Intended for the aspiring artist as well as the enthusiastic amateur, this invaluable guide to piano practice and performance covers every major aspect of pianistic technique. Drawing from more than forty years experience as a teacher and highly acclaimed performer--as well as from her studies with Rachmaninoff, Schnabel, and Cortot--Slenczynska clearly demonstrates such basics as the proper use of hand positions, fingering, pedaling, ornamentation, various fingering touches, and counting. She also gives detailed instructions on the art of program building, carefully analyzing the concert...