Volume 64, No. 2

Creative Health for Pianists: Concepts, Exercises & Compositions. Pedro de Alcantara. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023. Xxiv, 396 pages. 301 musical examples and 20 B&W figures. ISBN: 9780197600207.

Creative Health for Pianists by Pedro de Alcantara is a unique combination of technique manual, composition primer, and a treatise on improvisation and philosophy. It reads much like a guided journal written at the piano, with ideas for exploring sound. It should be read and played at the instrument, as the musical exercises illustrate the author’s points. It is both a creative approach to healthy piano technique and a series of exercises to encourage creativity through composition and improvisation.

 In the preface, the author mentions four groups of people he thinks would benefit from his book: “beginners who are comfortable reading music, skilled musicians who aren’t trained pianists and who would like to play the piano better, piano teachers, and accomplished pianists who are curious about a different entry point into the labyrinth of music” (xv). As a classically trained pianist, I found the musical examples easy to follow, but the reader needs to have considerable musical knowledge in order to understand what is being discussed. Difficult rhythmic concepts, like alternating between compound and duple meter, changing accent groupings, voicing internal melodies, and cross-rhythms, are far beyond the technical abilities of many beginning players. The author does admit that beginners might find the later examples in each chapter to be too difficult, and he directs such readers to focus on only the first few examples of each chapter if needed (xvi). He discusses the judgements that beginners and non-pianist musicians often make about their own piano playing and suggests how this book could help these players move past those mental blocks (xvi). The musical examples, accessible in style, but with dissonance lending color, include frequently detailed dynamics and articulations, giving even advanced players plenty to think about.

In each of the book’s ten chapters, Alcantara presents what he calls an “archetype,” which is a short musical motive; he explains the focus for each motive, gives ideas for practicing, and expands the motive into longer exercises and full pieces while focusing on one or more specific concepts and/or skills. The author writes that he “invites you to think differently about your hands at the piano” and encourages experimenting with sound and technique (6). Chapter One, “Dialogue,” focuses on basic intervals, hand position, moving the thumbs and holding one note while others move. Chapter Two, “Heartbreak,” goes deeper into intervals, bringing attention to the sound and emotion of each one; there is a technical focus on trying different fingerings and note-groupings. Chapter Three, “Seesaw,” shows how to use a motive in multiple ways, employing a recurring rhythmic pattern and fast finger action; the author introduces different types of tonalities and scales as well as ideas for creating variations. Chapter Four, “Celeste,” invites the reader/player to experiment with different sounds, including clusters and harmonics (silently depressing the tones of a cluster in one hand and individual tones in the other, allowing frequencies in the harmonic series to ring out); there is further discussion of note-groupings and rhythmic variation. Chapter Five, “The Circle,” focuses on the circle of fifths, including playing chord patterns in all major and minor keys, transposition, and enharmonic writing; this chapter assumes previous knowledge of sharps and flats, major and minor, and key signatures. Chapter Six, “Gesture,” adds more technical ideas, including wrist rotation, playing both melody and accompaniment in one hand, playing combinations of white and black keys, tone clusters, and playing with hands crossed or overlapped. Chapter Seven, “Advanced Seesaw,” continues to explore ideas of rotation and hand-crossing, with more focus on dynamic control and more complex rhythms. Chapter Eight, “Sonic Play,” focuses especially on voicing and on holding one finger while moving others. Chapter Nine, “Horn Call,” pushes the reader/player to listen and create new sounds through harmonics, stress within note-groups, and rhythmic variation.; there is also practice changing between fifths and sixths within the hand. Chapter Ten, “Mudra,” reviews many of the other concepts seen in earlier chapters; it also introduces improvising a melody from a cluster chord.

Although a variety of technical concepts are employed within the exercises, the author’s greatest emphasis is on sound and creativity. He emphasizes playing with ease and joy, without discussing what this means for the player’s physicality. In the introduction, he describes “healthy technique” as a “balanced interaction of physical, mental, musical, technical, and aural forces” that makes the player feel like they’re relaxed while staying totally engaged (8) “And yet your ego stays out of the way and you feel as if you’re not doing anything, because music does the job for you.” (8). The writing is very expressive, with an emphasis on exploring tone colors and creating a variety of sounds.

There are two companion websites available for the book. One (available at www.oup.com/us/CreativeHealthforPianists) is from the publisher, with videos of the exercises being played by the author. The other (www.pedrodealcantara.com/piano) is the author’s website, which shows videos of various players and their individual performances of the exercises. Many of these players incorporate improvisation or slight changes, which are commended by the author. These performances could be especially inspiring to players trying to learn how to improvise, or composers looking for ideas about creating music from small motives.

This book takes a non-standard approach for a manual on technique or composition, and the author encourages playing at the piano as the reader moves through the volume; once I realized this is more of a philosophical discussion with creative ideas, I found it quite fun. The text does not explain the exercises, but instead gives ideas to think about, as well as motivation and encouragement (for example, “Ultimately, musical meaningfulness comes not from the information but from your interpretation of it; not from the score, but from you” (101)).  The text gives a mindset or idea to focus on, and the music provides a chance to try things out.  Technical concepts are still drilled through repetition, but with a focus on being musical and creative, rather than just moving muscles. This book serves the intended audience well as a new source of creative technical exercises and an exploration of creating music through improvisation.