This is the English translation of an Japanese essay, "Shidono Hanbun wo Kimeru Senkyoku" written by Yoshinori Natsume. The translation was also made by Yoshinori Natsume.
Recently an increasing number of piano teachers have begun to take a new approach to organizing recital programs for their students. They try to select a variety of pieces from among a wide range of musical literature. Until some years ago such recitals used to consist of a limited number of standard pieces. Personally speaking, ever since I started teaching about twenty years ago, I have followed the idea that it is essential to arrange as different a program as possible for each of the Piano Salons at which my students play.
Thus, every time I prepare for a recital with my students, I try to approach it as a new creative endeavor. I believe this will allow the students to feel greater enthusiasm for each concert.
The preparation for a creative concert starts with the selection of pieces for each student. Professor Gorodnitzki, a noted piano professor at Julliard School, pointed out that it is important to teach each student according to his/ her needs, saying, You can't put the same pair of shoes on everybody. I believe that this applies to the selection of pieces for each of your students.
The difference in size and flexibility of hands between students is much greater than you might think. The same is true of the sounds they can make and the musical sensitivity they have. These attributes might work better under some conditions, but could prove to be a liability in others. Thus the selection of pieces for each student is a process of trying to find the right piece for the right student, taking into account the above-mentioned complicated elements, so that he/she can make most of what he/she has in performing it.
It is because this selection process is so important and difficult that it often takes a couple of weeks to select pieces just for one student who is going to play at the Piano Salon. However, if a piece I have selected fits to the conditions and the musical sense of a student, he/she will be able to reach the audience by drawing out the beauty of the piece with inspiration. Through this experience, I believe, the student can learn to appreciate more the musical work he is playing.
As a matter of fact, when I have made a suitable selection for the student, he/she often plays it so well that I am surprised. On such occasions I sit down and try to learn from what he/she has done. It is at moments like this that I feel that to teach is to learn.
However, if a teacher's teaching literature is limited, the above-mentioned instances will never happen. In order to make sure that a successful selection takes place, it is essential that a teacher has a wide variety of musical literature. In addition to that, he has to be well versed in each piece of this wide range of teaching material. It is not an easy task to reach this level.
Along with such huge knowledge, the teacher should also have the ability to evaluate correctly each student's different personality, physical conditions and so on. This is an ability which can only be acquired through a long period of teaching experience.
In this article I referred to the process of selecting pieces for recitals, but the importance of suitable selection of musical works is also applicable to the selection of pieces for regular lessons. The proper selection of study pieces or musical pieces for each level of studying will help a student to make steady, and indeed often great progress.
When we talk about a piano lesson, I think we tend to think first of all about a place where we are actually giving a lesson to the students. However, as I mentioned above, we should give more serious attention to the work before an actual lesson starts, that is, the process of trying to find the right pieces for the right students. To make this happen, let me say this once a again that piano teachers should always try hard to enhance their knowledge of musical literature, and the ability to correctly judge each student's different attributes and abilities.
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