Shawn Lane On Virtuosity

Shawn Lane was a virtuoso guitarist and a highly gifted all-round musician. Among his influences were pianists like Hofmann and Gould. These are some of the most interesting advice on how to acquire virtuosity. It focuses on rhythmic groupings and the minimal units of music more than mechanics. I think this advice is very useful for pianists. Instead of practicing whole passages, start by working on the smallest gesture out of which the passage is made. These minimal units are like musical phonemes. A passage is a hierarchy of patterns. This hierarchy becomes crystal clear once you think this way.

I heartily agree! Practice little bits at speed rather than long bits slowly. Playing them at speed feels totally different to the slow practice which often bears little relation at all to the musical content and physical sense. Then join them all up when you know them. AFF