The Art of Piano Playing: A Scientific Approach

Very interesting review for amateur pianists.

Ok, but not an easy read. Will have to take my time with the book

Wer nicht richtig übt, macht nur langsam Fortschritte, schadet sich und geht auch anderen auf die Nerven. Dieses Buch, und Changs sowie Finks Lehrbücher haben mir gleich zu Beginn alles grundlegend Wichtige erklärt.

Almost everything is said about Kochevitsky's book. Nevertheless I do not think it as a heavy book (80 pages??). Its bibliography is thouroughly relevant but unfortunately the russian titles are still unkonown in the west. Fortunately we have now one or two works from Grigory Kogan translated. But still, in the piano concertizing profession, people rarely take the time to read about this kind of subject. Unfortunately again many piano teachers come up with their own methods withou prior knowledge of all this body work of research. Many guru-like methods and approaches intoxicate this literature market. I consider Kochevistky's book practical and exhaustive. You just have to take the time to think and to learn what he is talking about, and often this requires some experience and humbleness. Personally I recommend it highly to all advanced pianists and students.

This book is OUTSTANDING. It combines the historical and scientific perspectives for the development of speed. My primary instrument is electric guitar, but I am finding SO many universal takeaways.

When you play a note on the piano (or any other instrument), it involves the brain (will / intention), the inner and outer hearing, muscle contractions in the fingers and the upper arms, tendons etc. and neuron activity, everything within a fraction of a second. This book analyzes those processes without going too much into physiological details. It also discusses different schools of piano teaching from the 19th and 20th century, pointing out their fallacies due to a lack of understanding of the human body. Finally it provides some hints on how to make piano practice more effective. Overall it emphasizes the importance of neuronal / brain activity in contrast to most teaching methods, which solely focus on the muscle activity (finger independence, relaxing muscles in the forearm, etc.)I picked up this book because Hal Galper mentions it in his book "Forward Motion" and master classes on jazz improvisation. If you are a serious piano player, you will get a deeper understanding of why, for instance, you need to practice slow to play fast, etc. The writing style is somewhat dry and the "book" has rather the flair of a Master's or PhD thesis. I think it would be appropriate to modernize and update this book, make it more accessible, include further illustrations, etc. Anyway, I still strongly recommend it to anybody serious about his/her piano playing and who is trying to gain a scientific understanding of the whole process of playing the piano. It is a must, in my opinion, for any piano teacher.

The cult classic piano book. I found this recommendation on Hal Galper's website. Even though he is a jazz pianist (I am classically trained, but also learning jazz) this book would pertain to ANY keyboardist. It clarifies WHY certain exercises do or do not work, the neurology of learning, and very very specific guidance on piano technique. Would 1000000% recommend this to any serious keyboardist.