worth of trashing, obviously, too).
May 31, 2019
Autor próbuje odpowiedzieć na pytanie, jak należy ćwiczyć na fortepianie, by osiągnąć sukces w postaci postępów techniczno-muzycznych, następnie opanowania utworu i w końcu utrzymania repertuaru. Nie wgłębiając się w szczegóły autor daje wiele przemyślanych wskazówek na ten temat. Warto zajrzeć do tej pozycji, mnie skłoniła do przemyślenia mojego podejścia do klawiatury.
Trzeba być jednak świadomym wad tej publikacji. Jest ona wyłącznie tekstowa, nie zawiera żadnych ilustracji ani żadnych przykładów nutowych, co jest jej wielką wadą. Drugą, nie wiem, czy nie większą jest sposób jej napisania/tłumaczenia. Sprawia wrażenie chaosu, ponieważ co chwilę mówi o tym samym. Dosłownie na szeregu kolejnych stron można znaleźć te same myśli, tak samo lub tylko trochę inaczej ujęte. Trzeba mieć mnóstwo cierpliwości, by przez to przebrnąć.
Niewątpliwym plusem tej publikacji jest spis książek o technice fortepianowej. Autor zamieszcza krótkie recenzje każdej z publikacji. Z tego powodu daję ***.
Trzeba być jednak świadomym wad tej publikacji. Jest ona wyłącznie tekstowa, nie zawiera żadnych ilustracji ani żadnych przykładów nutowych, co jest jej wielką wadą. Drugą, nie wiem, czy nie większą jest sposób jej napisania/tłumaczenia. Sprawia wrażenie chaosu, ponieważ co chwilę mówi o tym samym. Dosłownie na szeregu kolejnych stron można znaleźć te same myśli, tak samo lub tylko trochę inaczej ujęte. Trzeba mieć mnóstwo cierpliwości, by przez to przebrnąć.
Niewątpliwym plusem tej publikacji jest spis książek o technice fortepianowej. Autor zamieszcza krótkie recenzje każdej z publikacji. Z tego powodu daję ***.
February 25, 2020
5 stars for the content, 1 star for the writing and structure.
I can already see how helpful some the methods are and I've made quite a progress with my piano already which hasn't happened in many years.
Unfortunately the writing makes it hard to discover the actual content and connect the dots - I feel I probably missed a lot if information just because of how chaotic and disjointed it was.
I can already see how helpful some the methods are and I've made quite a progress with my piano already which hasn't happened in many years.
Unfortunately the writing makes it hard to discover the actual content and connect the dots - I feel I probably missed a lot if information just because of how chaotic and disjointed it was.
March 23, 2020
Some really great insights. **Never read again.** Look for the page which summarizes "the method" for piano practice.
Helpful reminder that the "intuitive" methods for learning / practice are extremely ineffective in complex skill acquisition.
Writing - tedious, repetitious, overwrought.
Helpful reminder that the "intuitive" methods for learning / practice are extremely ineffective in complex skill acquisition.
Writing - tedious, repetitious, overwrought.
April 9, 2018
I have finished half of this book. The practice methods in the book are excellent. I can play fast than before and feel more relaxed. Thanks so much to the auther.
March 4, 2019
Very nice overview of good piano practice. However the author is a bit overfull of himself (US citizen trait?) and is a bit too repetitive in parts (book could be probably be a third shorter).
June 19, 2020
some good advice but a bit messy and difficult to follow.
December 4, 2025
It was okay. I found a lot of good information in here especially in regards to memorization, reading music, certain practice routines, and especially mental play. I skimmed through lots of it as it has lots of details about things like piano tuning that while interesting and important was something I know I’ll never do.
I loved his attitude and effort throughout the book. He is clearly intelligent and well researched in many aspects and I really enjoyed his takes on how research should be a fundamental thing in piano and music. Tho I don’t feel he was able to properly research all of his proposed methods the way I wanted to see it. Ie sample sizes with students and methods, control groups and atastical analysis etc. tho I’m not even sure if that possible in this realm. Regardless I loved his musings and thoughts applying science and physics to many practical musical elements that really are important for understanding and getting into the nitty gritty of piano playing.
Truly the mental play aspect was something I hadn’t considered and find it the most compelling and important advice he gives. I greatly appreciate his work and his long collection of references that I will get to peruse now. Plus he made it free and open source on the internet. I love freely abatible knowledge. Thanks!
