Abby Whiteside on Piano Playing : Indispensables of Piano Playing - Mastering the Chopin Etudes and Other Essays (Amadeus) - Softcover

Whiteside, Abby

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1574670263 ISBN 13: 9781574670264

Publisher: Amadeus Press, 2003

Synopsis

Abby Whiteside (1881--1956) developed a revolutionary approach to piano technique, the idea of a “basic rhythm” involving the entire body that allows students to express the essential emotional rhythm of the music, as well as to play without the risk of the injuries that frequently afflict pianists. She influenced generations of pianists in America and Europe.

About this title

Review:

Two of piano pedagogue Abby Whiteside's most influential essays, "Indispensables of Piano Playing," from 1955, and "Mastering the Chopin Etudes," from 1969, are reprinted in this volume, along with several shorter pieces. Whiteside's iconoclastic but firmly held beliefs are still provocative: "the pianist cannot control tone quality," "the importance of a prescribed fingering is practically nil," and "time spent on scales is not used to best advantage" are among them. But Whiteside backs up her ideas persuasively, and even pianists who cannot go along with her all the way will likely find themselves altering aspects of their techniques.

Whiteside bases all pianism on motions of the upper arms (confusingly called "top arms" in "Indispensables") and de-emphasizes anything to do with the fingers. She sees the forearm and fingers only as extensions of the upper arm, which is responsible for speed and accuracy. She is good at imagery in pressing her points: skating, jazz players, and untrained children are recurrent points of reference. Another of her main principles, the idea of basic rhythm, is well characterized by musical examples.

Readers would do well to begin with the foreword to "Mastering the Chopin Etudes" (written by Joseph Prostakoff and Sophia Rosoff, whose teaching is still based on the Whiteside principles), which helpfully clarifies some of the ideas from the outsider's perspective. "Mastering" refines many of the points from "Indispensables," and is best read first. Although "Indispensables" is divided into chapters, much of the same material is covered all the way through, and there is a great deal of overlap with "Mastering." Undoubtedly, there are some ideas in these essays that made complete sense only from the source herself, but there is much here of benefit to pianists of all levels. --William R. Braun

About the Author:

Abby Whiteside (1881–1956) lectured and taught piano at several universities and colleges, including the University of Oregon, New York University, the University of Chicago, Mills College, and the Eastman School of Music. Robert Helps and Morton Gould were among her private students.

About this edition

• Publisher: Amadeus Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1574670263
• ISBN 13: 9781574670264
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 206