Articles
LEGATO
Legato is the smooth connection between notes. It is their unified tone quality and the arrangement of the volume of the group, e.g. the rise and fall of a lyrical (cantabile) phrase, the crescendo and decrescendo of phrases, their evenness, etc.
In order to emphasize the connection between notes, many pianists use a lot of unnecessary movements, for example, their wrists, elbows and even their entire body strive for legato with much swaying and circling. They press down hard on the first note and endeavor with the above movements to play the next note in order to get legato. This is incorrect.
The piano is different from string instruments. To produce sound, it uses hammers to strike the strings; so we might say, the piano is an advanced percussive instrument. It is necessary to grasp the characteristics of a percussion instrument to get legato on the piano.
The loud or soft sounds are solely decided by the amount of force the hammer strikes the string. For crescendo, the force going down the keys goes gradually from small to big. On the other hand, for decrescendo the force going down the keys goes gradually smaller. When the force going down the keys is even, the sound will be even. To achieve beautiful phrasing, it only depends on the control of the force going down the keys. Therefore, the volume and the speed of the force going down the keys play the decisive role in the expressiveness and the legato of piano playing. Though the connection between notes is important, we need to pay attention to the force that the hammer hits the keys and the frequency produced. Therefore when fingertips touch the keys, the sensitivity in realizing the different changes of the force and the ear’s ability to distinguish dynamic changes are very important.
When one finishes playing the first note, the hammer also finishes striking the string, the finger simply needs to hold the key, let the hand rest adequately, then plan for the next note cool-mindedly. It is unnecessary to make a lot of movements and actions to play the next note in order to get legato. Superfluous movements create psychological tension which greatly affects playing, while there is no affect on the hammer at all. After the first note is played, the first hammer stays in its original position and it is now the next hammer’s turn to strike the string. The hammers only recognize force and speed. Playing should be simple, direct and any superfluous movement is useless.
The pedal plays an important role in producing legato. If the ear is sensitive, even adding pedal to non-legato playing will create legato effect. This helps us to eliminate the psychological burden of legato playing and lets us feel that it is easy to produce legato.
Two experiments:
First example:
Beethoven Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 (“Moonlight”), first movement
The four measures of introduction:
Right hand: non-legato
Use pedal
Legato is effectively produced
Second example:
Chopin Prelude, Op. 28 No. 15 (“Raindrop”)
Use only right hand third (middle) finger to play all the notes
Use pedal
The outcome is the same as played by all fingers
This is only an experiment to let pianists understand that to produce legato on the piano is easy and simple. The goal is not to ask them to play in this manner. A good ear is the key to play legato well.
The above is to show us how to get the legato effect on an advanced percussive instrument ____ the piano. Our focus is mainly on slow and lyrical music. To comprehend and to master the characteristics of the instrument will help us to eliminate unnecessary psychological burden and be able to play legato on a percussive instrument with freedom and to let it sing beautifully like a wonderful vocalist.
We have just explored the relationship between the characteristics of the piano and legato. Now we are going to further explain how to do it _____ the execution of legato.
Piano music reached its height with the appearance of 19 th century romantic music which also impelled the piano technique from the Finger-Method to the Arm-weight Method. Music of the Romantic Era is full of dreamy, poetic lyricism and fervent passion. It enriched music and opened up a new horizon.
One of the important characteristics of romantic music is its brilliant sections of great velocity, e.g. long running phrases, various changing patterns, big rise and fall, fluency, etc. The flaunting of technical prowess asks for a new task. If we do not possess this advanced piano technique, we will be unable to play music of the Romantic Era, e.g. Ballades and Scherzos by Frédéric Chopin. Their momentum like an avalanche, force as a landslide, power of a tidal wave, their bold and vigorously flowing speed are all new tests for the performer.
Legato is the only way to play these showy skills. Therefore we must regard legatoplaying as highly important. It is a prominent task of the Arm-weight Method. It reflects the superiority of the Arm-weight Method. Only on the foundation of the Arm-weight Method can legatoplaying be truly achieved and legato of high quality be reached.
In the previews articles, the following essential topics were explored:
To adjust the balance between the weight of the arms going down the keys and the fingertips’ ability to support;
The first joints of the fingers grip key will make the fingertips strong so the weight of the arm can go directly to the bottom of the key bed;
Once the explosive force of the fingertips is found, it will save energy while playing; one can use the minimum effort to get maximum result;
The balance between tension and relaxation guarantees comfort and freedom in playing.
