FAQ — Questions & Answers

1.1 — What is the fundamental difference between piano touch and harpsichord touch?

The difference lies in the mechanical nature of the instrument. In the piano, sound is produced by a hammer striking the string and the intensity depends on the speed of the key's fall. In the harpsichord the string is plucked by a quill (jack); the pressure must be controlled, clean and focused at the bottom of the key. Harpsichord touch rejects the dead weight of the arm and concentrates on the agile articulation of the fingers.

1.2 — Many students come to the harpsichord from the piano or organ. What is the first mental and technical obstacle you find in them?

The main obstacle for those coming from the piano is the instinctive search for dynamics through muscular force, which on the harpsichord stiffens the hand without changing the volume of the sound. For those coming from the organ, the difficulty is linked to managing micro-articulation and key release. I help students overcome this block by educating them to listen to the "click" of the jack: finger independence and fingertip sensitivity are the keys to mastering the instrument.

1.3 — Would it be pedagogically better to study harpsichord before piano?

Starting with the harpsichord offers an enormous advantage: it develops immediate tactile sensitivity, millimetric finger control and an awareness of articulation that the piano risks making lazy. Beginning with the historical keyboard educates the ear to purity of sound and polyphonic clarity from the very first steps, making any subsequent approach to the piano much more informed.

1.4 — Many people think the harpsichord is a limited instrument because it lacks real dynamics. How do you explain that harpsichord expressivity resides in sound and time?

The harpsichord has an illusory but extraordinarily effective dynamic, based on time and articulation. Expressivity is achieved by modifying the duration of sounds (legato, detached, over-legato), delaying or anticipating a note to highlight it (agogics), thickening chords and managing silences. It is a rhetorical expressivity, where the space between the notes speaks more than the note itself.

1.5 — Are there technical "Studies" necessary for the correct harpsichord technique?

In early music, "études" in the nineteenth-century sense (like Czerny's) do not exist. Technique is learned directly from historical treatises and from the original didactic repertoire. Pieces based on scales, arpeggios and polyphonic passages drawn from ancient intabulations or early eighteenth-century suites serve as genuine exercises for finger independence and hand posture.

1.6 — How does body posture affect sound production on the harpsichord?

Harpsichord posture requires a stable but flexible seating position, generally higher than for the piano. Since the instrument does not require the use of body weight, the shoulders, arms and wrists must remain completely relaxed. The driving force is entirely confined to the fingers, avoiding tensions that would damage the fluidity of articulation.

1.7 — How does one learn to manage the key resistance (the plucking point) on the harpsichord?

It is learned through slow practice, training the fingertips to perceive the exact moment when the quill meets the string. The key must not be attacked, but accompanied with constant pressure until this small physical resistance is overcome. This control ensures the perfect simultaneity of sounds in polyphonic parts.

2.1 — Is there an ideal repertoire for someone who has never touched a historical keyboard?

The journey almost always begins with simple dance forms or small polyphonic pieces from the eighteenth century. The ideal repertoire combines melodic linearity with structural clarity. Taking first steps on clear, uncluttered structures allows one to isolate technical problems and concentrate exclusively on the beauty of sound and control of touch.

2.2 — What specific pieces should be played in the very first harpsichord lessons?

In the very first lessons one tackles the small pieces from the Little Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, the elementary compositions of Henry Purcell or the minuets of Jean-Philippe Rameau. These are short, structurally clear pieces. A very important lesson comes from studying unmeasured preludes — brief and simple ones such as the small prelude in A minor by Louis Couperin, or the small preludes from the Paignon manuscript (in the beautiful edition by Colin Tinley for Schott). Such pieces allow one to immediately connect with the sound and the harmonic rhythm hidden in the musical passages.

2.3 — Is there the same study programme for every student of historical keyboards?

Absolutely not. The harpsichord teaching programme is tailor-made, cut to measure for the student's background. A musician who arrives after years of organ study needs a path aimed at key release and agogics; a pianist will need to work on reducing weight; a complete beginner will follow a gradual progression focused on coordination and Baroque grammar.

