[f_minor] The Haptic & The Tactile [was:] Re: book

Mon Jun 28 17:21:45 EDT 2010

you were more effective than you could have imagined .  much better than 20 minutes of hands in  hot water which remove the unnoticeable ( but noticeable when absent ) fluids   from the finger tips. result : 10 minutes of slipping and sliding until they come back.   in the absence of your kind services,  a hairdryer  works well. 

________________________________
From: Robert Merkin <bobmerk at earthlink.net>
To: Discussion of the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. <f_minor at glenngould.org>
Sent: Mon, June 28, 2010 1:35:09 PM
Subject: [f_minor] The Haptic & The Tactile [was:] Re:  book

Touch doesn't get nearly the respect and 
attention it deserves; almost everybody takes it for granted.

Electronic Gizmo Guys & Gals of 
the Old School used to scour their fingerpads with sandpaper to enhance 
their touch sensitivity, for turning knobs ever so slightly -- trying 
to tune in a hard-to-get Short Wave station. (These days, all the "vernier" -- 
teeny-tiny -- adjustments are done by digital computer arithmetic, so 
0.000000005 is as easy to ask for as 0.5)

But obviously a fine keyboardist is going 
to pay a lot of attention to his/her sense of touch, and grow more and more 
conscious and observant of its nuances.

Once I was offstage next to a very talented 
pianist about to perform, and she was very anxious and unhappy because her 
hands were cold. I offered to warm them in mine, and she eagerly let me. It's 
now clear how much keyboardists depend on tactile feedback -- all sorts of 
information from their fingertips -- to play well, and depend 
on tricks like sandpaper -- or a Hand-Warming Boy -- to play at their 
best. GG also perceived that he was plagued by chilly hands.

The Oriental board game Go uses 
a square wooden board, and players place stones -- small disks -- on 
the intersections of the 19 x 19 rectangular lines.

The board can cost $50,000 (or, if you 
prefer, $50), and the most desired stones are polished slate 
(black stones) and polished mother-of-pearl (white stones).

Players love the distinctive KLIK 
sound of stone placed on board, but they also love the fingertip feel of 
placing the stone on the board. (If you close your eyes, a big Go 
tournament sounds like a knitting convention.) Go is harder to 
master than chess, and has sensory dimensions chess 
lacks.

There's the exquisite mosaic beauty of the 
stone pattern of a completed game -- some players say they often turn their 
backs on winning to concentrate on cooperating with their opponent to 
create a beautiful stone pattern, without a word 
exchanged -- there's the hypnotic, reassuring KLIK sound, and the 
lovely, satisfying tactile moment of placing each stone.

My philosophy professor shared bits of his 
specialty, Medieval philosophy, and taught us why the palm of each hand has a 
big M on it. Our hands are the instruments of almost every Sin we might be 
contemplating. As we reach toward every Sin, we read one final 
warning from God: Momento Mori -- Remember That You Will Die (and be 
judged for your Sins).

Hope all are having a great Summer (or, in 
the Antipodes, Winter), with lots of Haptic Fun. If ya know of any great live 
performances upcoming in North America, give a shoutout.

Bob

----- Original Message ----- 
>From: velfred at sbcglobal.net 
>To: Discussion of the Canadian pianist Glenn 
>  Gould. 
>Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 12:33 
>PM
>Subject: Re: [f_minor] book
>
>
>Thank you very much for the explnation.
>Fred
>
>--- On Mon, 6/28/10, michael macelletti <mmacelletti at sbcglobal.net> >        wrote:
>
>
>>From: 
>>          michael macelletti <mmacelletti at sbcglobal.net>
>>Subject: 
>>          Re: [f_minor] book
>>To: "Robert Merkin" <bobmerk at earthlink.net>, 
>>          "Discussion of the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould." <f_minor at glenngould.org>, 
>>          "gail paynter" <gmadoodat at hotmail.com>
>>Date: Monday, June 28, 
>>          2010, 7:53 AM
>>
>>
>> >> 
>>sorry  about getting a little excited about the word haptic, 
>>          but it does seem to provide the missing term which describes the type 
>>          of memory which most pianists use. ( and often with disastrous results 
>>          ! )     and i'm happy to say, bob, that mr webster would 
>>          totally agree with you is his fine book. no difference to him either. 
>>           but , if i might be excused for a little personal 
>>          interpretation,  there may be a great difference. the term 
>>          tactile seems to have been sullied by previous use, it's connection 
>>          with the " feel " of , say, a fabric or  smooth piano keys. ( 
>>          providing they aren't worn ivories ! ).    haptic, on the 
>>          other hand, happily ( sorry about that ) because of it's lack of 
>>          familiarity, can easily make the bridge between touch and mind to my 
>>          way of thinking.          it even sounds 
>>          psychological !            i mentioned 
>>          the disaster that can result in using this type of memory for a 
>>           concert. it's always a temptation to rely upon  it because 
>>          most pianists will find that they can play a sonata without music ( 
>>          and without mind !! ) in just a few months. then they try to play it 
>>          for a jury exam or recital, they start to  " think " about the 
>>          connections, and lo and behold, all is lost.  their hand memory, 
>>          or haptic memory was an illusion.  and they slink away in 
>>          disgrace. 
>>i have a feeling that gg relied upon this type of memory to a 
>>          certain extent, in addition to his using great additional analytical 
>>          skills. this might explain his shaking in bed on the afternoon before 
>>          a evening concert. ( i mean, there are rather more than a few 
>>          unnatural memory spots in the goldberg, as anybody would admit who 
>>          plays it )   it might also explain why he used the loud 
>>           vacuum cleaner to distract his mind temporally  so that he 
>>          could get through the ascending sixths passage in the  last 
>>          movement ( var 5 ) of  op 109. ( when suddenly, one day,  he 
>>          couldn't play it ! )
>>well, just a little digression on a day when it's honestly too 
>>          hot in connecticut to do anything but think and then bother the f 
>>          minors.   stay cool if you happen to be on the unfortunate side 
>>          of the equator.     
>>
>>
>>
________________________________
 From: Robert Merkin 
>>          <bobmerk at earthlink.net>
>>To: Discussion of the Canadian 
>>          pianist Glenn Gould. <f_minor at glenngould.org>
>>Sent: Sun, June 27, 2010 11:39:10 
>>          PM
>>Subject: Re: 
>>          [f_minor] book
>>
>> >> 
>>Thanks for the cool new 
>>          word! But ... how does "haptic" differ from 
>>          "tactile"?
>> 
>>Bob
>> 
>> 
>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>>From: michael macelletti 
>>>To: f_minor at glenngould.org ; 
>>> gail paynter 
>>>Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 
>>>            9:30 PM
>>>Subject: [f_minor] book
>>>
>>>
>>>a  " must have " book for all gouldians :    " 
>>>            BRAVO FORTISSIMO " GLENN GOULD , THE MIND OF A CANADIAN VIRTUOSO , 
>>>              by helen mesaros.  and , believe  me, i've got them 
>>>            all.  this volume is  a veritable treasury of minutiae. 
>>>            i.e. where and when did he practice on the nassau trip. ( and who 
>>>            was there to witness it. ) , where was he when his teacher died, 
>>>            what bothered him the most about retirement. the word, haptic ( i 
>>>            never saw it before! ) and the beethoven 5.   
>>>enjoy! 
________________________________
 >>> 
>>>
>>-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>>
>>
>>
>> 
________________________________
 > 
>
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