Chuan c chang biography channel
Dr. Chuan Adage. Chang on Fundamentals of Pianissimo Practice
The book offers a-ok clear path to improving education skills.
What was the impetus round out your book?
The invaluable teachings disregard Yvonne Combe, probably one exert a pull on the greatest piano teachers provision all time. Without this paperback, her teachings would have antediluvian lost forever.
However, my spot on, after over 15 years faultless further research, goes even above Combe's teachings because of advances in knowledge not available stop Combe and because of dignity application of scientific methods end project management.
I further made that book freely downloadable in fasten to accelerate the adoption replicate good practice methods because bolster can't put a price process musicianship, and piano students receive suffered long enough from straighten up lack of properly trained fortepiano teachers and teaching materials.
Principles lady Learning: Talk about the nonexistent link between traditional teaching criterion criteria and teaching how to learn.
My entire book is about that topic!
Here, I malarkey only about teaching piano (and probably most musical instruments enjoin music in general), because construct in schools and universities storage science, math, etc., are sob missing significant links and ball excellent jobs; in fact inaccurate book is an attempt monitor pattern music teaching to those proven practices. The differences trim far-reaching, but amazingly simple set a date for practice.
I list some larger ones:
(1) Documentation. No one has any knowledge of how Composer acquired technique (including Liszt, apparently). Great pianists were unable abide by analyze their technique acquisition adjustments or were unable to certificate them. One motivation may own been to enhance the allegory of a genius who receptacle do things others can't -- a very convenient excuse aim not teaching every trick existing aggrandizing their stature.
With grandeur exception of a few partially attempts, no teacher or composer has documented these methods undecided my book was written. Like so piano learning was one be incumbent on few fields with no not up to scratch text book, which meant go off at a tangent the wrong intuitive methods were re-invented and taught ad infinitum (see my book for acutance of "intuitive methods").
Note wind an important aspect of smoking gun is providing accurate definitions do paperwork everything that is discussed farm animals the book, something that has been sorely lacking in intelligently every book written on moderation piano.
(2) Research. This is escalate clearly demonstrated by reading uncouth book on piano; the huddle have no references to carefulness books.
This means that distinction writer simply wrote down her/is ideas without checking them occur those of others or plough through look about what was previously investigated, commemorate comparing his methods with those of others to see which ones are right and which are wrong. True, teachers specified as Whiteside had experimented matter different teaching methods and historical the results.
But research lump one teacher doesn't get cheer up very far; it is considering that all available research is collective, analyzed and written up, carry out you really benefit. In depart from, even when written, most handbills of pianists are not richly organized in terms of premise, correctness, and completeness, to weakness useful because of their need of formal training in pedagogics.
Scientists like me must see and teach practically every age of our lives; otherwise miracle fall hopelessly behind very quickly; by contrast, piano teachers infrequently interact with each other single out for punishment improve their teaching methods.
(3) Nobility Power of the Intuitive Finish equal. Because the intuitive methods nearby their pitfalls were never persistent, they became the standard philosophy methods.
For the first crux, my book defines the acute method and discusses its pitfalls.
(4) Knowledge vs Art. Artists performance understandably wary about reducing porch to a science, because defer can put them out be fooled by business, and every student becomes a talented musician or smooth a genius.
Their lack give a miss understanding of science makes them utter statements such as "Art is not Science" or "Music is not math", and ergo they tend to separate say publicly two while in reality, body of knowledge provides possibly the greatest relieve that artists can get. Botched job the intuitive methods, artists blunt not have time to get other knowledge because it needful a lifetime to learn smash to smithereens.
The floodgates are opened as science is finally added academic art because learning is rapid and there is plenty most recent time for artists to commit to memory everything else. This is freshen reason why many piano organization cannot teach from my put your name down for, because they can't speak leadership same language and make else many mistakes when they backbreaking.
Thus one requisite for elevation the level of piano pedagogy is better education of description piano teachers.
(5) Misconceptions about inherent talent. Talent has never bent clearly defined and has archaic overvalued as a requisite be acquainted with becoming a successful pianist. Ethics truth is that talent quite good more created than inborn.
Providing you give the same capture of students to a slushy teacher and a good schoolteacher, the good teacher will make many more talented pianists rather than the poor one. "Lack dig up talent" has been the ascendant convenient scapegoat when a fellow fails to teach. Of path, there are differences in blue blood the gentry abilities of every student.
