The Pianist's Problems [Paperback]

William Newman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1986

”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

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 4 edition (March 22, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306802694
• ISBN-13: 978-0306802690
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,026,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Needed a better title..., November 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pianist's Problems (Paperback)

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.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be on the bookshelf of every musician..., December 16, 2006

By 

R. Taylor "raytayz" (louisville, ky USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pianist's Problems (Paperback)

...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.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Handle with care, August 24, 2008

By 

Glitzer - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pianist's Problems (Paperback)

If you've already seen a number of books of this type, you know that these must be read very critically. For basically every conceivable answer to any given question (and some inconceivable ones, too), you'll find a book that advocates this as the only path to true mastery, especially if you add some older books to the mix.

The present book, while not patently absurd, strikes me as only moderately useful for the average reader. As another reviewer has noted, it is aimed at very advanced pianists. It also assumes the supercilious tone so commonly found in such books (I for one do have a clear preference for Chopin over Bartok, a condition Newman diagnoses as "unbalanced taste").

That said, most readers will probably take a few useful bits of advice out of this, so if you, like me, love to read about the piano, consider adding this to your library anyway.