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Re: Young Gould's practicing.



VS
 
Ya Glenn always wished to be thought of as an independent and rarely
admitted when anyone had influenced him in his music education or habits.
 
His mother was extremely strict and made sure Glenn played pieces
with each note precisly right. If he made a mistake, she glared at him
with an evil eye knowing he'd get the hint. Or, she stopped him imediately
and made sure he corrected it right then and there. She also demanded
that he sing every note that he played at the keyboard. That's where he
learned his humming from. =0)
 
Also, Glenn's music teacher, Alberto Guerrero had a method of teaching
with "the art of finger-tapping," as he called it.
 
For example, you take the notes D,E,F sharp, G, and A. Place your right
hand on all these notes in 1,2,3,4,5 order. Then you take your left hand and tap
the tips of the right fingers successively to the bottom of the keys. The right hand takes
no strength while doing this, just simply relaxes. The motion of the tapping
would be extremely fast. The second stage involves playing the notes
with a staccato motion with each note being seperated with about 2 seconds
of silence.
 
Gould would be seen randomly practicing passages of songs like this.
 
I've tried this, it seems really strange. I can't tell if it has helped though. But
evidently if Gould spent his time with this excersise, it can't be a waste of effort.
 
How about someone else try this and tell me if anything happens towards
their piano playing.

Zeldah
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2001 6:45 AM
Subject: Young Gould's practicing.

Dear f-minor!

I know this might seem o h  s o  s u p e r f i c i a l and was probably
discussed before; but nevertheless: What did Gould actually practice
when he was very young and only a beginner? I read that he had already
finished WTK I by the age of only ten. Did he ever play a lot of purely
mechanical etudes (Czerny, Brahms et al.)? What about his unbelievable
subtle finger control? I know he was basically self taught (or at least
he claims to be). I just can't believe that. His earliest teacher was
his mother, wasn't she. What about h e r piano methods?

Thanx

V.S.