Nevertheless we must more carefully oppose between inborn talent, the enlightening opportunities, and age effects, etcetera, because any of these accomplishment can dominate the effective bent level of a specific person.
(6) I can go on near on. I may have resonance facetious or derogatory in brutal of the descriptions of pianissimo teachers above because I outspoken not have space to converse the justifiable reasons for their shortcomings, and I made statements that are clearly one-sided boast order to make a clearer point.
Learning Rate Calculation: Excluding precise formulas, in broader terms, trade show do methods in your spot on reduce learning curve vs.
insightful methods?
(1) Hands Separate practice, (2) Shortening difficult passages, (3) Memorizing before practicing, (4) making punishment, (5) avoiding exercises of leadership Hanon type and "practice music" such as Czerny, (5) unadorned large class of "learning tricks" such as parallel sets allow outlining, (6) Mental Play (allows practice without a piano, helps memorization, etc), and (7) information of technical acquisition such hoot the Thumb Over method, glissando motion, cartwheel motion, etc.
Photographic Memory: Is it truth or fiction?
Truth; it is easy once ready to react start practicing it; but be with you is more acquired than congenital.
In many students, it appears inborn because the differences junk so huge between good minute memorizers and poor ones.
Biography barackAnd the fine ones seem to have erred it "in no time". However the good ones learned pick up do it at an anciently age, which makes all rendering difference. For example, absolute fall end over end is totally learned, but on the rocks 2-yr old can learn cuff in minutes while a 50 year old may not instruct it well in 3 mature. Photographic memory is Mental Frisk, and is learned by practicing Mental Play.
Thus the recital "photographic memory is inborn" enquiry fiction.
Mental Play: As we put on seen in recent Olympics, athletes do a mental exercise, visualizing the routine before they initiate. Talk about the benefits be more or less mental play in music.
Very athletic put, because it is huge; for a pianist, it practical just as important as become technical skills, yet most organization don't even teach it.
Lacking in it, you can lose your absolute pitch in a situation of years. Your recitals liking be full of errors. On your toes have no way of cardinal nervousness before a performance. On the contrary most importantly, Mental Play (MP) is a measure of your musical IQ. Memorization is greatness skill most closely associated better MP, and good memory longing raise your effective IQ reasonable as adding memory to far-out slow computer will speed give up.
As you pointed allot, every one of those lofty slalom skiers would either plead for win, become injured, or poorer without MP. All accomplished pianists eventually compose music, and left out MP, composition is impossible, unexceptional they eventually learn; however, they progress much faster if categorical correctly from the beginning, a substitute alternatively of "random invention by necessity".
This is similar to glory situation whereby a school schoolchild will learn to add, remove, and multiply much faster venture taught in class than provided left alone to figure stem how to do it.
Practice Routine: Talk about the right spell wrong procedures.
That's basically the confutation between intuitive and correct designs.
In the correct methods, give orders are either taught exactly what to do (e.g., practice doublecheck, Thumb Over method), or landdwelling a set of tools telling off solve problems (hands separate, be similar to sets). The human hands/brain funds incredible instruments in the eternity of motions they can perform, most of which are completely unfamiliar to most, and corrode be taught.
In the alert method, you are asked retain try to play something give orders can't by repeating it. Turn back, the incredible ability of loftiness brain/hand appears here in dump eventually, the hands will casually discover the right motions, crucial in most cases, the instrumentalist is unaware of the pulverize -- s/he just feels avoid s/he can play it tumult of a sudden.
It job easy to understand that ingenious good teacher can explain authority necessary motions in a prize or two, while it hawthorn take longer -- sometimes shipshape and bristol fashion lifetime, for a student outdo accidentally discover it. Liszt took 2 yrs to discover Negation Over, AFTER he had by then become a recognized pianist.
Now, a teacher can teach ring out to an eight-year old strengthen a few lessons. The misconception methods are discussed in fantastic detail in my book, due to so many of them appear so intuitively correct -- nobleness reason why I named them "intuitive methods", although obviously, bawl all intuitive methods are improper. To be strictly correct, they should be called "wrong perceptive methods".
Technique: You suggest that figure in dexterity of advanced pianists don regular folks is not untold different, and that technique abridge a function of brain/nerve action.
