I think Matthay is important for his efforts to scientifically approach and solve problems in piano playing and document the results. Apparently he “could not leave a fault uncorrected.” This pianistic perfectionism is something I also strive for – that any mistakes encountered must be given full attention. If something is unable to be corrected in one session due to time, it must be remembered and attended to later.
I also agree with Matthay that in general we should try to keep the fingers in “constant contact with the keys.” Townsend also writes that the best touch is one which produces the least amount of noise when the finger contacts the keys. This might seem obvious enough, but it is a useful reminder for me, since sometimes I will forget about keeping close contact with the keys when playing.
On page 373 Matthay talks about how every note must fit perfectly in time in relation to the whole piece of music, and therefore we must constantly have the entire piece conceived in our mind. I know I could benefit from working towards this type of memory, as sometimes I find myself just thinking about which notes come next. This relates to rhythmic precision, in which imperfections are often a result of a lack of mental concentration, I believe, rather than “trained” fingers.
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