I loved his attitude and effort throughout the book. He is clearly intelligent and well researched in many aspects and I really enjoyed his takes on how research should be a fundamental thing in piano and music. Tho I don’t feel he was able to properly research all of his proposed methods the way I wanted to see it. Ie sample sizes with students and methods, control groups and atastical analysis etc. tho I’m not even sure if that possible in this realm. Regardless I loved his musings and thoughts applying science and physics to many practical musical elements that really are important for understanding and getting into the nitty gritty of piano playing.
Truly the mental play aspect was something I hadn’t considered and find it the most compelling and important advice he gives. I greatly appreciate his work and his long collection of references that I will get to peruse now. Plus he made it free and open source on the internet. I love freely abatible knowledge. Thanks!
January 16, 2020
Il libro è interessante ma è molto pericoloso.
Contiene infatti alcune idee completamente sbagliate, come il ciclare, l'idea che sia necessario ripetere per miliardi di volte un passaggio che non riesce subito, l'enfasi sulla velocità da portare a livelli altissimi. Sono ampiamente scettico anche riguardo al pollice sopra: è una tecnica che non ho mai visto utilizzare, né di cui ho mai sentito parlare, e ad una prima impressione mi pare che porti risultati negativi, quindi ho deciso di non usarla.
Sono però presenti molti concetti fondamentali ben noti a tutti i musicisti: l'importanza dello studio a mani separate, dello studio segmentato, del rilassamento, dello sviluppo della musicalità in ogni momento e anche alcuni trucchi per approcciarsi alle esecuzioni.
La cosa più interessante però sono alcuni concetti decisamente meno conosciuti, sia tra quelli completamente nuovi che tra quelli raramente teorizzati in modo sistematico: il suonare mentalmente, l'utilizzo di una mano per insegnare all'altra, la memorizzazione a mani separate (di cui non ho ancora testato l'efficacia), ed il delineare.
In definitiva un testo che può essere paradossalmente più utile per un pubblico di pianisti già formati, e che trovare alcune idee che non hanno ancora incontrato nella loro vita musicale, piuttosto che a persone che vogliono cominciare a studiare pianoforte.
Purtroppo ha il difetto di essere scritto veramente da cani, con uno stile orrendo. La prefazione è il culmine del trash, per cui vi consiglio di evitarla: se siete curiosi di sapere quanto in basso si possa andare, leggetevi semplicemente il post scriptum alla fine di essa. In tutto il resto del libro, Chang si presenta come il classico tuttologo onnisciente ed onnipotente che viene a rivelare a noi comuni ignoranti il suo sapere, ed è decisamente fastidioso. Ah, lasciate perdere il capitolo sul rapporto tra matematica e musica: sono anche io un fisico come Chang, e vi assicuro che è pieno di baggianate e paroloni che servono solo a tirare fumo negli occhi...
Contiene infatti alcune idee completamente sbagliate, come il ciclare, l'idea che sia necessario ripetere per miliardi di volte un passaggio che non riesce subito, l'enfasi sulla velocità da portare a livelli altissimi. Sono ampiamente scettico anche riguardo al pollice sopra: è una tecnica che non ho mai visto utilizzare, né di cui ho mai sentito parlare, e ad una prima impressione mi pare che porti risultati negativi, quindi ho deciso di non usarla.
Sono però presenti molti concetti fondamentali ben noti a tutti i musicisti: l'importanza dello studio a mani separate, dello studio segmentato, del rilassamento, dello sviluppo della musicalità in ogni momento e anche alcuni trucchi per approcciarsi alle esecuzioni.
La cosa più interessante però sono alcuni concetti decisamente meno conosciuti, sia tra quelli completamente nuovi che tra quelli raramente teorizzati in modo sistematico: il suonare mentalmente, l'utilizzo di una mano per insegnare all'altra, la memorizzazione a mani separate (di cui non ho ancora testato l'efficacia), ed il delineare.
In definitiva un testo che può essere paradossalmente più utile per un pubblico di pianisti già formati, e che trovare alcune idee che non hanno ancora incontrato nella loro vita musicale, piuttosto che a persone che vogliono cominciare a studiare pianoforte.
