American Man Ortmann

Fortuitously on this week of April, on the 25th day, 2010, I have reluctantly absorbed some of the genius of Ortmann. So what, he performed some studies, who cares? I could do that. Ah, but alas, I have spoken out of turn, because I believe I have been outdone by this dear sir.

Apparently, Ortmann is one of the most influential scientists, and has done quite a number on our modern piano technique. My first critique, however, will be that he seems to be more of a scientist, than of a pianist. There is, of course, nothing wrong with this, and his information can do nothing but help us! But I wonder, if one studies the exact mechanics and science of pianism to the extent in which Ortmann did, can there still be a natural freedom that comes along with playing the instrument? It seems to me that if one were to spend that much time dedicated to the pure mechanics, it could not only make you paranoid, but also completely in your head. In a way, I agree with some of his critics, that perhaps this could be too much of a mechanical approach, myself, being an "emotionally dominated pianist" as well. I think while we can learn from his extensive work, it needs to be taken, like everything else, in moderation.

For example, we don't tell our feet to move, one at a time, left, right, over and over again to walk, they just do it. Our brain sends signals so quickly, we can't be consciously aware of everything! And just like walking, we don't think, A, C#, E over and over again to form A Major arpeggios, we can just think A Major, and BAM, we do it. I'm not trying to discredit his work, because it's incredibly fascinating to see how even the best pianists can have completely wrong perceptions about what is going on in their body while they play(p.420). My argument, or rather, question is, does it matter? If you can't play the difficult passage, thinking about thousands of seconds in attack time and minute differences in degrees of attack angle can't do much but frustrate you. The only way that we all figure out the difficult passage, for the most part, is to sit with it until we figure out what the problem is, in our individual body which is different from everyone elses, and keep making adjustments until we can do it.

This said, there are many, many interesting points in the chapter which I think we can all benefit from. Such as,

A. Massage may help relax the ligaments and muscles, creating more freedom in the joints (p. 416).

B. Muscular activity should not be carried out beyond moderate fatigue. Incorporate rest periods in practice.

C. Weight transfer demands fixation of joints, not relaxation

D. Teachers should train resistance in opposition to the desired movement. VERY INTERESTING.

E. Free arm drop has no use in piano technique other than for an exercise to feel relaxation.

F. Strong fingers for arpeggio, and arpeggio-like passage work.

G. Our fall-boards suck. Also, why don't all of the practice rooms have adjustable benches? I mean REALLY. After all of this work?

H. And finally, " Purely gymnastic training of the small muscles of the fingers, hand and forearm, in order to increase their absolute strength, is, therefore, from a mechanical stand-point, highly desirable for piano technique.

That's it, I'm going to the gym!