Tag: Chen Bi Nou

When I was in college, I was really blessed to be friends with a pianist from China named Chen Bi Nou. In case you don’t know who he is, there’s a film somewhere of President Nixon visiting China in 1973, and a young Bi Nou playing for him. He had been selected from all of China for this important event of East meets West.
Fast forward 15 years later, and east met west again, and I learned one of the most important things in music from it:
NEVER PRACTICE SCALES!
I had asked Bi Nou what exercises he did to play so smoothly, and he had this to say:
” Scale are useless. I practice songs and etudes. I just find a composition that has everything I need in it and practice that. If you just practice scales you can only do the scales, but if you practice compositions, you have all the practice you need, plus something to play for people.”
This statement went from my young ears to my big mouth, and soon everyone in the music department knew my newfound philosophy, and where I got it. This got Bi Nou a little bit of criticism from my piano teacher, but Bi Nou stuck by his philosophy. And I do too.
I’m not saying one should not learn scales. You have to know what the scales are and their fingering to be able to recognize and play them in a composition. So there is, as my other teachers fought so hard to defend, a need in the beginning to practice scales. But once the scales are learned, one must not stay there, but begin their practice in another context, that of etudes and compositions. No more time must be wasted on the solo practice of scales.
I’ve kept to Bi Nou’s philosophy for decades now. And I always thank him for teaching me.
Try it yourself, and streamline your practice and repertoire.