Un-learning what comes naturally...

I promised a few digressions into realms other than the sweaty and sore-footed, and here’s the first, wherein PP tries to make a connection between practicing the piano and learning to run right.

Piano lovers tend to talk about the Chopin etudes like this: Well, you know, all through the 19^th century, everybody wrote etudes, and they’re mostly all dull technical drills. What sets Chopin’s apart is that they are such original, daring, beautiful MUSIC.

Trouble is, Chopin’s etudes are technical exercises, meant to teach something. If you’re trying to learn one, better be prepared for some reps. And be prepared to un-learn what seems like the most natural way of doing things.

Take the so-called “Harp” Etude, Op. 25, No. 1. About two-thirds of the way through comes a passage that sums up the technical challenges of the piece. The left hand is mostly playing an arpeggio just below middle C, but on alternate beats has to go down an octave and a half to a low B-flat or D-flat. It has to happen fast, has to be accurate, and HAS TO be played with the pinkie.

Now, no pianist really trusts his left pinkie. We tend to keep it at arm’s length. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) It’s a weak, skinny finger; it tends either to miss the target key altogether or sound it too thinly. So all of us (don’t bother denying) tend to double up the third and fourth fingers to hit these crucial low notes.

That’s inefficient, inaccurate, and just plain WRONG and ol’ Frederic ain’t letting you off the hook until you learn to do it right. That’s what makes it an etude and not just a pretty piece.

Cut to last Saturday’s run, when Coach Mark fell into stride alongside me and offered a short list of stuff I wasn’t doing wrong, exactly, but could certainly be doing more efficiently and more…correctly. Some of it meant un-learning what comes naturally.

Right now, training for the Half Marathon feels like the first few weeks with a difficult new piece of music. It may seem daunting, but then one day you’ll be playing the piece and cruising right by the passages that once gave you the willies. I hope.

Remember, visit http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/zooma11/jmckeonymw to donate.