Acquiring fluency in the “language” of Classical Music Two presuppositions: First: We all play what we hear in our heads. Second: Beautiful music is “heard” in our heads and our hands obey. What we hear... What we “hear” in our mind is a combination of experience, education, and reflection. Experience includes all the listening opportunities we’ve had in life. (My advice is start early) When the our listening experiences are linked to a moment of high emotional arousal: a concert trip with a beloved family member, attending a concert with a date, the impression is going to last. Impassioned listening I call it. For links to studies click this sentence. Education is musical appreciation, music theory studies, ear training, analysis, and score study. Sophisticated music does not give up her charms easily. You must work for it. Piano students too often want to skip this stuff and get right to the good stuff. Believing that the score tells you all you need to know to create a beautiful performance is an unfortunate fallacy in piano education. It is just a bare minimum. Artistic insight and performance go way beyond the ink. Reflection needs to be deliberate. Another form of deliberate practice. It is listening with intent in the performance of a great artist and ourselves. Reading biographies, autobiographies, listening to podcasts, watching YouTube interviews, and concerts. Asking ourselves, “what is going on here?” “How did they do it?” What we can execute... What we can execute is all about deliberate practice, time, patience, and access to resources including teachers.
Now go practice, David
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1. Try to finish level 6 theory, it will really help us to communicate as musicians and build your understanding of the music you play. 2. Summer is a good time to explore music history. A good introduction for classical piano students is found on Audible.ca https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/the-23-greatest-solo-piano-works.html check www.audible.com I found it there for a really fair price. 3. YouTube score watching; paying attention to one element at a time: articulations , dynamics, tempo 4. General piano skills
David
If I can help you, please call and reserve a future spot. I am now taking reservations of summer 2020 and fall 2020. David Consider:
The ability to discriminate these individual elements will help you play more expressively. Here is an exercise:
Happy listening. David Ear training gives you the ability to conceptualise what you hear, nothing more. There are countless phone apps, YouTube videos, and social media hustlers, and books promising results in short order. Unless you are in possession of perfect pitch and deep prior experiences listening to music, this will take some time. I am 48 years in. I am still working on it.
Ear Training for Classical Musicians
If I can help you, call me. David Story Until the 19th century improvisation was expected from musicians of "classical" music. From cadenzas in Mozart to repeats in Baroque dance suites musicians and audiences alike expected and eagerly anticipated the performer's flights of fancy. I'm pleased to report that today young Classical musicians are much more open to improvising in classical music than are musicians of my generation.
I'd be pleased to show you how to improvise in both the Baroque and Classical style. Just ask. David Even though Bach left us with this, in performance there are nuances to consider. Tempo will one modifier of what we see above. Check out this article from Strad Magazine for further details and explanations. https://www.thestrad.com/playing-and-teaching/how-i-interpret-bach-tomas-cotik-on-ornaments-trills-and-appoggiaturas/9879.article My decades old copy of Opus 821 by Czerny. Still on the piano.
When I want to work on my tone, I go here. When I want to work on the different physical moves required in piano performance I go here. This work covers all the keys in very short 8 measure exercises. I'm able to work on finger independence, arm weight, rotation, octaves, staccato, legato, portato, drop, thrust, dynamics, balance, and tone. Last weekend I attended the National Ballet of Canada's performance of "etudes". It is a 45 minute ballet of bar moves and set pieces to the etudes of Czerny. It was fun to recognize many of the pieces. It was instructive to hear the music interpreted by the dancers. Click here for a free copy: https://imslp.org/wiki/160_kurze_Übungen,_Op.821_(Czerny,_Carl) Happy practicing. Graham has a some effective ideas. As always, patience and application wins. A quick coffee video on practicing from pianist magazine. Listening is practicing. A bold statement I'll stick to. Try the following immersive listening exercise.
This is just the beginning of learning to listen like a musician. As a musician I ask myself when listening, "what is going on here?" Enjoy, David The 7 circles to mastery. The following is taken from the YouTube video below. I am riffing on the ideas. 1. Hearing 2. Imagination 3. Expression 4. Technique 5. Theory 6. Analysis 7. Finally, Practice at the instrument Hearing: Good old-fashioned ear training. This is often an overlooked component in learning. Traditionally Classical piano students avoided this until a week or two before an exam. Not a great idea. It takes time to develop your ears. Well developed ears are of the greatest benefit because I believe we can only play what we hear. · Melodic playback for Classical students · Transcriptions for Jazz Students · Chord identification · Cadences · Chord progressions · Rhythm clap-back Imagination: A tough one to teach. I believe a teacher must help the student trust their musical instincts. And, treasure them. Musical instincts are a result of the prior musical experiences of a student among other things. Expression: Expression marks in a score are not suggestions for the novice. Be sure to work on them from the first reading. Do not make the mistake of thinking you can add them later after you “learn” the piece. Consider this, we all play like we practice. So, under stress (in an exam or performance) you will revert to your initial way of playing. Why? This is the way you learned it, spent the most time on. You perfected the piece in a monochromatic way. Flat and boring. Technique or what is called the fundamentals: Change your attitude. Think of them as the FUN-damentals. I use them as a form of meditation. A chance to slow down and practice playing beautifully. Beauty is that combination of touch and time we learn through repetition and reflection. Theory: Oh boy, another area most students practice the fine art of avoidance. The musicians we admire know what they are doing! If you want to have any chance of joining them, you need to understand what is going on. Form, harmony, melodic structure, intervals, historical context, the list of knowledge goes on and on. It all helps. I promise. Analysis: applied theory and the cornerstone of memorisation. Practice: Learn to practice, read books on the subject, what YouTube, listen to your teacher. Learning to practice like a pro will save you years of fiddling around. And, it is way more fun because progress is faster. Please watch the video below. A wealth of knowledge. Cheers, David What are the keys to playing the piano beautifully?
Some random thoughts.
David Story updated: October 2023 |
You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail. AuthorI'm a professional pianist and music educator in West Toronto Ontario. I'm also a devoted percussionist and drum teacher. Categories
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