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As a matter of logistics, chamber music and accompanying play a vital role in the life of the college pianist and will likely form a significant portion of his future in the musical profession, in that nearly all other "solo" instrumentalists and vocalists require a pianist. The pianist, as a result, should be among the most adept of ensemble performers.The first step in this study was to determine the status of chamber/accompanying courses and performance activities as practiced in institutions of higher learning. Ten heterogeneous institutions were chosen representing private and public affiliation, various geographical areas, as well as size of student enrollment. Bulletins were examined to determine applied piano requirements and required chamber/accompanying courses. Questionnaires were directed to major piano instructors in these institutions to obtain information not reflected in bulletins.Conclusions reached from this information revealed courses represent twenty percent of a student's total piano performance course instruction. A number of problems surfaced when responses to the questionnaire were evaluated: Comprehensive records of repertoire, studio assignment, and public performance are not likely to be kept by, or made readily available to, the applied piano instructor regarding his student's ensemble activities. The major instructor also has little control over the number of chamber assignments, or the level of difficulty of the compositions to which his student might be assigned. A significant portion of the interviewed faculty believes that the quality of the student's ensemble performance falls below that of his solo performance. Ninety percent of the piano instructors were of the opinion that the student's piano ensemble activities are not correlated to enhance his overall pianistic development.The hub of the student's pianistic progress is traditionally represented in major applied piano instruction and all other piano activities tend to be by-products of this learning experience. The conclusion therefore was made, that if the private lesson serves as a center of all pianistic instruction, solutions to these problems would be forthcoming.In order to correlate chamber study with overall pianistic development, adequate record-keeping was recommended. In addition to required chamber/accompanying courses, it was suggested that a regular portion of the applied lesson time be devoted to the study of ensemble works. Chamber/accompanying compositions studied in the private lesson should reflect pianistic challenges parallel to those of solo literature studied. That this is indeed possible was revealed through analogous studies of major chamber and solo literature.Three chamber works were compared to their solo counterparts to determine likeness in pianistic techniques. Beethoven's Piano Sonata in B-flat, Opus 22, and the piano part to his Trio in B-flat, Opus 11, were found to contain, in common, eight major classical piano techniques representing roughly ninety percent of the compositions' technical content. The extent to which these techniques were employed was also similar; specific passages of almost identical material, both technically and stylistically, were illustrated. Because of these extraordinary similarities, study of the Trio was found to be a logical alternate choice for piano study, replacing the Sonata.Debussy's piano prelude Des pas sur la neige and the piano part to the song La Grotte were revealed as having been constructed around a similar, halting, ostinato figure juxtaposed with additional techniques requiring similar, often identical, techniques. The Debussy prelude La ser4nade interrompue and the piano part to the song Ballade des femmes de Paris were found to exhibit similarity in a virtuosic style of pianism built largely on rapid alternation between hands, and alternation of pitches within the hand. Both techniques were found in similar settings and the extent of their use and others was also comparable. These examples represent a sample of compositions which are likewise analogous. It was concluded that such correlation and integration of ensemble and solo instruction was the most effective direction to be taken in improving chamber/accompanying performance as well as the overall pianistic advancement of the undergraduate collegiate pianist.As a follow-up to this study, further research is recommended to determine lists of chamber works representative of various levels of piano study which correspond in scope and level of advancement to traditional solo repertoire guidelines.

