There's sometimes a stigma associated with listening to recordings of pieces one is playing. The fear seems to be that a student will simply imitate the artist on the recording.
There is a well founded basis for this fear. If you compare the varieties of interpretation now to early recordings from the past, you'll find that things have become more and more homogenized.
But beyond this fear lies the fact that by not listening to a piece you can seriously slow down your rate of progress. The reason is simple: the better the aural picture you hold of a work, the more information your ear has at its disposal to integrate all the elements of playing. In the end, it's our knowledge of what a piece *sounds* like that holds everything together.
A secondary benefit of recordings is that, far from limiting an interpretation, they can open you up to unconsidered possibilities; especially if you make a habit of listening to many different interpretations from different time periods. The key is to judge for yourself.
Happy listening!
that is a very good point. piano playing in my opinion is all about progressing as quickly as possible. so anything that hinders this is bad. Recordings allow you to hear things differently. Btw also check out my blog to if you could be so kind. thanks http://www.teachyourselfpiano.info
Posted by: steven radcliffe | August 14, 2009 at 03:52 AM
Well I definitely agree. Playing piano takes a lot of discipline and much dedication, or everyone would be a professional piano player. I have been getting a lot of sheet music from http://www.sheetmus.com and playing it daily. I hope I will improve. Good blog, thanks for all the info.
Posted by: Joaquin | March 16, 2010 at 03:10 AM