2.4 — What is the ideal path for a student tackling the French harpsichord repertoire?

The French repertoire is a school of style and rhetoric. One starts with the more linear and descriptive pieces of François Couperin or Rameau to understand the deep connection between music and Baroque dance. The path continues by tackling the complexity of the Préludes non mesurés and the systematic study of ornamentation, until reaching the true interpretive goal: making the semantic text fluid, elegant and speaking.

2.5 — What are the first steps to understanding "Notes Inégales" in the French style?

The first step is to understand that inequality is not a mathematical rule but an expressive and choreographic need. One begins by applying it to pieces with conjunct motion in regular movements, learning to alternate long and short notes naturally, almost caressing the keyboard. The goal is to imitate the fluidity of singing and the dance step of the period.

2.6 — How is the study of basso continuo introduced in the early stages of teaching?

The study of basso continuo is introduced alongside solo pieces, starting with the realisation of elementary harmonic progressions and cadences on given basses. The student learns to read figured bass and to understand harmony not as a vertical block but as a dense web of extemporaneous melodic lines, developing the ear and performance readiness.

3.1 — Should harpsichord practice be accompanied by theory?

For the harpsichord, the division between practice and theory does not exist. Playing a historical instrument without knowing the theory of the period — which includes counterpoint, rhetoric, the theory of affects and the rules of tuning — means performing empty notes. The understanding of Baroque musical text depends entirely on knowledge of the cultural codes that generated it.

3.2 — What are the fundamental historical treatises to study for the harpsichord?

The three pillars of treatise literature to study thoroughly are: L'Art de toucher le Clavecin by François Couperin (1716), the Versuch by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1753) and the treatise by Johann Joachim Quantz on the transverse flute (1752), fundamental for understanding the taste and musical aesthetics of the eighteenth century.

3.3 — What modern books are recommended to deepen knowledge of early music culture?

For a critical introduction and modern aesthetic framework, essential reading includes the texts of Nikolaus Harnoncourt (such as Musik als Klangrede), the essays of historical keyboard players and the philological analyses of the great twentieth-century teachers, among which the writings and lessons of Maestro Kenneth Gilbert on French and European keyboard literature stand out.

3.4 — Why is the study of historical temperaments fundamental for a harpsichord student?

Unlike the piano, which is stably tuned according to equal temperament, the harpsichord thrives on the variety of historical temperaments (Vallotti, Werckmeister, Meantone). Understanding these tunings allows the student to understand why a key sounds harsh or very sweet, exploiting the acoustic tensions of intervals to accentuate the expressive contrasts intended by the composer.

3.5 — What is the "Theory of Affects" and how is it applied in harpsichord performance?

The Theory of Affects (Affektenlehre) is the Baroque code that associates specific musical figures, intervals or keys with a particular emotional state (joy, sorrow, fury, contemplation). The performer analyses the score to identify these rhetorical elements and uses articulation, tempo and the registration of the instrument to communicate that affect clearly to the listener.

4.1 — Where does rigorous respect for historical "rules" end and where does the modern interpreter's personality begin?

The historical rule is not a prison, but a map. The treatises of the period tell us what a seventeenth-century musician could or could not do, but they leave an immense space for improvisation, invention and personal taste. Philology serves to clean the score of later accretions; once the authentic language has been reconstructed, the modern interpreter must use it with complete freedom and contemporary sensibility. Respect for the rule ends when music becomes archaeology; art begins when that ancient code speaks again to the heart of the modern listener.

4.2 — Could one argue that the harpsichord develops a superior musical creativity compared to other keyboard instruments?

Absolutely yes. The harpsichord by its very nature requires continuous creative involvement from the performer. Many Baroque scores are harmonic skeletons that the artist must enrich: the choice and variety of ornaments (agréments), the improvisation of diminutions, the extemporaneous realisation of the basso continuo and the freedom in unmeasured preludes all require a compositional mind and ever-active creativity.

