Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Question about contemporary technique books

I am a returning adult piano student currently taking lessons, and in my quest to practice and play more effectively, I am contemplating ordering (from "amazon") a couple of books on technique. They are _The Piano Lessons Book: The piano student's guide for getting the most out of practicing, lessons, your teacher and yourself_ by Neil Miller, and _Improve Your Piano Playing_ by John Meffen. If you have read either or both of these books, could you please let me know in this thread what you thought of them, whether and in what ways they were helpful or failed to be helpful, etc. I'm dazzled by the titles and their promises, but wary, too, for obvious reasons.

Please

I have not read either of those books, but as far as the practicing angle, you should really check out "The Art of Practicing" by Madeline Bruser. It's a relatively recent publication. It's somewhat generalized to all instruments/voice, but is fairly biased toward the piano (the author admits as much; she is a professional pianist and teacher, so she naturally uses her own pianistic experiences to relate information), and is just really a good read for any musician who wants to get the most out of their time practicing.

It covers the mental aspects well -- it presents four different mindsets that people fall into when they're practicing, how they are detrimental, and how to stay out of them. It encourages a sort of mindfulness that is reminiscent of zen/yoga/meditation, without fully "going there" and becoming a religious read. It also covers the benefits of stretching, proper breathing, and other physical aspects that directly contribute to how you're making music--kind of a mild zen/yoga approach that really makes sense, and really helps.

I can confidently say, just order it, I highly doubt you'll regret spending the $10 it costs on Amazon. I know several musicians who find the book very valuable.

I have "Improve Your Piano Playing" and "The Art of Practicing" and have read through both of them several times. While Meffen's book is not a complete "everything you need to know to play the piano" course, he has a good basic coverage of practicing and technique.

Another couple of books I recommend are "The Perfect Wrong Note" by William Westney and "The Inner Game of Music" by Barry Green.

Rich

Stay away from any books that ask you to shape your hands (i.e. holding a ball, orange etc).

kbk, I believe we are safe there, at least with the books I recommended above.

Madeline Bruser's book has the following quote on this subject: