I have seen many videos by Josh Wright. I ADMIRE his excellence as a teacher, his passion for music, his unequaled commitment with piano, his extraordinary dedication. I believe he is a unique person with a very special mission in the service of all who really wish to learn to play the piano. And he plays PERFECTLY, even if he does not like to admit it. He is charming, patient, humble,... I have learned a lot from him. Josh, I wish you ALL blessings.
Hi Josh, I've watched your videos for years and have distributed them to my students when I can't always teach them in between their lessons. I use them as practice lessons because you are so helpful and explain things clearly. As I am not using my real name here (people immediately want to meet him), I had the opportunity to study with Murray Perahia for several years in London. There are two things that I would like to impart as I had spent that time listening to him demonstrate, sitting not more than 2 feet away from him in a small room. The big thing is that his sound is enormous close up. It's full and projects beauty even in fortissimo passages. The other thing is clarity.. He has the uncanny ability to have the clearest sound without being brittle. His touch is somewhere between legato and detached in fast passages. So I would just like to say that he always told me to "think upward" which never hammered down into the keyboard, but used arm weight and finger pressure in an upward motion. I always think of this and it has helped me and my students find the right balance in both touch and sound. He has an innate gift of playing fast, but I would say that the thing that sets him apart from other pianists that I've known is that he listens so carefully to himself when he plays and he has the ability to replicate what he hears and wants to hear. Thank you for this video.
I think this is my favourite of your videos - and such an early one. A wonderful insight of yours, and so succinctly explained and demonstrated. It's lovely to see someone simply sharing knowledge rather than feeding their own ego. Thank you Josh - now I've 'just' got to put it into practice!
Hearing any of these secrets is like telling someone to "Be competent when you play piano, visualise your note playing" I love your content Josh, it's phenomenal.
though I already knew the concept, I must say on behalf of those unknowing, your material is gold, real gold. P.S. this tip is especially helpful when playing fugues. them repetitions of the themes can get really boring and heavy.
@PeterJamezz yes exactly. It takes a lot of practice, and this is a technique for pianists who are really comfortable with their technique already. More active fingers, releasing quickly to allow for a more fleeting sound
These videos are great, you explain really quite detailed aspects of piano playing in a practical, simplified manner rather than in unnecessarily complex philosophical ways which would leave students rather confounded.
Hi Josh, Thanks for sharing this. It really makes sense by creating little gaps makes the notes appear more clearly. You've probably listened to many performers playing Chopin and might have heard Claudio Arrau. To my humble opinion one of the best performers of the Chopin Nocturnes.
Josh, I'm very grateful! I've been playing for a long time and have always wanted that "pearly" sound - I used the same word in my own imagining of it, but despite asking teachers I never found out how! I play a lot of Mozart, and I believe this is exactly what I've been longing for.
I'm just starting on the piano learning journey and I feel I have just been given special access to something not many know! Thank you! At least I hope to put that into my playing from the start!
'GREAT VIDEOS. Thank you so much for the videos, ESPECIALLY THIS ONE. I have been listening for years (decades) to pianist play (the greats) and have wondered how do they get that light (pearly) sound. You brilliantly demonstrate and explain the technique very concisely (in less that 8 minutes)
Hi Josh - I just wanted to say that I watched this video yesterday partly because of the content but also because I saw it was from 10yrs ago & was curious! Anyway, I applied the principle you taught to the Chopin Waltz I’m working on at the moment - C#min, op.64 no.2 - & the difference is quite stunning! I’d already been practising the piu mosso & Vivo sections staccato to help even them out, so that helped get that tiny separation you talk about here. Perfect! I’m a string teacher by trade but still love my piano, so I’m enjoying your videos - thanks!
Ah I see what you mean here. Oddly, I now think of it one of my favorite pop/rock artists Billy Joel gets this sound (or used to anyway more in the 90s when he played real non digital pianos) or effect with more bluesy or sometimes classical walkdowns as breaks.. I could not figure out what made them sound so magical other than the fact they were notey.
Thanx Josh! very useful! In practice, you are saying we should avoid a legato? i never thought about that, I usually play Mozart in that (wrong) way, too legato probably, now I will change- This pearly sound of yours is fantastic :-)
Hi Ben - I would have to hear you play in order to determine what is going on. Make sure you are playing deep enough in the keys. The danger with this technique is that one can take it to the extreme and end up playing in a very shallow way, which is not good. Also, make sure you have an even touch throughout, without accents. Keep your fingers really active. If you ever want to do a private lesson on this concepts, shoot me an email and I can send u the info about skype lessons
my teacher used to teach me how to play Mozart, by saying that in order to have a crisp sound, one has to lightly "pluck" keys, almost the same way a pluck strings on a violin. a light pluck is a crisp sound, but a strong pluck will be a staccato.
Right, the slightly detached sound. It's a break through moment for many pianists. Swing in jazz style is created the same way. Most overlap with finger legato making a control of note duration impossible. However, when the note is released, its duration, is as much a part of the swing as when the note is started. Oscar Peterson and especially Art Tatum had great command over note lengths and the pearly touch as you describe. Imagine in swing being able to control when you disconnect the notes from each other and that is the sound of Art Tatum that most say is unachievable to copy. With listening, slowed down playback, it is possible to learn this.
Matías Macotinsky I had pondered on that before! I guess maybe it depends on if you want it to be elegant smooth and graceful or powerful and “Beethoveny”
Thanks for sharing this information! However I'm convinced that a pearlier sound could be achieved just by going to the next Steinway store, opening the wallet WIDE and getting a new Steinway B grand... I wish I could... :(
Yes, well my lessons on a Steinway B just confirmed my place in the foothills of piano playing; still working my way up the slope towards playing better!
hmmm... maybe I am a little stuck. so, to get the space between the notes releasing the keys quicker then a "normal" legato way requires (for me) more finger articulation... the down part is that the touché is heavier... I end up missing the pianissimo... what should I do?
***** Great question - it can still be a light touch, but yes, more finger articulation for quicker releases. This makes the sound even lighter, because the tones aren't sounding as long. Hope that helps!
Alan Fraser, in his book The Craft of Piano Playing, calls this "feather legato", not really the best description, as it's not legato in the true sense. One thing you didn't mention, which I think is important, is that when playing like this, the keys are only depressed to the escapement point, not to the key bed. This gives one more time to separate one note from the next.
This is interesting but also perplexing especially with Chopin who was a big proponent of legato playing, not pearly and i know that murray Perrahia built his whole career on the pearly sound, it sounds impressive at first and magic but it is also very uni dimensional and if you play your whole repertoire like this it somehow becomes unsubstantial, somehow lacking expression and color. Cortot would be a counter example he played legato following Chopin's pianism and that is why he had so much colors and tone possibilities. And to close that argument i refer to Op 25 no 2 which you would think is the perfect study to play with that pearly detached sound. Well, only if you disrespect Chopin's intention, because he not just wrote 'legato' on the score but he wrote 'molto legato' just to make sure the murray perahia players would be weeded out for lacking the legato sound that is capable of better crescendos and decrescendo thant this pearly sound. I am not saying this technique does not have its place for example in nocturnes little notes runs as you perfectly demonstrated but i believe using that technique everywhere like Perrahia did, is a fault and is limiting expression.
If you want a real example of what is really that type of sound, well, you have to listen to Arthur Rubinstein playing the final part of Chopin' s Second Impromptu. Or Michelangeli' s sound in various types of ornamentation, not only in Chopin' s works. This explanation is only partly correct, and moreover destroys the fascination of being a pianist...Remember Ars est celare artem.....
I have seen many videos by Josh Wright. I ADMIRE his excellence as a teacher, his passion for music, his unequaled commitment with piano, his extraordinary dedication. I believe he is a unique person with a very special mission in the service of all who really wish to learn to play the piano. And he plays PERFECTLY, even if he does not like to admit it. He is charming, patient, humble,... I have learned a lot from him. Josh, I wish you ALL blessings.
He made me understand there are nuances in playing the next level. I was proud to even play. Now I know I play bare minimum competency.
thank you Josh. I am learning so much from you, and have introduced your videos to our piano teacher friend.
Wow jane 11 years ago
@@tomas_soeterik Wow is right :)
@@janepianotutorials how many subscribers did you have back then ? 11 years ago ?
@@tomas_soeterik Probably none. started project in April 2009.
Thank you all for your kind comments
Josh Wright chachopin ballad of my Chopin ballad
Thanks Jianhan. I agree - this technique can be especially useful in the music of Bach.
Hi Josh, I've watched your videos for years and have distributed them to my students when I can't always teach them in between their lessons. I use them as practice lessons because you are so helpful and explain things clearly. As I am not using my real name here (people immediately want to meet him), I had the opportunity to study with Murray Perahia for several years in London. There are two things that I would like to impart as I had spent that time listening to him demonstrate, sitting not more than 2 feet away from him in a small room. The big thing is that his sound is enormous close up. It's full and projects beauty even in fortissimo passages. The other thing is clarity.. He has the uncanny ability to have the clearest sound without being brittle. His touch is somewhere between legato and detached in fast passages. So I would just like to say that he always told me to "think upward" which never hammered down into the keyboard, but used arm weight and finger pressure in an upward motion. I always think of this and it has helped me and my students find the right balance in both touch and sound. He has an innate gift of playing fast, but I would say that the thing that sets him apart from other pianists that I've known is that he listens so carefully to himself when he plays and he has the ability to replicate what he hears and wants to hear. Thank you for this video.
I learn something new in every single video
I think this is my favourite of your videos - and such an early one. A wonderful insight of yours, and so succinctly explained and demonstrated. It's lovely to see someone simply sharing knowledge rather than feeding their own ego. Thank you Josh - now I've 'just' got to put it into practice!
Hearing any of these secrets is like telling someone to "Be competent when you play piano, visualise your note playing"
I love your content Josh, it's phenomenal.
though I already knew the concept, I must say on behalf of those unknowing, your material is gold, real gold.
P.S. this tip is especially helpful when playing fugues. them repetitions of the themes can get really boring and heavy.
@PeterJamezz yes exactly. It takes a lot of practice, and this is a technique for pianists who are really comfortable with their technique already. More active fingers, releasing quickly to allow for a more fleeting sound
These videos are great, you explain really quite detailed aspects of piano playing in a practical, simplified manner rather than in unnecessarily complex philosophical ways which would leave students rather confounded.
Hi Josh, Thanks for sharing this. It really makes sense by creating little gaps makes the notes appear more clearly. You've probably listened to many performers playing Chopin and might have heard Claudio Arrau. To my humble opinion one of the best performers of the Chopin Nocturnes.
Josh, I'm very grateful! I've been playing for a long time and have always wanted that "pearly" sound - I used the same word in my own imagining of it, but despite asking teachers I never found out how! I play a lot of Mozart, and I believe this is exactly what I've been longing for.
most of the time i'm forced to discover these technical epiphanies myself, so thank you so much for sharing your secrets!
This will help me with the cadenzas in Mozart's Fantasia in D Minor, thank you !
I'm just starting on the piano learning journey and I feel I have just been given special access to something not many know! Thank you! At least I hope to put that into my playing from the start!
'GREAT VIDEOS. Thank you so much for the videos, ESPECIALLY THIS ONE. I have been listening for years (decades) to pianist play (the greats) and have wondered how do they get that light (pearly) sound. You brilliantly demonstrate and explain the technique very concisely (in less that 8 minutes)
FABULOUS!!!
I really love your teaching ! From Taiwan !
Thank you, as always, Awesome!
Josh, you are such a charming and amazing person, I really wish you come to France some day, cheers from Paris !
Excellent. Space between the notes. Thank you!
WHAT WAS THE PIECE YOU WERE PERFORMING? Oh, wow, beautiful. You are a wonderful pianist
Nocturne Op27 No2 in D-flat major, Chopin
Is this a technique that makes it easier to play at tempo? I love the way it sounds. Thanks 😊
thank you so much. I appreciate your references. Are there any subjects you'd like me to do a video on?
That is exactly how I think of pearly sound (I call it clean sound): "space in between the notes"!
I started to practice a passage the way you describe here but I wasn't sure if it was correct to do it that way. Thanks again!
So space as in you pick up your fingers the slightest bit faster almost like stacoto and leave a little tad of space in between each note, right?
Thank you Josh for this invaluable tip of space between the notes. Could you please confirm that you are not pressing to the bottom of the key ?
This was brilliant. Thank you.
Hi Josh - I just wanted to say that I watched this video yesterday partly because of the content but also because I saw it was from 10yrs ago & was curious! Anyway, I applied the principle you taught to the Chopin Waltz I’m working on at the moment - C#min, op.64 no.2 - & the difference is quite stunning! I’d already been practising the piu mosso & Vivo sections staccato to help even them out, so that helped get that tiny separation you talk about here. Perfect! I’m a string teacher by trade but still love my piano, so I’m enjoying your videos - thanks!
wow! All those years of piano lessons wasted! Thanks so much for this lesson!
Great videos. Thank you so much Josh.
Excellent demo . .clear and precise info . .Thank YOu
Amazing touch! Greetings from Argentina
Ah I see what you mean here. Oddly, I now think of it one of my favorite pop/rock artists Billy Joel gets this sound (or used to anyway more in the 90s when he played real non digital pianos) or effect with more bluesy or sometimes classical walkdowns as breaks.. I could not figure out what made them sound so magical other than the fact they were notey.
Beautiful playing.
Thanx Josh! very useful!
In practice, you are saying we should avoid a legato? i never thought about that, I usually play Mozart in that (wrong) way, too legato probably, now I will change- This pearly sound of yours is fantastic :-)
This is amazing.
Hi Ben - I would have to hear you play in order to determine what is going on. Make sure you are playing deep enough in the keys. The danger with this technique is that one can take it to the extreme and end up playing in a very shallow way, which is not good. Also, make sure you have an even touch throughout, without accents. Keep your fingers really active. If you ever want to do a private lesson on this concepts, shoot me an email and I can send u the info about skype lessons
my teacher used to teach me how to play Mozart, by saying that in order to have a crisp sound, one has to lightly "pluck" keys, almost the same way a pluck strings on a violin. a light pluck is a crisp sound, but a strong pluck will be a staccato.
Very cool Josh, Thx
:D Thank Youuuu! I've been really curious about how to produce this pearly sound >.< Happiness....
Right, the slightly detached sound. It's a break through moment for many pianists. Swing in jazz style is created the same way. Most overlap with finger legato making a control of note duration impossible. However, when the note is released, its duration, is as much a part of the swing as when the note is started. Oscar Peterson and especially Art Tatum had great command over note lengths and the pearly touch as you describe. Imagine in swing being able to control when you disconnect the notes from each other and that is the sound of Art Tatum that most say is unachievable to copy. With listening, slowed down playback, it is possible to learn this.
Do you think it would be a good idea to apply this to the descending arpeggio (that starts at the highest F) in the beggining of the Chopin Scherzo 2?
Matías Macotinsky I had pondered on that before! I guess maybe it depends on if you want it to be elegant smooth and graceful or powerful and “Beethoveny”
Do you use "una corda" pedal to achieve that pearly sound on those passages?
Is soft pedal required for this type of technique?
How did you make your piano sound more muted (in a positive way, I mean)?
Thanks for sharing this information! However I'm convinced that a pearlier sound could be achieved just by going to the next Steinway store, opening the wallet WIDE and getting a new Steinway B grand... I wish I could... :(
wavetuning Haha I wish I could afford to buy a new B as well!
Yes, well my lessons on a Steinway B just confirmed my place in the foothills of piano playing; still working my way up the slope towards playing better!
hmmm... maybe I am a little stuck. so, to get the space between the notes releasing the keys quicker then a "normal" legato way requires (for me) more finger articulation... the down part is that the touché is heavier... I end up missing the pianissimo... what should I do?
***** Great question - it can still be a light touch, but yes, more finger articulation for quicker releases. This makes the sound even lighter, because the tones aren't sounding as long. Hope that helps!
Josh Wright thanks for your prompt answer. do u use full pedal or half pedal? quick pedal changes during the chromatic motifs?
Alan Fraser, in his book The Craft of Piano Playing, calls this "feather legato", not really the best description, as it's not legato in the true sense. One thing you didn't mention, which I think is important, is that when playing like this, the keys are only depressed to the escapement point, not to the key bed. This gives one more time to separate one note from the next.
dynamics?
Thanks
Check out Andras Schiff's performance of Schubert Impromptu F Minor #1, Op 142. I think he achieves amazing lightness and beautiful tone.
This is interesting but also perplexing especially with Chopin who was a big proponent of legato playing, not pearly and i know that murray Perrahia built his whole career on the pearly sound, it sounds impressive at first and magic but it is also very uni dimensional and if you play your whole repertoire like this it somehow becomes unsubstantial, somehow lacking expression and color. Cortot would be a counter example he played legato following Chopin's pianism and that is why he had so much colors and tone possibilities. And to close that argument i refer to Op 25 no 2 which you would think is the perfect study to play with that pearly detached sound. Well, only if you disrespect Chopin's intention, because he not just wrote 'legato' on the score but he wrote 'molto legato' just to make sure the murray perahia players would be weeded out for lacking the legato sound that is capable of better crescendos and decrescendo thant this pearly sound. I am not saying this technique does not have its place for example in nocturnes little notes runs as you perfectly demonstrated but i believe using that technique everywhere like Perrahia did, is a fault and is limiting expression.
Who is the pianist you're talking about?
Monika Thomas
He's talking about Murray Perahia.
So... no pedal to attain this pearly sound?
the ppl who disliked this videos, is... just👎. Cuz this is awesome😆!
Great videos! Too bad there's so much static on the sound tho...
Beautiful! Hahaha, I think I'm gonna go learn this piece, it sounds so... majestic, really awesome!! XD
Thanks for the information on this.
Dedicate it to someone important to you ;)
If you want a real example of what is really that type of sound, well, you have to listen to Arthur Rubinstein playing the final part of Chopin' s Second Impromptu. Or Michelangeli' s sound in various types of ornamentation, not only in Chopin' s works. This explanation is only partly correct, and moreover destroys the fascination of being a pianist...Remember Ars est celare artem.....
the only thing that is destructive is your comment
It’s all about the down ups and the arm weight y’all
Periah doesn t have a lot going for him.if you want to sound like him then good luck for you career.
he is a professional pianist and teacher (just sayin)
just use your ears.I HATE Periah
Really? wow. Are you sure you are playing the piano?...Let me guess horowitz sound is also "not that good" right? wow...