Reflections on Piano Education
Written by ANDREW EALES
Many popular beginner methods and repertoire collections encourage young players to initially blossom at the piano and develop finger independence by learning simple tunes with a fixed, five-note, stable hand position.
Much can of course be taught away from the page, but when introducing reading there is a solid logic to beginning with the landmark note Middle C, and with the pinkies respectively playing the G of the “G clef”, and the F of the “F clef”. Happily, this also allows for melodies that range over an octave.
However, the problems with this approach are well observed. We find that learners who stay in this position for too long often find it difficult to move beyond it, developing a fixed but false association between certain finger numbers, specific pitches, and piano keys.
Sharing Middle C with both thumbs can certainly be awkward too, although undue panic about ulnar and radial deviation of the wrist seems to me overstated, and slightly absurd at this level.
Nevertheless, these drawbacks have fed the growing fashion for consciously avoiding the classic methods, dismissing established pedagogy and conventional piano teaching as old-fashioned and ill-informed. But this seems to me an overreaction which could itself prove to be more damaging…
Problems and Solutions
I increasingly encounter elementary players (especially adult) who struggle to maintain a stable five-note position at all. Rather than using consecutive fingers for adjacent keys, they read and play each note individually, using a random fingering that militates against evenness, musical phrasing, and is often different with each attempt.
A lack of kinaesthetic development, and an inability to play a consecutive note pattern with a stable hand position, can ultimately hinder players from developing fluency, finger independence, and functional dexterity.
Let’s remind ourselves that teaching beginners in a stable five-note position has several important technical and musical benefits. It is not simply the construct of a notation-driven and book-based method. In fact, using this approach, we can encourage players in the earliest stages of learning to:
- begin with good posture in a consistent, balanced, seated position.
- recognise note patterns and develop kinaesthetic awareness of effective hand positioning.
- cultivate a relaxed hand shape, initially without the complexity of wider spans, stretches or jumps.
- focus on independent finger movement, evenness of touch, good balance, hand and eye coordination.
- experience the role of hand weight in playing to the bottom of each key, with awareness of arm support and wrist flexibility.
- grasp easy melodic shapes and patterns by ear and using notation, without being overwhelmed by extensive note choices.
- connect pattern reading, visual logic and spacial reasoning (mind), hand shape and finger placement (body), with high and low pitch recognition (soul). A three-dimensional approach.
- explore pentascale patterns, and major/minor tonality.
- read music fluently, recognising movement by step, skip, and jump.
- enjoy an early sense of accomplishment and growing confidence.
We must of course ensure that players don’t get stuck with the same five notes for too long, and I prefer beginner materials which use more than one hand position within the first book. We can also encourage players to move around the piano in other musical activities, away from the book, exploring the sound world of the whole instrument.
It is especially important to explain that the finger numbers that appear in beginner pieces are there to help establish the hand position, and subsequently to connect hand positions in elementary pieces, and later again (by intermediate level) to support phasing and articulation. These foundations of classical technique are too often overlooked, and not properly understood.
With attentive care and expertise, we can help learners avoid the frustrations that seem so common at elementary and intermediate level, and instead deliver a balanced approach that gives players of all ages the security to make fantastic musical progress at the piano.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
These method books use more than one five-note hand position within their first book:
• Piano Time 1 (Pauline Hall, reviewed here, for children)
• Pianoworks (Janet & Alan Bullard, reviewed here, teen/adults)
These resources include exercises which help players cultivate finger independence within a stable hand position:
• Schmitt: Preparatory Exercises Op.16
• Penelope Roskell: Essential Piano Technique (reviewed here)
• Edna Mae Burnam: A Dozen A Day (reviewed here)
Remember to transposed these into other keys/positions.
Collections of fun pieces in a variety of five-note positions:
• Krystyna Gowik: Fives for Piano (reviewed here)
• David Blackwell: Piano Star Five Finger Tunes (ABRSM)
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