DVD Contents

Topics Covered

Presentations By Edna Golandsky
Master Classes By Dorothy Taubman

Note: All demonstrations are conducted on the piano. It is recommended that pianists study volumes 1-10 and other musicians study volumes 1-5.

Volume 1: Introductory Principles and Concepts

  • Principles of coordinate movement
  • Mechanics of the piano
  • The leverage system
  • The muscles involved in piano playing
  • Finger movements analyzed
  • How to determine height of bench
  • Cause of injuries
  • An evaluation of exercises
  • Master class: Liszt Sonetto del Petrarca #104

Volume 2: Forearm Rotation

  • Why “forearm rotation” for finger work, speed
  • Double rotation and single rotation
  • Use of the thumb in the Taubman Technique
  • Forearm rotation in scales, chords, arpeggios, repeated notes, double thirds
  • Working with the injured pianist
  • Tobias Matthay and forearm rotation

Volume 3: In-and-Out Arm Movements

  • In-and-Out Arm Movements
  • Backward and Forward Shifts
    • for different finger lengths
    • from white to black key area, vice versa
  • Forearm rotation combined with in & out arm movements
  • Scales & arpeggios
  • Solution for wide fingers in black key area
  • Double note tremolos

Volume 4: The Walking Arm & Hand Movements

  • Lateral and vertical forearm adjustment
  • Synchronization of fingers, hand and forearm
  • Forearm and hand weight for chords
  • Legato chords and intervals
  • Negotiating distances
  • Combining walking arm with rotation
  • Broken octaves
  • Alternating from double intervals or chords to single notes

Volume 5: Shaping and Octaves

  • Shaping to combine all movements via curvilinear motion
  • Technical and interpretive aspects of shaping
  • Handling chords, intervals, legato and dynamics
  • Rotation and octaves
  • Free fall and rebound of forearm
  • Legato and speed in octaves
  • Master Class Excerpt: Schubert, A Major Posthumous Sonata

Volume 6: Grouping

  • How principles of grouping can help organize passages for ease of execution
  • Grouping to avoid stretching
  • Grouping for different densities of notes
  • Grouping to facilitate changes of direction
  • Grouping to facilitate leaps with complex metric designs
  • Grouping for long running passages
  • Master Class: Dorothy Taubman

Volume 7: Leaps

  • How to play leaps that don’t miss
  • Legato leaps
  • Staccato leaps
  • Minimizing the distance of a leap
  • When both hands must leap at the same time
  • Repeated leaps
  • Master Class: Dorothy Taubman

Volume 8: Interdependence

  • Interdependence vs. Independence of the hands
  • Pitfalls of practicing the hands separately
  • Vertical learning and horizontal learning
  • Interdependence of Rotation, In & Out movements and Shaping
  • Alternating hands
  • Security in complex metric designs
  • Timing broken chords and ornaments
  • Playing legato in one hand and staccato in the other
  • Memorization:
    • Different components involved in memorizing
    • Causes for memory slips
    • Explanation and instructions for security in memorizing

Volume 9: Fingering

  • What is a good fingering and why
  • Fingering to place you at the best advantage for fluent execution of passage
  • How to avoid fingering that causes stretching, twisting, or crowding
  • When and why to redistribute a passage between the two hands
  • Avoiding the pitfalls of some traditional dogmas
  • Master Class: Dorothy Taubman

Volume 10: Tone, Legato, and Enslavement to Notation

  • Uses and misuses of legato
  • Does physical legato always lead to musical legato?
  • how to make octaves, chords, and stretchy passages that cannot be physically connected sound connected
  • Role of shaping and pedaling in legato playing
  • Physical components of ton production
  • Interpreting the score to realize the composer’s intention
  • How musical results depend on technical means
  • Master Class: Dorothy Taubman

Try the Taubman Techniques risk-free for 60 days. If you are dissatisfied for any reason, you can mail back your order to us (even if the DVD cases have been opened) within 60 days of receiving it for a prompt and courteous refund of 110% of your full purchase price.Try the Taubman Techniques risk-free for 60 days!

Leo Gorelkin, MD

Impressive results with the Taubman approach in relieving and preventing inuries and also facilitating greater accomplishment at the piano appears to me to be a gross understatement.

Leo Gorelkin, MD
Long Island, NY

David Martin

The info is unrivaled…Yesterday, I went to an EPTA [European Piano Teachers Association]  meeting…I took the Taubman Techniques videos and Choreography of the Hands, those piano teachers were astounded!!!  Edna, you would have cracked up laughing inside, they couldn’t get… Read more “David Martin”

David Martin
UK

H. Franklin Bunn, MD

I [have] talked to many individuals who had incapacitating use injuries and had not received any benefit from consultations with neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists and those dealing in alternative approaches such as acupuncture. It is remarkable how many of… Read more “H. Franklin Bunn, MD”

H. Franklin Bunn, MD
Professor, Harvard Medical School

John Patrick Connolly, Jr.

I finished watching all of the Taubman videos today, and I continue to be utterly enthralled by the revolutionary body of knowledge they represent.  The videos have been an invaluble asset in clarifying and enhancing my understanding of the Taubman… Read more “John Patrick Connolly, Jr.”