In this study the role of the thumb in piano playing is thoroughly investigated. The following areas were studied: attitudes about the thumb; anatomy, movements, and injuries of the thumb the history of the use of the thumb in piano playing; the: role of the thumb in. piano fingering; views about how to use-the thumb in playing; ways piano methods promote the use of the thumb; and study materials that develop the use of the thumbs.Numerous sources provided varying amounts of information on the subject. Books on piano technique and pedagogy, books about anatomy, and periodicals were important sources of information.Pianists have many different ideas about how the thumb should be used in piano playing. All of these ideas were compared and contrasted, discussing the positive and negative aspects of each.A four-item questionnaire was sent to numerous piano teachers to gather additional ideas about how they deal with the use of the thumb. The teachers had a wide range of interesting ideas on the subject. However, most of these ideas are similar to those already found in print. Many of these teachers have developed exercises of their own to improve the use of the thumb among their students.An index of study materials that develop the use of the thumb was compiled. The selections were categorized according to the area of thumb technique they develop, such as passagework or arpeggios. The categories were divided according to whether the problem was present in both hands, the right hand, or the left hand. Within each of these categories the selections were further divided into the categories of exercises, studies, and etudes.

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This paper is an investigation into the problem of the pianist with small hands, causes and effects of limitations encountered, and methods for managing the problem. A central aim is to demonstrate the accessibility of many standard works (particularly from the Romantic era) generally thought to be out-of-reach to pianists with small hands.Early chapters deal with physiological demans of piano playing. This includes hand function, related brain and central nervous system activity, and also ideal hand structure characteristics for pianists. It is then shown that the hands of many pianists deviate from the ideal, but that it is possible to compensate for most deficiencies, as seen in the hand structure and pianistic achievements of several virtuosi with small hands.Although relatively little has been written on the problem of small hands, those authors who did touch on the subject offered a variety of solutions, classifiable as physiological corrective measures, and musical devices and techniques.Physiological corrective solutions fall into three broad groups: (1) stretching the hand span, (2) strengthening hand and arm muscles and building general endurance, either at or away from the keyboard, and (3) inducing a relaxed state of body/mind to eliminate tension and musclecontraction.Musical devices and techniques consist of 166 edited excerpts from standard works of sixteen composers to illustrate numerous principles. These techniques and principlesare categorized as follows:Strength: Devices to increase strength and tone forthose with small or fragile hand structure.Stretch: Devices to increase or to give the illusionor increasing the hand span.Small hand position: Devices to maintain a small and relaxed hand position.Redivisions: Redistributions, rearrangements of notes between the hands to reduce stretch requirements.Re-editing or rewriting of a note or passage.These principles for musical solutions are then applied to selected Chopin, Ravel, and Debussy works, closing with the entire Sonata in B Minor by Chopin.Just as each hand with its limitations is unique, so are solutions highly individual. The musical excerpts, therefore, are meant to serve as examples or catalysts in aiding pianists to solve their own hand problems.

This dissertation offers a pedagogical approach to the advanced piano student who needs technique refinement in the areas of dynamic control and disjunct motion. The approach is based on the writings of Otto Ortmann and later writers who have followed and extended Ortmann's studies of piano technique. The concept is developed that the control of either vertical or horizontal technique motions should be the primary technical concern of the player, the choice of a particular form of technique being the result of a rational, cognitive thought process which responds to an aesthetic goal.In order to restrict the scope of the work, it is limited to the application of vertical and horizontal motion in situations of abrupt change. These situations strongly focus attention on the problems inherent in controlling these basic directions of movement.Although the present work consists of an Introduction and four main sections, the result is a three--fold approach consisting of general discussion of each basic movement form (Sections One and Two), short exercises (Section Three) designed to isolate motion shapes or types of motion in non-aesthetic situations, and music excerpts (Section Four) in which to apply concepts and skills developed in the preceding sections. Also included are two appendices containing information which should assist the student in understanding the main body of the dissertation.The eighteen excerpts in Section Four are drawn from the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Field, Chopin, Liszt, Moussorgsky, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Bartok, Webern, Fontyn, Orff, and Copland. These present clearly isolated problems of horizontal or vertical motion as well as complex combinations of both basic motion forms. The commentaries to each excerpt are directed almost exclusively to technical concerns.Appendix I presents a survey of the development of the piano and its acceptance in the eighteenth century. The second appendix offers a survey of the history of piano pedagogy and emphasizes the significance of Otto Ortmann's work and his historical position.

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