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Jean Muller
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Art of Piano
Art of Piano is a daily blog exploring the craft of piano playing from both the concert stage and the teaching studio. Each post reflects on sound, touch, expression, and the subtle mechanics behind music-making — where technique meets imagination.
🎹 What Do the Fingers Really Do?
"The finger's movement should begin at the knuckle." Today is all about the fingers. They are our primary point of contact with the...
Jean Muller
Jun 272 min read
🎹 Biomechanics at the Piano: A First Overview
“Every sound begins with touch — where the pianist meets the key.” 🎹 Biomechanics at the Piano: A First Overview I’ve drafted this post...
Jean Muller
Jun 42 min read
🎹 Should We Dance at the Keyboard?
"You don't need to control your fingers. You need to control the piano." Following recent reflections on flexibility and relaxation , I’m...
Jean Muller
May 292 min read
🎹 If Only Speed Mattered, Every Pianist Would Sound the Same
In an earlier post, we explored how hammer speed at the moment of impact determines volume — and how this has shaped scientific...
Jean Muller
May 282 min read
🎹 Do We Really Hear What We Play?
One of the most difficult — and most essential — skills for a pianist is learning to listen honestly to oneself. We often believe we’re...
Jean Muller
May 262 min read
🎹 Can We Shape the Life of a Sound?
Music is the art of shaping sound. And if sound and silence mirror life and death, then every note is born, lives, and eventually fades....
Jean Muller
May 252 min read
🎹 What Comes First: Music, Instrument, or Pianist?
This question isn’t rhetorical — it shapes everything about how we approach piano technique. When facing a technical difficulty, many...
Jean Muller
May 242 min read
🎹 The Sound of Touch: Playing Noise and Artistic Control
Today, let’s take a closer look at how the pianist can work with — and even shape — the mechanical noises produced by the piano action....
Jean Muller
May 232 min read
🎹 Can We Control the Sound of a Piano Beyond the Dynamics?
Today, we begin exploring the mechanical heart of the piano: the so-called action . When Bartolomeo Cristofori first experimented with...
Jean Muller
May 222 min read
🎹 What Actually Produces Sound at the Piano?
It’s easy to believe that piano sound comes from what we do with our fingers. And in part, it does. But the piano itself is a resonant...
Jean Muller
May 212 min read
🎹 Can a Machine Reproduce Your Sound?
A few years ago, I had the privilege of attending a private presentation of the Steinway Spirio | r system, exclusively for Steinway...
Jean Muller
May 202 min read
📝 The Pianist and the Teacher
🎹 Reflections on the Art of Piano – Entry 1 Every pianist is a student. Every teacher, a translator. And I’ve spent my life shifting...
Jean Muller
May 191 min read
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