Dr. Gayle Kowalchyk's "Technique for Life" has virtually covered all techniques that an elementary student should have learned and mastered. Each of the techniques comes with three music excerpts that range from elementary to advanced levels. She has addressed some quintessential techniques such as "Arm Weight" "Rising Wrist" "The Thumb" etc., with emphasis on playing without tensions.
If you like to know more about her session, the handout is available on the MTAC Convention website.
Talking about "tension free," Dr. Fred Karpoff's showcase presentation - "Faber Piano Institute: The Power of Technique and Artistry" has echoed and reinforced my philosophy on how important that is to teach healthy techniques to young students and the ability to play naturally with as little tension as possible. He talked about an important concept of the "Three Dimension Playing," in which a performer shall move freely around the keyboard including in and out motions. He demonstrated techniques like Thumb Crossing Under (when playing scales), Thrills, Repeating Notes to Parallel Octaves and 3rds with detail explanations. If you are interested, please visit his piano technique website Entrada for video demonstrations. However, please keep in mind that since Dr. Karpoff is the director of the Faber Piano Institute, Entrada will soon merge with the Faber Piano Institute's website.
Among the showcase materials, I found that Hanon-Faber: The New Virtuoso Pianist a good resource for teachers to address these techniques in a productive and organizing way. If you consider incorporating Hanon into your students' finger exercise routines, this book provides tips on how to practice these vigorous exercises with information like Wrist Rotation, Circles & Rotation for Trills and more.
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