On Piano Playing By Gyorgy Sandor -

A unique feature is Sándor’s firsthand insight into playing Bartók’s percussive, asymmetrical music. He demonstrates how Bartók’s folk-derived rhythms and dissonant clusters demand non-traditional motions (e.g., flat-fingered attacks, arm clusters). The book includes exercises derived from Bartók’s Mikrokosmos and Sándor’s own etudes.

Identify the specific technical pattern (rotation, fall, etc.) in every passage. on piano playing by gyorgy sandor

Sándor organizes his technical approach around what he terms the "five basic motions." He meticulously details the physical mechanics required to execute scales, arpeggios, octaves, and chords. Unlike pedagogues who focus on the positioning of the fingers, Sándor focuses on the alignment of the arm, wrist, and hand. He argues that the wrist must act as a shock absorber, flexible enough to transmit the weight of the arm to the fingertips while mitigating the impact of the collision. His detailed analysis of rotary motion—the natural turning of the forearm—is particularly enlightening. He demonstrates how pronation and supination (inward and outward rotation) are not merely stylistic flourishes but essential mechanical tools for passing the thumb under the hand and navigating wide intervals. By isolating these motions, Sándor provides a scientific roadmap to facility that demystifies the seemingly supernatural speed of virtuosi. A unique feature is Sándor’s firsthand insight into