As students of the piano, how do we attain this? A thorough and proper study of piano must include the following:
- Technique: Proper finger position is essential to insure that notes, and chords, are rendered accurately, and sensitively. A degree of stamina must be developed through consistent, measured practice. The classic rendering of scales and exercises develops strength in the hands and fingers along with the sense of timing necessary to maintain the music’s rhythm. Fast or slow, intense or subtle, the moment the fingers touch the keys must reflect the mood intended by the composer.
- Sight Reading: Sight reading allows the musician to play music after studying it for a few seconds. For a student the music will be in two phrases for the first few years and gradually it will be longer and more complex depending on the level.
- Music Theory: Is the gradual study of music notation from the very beginning. How to write, read the notes, intervals and chords to the very complex notations- that means to understand how a music is composed. A student always has to do some written work. The difficulty of the written work depends on the level he or she is at.
- Music History: Understanding the styles and motivation of the great composers gives the student an understanding of the mood and the esthetics of the time. To play the classics is to become one with a timelessness of the interpretation of life through music. Captured in the music is an interpretation of human emotion, or reflections on lives in transition. Art is a reflection of the time of its own creation, a quality shared by music that has stood the test of time.
