PRACTICE TIPS #9: Mental Work

[Brent Hugh <bhugh@griffon.mwsc.edu>]

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PRACTICE TIPS #9: Mental Work

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This week's tip is from George Kochevitsky's excellent book, _The Art of 

Piano Playing: A Scientific Approach_.  Kochevitsky suggests returning to 

something that is too often neglected once a piece is memorized: the 

score.  As Kochevitsky suggests, a few minutes' careful study of the score 

is often worth a few hours' frenzied and mindless running up and down the 

keyboard:



    The whole composition which is being studied should

    be read mentally from time to time. We must remember

    Busoni's warning that one easily forgets about the

    musical meaning during the motor work at the piano.

    By mental reading without actual playing we can revive

    the clear acoustic picture of the composition in our

    mind and are stimulated in our efforts to master it

    technically.



    Besides, while reading silently one notices better what

    is wntten around the notes--the many important signs

    which might not have been observed during actual playing.

    As with anything stationary, visual impressions of the

    printed page are engraved on the mind more easily,

    accurately and with more stability than fleeting

    auditory ones.



    The silent mental reading of a musical composition (or

    some section of it if needed) often helps better than

    actual playing to unite separate tones into meaningful

    musical lines. After perceiving the composition in all

    its logical connections and successions, one is able to

    follow inwardly the course of its sound in faster tempo,

    and thus play it as fast as needed.



(George Kochevitsky, _The Art of Piano Playing: A Scientific Approach_, 

Summy-Birchard, 1967)



Happy Practicing!



--Brent



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PRACTICE TIPS is by pianist, teacher, composer, and internet nerd

Brent Hugh.  Brent knows about practicing mostly because he *does*

it, and in fact is toddling off to do some of it just about now . . .



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been helpful.  I always like to hear what you think of these

ideas and how they worked for you!



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