Josef Proksch and his methodology of teaching piano (in the light of his six books of Practical School of Piano Playing)

Abstract

This thesis discovers and analyzes the Josef Proksch's approach to piano teaching based on his six books of Practical School of Piano Playing. In each book we study the increasing technical difficulty, the selection of the particular exercises, études and compositions. The whole set of the course books is also described in terms of its structure, language variants and editions issued by various publishers. The storage location of all the examined exemplars in the main Prague libraries is summarized in a clear table. Furthermore we go thru the programs of Proksch Music Institute public exams. This helps us to reveal the then preferences of both the lay and the professional public. This work also tries to track the Proksch's influence on his most popular student Bedřich Smetana. The analyzed course books are compared with Smetana's institute teaching materials. There we have found that Smetana continues and develops Proksch's ideas. Keywords Josef Proksch, Practical School of Piano Playing, Versuch einer Rationellen Lehrmethode, Josef Proksch Music Institute, School of Piano Playing, Piano Teaching, Piano Methodology, Analysis, Bedřich Smetan