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Has anyone studied with someone who follows the Taubman approach? I started about the middle of September with a Taubman teacher. She is very good, patient, explains the concepts well, and I'm very glad I found her.

Impressions so far:

- Because this is a new approach, it is taking me much longer to learn music, because I'm applying the new techniques at the same time as learning the music.

- When I have the right motions, techniques, etc., it feels very good and comfortable, but is difficult to replicate. I find that after a couple months this is becoming easier.

- I'm working on all new stuff because she prefers my old way of playing not interfere with the Taubman approach. She was not adamant about this, but it was a strong enough suggestion, that I decided it would be better.

- Practicing is totally different. I find that I practice a large number of small sections with not as much repitition each day, as opposed to much more repitittion of each section each day (wonder if this will change as I go along).

All in all, it's been very interesting so far.
Has anyone else studied with a Taubman teacher, and if so, what are your impressions?

Me, and I liked it!

Same here, and I've never had soreness/injury from practicing. It's a very solid technique, IMO.

can someone please enlighten me on this Taubman approach? sorry i really have not heard of any different approaches

Taubman technique use a subtle slight all together forearm/straight wrist/hand rotation. Sort of like turning a key back and forth slightly in a lock. They concentrate on using the larger upper arm muscles and dropping the somewhat relaxed hands onto the keys and merely shaping the fingers to support the dropped arm weight. The fingers merely support the weight as they pivot from one support finger to the next through tiny forearm rotation. They also pull towards oneself for added power, like pulling down a window, rather than pushing into the piano.
They don't beleive in using the small finger muscles anymore than neccessary.

Have I got it right?

it sounds like a good method, rintincop. do you know where to find the resource or information of it, on internet or anywhere? lately i have been trying to find the easiest and non tiring ways to play and this method seems something like that.

The original Taubman website is http://www.taubman-institute.com/home.html . However currently the most active proponent is Edna Golandsky who was for many years Dorothy Taubman's spokesman and main lecturer.Site is http://golandskyinstitute.org/index.html . I have been studying with a Taubman teacher in S Florida for 2 years (Giselle Brodsky, who is her friend and student) . Yes relearning is slow and difficult but worth it. I can play "forever" without tiring or strain.

I noticed that Phlebas is in NYC where Edna Golandsky lives. I have had one special lesson with her and watched her in 3 master classes.Her ability to diagnose problems is amazing.

I'll have to ask him about it, but this sounds VERY similar to the technique and teaching my teacher uses.
I like it a lot. It helps my tone as well as technical facility and stamina.

Is this Taubman approach a relatively new approach?

Can anyone offer insight to any particular advantages or disadvantages about this approach?

Also, has any well known pianists been noted to have been taught by this approach?

My former teacher was taking lessons from a Taubman instructor. I saw a few of the videos. The impression I got was that the students who attended their on campus classes were very advanced/proficient. Does anyone know if an adult mediocre student can utilize this method?

So what did you like about it, and what was your experience like?

Please elaborate.
Thanks

Dorothy Taubman has been teaching this approach for about 50 years. She does not do very much teaching now.

The main objective is finding a less injurious way of playing the piano. Taubman noticed that a majority of performing pianists experienced some pain or injury, and many cut their careers short because of this. There are layers of complexity with it, but the essence seems to be using very little finger action, and instead employing more rotation, hand and arm weight, moving correctly in and out of the keys, and so forth.

The main advantage, besides the overall safe holistic advantages, is I find it improves my sound.

I'm not sure of any real disadvantages, but I would think it might not be as useful for improvising because a lot of the motions are practically choreographed through practice and repitition. I could be wrong though.

Phlebas,

Can you comment on the Taubman approach vs your previous technique? I am interesting in knowing what you changed and what effect it has had.

Thanks,

Ryan

P.S. I would be interested in hearing from others who switched to the Taubman approach as well.

My previous technique was a combination of what I was taught by my previous teachers, which among them, combined high curved fingers, which I never really did much after studying with that particular teacher, to very little fingers, to an overall trying to play in a relaxed way using arm weight. So, it was not one particular method or approach, and because there were contradictory elements, I was sometimes confused about what to do.

Now it's hard to say what exactly changed in my technique because I'm still going through the process of change, so what I have so far is not a finished product by any means.
My teacher does not believe in using the word "relax" because she thinks it's deceptive, and can lead to relaxing the wrong thing. That's a minor detail, but I find that in following the prescribed motions I am the right parts are freer (relaxed), and the parts that need to be firm and support weight do so.

That's a start as a description. I may add more later.

Phlebas.

who's your teacher? You can email me if necessary.

Thanks

Chris

Sent you an email.

Arm weight and forearm rotation (Taubman) are good for improvisation. Some bebop jazz piano masters are sometimes mentioned as examples of players who use that technique naturaly.

As piano actions got heavier and concert halls got bigger more arm wight was needed:
Very interesting article:
http://pianoeducation.org/pnotecha.html

I am new to this particular branch of Piano Forum, having been moderately active on the tech list and the main list in recent months. Taubman caught my eye, though.

I am not a great pianist by any stretch, nor do I claim to have an in-depth foundation in the Taubman technique. What I can tell you, though, is that I took lessons for a couple of years from a teacher who specializes in it, and it helped my enjoyment of playing the piano more than anything ever has.

I was originally a classical pianist, and piano major many years ago. The teacher I had in college, while a great teacher of interpretation, expected students to come to her with a fully developed technique. As a 3rd year pianist, I certainly was lacking in that department. It was all "fingers" in those days.

Some 17 years later, I hooked up with a Taubman instructor. What I learned from her made playing the piano fun, not laborious, relaxing, not stressful. I could play pieces I never thought I'd ever be able to play--not that well, mind you, but I could muddle through them.

Being a lousy reader, and kinda lazy when I get off work, I gravitate towards improvising. Yes, arm weight and forearm rotation are great tools in improvisatory music, as they are in any facet of playing the piano.

Dave Stahl