Learning to play the piano is very common today and good pianists are so large in number that mediocrity is no longer tolerated at this instrument. As a consequence, one should study eight to ten years before one can risk playing a piece with a certain force, even among hobby musicians.
But how few are actually able to dedicate so many years to the study of this instrument! And so it often happens that, due to insufficient practice, the performance sounds uneven and incorrect. The left hand gets stuck at most somewhat difficult passages, the fourth and fifth fingers are practically non-existent due to the lack of special exercises for these fingers which are always weaker than the others. And if you come across passages with octaves, tremolos or trills, they are often performed with difficulty and some effort – the result being a rather incorrect performance completely devoid of expression.
這本由 Schott 出版的教材,是由 19 世紀法國著名鋼琴教育家夏爾-路易·哈農(Charles-Louis Hanon)於 1873 年首度發表的世紀鉅作。無論是在古典音樂學院還是業餘鋼琴教室,只要提到「練基本功」,《哈農》絕對是雷打不動的首選教材。
哈農在撰寫這本書時的初衷,是為了幫學習者解決一個練琴痛點:許多學生花費了 8 到 10 年的時間練習,卻依然卡在左手不夠靈活、第四和第五指(無名指與小指)軟弱無力的困境中。因此,他將鋼琴演奏中最核心的機械式生理動作拆解,精心設計了 60 首沒有動聽旋律、但極具功能性的練習題。