Purtroppo ha il difetto di essere scritto veramente da cani, con uno stile orrendo. La prefazione è il culmine del trash, per cui vi consiglio di evitarla: se siete curiosi di sapere quanto in basso si possa andare, leggetevi semplicemente il post scriptum alla fine di essa. In tutto il resto del libro, Chang si presenta come il classico tuttologo onnisciente ed onnipotente che viene a rivelare a noi comuni ignoranti il suo sapere, ed è decisamente fastidioso. Ah, lasciate perdere il capitolo sul rapporto tra matematica e musica: sono anche io un fisico come Chang, e vi assicuro che è pieno di baggianate e paroloni che servono solo a tirare fumo negli occhi...
January 24, 2013
I'm amazed at this book. The author has a (VERY) strong academic background in Phyiscs, and having studied some physics myself, I must say that this book resonated very much with me: the scientific approach to finding the best methods, using his experience in research paper publishing to write and publish the book, his explanations of some math concepts and how they apply to music, and even a differential equation to calculate the rate of learning speed using the methods in the book!
But, if you're not even remotly into any of that stuff, fear not, for Mr. Chuan C. Chang leaves out these technicalities from the main body (he makes it easy to skip or skim it) and he has a very clear, very straight forward and specific explanations of the methods he describes. He even provides a "cheat sheet" at the end of the exercise sections giving a summary of the complete method!
I've yet to try any of these techniques, but reading about it, I found that I already did 1 or 2 things from his method, and I know it's the things that propelled my piano abilities.
It might get a little tedious to read it at 1/3 of the book, but it's not pleasure reading, it's pure useful information, so tackle one section at a time, and stop any piano practice until you've finished this book.
I will stretch out to say that every pianist should read this book! Specially those fond of Hannon.. jaja. It's outstanding.
Now I'm off to put the learnings to practice.
But, if you're not even remotly into any of that stuff, fear not, for Mr. Chuan C. Chang leaves out these technicalities from the main body (he makes it easy to skip or skim it) and he has a very clear, very straight forward and specific explanations of the methods he describes. He even provides a "cheat sheet" at the end of the exercise sections giving a summary of the complete method!
I've yet to try any of these techniques, but reading about it, I found that I already did 1 or 2 things from his method, and I know it's the things that propelled my piano abilities.
It might get a little tedious to read it at 1/3 of the book, but it's not pleasure reading, it's pure useful information, so tackle one section at a time, and stop any piano practice until you've finished this book.
I will stretch out to say that every pianist should read this book! Specially those fond of Hannon.. jaja. It's outstanding.
Now I'm off to put the learnings to practice.
May 4, 2011
You can actually download this book for free at: http://www.archive.org/details/Fundam...
Or here: http://www.tutorialpdf.com/Hobbies/Pi...
This is a good read, especially for those interested in learning the fine art of piano playing
Or here: http://www.tutorialpdf.com/Hobbies/Pi...
This is a good read, especially for those interested in learning the fine art of piano playing
September 20, 2013
I've been on a plateau for a while now with my piano technique and this book has helped me take it to the next level. Love the Bar by Bar tip and the Chapter on memorization. Good stuff! Practice does not make Perfect. Perfect Practice does. Download for free and see for yourself. You'll be shocked at how rapidly you progress once you begin maximizing your practice time with this book.
December 13, 2018
I got a lot of useful techniques from this book. I'm now using them to improve my piano practice. They include:
- practicing separate hands
- practicing in segments
- playing slow, playing quietly
- staccato practice
- mental play
- playing finished pieces without warming up
- tips on performance preparation
- practicing separate hands
- practicing in segments
- playing slow, playing quietly
- staccato practice
- mental play
- playing finished pieces without warming up
- tips on performance preparation
May 21, 2019
This book has a lot of good advice but it can get overwhelming for a beginner like me when I started reading it. I took some notes and some advice and I intend to keep revisiting some parts of the book to reinforce my knowledge based on everyday practice.
September 9, 2009
The first and best book on how to practice the piano.
Science applied to this universal task.
Amazing!
Science applied to this universal task.
Amazing!
September 20, 2014
Amazing book, Must read for all pianists.
April 20, 2016
A little crazy but informative.
March 4, 2018
This book teaches you things that NO ONE would teach you.
October 13, 2025
A useful book with interesting recommendations in the references.
abandoned
April 11, 2018This book is actually really good. Has a different approach to learning the piano that significantly helped me in my last piano exam. Will however finish it another time.
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