著者

Mariotti Giuseppe

出版者

徳島文理大学

雑誌

徳島文理大学研究紀要 (ISSN:02869829)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.88, pp.63-83, 2014-09

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Piano playing is a very complex motor act that requires an enormous degree of coordination and comprehensive daily training. The pianist's technical training is usually separate from the musical training, and consists mostly of exercises that contain several repetitions of brief note patterns. Those patterns are intended to overcome deficiencies in the structure of the hand, like a limited span between fingers, or to master recurring difficult passages of the piano literature. In the typical school environment, those technical exercises are chosen from the several available piano methods. However, the conceptions of most methods are well over one century old and based on antiquated assumptions. For example, most methods focus excessively on the increase of fingers' muscles strength. This misconception leads to very inefficient and time-wasting practicing strategies with deplorable results like muscle soreness and pain, tendinitis and even focal dystonia. The vast majority of high school and university piano students in Japan are affected by those playing-related musculoskeletal disorders. Many research projects on musicians' sensorimotor system have amply demonstrated that the main requisite for a proficient piano technique is movement coordination instead of finger strength. This is confirmed by the empirical description that eminent pianists give of their extraordinary technique. The daily exercises presented here were developed and tested over a 5-year span, and are based on recent neuroscience research. The exercises are rather simple and short, and have a moderate melodic sense in order to avoid monotony. They are newly created, or adapted from historical sources, and are targeted to piano students of high school and university grade. These exercises have shown to be useful in the improvement of students' auditory-sensorimotor skills, and they can lead to a better music-making.