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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed Bag, February 21, 2002
This review is from: Piano Power, A Breakthrough Approach To Improving Your Technique (Paperback)
Ever the skeptic, I was wary approaching this book, promising its "breakthrough approach" to building piano technique. After thinking about it for months, I finally ordered the book. Let me begin by qualifying this review: While I have read the book, I admit that not enough time has elapsed for me to work on the prescribed exercises in earnest. Therefore, the elusive breakthrough may indeed lurk around the corner. Also, while I disagree with some of Mr. Prokop's conclusions, I am willing to give his exercises a fair chance. On to the review. The idea of setting the text up like a quasi-mathematical treatise, with "theorems" proposed and "proven," is indeed interesting. However, Mr. Prokop often does not construct cogent arguments to support his claims, and his "proofs" are anything but, completely devoid of logical rigor. When one's aim is to debunk myths about piano technique, it is indeed sufficient to present what mathematicians call counterexamples, which contradict hypotheses, thereby disproving them. However, when making conjectures that form the crux of one's method (such as Mr. Prokop's claim that the extensor muscles, those responsible primarily for the up-stroke of the fingers, are almost exclusively responsible for well-formed technique), much more care should be given toward their support. The end result is that his system is based on rather unconvincing ideas regarding what is responsible for good technique. That said, there is indeed some worthwhile material in this book. The system Mr. Prokop uses to test certain fingers to determine their development, or lack thereof, seems sound. A brief discussion on the "illusion of speed" is interesting for what it suggests, as is the premise that sub-standard technique is usually due to "problem fingers" bogging down passages. As for prescribed exercises, there are remarkably few to be found in this volume. The bulk of the notated exercises are essentially scale passages and some interval work, which may be useful, but are much more affordably obtained in an inexpensive Hanon volume. There are some away-from-the-piano exercises, again focusing on the extensor muscles. I again say that I have not given these an adequate trial, so I cannot attest to their usefulness or uselessness. In short, had this book been about $15 cheaper, I would consider it a fairly sound purchase. However, for its brevity (just over 100 pages) and relative paucity of new information, I believe its price to be unjustified by its content.
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Worthwhile - but not as revolutionary as the title suggests, June 10, 2002
This review is from: Piano Power, A Breakthrough Approach To Improving Your Technique (Paperback)
This book revolves about the theory that finger control and independence is achieved by strengthening the muscle groups that LIFT the fingers. I think this idea is fundamentally correct. It also contains other useful observations, generally derived from a physiological investigation of the hand and arm, how the various muscles perform various movements, etc. Many of these are also valuable. To me the best part of this book are the diagrams of muscles, bones, and pictures of the resulting types of movements. I think sooner or later every pianist needs to look into these things. Also good are the ideas on how to improve practicing efficiency. Not all of them are applicable to all people, but certainly most will find at least some of them useful. On the negative side, I find that the semi-mathematical approach taken (proving and disproving theorems) does not add much to the book. I suppose at best it gives some structure, but it also confuses the reader (at one point he manages to disprove both SITTING LOW and SITTING HIGH at the piano, so that leaves the student with ... exactly WHAT option???). The idea in this book is not new. In fact, all of HANON, Cortot, Donanhyi, and others, advocate the same method of practice - if you read the instructions under the exercises. Donanhyi (the Hungarian virtuoso) produced a ton of nasty exercises to strengthen exactly the extensor muscle group. What IS new is the physiological reason for practicing in this manner, and this is something worthwhile knowing. Overall I think the book may be useful for beginning to intermediate (adult) students that have very specific finger strength problems, or more advanced students that want to know more about the anatomy of the hand and arm. I do, however, think that the price of this book is outrageous. It should be no more than 15 dollars. Also I think the title is misleading. Although it is potentially useful it does not contain a miracle cure for technical difficulties.
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Piano Power Tells It Like It Is, September 12, 2000
This review is from: Piano Power, A Breakthrough Approach To Improving Your Technique (Paperback)
As a longtime piano player, I find Richard Prokop's approach to be eminently practical. He illustrates that voluntary movements of body parts are the result of the contraction of muscles. In the case of the fingers, these are the flexor and extensor muscles (along with other muscles). However, a previous reviewer's comment that he subscribes to "the finger strength school of piano playing technique" is inaccurate and misses the point. The emphasis is not on finger strength per se, but on the development of the student's abilities by using methods that relate the peculiarities of human anatomy to the development of piano technique. In this sense the book is brilliant. Employing logic and theorems, Mr. Prokop gently but convincingly presents a refreshingly clear case for simple and natural exercises designed, yes, for strengthening the fingers, but much more: How do our fingers naturally work when playing a passage? How and why are the muscles of the wrist, fingers and thumb used, and what techniques are necessary for exercising them? How is muscular development essential to technique? What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of large, medium, and small hands? How does synchronization relate to the development of technique? What is the proper positioning of the elbow and hand? What steps should be taken to avoid injury? How much practice is healthy and how much rest is necessary for optimum development? Is it possible to improve one's piano technique away from the piano? Should pianists drink more water? (Again, from a practical and physiological point of view!) Prokop debunks many of the myths about piano practicing and playing that have plagued and frustrated both students and teachers for generations, by applying reason to experience. He is impressively well prepared in his arguments; backs them up with ample references; and illustrates with extraordinary conciseness the physiology of the hands, wrists and forearms in playing the piano. But most of all, he explains his subject, as only an excellent teacher can, with compelling logic. This book is a gem for those of us studying piano and living in the real world.
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