The Pianist's Problems

By William S. Newman

Book Overview

"The reader must have noted in the favorite magazines of the practicing pianist how often the same troubled queries reappear: How can memorizing be made easier and more secure? How can the fourth and fifth fingers be strengthened? What produces musicianship? These and many others are perennial questions of the greatest practical importance to student, teacher, and performer. Strange, then, that adequate answers are so hard to find. With all the time and effort devoted to the study of the piano, with all the advances in the psychology of training, with all the special studies that have been conducted, there should be, by now, if not one right answer to each question, at least a preferred answer that will be right for the large majority of pianists. As a matter of fact, there are preferred answers in almost every instance. . . . The need is to bring these answers together, in one place, and to present them in nontechnical language as a concise, up-to-date, coordinated philosophy of piano playing. To meet this need, the present book has been written."-from the Preface

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306802694
• ISBN13: 9780306802690
• Release Date: March 1986
• Publisher: Da Capo
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Delivered as promised

This timeless essay on tips for practicing classical music is very useful, making the effort a joy.

Should be on the bookshelf of every musician...

...concise and to the point, the author provides advice and ideas for practice and performance...although written for pianists I believe all musicians will find a wealth of useful information.

Needed a better title...

This book is not about "problems" so much as it is a comprehensive overview of what it takes to become a professional, classically trained pianist. Especially usefull is the section describing a list of basic piano music (of the Masters) to purchase and to study from.