4.3 — How does one approach the choice of registers (registration) in a Baroque piece?

The choice of registers (8-foot, 4-foot, lute) must be guided by the formal structure of the piece and its intended use. In the French repertoire, registration changes are often indicated or suggested by the nature of the pieces themselves (e.g. Pièces de Clavecin en Concerts), while in the German or Italian repertoire one tends to maintain a stable registration for entire sections (terraced dynamics), favouring the clarity of the polyphonic texture.

4.4 — What is the role of silence in harpsichord music?

Silence is the most powerful expressive tool of the harpsichord. Being a plucked string instrument, the sound decays rapidly; the management of the empty space between the release of one key and the attack of the next creates dramatic tension, rhetorical breath and the illusion of legato phrasing. The harpsichordist does not only play the notes but sculpts the silence.

4.5 — How does one reconcile rhythmic precision with the freedom of Baroque expressivity?

Through the judicious use of historical rubato, which differs from the Romantic kind. As described by the treatises, the bass rhythm must remain as solid and regular as a heartbeat, while the upper melodic line may hesitate, flex, delay or accelerate to highlight the density of affects, then reabsorbing the temporal gap within the bar.

5.1 — Would you introduce harpsichord study from primary school?

Without any doubt. The harpsichord is a formidable instrument for children's musical education. The keyboard has narrower and lighter keys, perfect for a child's hand which does not need to make harmful muscular efforts. Moreover, the clarity of harpsichord sound helps early musical literacy, training the ear to pure polyphony and stimulating fine motor coordination without the fatigue traumas typical of the piano.

5.2 — How does one design and adapt a specific harpsichord path for children?

The path for children (such as the project "The Child-Sized Harpsichord") is founded on the playful, narrative and descriptive aspects. Pieces from the harpsichord tradition are used that imitate the sounds of nature, animals or fairy-tale characters (typical of French literature). The child learns articulation by playing with the key, visualising the movement of the jack as a natural little hop.

5.3 — What are the advantages of teaching harpsichord to children compared to the traditional piano?

The advantages are both mechanical and cognitive. The harpsichord key does not require arm or shoulder strength, eliminating at the root the risk of tendinitis or poor posture in young children. From a cognitive perspective, the transparent polyphony of the harpsichord trains the child to distinguish independent melodic lines much more clearly than the blended sound produced by the pedals and resonance of the piano.

5.4 — Why do many pianists and organists choose at some point in their career to devote themselves definitively to the harpsichord?

The definitive choice often arises from the need for a more intimate, intellectual and artisanal contact with sonic material. The harpsichord offers absolute control over the micro-structure of sound and rhetoric. Finding one's own voice on this instrument means falling in love with its immense literature, the refinement of the Baroque repertoire and the creative freedom it grants the interpreter.

5.5 — What is the educational value of ensemble music and basso continuo for a young harpsichordist?

Basso continuo removes the keyboard player from the isolation typical of the soloist. It forces the student to listen to the other instruments (strings, winds, voices), to breathe with them and to adapt their sound, tempo and harmonic density to the acoustics of the hall and the colour of the ensemble. It is an extraordinary training ground for humility, intellectual readiness and musical sociality.

5.6 — How is the art of extemporaneous ornamentation developed in advanced students?

It is developed through the assimilation of historical models. The student must not invent from nothing, but internalise the patterns described in the ornament tables of the great composers (Rameau, Couperin, d'Anglebert).

5.7 — What is the true interpretive goal a teacher must help a harpsichord student achieve?

The true interpretive goal is eloquence: making the instrument "speak". Teaching succeeds when the student stops thinking of the keys as physical obstacles and begins to use them as syllables, words and phrases of an articulated rhetorical discourse. The harpsichord must not merely dazzle with the brilliance of its mechanism, but must move, convince and captivate the listener through the poetry and semantic fluidity of its sound.