Boris Berman's "Notes from the Pianist's Bench" enhanced with multimedia elements

Fifteen years after its initial publication, faculty pianist Boris Berman's Notes from the Pianist's Bench (Yale University Press, 2002) has been enhanced to include audio and video clips that support the written content, which has also been updated. "I expanded it in terms of the content," Berman said, "but also, I added the visual and audio components." A decade and a half after writing the book, Berman considered various pieces of feedback, and, "in some cases," he said, "I changed my view on certain subjects."

The "YUP approached Boris with the idea of adding audio and video components to the book," Yale University Press publicist Alden Ferro said in an email. "Accompanying both the print and ebook versions is access to multimedia components: 20 video examples and 25 audio examples. In the multimedia edition, clicking the links takes you directly to the audio and video examples. In the print book, audio and video symbols throughout cue the reader when and which example to watch or listen to online. If a reader buys the print edition, they can gain access to the audio and video components by going to www.yalebooks.com/berman and registering for an account on the companion website."

Ferro noted that "as in the original edition, Berman gives tips on everything from the practical matters in piano playing— sound and touch, technique, pedaling, and articulation — to how to emotionally prepare for a performance."

Of Berman's Notes from the Pianist's Bench, the late Claude Frank, who taught piano alongside Berman at the Yale School of Music, said, "Whether the subject is rubato in Mozart and Chopin, pedaling in Bach, or merely the position of the thumb on the keyboard, Boris Berman deals with it comprehensively but concisely, imaginatively and realistically. The book is neither too elementary nor too advanced for any pianist, piano teacher or piano lover. It is informative, inspiring and entertaining."

Acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax offered, "What makes Mr. Berman’s book so persuasive and enlightening is his understanding that there is no one 'method' of teaching music — each relationship with a student is a process of discovery for teacher and student both."

Learn more about the new edition of Boris Berman's Notes from the Pianist's Bench on the Yale University Press website.