Piano extended technique
Encyclopedia
Piano extended techniques are those in which unorthodox or unconventional techniques are used to create the sound.
introduces the silent pressing technique into his Carnaval (at the end of Paganinni)—the use of these techniques was not widely practised until the 20th century. Composers such as Béla Bartók
started to look at the piano as a more percussive instrument and explored various techniques to achieve percussive effects. His Bagatelles and Mikrokosmos (the series of works for the instruction of young pianists) both contain unusual instructions to the pianist. He even used special notation for certain of them: "hold keys silently" is indicated by square note heads rather than the usual round ones. Karlheinz Stockhausen
took these ideas further in his series of works entitled Klavierstücke in which the pianist is often instructed to wear protective gloves while bashing the keys with the fists. Henry Cowell
also explored these techniques. Sofia Gubaidulina
, in her Sonata, instructs the pianist to use nontraditional sounds: sounds produced by a glissando performed with a bamboo stick on the piano pegs against a cluster performed on the keyboard; a "buzzing" sound created by placing the bamboo stick on vibrating strings; pizzicato effects produced by plucking the strings; glissando effects produced by rubbing along the strings using a fingernail; and a muted effect produced by touching the strings. Jennifer Stasack, Crossing Rivers IV, Movement IV, instructs the pianist to use the palms for the white notes (clustered
) and flat hands for the black notes (also clustered). Composers also instruct the pianist to partially damp strings with the finger tips to create harmonics (e.g. George Crumb
, Eleven Echoes of Autumn, Eco I).
Another technique involves the physical "preparation" of the piano using foreign objects inserted between the strings or attached to the hammers. John Cage
pioneered this technique. He worked with another pioneer in the field of extended techniques, David Tudor
.
Pianos have also been constructed that include microtone
s (and extra keys to hit their strings).
Techniques
- prepared pianoPrepared pianoA prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....
, i.e. introducing foreign objects into the workings of the piano to change the sound quality - string pianoString pianoString piano is a term coined by American composer-theorist Henry Cowell to collectively describe those pianistic extended techniques in which sound is produced by direct manipulation of the strings, instead of or in addition to striking the piano's keys...
, i.e. hitting or plucking the strings directly or any other direct manipulation of the strings - whistling, singing or talking into the piano (with depressed sustain pedal)
- silently depressing one or more keys, allowing the corresponding strings to vibrate freely, thus creating a kind of reverb effect
- percussive use of different parts of the piano, such as the outer rim
- flageoletHarmonicA harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, i.e. if the fundamental frequency is f, the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f, . . . etc. The harmonics have the property that they are all periodic at the fundamental...
: creating harmonics by touching overtone positions on the string with the finger of one hand and hitting the respective key with the other hand - use of the palms of the hands or the fists—or indeed other body parts—to strike the keys
- use of other materials to strike the keys
- bowing the strings with bundles of fishing line - introduced by John CageJohn CageJohn Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
- palm muting, i.e. placing one hand on the string(s) to mute them while playing the keys with the other hand.
History
Though some of these techniques had been explored by earlier composers—Robert SchumannRobert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
introduces the silent pressing technique into his Carnaval (at the end of Paganinni)—the use of these techniques was not widely practised until the 20th century. Composers such as Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
started to look at the piano as a more percussive instrument and explored various techniques to achieve percussive effects. His Bagatelles and Mikrokosmos (the series of works for the instruction of young pianists) both contain unusual instructions to the pianist. He even used special notation for certain of them: "hold keys silently" is indicated by square note heads rather than the usual round ones. Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
took these ideas further in his series of works entitled Klavierstücke in which the pianist is often instructed to wear protective gloves while bashing the keys with the fists. Henry Cowell
Henry Cowell
Henry Cowell was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. His contribution to the world of music was summed up by Virgil Thomson, writing in the early 1950s:...
also explored these techniques. Sofia Gubaidulina
Sofia Gubaidulina
Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, is a Russian composer of half Russian, half Tatar ethnicity.Gubaidulina's music is marked by the use of unusual instrumental combinations...
, in her Sonata, instructs the pianist to use nontraditional sounds: sounds produced by a glissando performed with a bamboo stick on the piano pegs against a cluster performed on the keyboard; a "buzzing" sound created by placing the bamboo stick on vibrating strings; pizzicato effects produced by plucking the strings; glissando effects produced by rubbing along the strings using a fingernail; and a muted effect produced by touching the strings. Jennifer Stasack, Crossing Rivers IV, Movement IV, instructs the pianist to use the palms for the white notes (clustered
Tone cluster
A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three consecutive tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale, and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster...
) and flat hands for the black notes (also clustered). Composers also instruct the pianist to partially damp strings with the finger tips to create harmonics (e.g. George Crumb
George Crumb
George Crumb is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres, alternative forms of notation, and extended instrumental and vocal techniques. Examples include seagull effect for the cello , metallic vibrato for the piano George Crumb (born...
, Eleven Echoes of Autumn, Eco I).
Another technique involves the physical "preparation" of the piano using foreign objects inserted between the strings or attached to the hammers. John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
pioneered this technique. He worked with another pioneer in the field of extended techniques, David Tudor
David Tudor
David Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.- Biography :Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the...
.
Pianos have also been constructed that include microtone
Microtonal music
Microtonal music is music using microtones—intervals of less than an equally spaced semitone. Microtonal music can also refer to music which uses intervals not found in the Western system of 12 equal intervals to the octave.-Terminology:...
s (and extra keys to hit their strings).