One of my students, Grace, made an astute observation at her recent lesson. She said, “the hardest part of learning this work is that you don’t expect it to feel this easy!”
This is a truly wise statement. The ease a student feels when applying the Taubman skills at the piano points to a fundamental tenet of the work, and one that sets it apart from other approaches.
The Taubman Approach allows for an effortlessness at the instrument that is almost always at odds with the student’s previous experience of what it feels like to play. Because of this, I often find myself using analogies to other activities. A few of my favorite examples are when a tennis player strikes the ball with a racquet in the exact center, or “sweet spot,” so that the ball seems to launch itself with startling velocity, or the easy swing of a baseball player who hits a powerful home run into the seats. These skills require a coordination and alignment that, when executed perfectly, make us wonder: “How on earth do they make it look so easy?!” The answer to this question is that it is not the right question to ask. They do not need to make it look easy because they have made it feel easy. Effortlessness is not a contrived appearance; it is an experience. When a student has mastered the elements of the Taubman Approach, the physical act of playing the piano becomes effortless because the student has mastered the coordination and alignment necessary to move around the keyboard efficiently.
When a student grasps this concept and learns to identify the feel of true freedom and ease, it is often a key turning point in his or her learning.
This is a truly wise statement. The ease a student feels when applying the Taubman skills at the piano points to a fundamental tenet of the work, and one that sets it apart from other approaches.
The Taubman Approach allows for an effortlessness at the instrument that is almost always at odds with the student’s previous experience of what it feels like to play. Because of this, I often find myself using analogies to other activities. A few of my favorite examples are when a tennis player strikes the ball with a racquet in the exact center, or “sweet spot,” so that the ball seems to launch itself with startling velocity, or the easy swing of a baseball player who hits a powerful home run into the seats. These skills require a coordination and alignment that, when executed perfectly, make us wonder: “How on earth do they make it look so easy?!” The answer to this question is that it is not the right question to ask. They do not need to make it look easy because they have made it feel easy. Effortlessness is not a contrived appearance; it is an experience. When a student has mastered the elements of the Taubman Approach, the physical act of playing the piano becomes effortless because the student has mastered the coordination and alignment necessary to move around the keyboard efficiently.
When a student grasps this concept and learns to identify the feel of true freedom and ease, it is often a key turning point in his or her learning.
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