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Healthy piano technique
Healthy piano technique is a core element of
every Well-Balanced Pianist program.
Everyone can play the piano well. As a bonus,
the healthy movements that allow you to play your best will also allow you to
play comfortably for your entire life! And healthy technique is for players of
every style of music.
The Taubman
approach to piano technique teaches the most subtle cooperation among the
parts of the body you use to play the piano. Therefore, it opens the door to
your greatest facility and widest range of sound and volume. These elements are
so intertwined with interpretive choices that it can be difficult to know where
technique ends and music begins! Of course, in the end that is simple: your
technique allows you to make the music you want to make.
People are sometimes surprised at how easy it
is to make changes in their technique. Of course, you have to concentrate, but
remarkable changes can be made without tedious exercises or depriving yourself
of music you enjoy. And at The Well-Balanced Pianist, we cultivate a
spirit of curiosity and exploration that helps people make the most of new
information.
With clinics on elements such as "basic
movements", "octaves," "the thumb," "blocking," and "shaping," piano
instructors Teresa Dybvig and Susan Nowicki instruct participants in the fundamental
components of playing the piano. These master teachers of the Taubman approach
to piano technique also address individual needs during the course of private
lessons. Their goal is always to remove technical barriers, and help people
play the music they want, the way they want.
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What students
say
"What began
as a test lesson quickly turned into an "oh my gosh!" experience. After years
of accepting the fact that I never would be able to master certain virtuosic
techniques in my piano playing, I was overwhelmed with the prospect of doing
just that. With the attention and gentle, yet firm, direction given to me by
Teresa Dybvig, founder of the Well-Balanced Pianist programs, I
rediscovered the real joy of creating music at the keyboard... My arm muscle
tension, elbow tendonitis, shoulder and back pain are gone. Freedom of physical
stress has allowed me to listen more acutely to the sound production, ensemble
precision, and musical line, gifting to my audience what I hope is a more
satisfying, beautiful performance of the music which they came to
enjoy."
— Jan Matson, collaborative
pianist and collegiate staff accompanist
Rochester,
Minnesota
"Susan
Nowicki is a superb musician and teacher. I worked with her retraining at
the piano for about two years and found that her knowledge of the principals of
the Taubman technique is deep and her ability to translate these principals
into practical, technical movements at the piano remarkable... Susan was the
essential hand which brought me through new stages of control at the piano,
when uncertainty and fear threatened to stagnate my developing new skills. I
recommend her as a teacher without reservation."
— Adrienne Sirken, Pianist and Educator
Princeton,
New Jersey
"Working
with Teresa Dybvig of The Well-Balanced Pianist has been an amazing
experience. For eight years I was unable to play the piano because of dystonia
in my right hand. Now, after two years of working with Teresa, I am playing
"real repertoire" -- Chopin nocturnes and Winter Wind etude, Bartok Bagatelles
and Schumann Fantasiestucke. Most of my symptoms have disappeared and I have
hope that they will be entirely eradicated."
— H.H., pianist and college music
instructor
Vancouver, Canada
Read more
comments from students about The Well-Balanced Pianist program and
faculty |
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