INTRO Hello dear reader, long time no see. I am sorry I did not post anything last week, but was busy not doing anything since we had spring break and no classes. I enjoyed the free time and recharged my batteries. This is the third update on the project I have chosen to work on this semester, which is my first studio recording. Are you new here? Then scroll down to see - and read - what you have missed! I am still experiencing pain in my left arm (from hand to shoulder) but it has gotten better, and I was able to finally practice! I quoted Buddha at the beginning of this post because we all need to remember to take things easy. Does your body hurt? Accept it, and work with it. For musicians, our body is our tool, and it is our duty to be able to listen to what it has to say to us. Otherwise, pressure and tension will lead to an injury or slow down the recovery process. Let us also not forget the importance of warming up before practicing. But make sure this warm up is not meaningless gymnastics. It is a favorite brag for pianists to trace the line of their piano teachers as far back as possible. I plead guilty. My dear professor in Greece, Lambis Vassiliadis, studied with Viktor Karpovich Merzhanov from Moscow Conservatory, who was a student of legendary Samuil Feinberg, who in his turn studied with Alexander Goldenweiser, and so on. Anyway.
Feinberg gives us a list of 10 observations regarding exercises, in his chapter The Road to Mastery in The Russian Piano School (ed. Christopher Barnes). These observations are: 1) So far as possible, an exercise must relate directly to a pianist’s current artistic work. It must be directed to the resolution of a particular aesthetic problem.
WEEKLY UPDATE During these past two weeks, I minimized activities (which means no computer typing and more dishes for my roommate - sorry friend). I visited the sports doctor and the physical therapy center on campus, where I received a helpful massage and a series of stretching exercises for my tense neck and shoulder. I also started reading some books on piano playing: The Russian Piano School mentioned earlier, and On Piano Playing: Motion, Sound, and Expression by Hungarian pianist György Sándor. The news on the recording project are:
Dear reader, thanks.
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