Klarinet Archive - Posting 000217.txt from 1998/11

From: Note Staff Unlimited <notestaff@-----.ch>
Subj: Re: [kl] Dan Leeson remarks on Feidman
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 18:49:14 -0500

klarinet@-----.org schrieb:

> Dan Leeson, in his remarks about Giora Feidman mentions the following story
> about Menuhin:
>
> > . . . . . . At 17 he was asked how he could play
> >such a difficult work so effortlessly. And he took the question
> >seriously and analyzed how he was doing what he was doing. When he
> >got done with the analysis, he couldn't play at all and he had to
> >take several years off to regain his skills.
>
> This reminds me of a story about the great Canadian pianist, Glenn Gould.
> This is all paraphrased, as I can't locate my source.
>
> Gould apparently did no teaching. When asked questions about technique, he
> was unwilling to discuss fingerings etc.
>
> He used to refer to these matters as "centipedal issues". The centipede
> managed his legs very well until asked in what order he moved them. Once
> he tried to think about it, he could no longer do it effortlessly.
>
> Gould learned music by memorizing the scores and then simply sat down at
> the piano and played them. Technique was not an issue. On occasion, when
> he had problems playing a certain passage, he would turn on a radio with
> loud pop music and perhaps run the vacuum cleaner as well, so that he could
> not hear his own playing. Then he would more or less let the fingers
> figure out for themselves how to play the passage. He didn't want to think
> about it lest it become a "centipedal issue"!
>
> Don Yungkurth (clarinet@-----.net)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------

The issue is: many people get in their own way when they practise or try to do
something. I observe this all the time with my pupils. It's often extremely
difficult to get them to *stop* doing something which is deterring their
progress. (Always need an alternative action to compensate for the vacuum.)

Quite clever of Gould not to teach when he didn't know how. Heard the same
about Fritz Kreisler by the way.

David
David Glenn
notestaff@-----.ch

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