When I read Neuhaus Book ‘The Art of Piano Playing‘, I was fascinated to read his reflection that ‘modern technology’ might completely remove the need for piano teachers. Of course, by modern technology, he wasn’t referring to what we think of as modern now, but to simple recordings (both audio and video). He gives an example of a student coming to him with a recording of Rachmaninov playing Rachmaninov. On being presented with this, he simply responded ‘what do you want me to teach you’? Everything you need is on that recording!’ So, does technology replace piano teachers?
This is definitely an interesting viewpoint that merits some reflection.
The What and the How
The majority of us rely on our teachers generally for two things. We look to them to help us understand ‘what’ something should be like. Equally, we lean on them to see ‘how’ to actually accomplish the feat required! However, if we have recordings of great pianists playing the music we are learning, then perhaps Neuhaus has a point? Shouldn’t we be capable of working out for ourselves the ‘what’ of things just from their recordings?
The How
Let’s take a moment to consider what has been written about Franz Liszt. You will, no doubt, have read people retracing their pedagogic line back to the great man. However, you’ll also no doubt have read that Liszt did not teach piano technique. A lesson with Liszt was about the ‘what’ of things and not the ‘how’? I seem to remember the phrase I read was that he expected his students to ‘do their dirty laundry at home’!
However, personally, I still need some help with my laundry. I have made the observation before that we all manage to accomplish a certain amount by natural intuition. However, aside those few lucky (or gifted as you might prefer) people, most of us can’t work everything out for ourselves. Without guidance, we’re not always able to work out how to fix problems. Whether we’re looking at octaves, passagework, double thirds, fingering … it isn’t always easy to go it alone!
It would appear that Liszt would be of precious little help to those of us struggling with our technique!
The What
In Liszt’s day of course, there were no recordings. The only time you could hear a great pianist and learn from one was in person – be it by attending a concert or a class! However, now, we’re able to study the work of great artists at our own leisure. We can watch, re-watch, slow down and decompose most aspects of a performance simply using the technology on our phones! We can listen as a master pianist takes a simple piece of music and turns it into something breathtaking. Do we really need someone to advise us on interpretation?
Masterclasses
To explore this question, I’d simply take recorded masterclasses as an example. I’m a really big fan of them. Whether it be Stephen Hough, Daniel Barenboim or Arthur Rubinstein, listening to such masters guide the lucky recipient in how to explore the music is amazing. In the vast majority of cases of course, the person receiving this masterclass is already a technically very skilled pianist. Equally, it is rare that any ‘technical’ advice is given – it is almost always interpretation. It always makes me mildly jealous that the recipient is generally capable of implementing the advice on the spot. I know only too acutely that it would take me hours to implement even some of the simpler pieces of advice.
How much do we miss?
I have always considered myself relatively musical. However, I remember recently watching a masterclass on Chopin’s Etude No. 3 in E. The entire thing was 30 minutes long and I’ll wager that at least 28 minutes of that were devoted to the ‘easier’ parts (those parts that even I can play!). The ‘fireworks’ part was hardly mentioned. Yet I’ll also wager that most of us will devote 80% of our practice time to these fireworks.
I realised though that, despite my view that I could play these easier parts fairly well, I have to admit that I learned just how ‘mundanely’ I actually do play them. I was missing so much of the detail! Notwithstanding having listened to a Pollini recording of this Etude possibly hundreds of times over the past 30 years! Now, when I re-listen to Pollini play this, I notice those details that were always there but I never actively recognised. So, I’d conclude that for many of us, it’s still helpful for someone to point out what we’re missing!
Technology as a supplement
In short, technology has definitely changed the face of teaching and perhaps even the teacher’s role. In addition to face to face lessons, we now have the online variety. For those without easy access to a teacher or looking for additional material, we have free ‘pre-recorded’ tutorials (as we see so often on YouTube). There are also excellent resources like Graham Fitch’s Online Academy and various paid courses from Josh Wright as two notable examples. Added to this are the recorded Masterclasses I mentioned earlier. All in all, we have a phenomenal number of additions to the traditional ‘teacher’.
This is why I think, especially for adults, we really should embrace what technology offers us. We should watch and listen to great pianists. We should also look to improve our ability to really analyse what a master pianist is doing with a piece of music. Let’s become less reliant on someone to tell us!
For example, in this video, I worked through how Horowitz approaches Schumann’s Traumerei. Interestingly, the way the music is written supports everything he does. Yet, as you can clearly hear from listening to him play this piece, he goes far further than what’s ‘on the surface’. Simply listening to him is, as Neuhaus predicted, a lesson in itself.
Luckily, there are many recordings of great pianists playing more accessible repertoire. Incidentally, this is also something Neuhaus said he would want to see! Well, now they’re there so let’s use them!
