Articles
Fingertips
First of all, we would like to emphasize an important point in piano playing, which is, to focus the energy on the fingertips.
Fingertips are the points of contact with the keys when we play. We can say the fingertip is the point of focus and the point of energy. Our thoughts and emotions are expressed through the fingertips. Music is so rich and varied, our fingertips have to possess very strong playing ability. Only when the training is concentrated on fingertips, can training have a core and a clear aim.
No matter which school and method of piano playing, to effectively train piano technique onto a high level, this issue cannot be neglected, to focus energy on the fingertips applies to all.
Some might say, the emphasis of technical training should be the relaxation of the arm muscles, their unobstructed freedom while playing and the agility of the fingers, etc. These are correct and very important. But we would like to extend further, the free and unobstructed arm must focus its energy on the fingertips; in other words, to achieve and maintain total relaxation of the arm, it relies on the fingertips’ ability to support. And, to play effectively, the agility of the fingers must be combined with the explosive force of the fingertips. Let us consider this scenario, when one does not play the piano, the arm muscles are relaxed, fingers are agile. These are the natural state and ability of our arm and hand, no training is necessary, one only has to keep this natural state. The task of training is to guide the hand to play, to train the hand to be able to focus energy and attention onto the fingertips. Only in this way can the hand be guided correctly to contact the keys, familiarize with the keys, so it can play in a free and natural way. Therefore, to keep and fully utilize the natural ability of the hand is the prerequisite of our technical training.
It is said that it is very difficult to play the piano well. But through our careful analysis, we can see that it is not very difficult to play the piano well. The crucial issue is whether we pay attention to the importance of the fingertips. We must find a way to focus the energy onto the fingertips. Once the point of the fingertip is found, training can progress upon this foundation and be effective. Training time and effort will be less; using the minimum time and effort to achieve the maximum result. This is the fundamental principle of our technical training.
Some might say, the rich array of piano repertoire is so extensive, the difficulty is so great, can technical training be so simple and easy? It is so simple and easy to obtain? That is unbelievable and impossible! This view falls behind reality. We must rapidly keep abreast of the onward trend of the times. We must discover the crucial issue in training, grasp the goal and study piano playing with ease and joy!
So, whenever the training of piano technique is explained, from beginning to end, the “fingertips” will always be the center and the point of departure.
