46. “New Shoes” and Weighted Keys
There is a popular exercise that teaches the student to play a random key on the piano repeatedly with one finger. In other words, the person learns to feel the weight of the keys and can press them in different ways, extracting different types of sounds. One can spend several months pushing down a child’s hand onto the keys and lifting it back up. But it won’t bring him a step closer to an actual sense of the weight!
Think of all the times you’ve tried on shoes in front of the mirror at the store. Did any of this help you to wear them in? Nope! Only wearing them around for a few weeks will rid you of the last callus, and you will no longer feel them on your feet and move about freely. Isn’t it time to end this preening in front of a mirror and actually walk somewhere?
Only playing scales and other exercises will give the student a sense of the keys beneath his fingers.