Friedrich Wieck

Friedrich Wieck (1785-1873) is best known as Clara's litigious father who went to great lengths to prevent his daughter from marrying Robert Schumann. On the other hand, he was a respected piano teacher. Despite having received only six hours of piano lessons in his entire life, he single-handedly developed a method to train one of the greatest pianists of the nineteenth century. Today we'll explore that method and how Friedrich Wieck trained Clara Wieck Schumann.

The Principles of the Wieck Method

• First and foremost, lessons should take place three times per week.
• Begin by teaching students the musical alphabet. Explain to them how, in musical notation, the alphabet goes "C, D, E, F, G, A, B" and then repeats itself, starting again with "C."
• Explain and demonstrate how keys to the right become sharper and higher in pitch, and keys to the left become flatter and lower in pitch.
• Train students to hear the differences in pitch and how higher and lower tones sound next to each other.

From the start, you teach the visual relationships between the black keys and white keys. For example, whenever you see two black keys together, understand that the white key in the middle of that cluster will always be a D; whenever you see a cluster of three black keys together, the white key to the right of it will always be a B, and so on.

Introduce rhythm

"Introduce rhythm by asking the student if they can count out loud 1, 2, 3 at a steady tempo." "Start repeating 1, 2, 3 and at the same time play a piano key or chord while the child counts." In his book, Wieck explained how this process works: "I count 1 of the chords with her and have her count 2 and 3 on her own, or otherwise I count with her on 2, and have her count 1 and 3 alone, but I make sure to strike the chord promptly and with precision." "After that, I strike the chord in eighth notes and have her count 1, 2, 3. In short, I give the chord in different ways to teach her steadiness in counting and to concentrate her attention." "In the same way, I teach her to count 1, 2, 1, 2 or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 while telling her that music is sometimes counted in three-four time and sometimes in 2/4 or 4/4 time."

Introducing Chords

Marie Wieck and Clara Schumann with Friedrich Wieck, c.1880

Next, you teach the student the concept of chords. Wieck wrote about how to hear the difference between major and minor chords: "When different tones are struck at the same time, if they sound good together they make what we call a chord. There are both major and minor chords: the major chord sounds cheerful, bright; the minor one sad, dull, as you might say; the first laughs, the last weeps."Wieck encouraged teachers not to have students think too much about the character of chords, trusting in students' instinct for what sounds cheerful or sad.

He advised explaining how the difference in these chords comes from "the third, counted upward from the lower note C and depends on whether you take that a semitone higher or lower, E or E-flat." This builds on previously acquired knowledge of pitch differences and note names. How to Discuss More Advanced Techniques

Wieck advised regularly referring to more advanced techniques yet to be introduced, by telling students things like: "I'll explain this better to you later, when you learn about the tonic, the third, the fifth or dominant, the octave, and so on."

He writes further: "It is beneficial and psychologically correct to touch on points occasionally, in passing, that will be taught more thoroughly later. It arouses the student's interest. Thus, the usual technical terms are sometimes used beforehand and a necessary, superficial explanation of them is given." Clara Wieck Schumann's Opus 3, published in 1833 at age 13

Finger Dexterity

Wieck encouraged teachers to work with students at a table to develop finger dexterity and evenness of movement.

"You will learn to move your fingers lightly and loosely and completely independent of the arm, although at first they will be weak and you will learn to lift them and let them fall properly." "Moreover, we will devise a couple of exercises to teach you to loosen your wrist, because that must be learned at the beginning to obtain a fine touch on the piano. That is, to make the tones sound as beautiful as possible." Wieck believed that teachers should immediately dive into more advanced theory.

Wieck believed that teachers should immediately dive into more advanced theory. He specifically emphasized teaching the whole-step/half-step patterns of a major scale, beginning with C major as a demonstration. He advised that teachers should learn how there are only half steps between E and F, and then B and C. In his words, he described: "This is quite important for my method, because in this way the different keys can be explained clearly."

Clara Wieck Schumann's Op. 4, published in 1835 when she was 16

Reading sheet music

When did Wieck introduce reading sheet music? He believed in teaching it later than one might think: "I perhaps teach the treble clef notes after the first six months or after sixty or eighty lessons, but I teach them in my own peculiar way, so that the student's mind can be kept constantly active. With my daughters, I only learned the treble clef notes at the end of the first year of instruction, the bass clef notes a few months later."

He immediately anticipated a reader's question: so what should a teacher focus on when teaching a student before introducing sheet music? Wieck's answer:

• A light touch
• Playing chords from the wrist
• Scales in all keys, performed evenly (first separate hands)
• Cultivating a sense of rhythm
• Dividing measures
• Understanding the relationships between dominant and subdominant, as well as transposition

PianosIntroducing pieces

After all this, Wieck finally began to introduce his own composed pieces: "I teach them to play fifty or sixty little pieces that I have written… They are short, rhythmically balanced, pleasant and striking to the ear and are designed to gradually develop increased mechanical skill. I require that they be learned by heart and often transposed to other keys, so that memory – indispensable for piano playing – is unconsciously greatly enhanced. They must be learned perfectly and played well, often, according to the student's capacity, even finely; in strict time (counting aloud is rarely necessary) and without stumbling or hesitation; first slowly, then fast, faster, slow again, staccato, legato, piano, forte, crescendo, diminuendo, etc. This teaching method I always find successful, but I don't put the cart before the horse, and without prior technical instruction, I don't begin my piano lessons with the extremely difficult acquisition of the treble and bass clef notes."

His daughter Marie published these studies after his death. You can view them for free here.

Keep students engaged

Despite his reputation as a tyrant, Wieck believed it was important to engage and entertain the student. In this respect, he actually sounds quite modern. "I never try to teach too much or too little, and in teaching each thing, I try to prepare and lay the foundation for other things that will be learned later. I consider it very important not to try to cram the child's memory full of the teacher's wisdom (as is often done in a crude and harsh way), but rather I strive to awaken the student's mind, to interest them, to let them develop themselves, and not to reduce them to merely a machine. I do not demand the practice of vague, dreary, time- and spirit-deadening piano tinkering. In any case, as I see it, your little Susie was forced to learn, but I adhere to a musical method and always do this with an eye toward the individuality and gradual development of the student… I constantly keep the formation of good technique in mind, but I do not make piano playing unpleasant for the student by urging them toward useless and meaningless mechanical 'practice.'… All of this must be done without haste and without tiring the student too much with one thing or exhausting the interest, which is of the utmost importance.Clearly, Friedrich Wieck's method is very different from most beginner piano methods used today. Perhaps modern teachers can be inspired by elements of his unconventional techniques.

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