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I just had a conversation with a Juliard instructor on "key slappers"

Posted by Analog Scott (A) on August 29, 2021 at 06:28:25

This is in regards to the disagreement I have with Todd over technique and form of several pianists of note. As I had said before, I am not an expert on proper form at the keyboards but I do know a few things about it.

So I reached out to a friend who is a professional pianist and was/is (not sure if they are still there) an Instructor of piano at Juliard. Pretty confident this person who shall remain nameless knows a lot about piano form.

The opinions expressed were in some ways a bit surprising

So this is what was said in response to Todd's assertions

Todd stated: "Lang Lang is what I would call a "key slapper"...... He "slaps" the keys to create "dynamics".... (This is a trait of a lot of well-known pianists- Yuja Wang, Valentina Lisitsa, Kissin, and others also do this to varying degrees.... ) It produces a "piano roll" type of sound from the instrument..... It sounds "monotone" (where the better pianists strike the keys in a variety of "controlled" ways to create "tonal color" and dynamic shadings.... ) The articulation and timing become sloppy, and the dynamic control just isn't there..... The "sound" remains the same with different works and composers..... From my perspective, it tends to make the music "boring"..... (Note that others might like this style of playing.... Not everybody likes the same types of performance. And yet others might disagree that it is a questionable playing form.)

Lang Lang has performed a boatload of works, but there is nothing he's performed (aside from Gerswhin's Rhapsody in Blue, which tends to be forgiving to this type of playing), that has really impressed me."


This was the response.


"I agree with all of that! His (Lang Lang) technique is a bit strange but aside from his weird key slapping thing, there's no denying that his general facility at the keyboard is in the top .0001 of all pianists alive, Yuja Wang being two steps above that.

If anything about Lang Lang, it's just his absolute tastelessness in all things life and musical that turns the majority of the public away. I like to compare him to Anakin Skywalker: blessed with an insane amount of talent but always using his powers for evil."

My response:


"Interesting. You would put of Yuja Wang and Evgeny Kissin in the same catagory of key slapper?"

Their response:

"Oh no no no absolutely not! They are the real deal and neither of them EVER slap the keys in that weird ass way that he (Lang Lang) does

Sometimes I think he does that shit for show like a monkey. If you watch his old videos from when he was a Curtis student, he doesn't do that.
It seems to be like some weird trait he developed through fame

Yuja Wang is in a league of her own. She is the Simone Biles of piano. There isn't a soul on earth who comes even miles away from the natural gift she was born with. That's not an exaggeration at all.

If I were to take an excerpt of one minute of music and give myself two years of practicing JUST that one minute of music and do NOTHING but that, it still wouldn't come close to what she is able to do in about thirty seconds flat

That kind of talent is one in a Google plex. We will never see another pianist like her

It's not possible"


This should make for an interesting discussion... As some of you know, Yuja is a personal friend of mine but I have always felt she was in a league of her own as a pianist. It was interesting to see a true expert offer their opinions on the subject.


By the way, I want to apologize to Todd for some of the comments I made when I thought he was quoting someone else. I would not have been so aggessive in my disagreement had I known he was speaking for himself. All the quotation marks threw me. I meant no disrespect towards Todd.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.

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