Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum The Complete Pianist (by Penelope Roskell) Students Club

I think this book, which I recently bought, is good enough to deserve a thread for it, so we can share our experiences on what I hope will be my main learning tool for years to come and I am sure will be also for other people.

Please, note that I am not affiliated with the author nor editors of that book. I just find it really good and interesting enough to share information among ABF members on a dedicated thread.

Enjoy playing and learning!

Mine just arrived in the mail an hour ago! I've learned two things already from the first two pages:

1. I found the point on my piano keys were depressing the key produces the tone, then there is some travel down to the keybed beyond that point. I guess this is escapement? Anyway, I tried playing a little bit where I'm conscious of that point. Makes a difference in my hand tension already.
2. I wonder how much of the book's info will apply to a digital piano?

Cool! I'll be following this thread. I bought the book but haven't started reading it yet.

Great initiative. My first impressions of this book are very positive and I would appreciate exchanging ideas and experiences.

Great idea ED5AGV- have had my first two for years so I hope they are still in date lol - better numbers in this series too!
Hope you are not snowed in down there in Spain!
Another good post to follow for the future

Well, in Spain in general we have got plenty of snow and temperatures plummeting in some areas to -38ºC. On my location, close to the Mediterranean Sea coast (around 10km or so straight line) and just at 110m over the sea level , we have not had snow. But temperature, for this area, has been low for our standards, around -2ºC tonight. And now we are at 10ºC, colder than usual here, but not by much (4-5ºC). All in all, I am sheltered at home (I work for myself and at home, which is great on these times!), along my acoustic piano and keyboards. I can't complain.

I am now on page 36 of the book, just starting it!

I hope we all enjoy this adventure

Keep safe!

Jose

PS: An small detail. My nickname is EB5AGV, which is my amateur-radio (my other hobby) callsign

1. Yes, that is escapement mechanism. Without it, the hammer would contact the string and keep pressing on it until you removed the pressure on the key. Not very convenient!

2. I also wondered the same, but so far on my reading, there is even a comment in the book on that, so the author knows that some people will practice only with DPs or at least sometimes with DPs (as I do). I think a great part of the book will be perfectly useful for DPs

<quote>Well, in Spain in general we have got plenty of snow and temperatures plummeting in some areas to -38ºC. On my location, close to the Mediterranean Sea coast (around 10km or so straight line) and just at 110m over the sea level , we have not had snow. But temperature, for this area, has been low for our standards, around -2ºC tonight. And now we are at 10ºC, colder than usual here, but not by much (4-5ºC). All in all, I am sheltered at home (I work for myself and at home, which is great on these times!), along my acoustic piano and keyboards. I can't complain.



Jose

PS: An small detail. My nickname is EB5AGV, which is my amateur-radio (my other hobby) callsign[/quote]

Thx for the info for your area in Spain Jose! - my name on here is also a bit of a strange one too. Mine is from my school Nickname from way back when but with a twist. I am a online gamer and play about the same number of hours as I do on the Piano. My father was into Amateur Radio but as it was back in the day with experimenting with wave propagation etc. But for me the nearest I get to that is Astronomy. You stay safe down there and it will no doubt get warmer soon! - Andy

Hi Guy's
Big apology and fraud alert!

I do not have this book as I have been on the site etc. - I do apologies for 'firing at the hip' so to speak. I have had a detailed peruse and it appears to be a really good one to follow. I decided not to buy it as I am up to my neck in learning stuff now and dare not push any further. Enjoy your studies, and once I get to a possible opening would definitely consider this one in the near future. Of course I will continue to monitor this thread too anyway

Cheers for now

Andy

OK, no problem!

On my side, I have been very slow on my journey last days, due to work and family pressures. I hope to get back to the daily book learning time soon, as it is the only way for me to advance.

Thx for being so understanding my friend

I'm currently working on section 3, finger touch and tone production.

The first technique, the parachute touch, is about using arm weight for playing. This wasn't a new concept for me, but by studying this excellent section I managed to get a better control of the movement and sound.

I started looking into the other two techniques (nimble finger touch and singing finger touch). This should be extremely beneficial since my biggest weakness right now is lack of control and evenness at higher speed.

I'm not sure yet if I will work focus completely on the concepts of this section for the next few months or if I will also look at other parts of the book (maybe I'll start the Natural Artistry part in parallel).

I ordered a copy. A hefty book. I immediately discovered there is no index. An index should be trivial to produce in this age of computer everything. A 500 page book really needs an index. So I am reduced to reading the table of contents, which is not the same thing...

Sam

I guess it is a so-extensive book that a proper Index would be so large that it would become a too-large book (well, it is already huge!). All in all, perhaps we could collectively ask the author for a digital index. I volunteer to do it if you find it to be a good idea.

One of the first things I wanted to do was see what the book had to say about the use of the metronome. No index, and not mentioned in the table of contents. So if you can convince the author to supply an index, that would be very good. I know I should read the whole book, but 500 pages? Not going to happen anytime soon.

Sam

I haven't read the whole book but I am pretty sure the Roskell doesn't discuss the metronome. There is a section on how to practice which I have read, but it is more generic advice - make a plan, practice in small sections, think about dynamics early etc.

She talks a little about the metronome on page 408, and refers the reader to the previous chapter on rhythm, where she emphasizes the importance of an internalized pulse.

Could someone who has the book please summarize what Penelope calls the Parachute Touch? The reason I ask is she is giving an online workshop on creating a beautiful piano sound through the Online Academy and it’s hard to tell from the workshop description if this would be worth the price.

Well, it appears to be her basic approach to arm weight and touch. In my opinion, much of what she writes in the book is just her way of visualizing and describing the mechanics of playing.

I have heard you play in the recitals - I think you already have a beautiful sound...

Sam

Sam, Thanks for letting me know, especially since her 500 page book does not have an index. Terms like “parachute touch” are often marketing tools to make people think they have a magic bullet to fix your playing. It sounds like basically using arm weight. I think I’ll take a pass on the workshop.