John Patrick Connolly, Jr.
Gilleece Doctoral Fellow, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York

Thomas Bagwell

Before I studied with Edna Golandsky I had tremendous shoulder pain and my sound was weak. I felt that my technique had gone as far as it could go and that there was no hope for improvement. As a result… Read more “Thomas Bagwell”

Thomas Bagwell
BM, Mannes College of Music; MM, Manhattan School of Music; Assistant Conductor, Metropolitan Opera, Washington Opera, Santa Fe Opera; Faculty, Mannes College of Music; previously taught at Yale University, Marlboro Festival; Recitals with Midori, Marilyn Horne, Frederica Von Stade, James Morris and Roberta Peters

Bill Charlap

The Golandsky Institute is an important pedagogical institution not just for the thoroughness with which it deals with technical concerns at the piano but also for the emphasis it places on the music first.

Bill Charlap

Josie Gebhardt

Dearest Edna, I just finished watching the DVD where you gave a master class on the Chopin Ballade G Minor.  I loved everything you showed us.  I am trying to incorporate some of the same ideas in the A flat… Read more “Josie Gebhardt”

Josie Gebhardt
Rochester, New York

Karin Boisvert, MD

Attending the Golandsky Institute’s Summer Symposium, I discovered that a lot of people came because they were injured. I hadn’t realized that the Taubman approach could be used to cure playing-related injuries. As a doctor, this was very interesting to… Read more “Karin Boisvert, MD”

Karin Boisvert, MD
Quebec, Canada

Francesco Libetta

I was profoundly impressed by Edna Golandsky’s deep understanding of piano technique. She is the only person I have ever met who was actually able to explain to me what I was doing naturally at the keyboard.

Francesco Libetta
Concert Pianist; Professor of Piano and Chamber Music, Conservatory Tito Schippa, Lecce, Italy; Subject of Bruno Monsaingeon’s video, "Pianist of the Impossible"

Christos Noulis

I am currently pursuing a PhD research degree on issues of piano technique. This will be materialised through comparative analysis of various methods that have dealt with piano technique with consideration of the laws of anatomy, physiology, physics and to… Read more “Christos Noulis”

Christos Noulis
PhD candidate, Birmingham Conservatoire

Cynthia A. Rose, R.N.

Though there is the need for supervision at the beginning of retraining, the skills Mr. [John] Bloomfield (Golandsky Institute teacher) teaches are relatively easy to learn and retain. In addition, this program is much less costly and time-consuming than the… Read more “Cynthia A. Rose, R.N.”

Cynthia A. Rose, R.N.

Barbara Banacos

In December of 1996, my hands closed into fists as result of an injury called dystonia. Dystonia is considered by the medical profession to have no cure. At the time of the injury I was in my second year of… Read more “Barbara Banacos”

Barbara Banacos
Boston, MA

Luke Maasry

The clear and convicing physical truths about the Taubman approach presented in the 10 videos have all been confirmed in my experience at the keyboard – it feels so great to play the piano now.

Luke Maasry
Student, Eastman School of Music

Ilya Itin

Edna Golandsky is a consummate expert of piano technique and musical artistry. The depth of her analytical ability surpasses anything I have encountered. Her work frees performers, enabling them to realize their full potential.

Ilya Itin
Concert pianist; 1st prize and special Chopin Prize, Robert Casadesus Int’l Piano Competition; 1991 Cleveland 1st prize; Contemporary Music Award and BBC TV viewers poll, Leeds Int’l Piano Competition; 1996 UK

Angelo Campana

By the time I was 19 I was ready to give up and burn the piano because of the ever increasing pain to me forearms and mental burden it brought on.  All of the master classes I played at to… Read more “Angelo Campana”

Angelo Campana
Australia

Don Glanden

The even tone that results when the forearm, hand, and fingers are connected allows for accents and idiomatic jazz articulations but frees me from the strong finger vs. weak finger problem…The physical freedom offered by the Taubman approach is the… Read more “Don Glanden”

Don Glanden
Chairman of the Piano Department, University of the Arts

Linette A. Popoff-Parks

Edna has taught me to play without fatigue, pain, and tension, but . . . with an ease and proficiency that is a delight to my hands and heart. I have also discovered my tone growing in strength and color.… Read more “Linette A. Popoff-Parks”

Linette A. Popoff-Parks
Professor and Chair, Music Department, Madonna University

Maureen Volk

I worked with Edna Golandsky for 10-15 minutes each day for two weeks. We started retraining from the beginning, dropping on one finger at a time, then learning the 5-finger pattern and finally starting the C major scale. For the… Read more “Maureen Volk”

Maureen Volk
Professor, School of Music, Memorial University of Newfoundland; BM, University of Regina (Canada); MM, Juilliard; DMA, Indiana University

Gilson Schachnik

I find more and more that the only way a performing musician can cope with this level of stress is to have a solid technique background that he/she can depend on consistently.

Gilson Schachnik
Associate Professor, Berklee College of Music

Tom Lawton

The movements are designed to put you in the optimum position for every note…you have more control over the sound of every note.

Tom Lawton
Temple University
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