The effect of touch on tone production on a grand piano

This is a study regarding piano tone production in the performance practice. During the performance preparation, pianists may encounter various degrees of difficulties whether they are physical techniques or musical interpretations. The physical techniques on piano playing are often a complicated subject to conceive for both teachers and students in terms of teaching and learning. On the other hand, pianists' musical interpretations can be limited by the lack of fluency in physical techniques. With these two concerns in mind in the preparation of piano performance, the aim of this research is to provide various resolutions, which combine the physical techniques with the musical interpretations, in order to achieve a satisfactory performance in accordance with pianists' needs and demands of music.;The pianist's control of timbre by pianists can be organized into two categories: (1) internal control, which refers to the knowledge and skills that affect timbre, and (2) external control , which indicates the physical skills to execute the internal control.;This study posed two research questions: (1) What knowledge do pianists feel are necessary to properly execute touch and express interpretation? Knowledge identified by writers in the area are: (a) Pattern recognition of the "essentials" in score reading such as length of notes, phrasing, dynamics, articulations, tempo, and so on. The purpose of this pattern recognition is to lead pianists to acknowledge the composers' ideas and to be faithful to their intentions. (b) Training of a critical ear. This allows pianists to become aware of a tone's strength and duration so that the control of timbre can be clearly articulated. (c) Developing musicianship, including a historical exploration of the arts and humanities. This helps pianists to be constantly aware of their musical feelings and responses. In addition, pianists achieve the ability to make appropriate judgments about the music, based on these musical and historical studies. With these judgments, they can direct the right touches. (2) What physical techniques are necessary to properly execute touch and express interpretation?;These skills provide strategies for physical coordination so that a pianist can implement and interpret the works mentally. Strategies containing the influence of hand and sitting positions in piano playing are also discussed in this category.