But only possessing the above abilities, one still cannot achieve high speed in playing. It does mean that we possess the condition to run fast. The only thing we lack is the “East Wind”, which is the legato playing. Legato playing can merge all the above into an organic whole to attain high speed. In other words, if one does not possess the prerequisites above, one cannot really play legato well. Legato playing sublimates the technique into high level and the performer reaches the world of freedom.
Legato Playing
Legato playing is the weight transferring smoothly from one fingertip to the other. The weight of the arm goes through the fingertips to the key bed. The finger playing the first note gives the weight from its key bed to the key bed of the next finger. In other words, the arm always rests on the bottom of the keys. This is the complete process. It is so simple and easy, just like walking, our body weight smoothly transfers from one foot to the other.
While playing showy and brilliant sections, the pianist tends to worry, to feel uneasy and out of control and afraid to be playing wrong notes, etc. These worries will unconsciously affect the arms and the fingers. First of all, he does not believe in and trust the capability of his fingers and would naturally let his arm actively help them. Under this psychological state, the arm would do superfluous movement to “help”, but in reality this “help” is more of a hindrance. It sabotages the most fundamental and most important principle _____ the balance between the weight of the arm and the fingers’ ability to support, and therefore has no possibility to play legato. As a result, the sound comes out irregular and uneven; the force on the keys is suddenly big and suddenly small and the sound suddenly loud and suddenly soft. It makes playing even more difficult and more out of control; wrong notes will appear more frequently and the fingers cannot run fast at all. It is like a toddler learning to walk, wobbling along or like a car bumping on a dirt road. Playing is even more complicated and difficult. Those who follow this path, no matter how hard he practices, there would be no progress.
The principle of fast running is: with a cool mind, use simple movement, minimum force, even energy and transfer the weight smoothly. One cannot run counter to these principles. For the brilliant and showy sections and the free style of the Romantic Era, it is necessary to have the tone quality unified and even, brilliant and bright, fluently and naturally rise and fall. All of these require the mastery of legato playing. It is crucial to use the arm correctly and rationally. We must use the arm adequately: the role of the arm is to let its weight go directly to the fingertips. During the entire process of playing, this is the only role the arm plays. Only so, can legato playing be attained and the arm will be able to adjust to the section of showy fast runs. If the arm-weight does not go through to the fingertips, the tone quality would be thin and dull, without vitality. If the arm is over-used, the sound would be harsh and rough, without brilliance. Therefore to adequately use the arm is not to be neglected.
1) The fingertips support adequate weight. This will keep their agility so they can run comfortably;
2) The arm is stable and relaxed. It will let the fingertips support the same amount of weight, so the tone quality is unified and even;
3) The wrist adjusts the weight of the arm so each finger will be at the best angle to play and the weight of the arm can transfer smoothly among the fingers. Nothing is easier and more direct than this way of transferring the weight and playing will be free and fluent;
4) A relaxed arm can freely adjust the amount of force and so crescendo and decrescendo can be played at will.
We can see, the adequate use of the arm is to effectively help and cooperate with the fingers. The fingers are the soldiers on the front line and the arm is the rear service.
Let us use a play on the stage as an example. The arm is the worker back stage and the fingers are the actors in front. They need to be well coordinated to have a successful show. The backstage needs to prepare the scenery, lighting, acoustics, make up, costumes, etc. Having all these, the actors in front are able to put their talents into full play. If a personnel back stage actually goes onto the stage, he is over-stepping his responsibility and not playing his role but becoming a hindrance.
Legato playing is so very important and yet unbelievably easy to do! This is the superiority of the Arm-weight Method. We cannot only begin to pay attention to legato playing when we need to run fast. When a student learns to play a slow, lyrical piece, the teacher needs to help him master how to let the arm-weight transfer smoothly between the fingertips. Also, after the staccato exercises used to practice explosive force of the fingertips, there must be legato practice for about one minute. In this way, when the student’s technique reaches the level of fast speed running, the finger technique and the legato technique would merge together naturally. His playing will be so fluent and natural that even the most advanced and difficult sections will be a piece of cake for him.
The arm coordinates smoothly with the running of the fingers is the role of the arm. The running fingers need a smooth, comfortable and quiet backup. Only so, the ability of the fingers can be brought into full play; the arm will help the accuracy of the fingers. This is what Arm-weight Method really is!
