List, Below are the responses to my post about whether to inform the pianist of a potential for damage from a heavy action piano. This was a continuation of Ron Torellas' post about High(!) touchweight. It's a little long, but I think most of you will enjoy reading the comments. Avery *************************************************************************** Avery Todd writes about the problem of heavy actions and its possible effect on pianists. As I write this, Wheaton's resident piano technician is here with me in my studio, working on the Steinway B in which he recently replaced the hammers, to make absolutely sure that the instrument will not be too heavy either for myself or my students. I won't stop bugging him about it until the job is done. Like several of the respondents in the discussion Avery forwarded to us, I am not a fan of heavy actions, which seemed to be rather in vogue when I was a student in the 1970's. Particularly as I have discovered the pleasures of 18th- and 19th-century Viennese actions, I have become convinced that a pianist can learn to control nuance much more easily on a relatively lightly weighted action than is possible with a heavy one, and that the injury potential of a heavy action is too great to justify any possible benefits. Given the weight of the action on the "Horowitz" Steinway, which we have discussed on this list, and the similar weights of turn-of-the-century pianos on both sides of the Atlantic (I'm thinking particularly of an 1890-ish Erard grand in the Frederick Collection), it seems to me that the heavy action is a modern anomaly whose time should be passing. I certainly agree that enlightened pianists and technicians should work together to warn people of potentially injurious situations, and to lobby institutions for the kind of money necessary to keep their pianos in proper repair. Alas, it's far easier to put an ostentatious brass plaque on a piano than on a piano technician, but proper regulation is absolutely essential. Daniel **************************************************************************** I have read this material on the newsgroup and now, on this list. I have a question. Thousands of piano players have used grands for over one hundred years, including my own relatives. None of them complained of any carpal tunnel syndromes...for that matter neither did the stenos with whom I worked for thirty five years. I also questioned a lot of piano players in the 40s and 50s and they all swore by the heavy touch of the grand pianos. They all, without exception, dissed the touch of uprights. So my question is are we responding to some sort of mass hysteria in this regard or were our immediate forebears physically more durable? I would guess that the problems being experienced are due to faulty technique...not high key board pressure. It is interesting that this concept in piano is following immediately, by a few years, the idea among guitarists that the strings should be so close to the fingerboard that they will hit the next fret if you play strongly...this works thanks to 300 watt amplifiers. I do know that high string placement on the guitar produces cleaner playing and I, of course, have heard the same thing from pianists about the heavy actions of the grands. Tom *************************************************************************** >I have read this material on the newsgroup and now, on this list. I >have a question. Thousands of piano players have used grands for over >one hundred years, including my own relatives. None of them complained >of any carpal tunnel syndromes... Tain't necessarily so. One need only look back to the case of Scriabin. If the homework in Barrie Martyn's book on Sergei Rachmaninov (or as the book spells it, Rachmaninoff) is correct, even the great one himself complained of various hand and wrist pains in his later years. >I also questioned a lot of >piano players in the 40s and 50s and they all swore by the heavy touch >of the grand pianos. They all, without exception, dissed the touch of >uprights. So do I. The action of a well-regulated Viennese fortepiano or turn-of-the-century concert grand is a very different thing than that of most uprights. I don't consider them an acceptable substitute in most cases. >So my question is are we responding to some sort of mass >hysteria in this regard or were our immediate forebears physically more >durable? Speaking only for myself, I've been thinking about this situation for over two decades, and any hysteria I may have had at the beginning has long since subsided in favor of calm and careful reflection. >I would guess that the problems being experienced are due to faulty >technique...not high key board pressure. No doubt, faulty technique can be a factor. I was doing some ridiculously macho "Juilliard jock" practicing when I injured myself 20+ years ago, and have been re-directing my technical approach ever since. However, I also think that the preference for heavy actions CAN (though it certainly isn't always) be another manifestation of the "Juilliard jock" syndrome. Piano playing is difficult enough already. Why place needless barriers in the way? Daniel ************************************************************************** > They all, without exception, dissed the touch of > uprights. That is another matter - the difference in actions between grands and uprights. But, there are grands and there are grands. I am not sure when the heavier action came into vogue, but I do remember in grad school in the 60's, we had one very stiff 9' Steinway and one lighter action 9' Steinway. I avoided the former like the plague. One of the faculty swore by the stiff actioned-one (he picked it out) - and guess whose students ended up with tendinitis? > So my question is are we responding to some sort of mass > hysteria in this regard or were our immediate forebears physically more > durable? No mass hysteria. While carpal tunnel was not known about so much in the 50's and 60's, certainly tendinitis was common. The only thing was, no one admitted to it - but there were some careers that were brought to an end as a result of it - and "playing through the pain". Furthermore, medical doctors knew nothing about performing arts injuries - they couldn't imagine how one could hurt oneself playing an instrument. It really wasn't until the advent of Sports Medicine, that the field of Arts Medicine took hold. There are still many doctors who are ignorant of the matters associated with the latter. Perhaps people are more fragile today, but I doubt it. A lot of people are doing double duty on computer keyboards these days. > I would guess that the problems being experienced are due to faulty > technique...not high key board pressure. I doubt that was always the case, but the possibility of injury from a faulty technique would certainly be exacerbated by a stiff action. > It is interesting that this > concept in piano is following immediately, by a few years, the idea > among guitarists that the strings should be so close to the fingerboard > that they will hit the next fret if you play strongly...this works > thanks to 300 watt amplifiers. > > I do know that high string placement on the guitar produces cleaner > playing and I, of course, have heard the same thing from pianists about > the heavy actions of the grands. Again, I think one could confuse a heavy action with a well-regulated action. One does, indeed, need a feeling of resistance from the keys, so one knows where the escapement point is in order to have tonal control over finely executed articulation and refined pianississimos - but that doesn't require a heavy action. Kathie ************************************************************************** > However, I also > think that the preference for heavy actions CAN (though it certainly isn't > always) be another manifestation of the "Juilliard jock" syndrome. Piano > playing is difficult enough already. Why place needless barriers in the > way? > The problem with this thinking is that most pianists cannot choose the piano on which they will perform. Often they haven't even tried it until just before the performance. There are many heavy action pianos out there in performance spaces. I think it would be easier to adjust down than up. Therefore, given the choice, I would rather do most of my practicing on a heavy action piano, and make sure my technique can handle it. This is practicality, not jockism. Stan, who always looks for a particular VERY hard action piano on Juilliard's 4th floor *************************************************************************** I have performed on all types of pianos (including ones with no pedal, ones with strings missing, ones with keys missing, one that was tuned a whole tone lower and out of relative tune, ones with broken legs, ones that stood on a slanted stage, you name it...) Obviously performed on all possible types of actions, from the lightest to the hardest. I am powerful in my playing to which some listers can (do) attest. I also don't have a faulty technique. I never had carpal tunnel syndromes, or God forbid any trouble with my hands. I can manage any piano, yet I do not like a hard action piano. Regards, Rami
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