Re: Gould as "teacher"?

[Leah Stanwyck <lstanwyk@RYERSON.CA>]

Very cool, Thomas - I agree whole-heartedly - Gould theorized that the best
piano practice is done in the mind, not with the hands.  Cheers!

Leah

Max Planck wrote:

>       I agree wholeheartedly Leah.  I think Gould was certainly a quirky,
> outgoing person.  He was both extroverted and introverted, as he was a very
> complex man.  Gould, as I've said before, defies categorisation, as every
> humanbeing truly does, but in Gould's case it is easily recognizable.
> Anyways, I think he was an excellent "teacher".  Whatever 'teacher' means.
> No, he didn't sit down in a room and charge students by the hour to teach
> them "how to play piano".  His teaching was in his music, his writing, his
> speaking etc.  For an excellent example of Gould as "Teacher".  Check out
> the "Glenn Gould Collection: The Question of Instrument", where he discusses
> many important questions with Bruno Monsaigneon at the piano.
>
>        For me, Gould has been my only real teacher over the past couple
> years that I have been playing piano.  And our classes had nothing to do
> with playing style, technique or interpretation.  They were simply
> "discussions" about what music is, that one should approach music with his
> or her own, internal values, that one should answer to nobody but
> themselves, that one shouldnt give a damn what anyone else happens to think,
> (except when they complement you :) ), that music is primarily a mental
> phenomenon and that it only takes on real meaning on a conceptual level deep
> within one's mind, heart, and soul.
>
> Later,
>
> Thomas
>
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