by Lillie Philipp Practice is indeed the soul of piano technique and this concise handbook by a noted pianist and teacher tells you how to get the most out of it. It is a working manual, containing technical studies, excerpts from the works of the great piano masters, and photographs all of which help the students develop a sound technique in a comparatively short time.
Beginning with such elemental topics as seating position, hand and finger positions, and scales, the author proceeds to trilling, exercises, thumb exercises, four-finger exercises, accent, tone production, chords, fingering, pedaling, phrasing, sight-reading, and other essentials of keyboard art.
Ms. Philipp has distilled the experience of a lifetime of playing and teaching (she studied with students of Liszt and Busoni) into a highly useful guide for all piano students. The text is replete with hints and suggestions for developing better technique:
Melody If you want a melody to sing, keep the accompanying figuration softer and you will get the desired effect.
Practice Practicing pianissimo, as many great pianists have been known to do, will help further technique and improve velocity.
Pedaling If you want an individual tone to be particularly beautiful, catch it with the pedal just after you have hit it.
These hints, and a host of others, are complemented by 63 musical excerpts from the masters Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Bartk, Mendelssohn, Liszt and numerous exercises illustrating various technical, stylistic, and musical approaches. Close-up photographs indicate proper positioning of hands and fingers to achieve the proper playing skills and practicing techniques.
Pianists at all levels can benefit from careful study of this unique book beginners will find it particularly helpful in acquiring a thorough knowledge of the essentials; intermediate and advanced pianists will appreciate its review of basic principles and the author’s authentic and interesting treatment of problems concerned with the study of the piano.

Reprint ofPiano Study: Application and Technique,MCA Music, New York, 1969.