Neil Stannard

Unlike life, playing the piano is easy and doesn't hurt. Or at least that should be the case. In more than forty years as a concertizing pianist, university professor and private teacher, my points of view on solving problems at the keyboard have been thoroughly tested.

All of my writings on solving problems in the piano literature are based on the assumption that, if we allow the body to function in the way in was designed, many common problems will magically disappear—fatigue, pain and, well, clumsiness. Many old wives' tales have come down to us through Czerny, Hanon and others. These approaches suppose that we should train for physical strength like weight lifters. This is not true, as it takes very little effort to depress a piano key and small children can do it. They advocate for developing independence of fingers, which is physiologically impossible. But we can make the fingers sound independent. Of course, it is possible to play the piano extremely well from many different points of view—or none at all—but I choose to play with my body's design and not against it. (This is stated on page 78 of "Piano Technique Demystified... ") One reader has taken exception to my position on practicing scales, stating that I find scales "a waste of time." This reader skipped over the essential part of that statement: "Once all major and melodic minor scales are fluent, it is a waste of time to practice scales for technique, as they rarely occur in music in root position as we normally practice them." Practicing scales in rhythms, too, is another old wives' tale that is inefficient and unnecessary. I have a better, more efficient way. So, if you choose to read this material, please don't skim. I think the material deserves careful attention.