Piano Technique

The work was well written but very formalized. It covered the material technical in depth and was particlary well organized.

There are only a few books that can be hailed as "a must for a piano pedagogue." Heinrich Neuhaus, "On the art of piano playing"Gieseking, "Piano Technique..."Josef Lhevinne, "Piano..." (sorry, I don't remember the title, but it is the only one he wrote)All three differ in style, but they have one in common: the authours were the three greatest pianists of the last century. Neuhaus, on top of that, was a terrific literary talent, and his book is the place where great subject meets great writing. Has it been translated? This book has been the Holy Writ of all Russian pianists. Lhevinne's book is the shortest and the most comprehensive. It is uncanny that everthing a pianist must know about the mechanics of piano playing is given in a concentrated form in this book. Its English is not idiomatic; yet, it goes well with the whole "Russian school" thing. The Leimer-Gieseking book is an attempt at presenting a philosophy behind their science. It is written in a heavy German style, which means you can read every other page and still get the point. The whole book can be formulated in a few short sentences, but a German-born and bred writer would never commit such a sacrilegious act ("leave it to the Russian barbarians..."). Namely, "practice with your head, not fingers; develop your inner hearing; study your scores mentally, not at the piano; cultivate your imagination of the sound-picture; visualize the physical act of playing, complementing the mental picture with a full-blooded image of the sound." Still, READ THE BOOK, there is no excuse for being under-educated.

I have read other books written on this topic by Josef Hofmann, Josef Lhevinne and William Newman. All of these were informative in their own way and I therefore recommend them. However, none of these was as articulate as this book by Walter Gieseking and Karl Leimer. All of the previously mentioned books contained information, but none of them were able to state the information in such direct, simple, and honest terms. Most importantly, this book gives reference to the absolutely essential variety of touches required in piano technique and also speaks extensively on visualization.I give this book my greatest recommendation.

I'm a piano student, I have this book for 3 years now, and it is just amazing how basic principles explained can change one's aproach to the complete process of piano playing at a professional level. Indispensable for piano students.