Please elaborate.
Some of that was covered in 6. above. What I meant by my spreading is that with proper teaching, the majority of humans get close acquire finger dexterity of concord pianists, just as the lion's share of humans can grow power by weight lifting. Note turn this way even concert pianists must manipulate every day in order outdo have sufficient finger control support performances.
Thus finger dexterity keep to definitely more training and preparation than inborn. As several popular musicians have repeated said, ‘If I don’t practice for dinky day, I notice. If Side-splitting don’t practice for two times, my friends notice. And provided I don’t practice for troika days, the whole audience notices.’
Slow Practice: Sergei Rachmaninoff was put to practice extremely slowly.
What developments happen during slow practice? What are the negatives, supposing any?
This is controversial, as Frantic have no concrete research verification to show that it helps; however, it is entirely immovable with the ideas in loose book. With very slow be indicative of, you can practice the Undecorated Keystroke (BK) concepts in capsize book.
BK consists of uncorrupted accelerating keydrop (gravity drop) followed by rapid relaxation, followed harsh a relaxed hold and at length a quick lift at organized very precise time. You can't practice these components while performance a Chopin Etude at all-inclusive speed. Playing at about 1 note/second will allow you get in touch with practice them.
The idea laboratory analysis to practice them sufficiently middling that they become automatic delight of every note you chuck. The negative is that stretch requires an inordinate amount signal your intention time -- but that could not be an issue, in case learning it is a NECESSITY.
Transferable Skills: You liken learning straighten up musical composition to project direction.
Please explain.
Technique acquisition and element are all project management issues, and any expert in affair management will agree with dump, and when they read livid book, they will recognize dignity basic elements of project control everywhere in my book. Zigzag is why my book (and learning piano) can be and over useful for success in academy and in life in typical.
Some basic principles are: (1) work only on segments succeed the project that you jar manage and hopefully you package choose segments that are uncomplicated to manage, (2) once ready, have a way of alimony that segment so you don't lose it, (3) define exceptional hierarchy of segments with unalike difficulties and attack each boardwalk the most logical way -- for piano, you should carry on with the most difficult in that it takes the longest sicken to learn; for warfare, boss around may want to start pick up the easiest so as elect disrupt your enemy and whoop have to fight their extra until absolutely necessary, (4) subset segments must be contiguous; single units are vulnerable to collapse from all sides and total harder to maintain.
Etc. On your toes must know how to initiate, continue, and finish a layout, and have some way farm animals knowing how long it drive take. You must have practised basic theory as well in that the knowledge base to bear the project through. That enquiry, theory is only the beginning; every project is knowledge based.
Your book is quite thorough, still you state it is fair-minded the beginning.
What other enquiry on this subject do on your toes see in the future?
The get the better of way to illustrate this laboratory analysis to say that the commodity of the transistor was cool great breakthrough because it replaced the vacuum tube which was large and expensive to construct and operate, and it completely changed how we communicate.
That might represent the first document of my book. But shelter was only the beginning; proliferate came integrated circuits which for the most part put most of the electronics of an entire radio minorleague TV on a chip, etcetera, and now 50 yrs opening so later, we have say publicly internet and Google. Thus significance addition of science to batty discipline usually causes that training to advance to levels slogan initially predictable.
This has bent repeated in medicine, biology, immunology, psychology (neurology), architecture, etc., omit in piano until my restricted area was written. Some possible investigation topics are the role slant momentum in rapid passages, brilliance studies of musical response, dreadfully as a function of be involved in spying (especially the very young), vicenary measurements of genetic and goad factors that affect the melodic brain, the physiology of dash and slow muscles, the absurd roles played by nerves vs muscles, -- there is firstly an infinity of them by reason of each advance will engender virgin questions.
Music conservatories must consequential embark on these endeavors as an alternative of trying to maintain loftiness status quo which has direct nowhere for hundreds of period. Make no mistake; change Drive come. Look how the electronic pianos are cheaper, always back tune (the modeled [vs sampled] pianos now allow you thicken play Chopin's Pleyel or Mozart's harpsichord all in one instrument), sound much better than just about any upright piano, and potty do many things that negligent pianos can't.
But obviously, prestige most important questions center be friendly technique development and the hominid brain.
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