Pianodao

The Pianist’s Lineage

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

Until quite recently it never occurred to me to consider who my teacher’s teacher’s teacher’s teacher was. But then I realised (somewhat inadvertently while looking into the history of piano teaching) that my teacher’s teacher’s teacher’s teacher was none other than Franz Liszt, perhaps the greatest and most influential pianist of all time.

At which point I decided it was time to give the matter more serious thought…

Now let’s get this bit over with quickly, because (as we shall see) I’m really not about to claim my “lineage” endows me with any special status or ability. But here it is:

My final teacher at college (in the 1980s), Joseph Weingarten (1911-1996)
In his own student years in Budapest, Joseph had studied with the great pianist and composer Ernő Dohnányi (1877-1960) and with the composer Zoltán Kodály.
Dohnányi had been a student of István Thomán (1862-1940) and Eugen d’Albert (1864-1932), both students of Franz Liszt (1811-1886).
Liszt, incidentally, was a student of Carl Czerny (1791-1857), who in turn was a student of Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827).
Would it be rude to mention that Beethoven, in turn, had lessons with Haydn and Mozart?

THUD! There’s the sound of some pretty heavy name-dropping!

And if you are interested in tracing your own legacy, this information on Wikipedia is a helpful resource.

Open and Commence

Pianodao Wellbeing • Mind, Body, Soul

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

The Open and Commence movement from the 18 Taiji Qigong Shibashi provides a wonderful way to mindfully reconnect with the sensations in the wrist area, developing supple flexibility.

The 18 Taiji Qigong Shibashi is a modern qigong set created in 1982 in Shanghai, China by Masters He Weiqi and Lin Hou Sheng. The routine is widely used as a warm up by T’ai Chi groups, as it uses many of the stances common to the Yang form, as well as integrating several more traditional breathing and stretching exercises from qigong.

The opening movement of the 18 Taiji Qigong Shibashi is in fact the same as the opening movement from the Yang form of T’ai Chi itself, so will be familiar to those who have trained in T’ai Chi.

This qigong exercise is extremely simple. Using the instructions below you should easily be able to learn the movement involved. However, the powerful benefits that are possible come less from the movement itself, and more from the mental focus and breathing aspects.

Earth Posture

Pianodao Wellbeing • Mind, Body, Soul

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

Earth Posture is a very simple Qigong stance which combines many of the most basic benefits of qigong practice, and offers a great entry point to qigong.

In this exercise you will focus on posture, alignment, balance, breathing, and release of tension. These are all crucially important for qigong practice, and of course for piano playing.

Earth Posture also offers a fabulous way to quiet the mind prior to mediation, or as a meditation in itself.

Good posture (at least as assessed by external observation) seems elusive for many pianists. Qigong practice in general addresses posture through an internal awareness of alignment and balance.

At the same time, Earth Posture facilitates good circulation, thus promoting improved general health.

These benefits are, of course, not instantaneous. I would advise practising Earth Posture daily for a few weeks to experience the maximum benefit. Even many experienced Qigong and T’ai Chi practitioners return to Earth Posture as a prelude to their practice.

The full instructions are written below, but you may find it more helpful to use this recording:

Jazzin’ About the Year

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

“Take yourself on a musical journey through the seasons with Pam Wedgwood’s Easy Jazzin’ About the Year: a treasure trove of original and favourite tunes connected with occasions throughout the year.”

Easy Jazzin’ About the Year, new from Pam Wedgwood and published by Faber Music, might just be the perfect book of pieces for children learning the piano who are around UK Grade 1-2 level. Let’s take a look!

“Mindfulness: The Piano Collection”

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

According to Faber Music:

“Mindfulness: The Piano Collection offers a way to bring mindfulness and playing the piano together by sharpening musical focus and establishing the pianist’s attention in the present moment. The carefully selected repertoire, which is aimed at intermediate level players, is presented with guidance on how to bring mindfulness into piano playing.”

So what does the book include, and how is it different to other piano anthologies?

Finding your unique voice

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

The French composer and teacher Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) notably taught several of the most distinguished musicians of the 20th century, including Aaron Copland, Quincy Jones, Dinu Lipatti, Igor Markevitch, Daniel Barenboim, Philip Glass and Astor Piazzolla.

Recalling the first introduction to Boulanger, the Argentine musician Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) wrote:

“…When I met her, I showed her my kilos of symphonies and sonatas. She started to read them and suddenly came out with a horrible sentence: “It’s very well written” … After a long while she said: “Here you are like Stravinsky, like Bartók, like Ravel, but you know what happens? I can’t find Piazzolla in this.”

And she began to investigate my private life: what I did, what I did and did not play, if I was single, married or living with someone, she was like an FBI agent! And I was very ashamed to tell her I was a tango musician. She kept asking: “You say you are not a pianist. What instrument do you play then?” And I didn’t want to tell her that I was a bandoneón player…

Finally, I confessed and she asked me to play some bars of a tango of my own. She suddenly opened her eyes, took my hand and told me: “You idiot, that’s Piazzolla!” And I took all the music I composed, ten years of my life, and sent it to hell in two seconds…”

Piazzolla is, today, remembered as one of the great icons of 20th century music – the creator of a new style called tango nuevo which drew on jazz, fusion and classical influences as well as the traditions of the Argentinian tango that he grew up playing.

At his death in 1992 Piazzolla had composed more than 3,000 works, and his music has been embraced the world over. And as well as his many recordings and film scores, classical musicians such as Martha Argerich have brought his music into the ongoing classical concert repertoire.

And though his music has met with a certain resistance from all quarters, including most vociferously in his own homeland during his lifetime, Piazzolla’s individual musical voice has spoken, and has become part of our heritage.

The advice of teacher Nadia Boulanger set Astor Piazzolla on a course that would allow him to be creative by being himself, and developing his unique personal expression.

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Relax with Beautiful Pieces

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

For those who play the piano purely for their own enrichment (rather than for certificates or prizes) the latest series of publications from Schott Music will be of special interest. The Relax With series is aimed at intermediate to advanced pianists who play “mostly at home for their own enjoyment”.

According to British concert pianist Samantha Ward, who put these selections together :

“Schott Music’s Relax With series is designed to help you unwind with some of the piano repertoire’s greatest works, alongside lesser known pieces from the Baroque period right through to the 20th century. I have tried to include as many different styles and techniques as possible, whilst remaining within the boundaries of ‘relaxing’ pieces of music.”

So let’s take a closer look…

Playing the Piano “For Fun”?

Pianodao Articles • Full Archive

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

I recently asked the members of an online piano teaching forum the following question:

“I want to learn to play piano for fun…”
What do you think when pupils/parents say this to you?

Perhaps it’s no surprise that answers ranged from “Get a trampoline!” at one end of the spectrum, to “Great, that’s the best reason!” at the other. And the constructive debate which followed certainly proved illuminating.

With this in mind, I would like to share a few of my own views and hope this will encourage further thought and ongoing discussion.