Customer Reviews

Famous Pianists & Their Technique

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a wonderful technical resource for mature pianists that want to really discover the secrets of how the immortal professional pianists of our century and the last polished their piano technique. This is a great comprehensive book of all of the best pianists and their mechanical ways of doing things at the keyboard. Gerig gives cites quotes and thoughts from many great pianists and teachers, and then adds his own commentary to them and explains what he thinks they are trying to say. The reason why I gave it four stars instead of five is because it is moderately tedious to read in certain parts. The explanation which some of the pianists give is in such great, exacting detail that it is necessary to read some parts of it several times in order to fully grasp the meaning of it. This is a great book and definately worth reading if one wishes to seriously study how to play the piano. However, it is an extremely advanced book and is full of very specific information and terms which a beginner or intermediate pianist would definately not understand. On the other hand for the college bound pianist or high level piano teacher, this book is a gold mine

This is a fantastic book in every sense of the word. The way Gerig written it is very great in itself in that it presents the piano from a historical view as well as purely technical one. So not only does it enhances the inquiring musician's mind in the technical methods,employed by the masters of the past centuries,but it gives practical technical and practice tips which show immediate improvements. I give it four stars because it is somewhat tedious to read. Perhaps it only seems that way because I devoured half of it in three days.

This is not a new book. I read it after my teacher referred to it frequently. Going back to the baroque period and well into the 20th century, the author reviews the development of modern piano technique, the controversies along the way (many have not been resolved even now), and importantly, the fascinating historical figures: not only the great composers (most of whom were fine pianists), but their lesser contermporaries, who as composers are largely forgotten, but who clearly were very capable, thoughtful, and occasionally original thinkers about the approach to the piano.
Highly recommended.

This is an unbeatable (as far as I know) reference work for piano technique issues. While it is presented in narrative form, much of the prose is quite dense and often fairly dull, so it would likely pay to read and digest this book a little at a time rather than trying to trudge through it from start to finish (as I did).
Gerig discusses all of the major schools of piano technique from the harpsichord era to the mid-20th century. While he treats each school fairly, he is not entirely objective; he offers his opinion at many points throughout the text. I do not view this as a hindrance, however; as I find his opinions quite reasonable and informed. He is actually quite sympathetic to all of the schools, no matter how flawed, urging pianists to learn what they can from any method or teacher while discarding what doesn't work or what may lead to injury. Indeed, at the end of the book, Gerig recommends that we aspire to an "enlightened piano technique" that makes use of whatever technical means work best for one's musical ends at the moment.
Each chapter has a theme and the book progresses chronologically for the most part. There are several appendices, with excellent indexes that can help the reader untangle various viewpoints on specific issues and put them in a more comprehensive framework. There is also an excellent bibliography which can help guide the reader through the massive piano technique literature.
Overall, an absolutely invaluable reference that could probably never be exhausted by any pianist.