Olga Kern on why pianists have two brains
The Cliburn gold medalist on hands, fingertips, the pedal and why every note matters.
Olga Kern won the gold medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She teaches at the Manhattan School of Music and is the founder and artistic director of the Olga Kern International Piano Competition.
Here are fourteen of her best tips, taken from feedback she gave young pianists after live performances, with a link to each moment on video.
1. Remember you have two brains
We always need to think that we have two brains. Only pianists have this. One half is in charge of the left hand, the other half is in charge of the right hand.
Olga Kern
2. Every note is a treasure
Every note is a treasure. If you play the ends of the phrases too short, the sound stays right at the piano. It doesn’t really go and project. We all play for ourselves, but the sound needs to reach the whole hall so the public can enjoy what you’re playing.
Olga Kern
3. Sing everything
On Chopin, she came back to the same idea again and again: the piano should sing like a voice.
In Chopin’s music the voice is so important. So try to sing everything. When we sing, it’s never flat. It’s always different. Even when we talk, it’s different. So a lot of waves, a lot of breathing, a lot of rubato.
Olga Kern
4. Legato comes from your fingers, not the pedal
It’s very important just to listen more to finger work than to overdo the pedal. It’s easy to just push the pedal, and the sound continues and connects. But sometimes it’s more important to connect it just with the fingers.
Olga Kern
Legato is so difficult to play. It’s much more difficult than to play staccato. You need to really make sure it’s not just the pedal. It’s how you make your fingers connect from one note to another.
Olga Kern
5. Keep the tempo you started with
When you were excited and playing sixteenth notes, you started to rush. So it’s very important to be more relaxed and to keep the tempo you started with.
Olga Kern
I know the excitement of performance, but still, just hold yourself a little bit. Don’t rush here.
Olga Kern
6. Find the magic in your fingertips
For the light, quick textures of Mendelssohn, she asked for a crisper, more magical sound, even at the softest dynamics.
If you’re working with your fingertips, even in the very soft, pianissimo parts, you can achieve a really incredible crispy sound, a magical sound.
Olga Kern
7. Train every finger
Always remember that our fourth finger is very weak. So we always need to work on every finger to be the same. Every note needs to be even.
Olga Kern
8. Relax, and sit straight
Sometimes your wrist is a little bit too high. You can definitely make a different sound when it’s more relaxed.
Olga Kern
We really need to sit straight. It will be easier for you to produce the right sound.
Olga Kern
9. Let Chopin fly
On the final section of Chopin’s Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1, she described music that should lift away rather than stay heavy.
It’s more flying than earthy. We are not here on earth. We need to go somewhere, fly.
Olga Kern
10. Use your technique to make music
You have all this technique. Use it for making more music. All our technical base, we need to use to make more music, to make something more special.
Olga Kern
11. Good timing is not more time
It’s not necessarily how much time you take. Timing is very important in music. You can take very little, and it would be enough to really breathe.
Olga Kern
12. Make every fortissimo different
Think about how you can play the same fortissimo but make it sound different. The sound, the texture and the colors of the fortissimos should be different.
Olga Kern
13. Learn from the recordings closest to the composer
Sofronitsky was married to Scriabin’s daughter.
My favorite recording is Vladimir Sofronitsky. He played all Scriabin like no one else, and you can learn so much from these recordings.
Olga Kern
14. We keep learning all our lives
We continue working all our lives.
Olga Kern
Quotes are lightly edited for length and clarity. They come from Ms. Kern’s comments as a judge at the 2025 Piano Star International Competition. You can watch the full performances and feedback on the Piano League YouTube channel.
Quick question
Which of these will you try first?
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