performance piano - student psychopathology 101

[Ed Sutton]

Ed Foote wrote:
>     Rather than tell the pianist what they want, I have had good success
> describing what I want from a piano.  If approached as a concept in which I need
> their input, I find most pianists go right along with it.
>      What I do is begin the discussion with what I hope the piano hammer is
> capable of.  I say that in a perfect world,  the hammer should provide the
> widest possible range of tone.  That it should be warm, soft, dark, etc. when
> played  very softly, and it should be brassy, strong, commanding or even
> clangorous when played at the maximum force the pianist is capable of.  Ideally,
the
> transition from one extreme to the other should be gradual and predictable,
> giving the pianist the maximum resources to create whatever sound they desire.
>    I then point out that every pianist has his own "range" and I would like
> to move the piano into their desired realm.  The big strong ones will often
> prefer a softer hammer, since they can dial up the power to suit whatever they
> want.  The delicate, lighter, less muscular pianist often prefers a harder
> hammer so that the extreme color is accessible while they rely on finesse to
create
> the softer textures. Whatever,  the important thing is that the pianist be
> given the concept of variable "voice" at the same time that they understand you
> want to tailor the range of it to their specific desires.


This is a great approach.  And it opens the possibility that there may be an
on-going dialog between the performer and the technician.  There is no reason why
the performer shouldn't want one sort of hammer response  now and a different one
later.  This level of communication is thrilling.

There are optimal times for working on voicing and regulation with a performer.
As recital time approaches, people who are normally friendly and open-minded can
get superstitious and cranky.
In their shoes, we would, too.

Ed Sutton