The route to an effective piano technique- How a new approach to piano playing made me aware of my limits and helped me overcome them

Abstract: In this work, I analyse a new piano technique that I am in the process of studying. I applied it to three of Chopin’s Préludes Op. 28, namely no.1, no. 10 and no. 12. This technique was developed by the pianist Tiziano Poli, and described in his book Happy Fingers: La via fisiologica e naturale per la tecnica pianistica, Varese: Zecchini Editore: 2010. Its basic concepts are described in the first chapters of this thesis, together with a look on my previous approach to piano technique that lead to overuse syndrome. I describe the learning process of each Prélude over a period of four to five months, and how, in the end, Poli’s technique helped me increase relaxation, control and awareness of the movements.