Q&A: How to improve your sight-reading

Roger Federer (Photo credit: Daryl Sim)

There are other posts on this blog about sight-reading, always a topic of interest.

I have been watching tennis again! Nadal and Federer are both at the top of their game.

What does watching tennis have to do with sight-reading? Well, I’m happy to say that I learned something from watching tennis that applies to sight-reading, too.

In previous posts, I have talked about looking ahead. That is crucial to good sight-reading, since it is impossible to continue with anything if you are stuck where you are. Driving a car is a good example.

But I learned something new yesterday evening, thanks to Roger Federer. He anticipates his opponent’s next shot. In fact, he anticipates so well, he has arrived at the spot where the ball will be going before his opponent even makes contact with it. The best example from Federer’s match is at 5:22 in this video.  Isn’t that incredible? Think about it.

Similarly, what we need to do is not only look ahead, but also anticipate what sound we expect to hear next. Where is the harmony going?

You may be saying that you can’t tell right now. But you can, with practice.

• If you can hear a piece in your head when looking at, but not playing the music, you’re on your way.

  • This can be improved by singing all the parts away from the piano.
    
  • In chordal writing, you can sing all the pitches in each chord from bottom to top.
    

• When you become familiar with various composers’ harmonic language, your sight-reading will improve exponentially.

• How does the music of Bach, Debussy, and Poulenc sound different?

• Do you listen to music when you’re not practicing? You can improve your playing a great deal. Practicing more and more is not the solution for everything.

Where is your sight-reading right now? Do you anticipate the next sound?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Summer Concerts

See complete details about Rocky Hill Concerts. 4 Sunday afternoons in July in air-conditioned comfort!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 8 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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Q&A: Neck pain and the piano

A Pain That I’m Used To (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Any type of pain associated with playing an instrument needs to be addressed.

Let’s talk about neck pain in this post, though, to keep things manageable for readers.

Onset

When and how did your neck pain start? What were you doing at the time?

What do you do when not playing the piano? For example, do you drive long distances? Work at a desk? Use a computer for long periods of time?

Possible causes

Your work setup, car seat, steering wheel angle, different mattress, different pillow, bicycle handlebars, even not wearing sunglasses outdoors can all be factors.

Look at your practice setup.

• Bench too high or too low?
• Enough light?
• Music at a comfortable height?
• Have you had your eyes checked recently?
• Body alignment
• Drafty room
• Cold room
• A glare on the music
• Recent changes in technique
• Practicing too long without a break
• Learning a lot of notes all at the same time
• Sight-reading for hours

A look at some other factors

• Not getting enough sleep.
• Not eating regular meals.
• Being under the weather.

• Anemia
• Virus
• Having a cold
• Coming down with something
• Dental issues
  

Possible solutions

• Ask a friend to watch you play
• Videotape yourself playing
• Make small changes as indicated above
• Stretch before and after practice
• See a doctor who treats musicians
• Get a massage
• See a chiropractor
• Work with a physical therapist or sports trainer to strengthen back and shoulder muscles

Letting pain continue while proceeding as usual is not a solution, but will exacerbate the problem. Even if you are busy, have several performances coming up, or can think of a list of reasons not to address the pain, you must. Your longevity as a musician depends on it.

Have you experienced neck pain from playing the piano? What did you do about it?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Summer Concerts

See complete details about Rocky Hill Concerts. 4 Sunday afternoons in July in air-conditioned comfort!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 8 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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What is a “bad” practice day?

Bad as Me (song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yes, I do think “bad” practice days exist.

Take today, for example.

For reasons I won’t discuss here, today found me “off my game.” Has that happened to you?

Why?

Even while warming up with finger exercises I am completely used to, I couldn’t feel my hands or fingers in the usual way. That may have been okay, but my hands repeatedly slipped off the keys.

That is, of course, unacceptable.

So, what do you do? Stop practicing for the day?

Not wanting to quit right away, I opted to see if I could find a way to accomplish something.

Warmup

The first thing I did was to slow down. A lot.

Then I flattened my hands more than usual, resulting in more finger surface on the keys. That helped accuracy quite a bit.

Okay, warmups worked after making adjustments in speed and hand position. Now it was time to practice some music.

Music

Playing at performance tempo wasn’t going to work. Warmups had brought that to the forefront already.

The music I wanted to practice to day was Bach and Messiaen from my July solo program. After not playing it for some time, a slow tempo was needed.

When I tried hands together, that didn’t work for the same reason the warmups were uncomfortable at first. I couldn’t feel my hands or fingers very well.

Something that worked

The approach that worked was hands alone slowly, concentrating on fingering and phrasing. My ears were fine, so listening seemed like the way to go.

What about tomorrow?

I know why I was off my game today, and expect that tomorrow will be better. Hopefully, “bad” practice days won’t happen any more frequently than they have up until this point!

What do you do when you have a “bad” practice day? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Summer Concerts

See complete details about Rocky Hill Concerts. 4 Sunday afternoons in July in air-conditioned comfort!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 8 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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Q&A: How to practice “Figure humaine” by Francis Poulenc

Axel Theimer conducting Kantorei, a professional choir based in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An excellent question!
The first thing that popped into my head was,
“However you can!”

Perhaps the rest of this post will be more helpful.

The piece

Poulenc‘s “Figure humaine” is an unaccompanied choral work for double chorus, scored SSATBB. The parts often divide, at times into 14 parts. There is no published piano reduction.

How it happened

Having just received a call from The Philadelphia Singers, I needed to learn the parts quickly from open score. Somehow, after looking closely at the music and playing through it 2 or 3 times, that worked.

Having a first-rate conductor and a professional choir, all expecting to hear the pitches, provides excellent incentive!  And the job paid very well.

Along the way

This was far from the first time I had heard, sung, or played Poulenc’s music. That prior experience certainly formed a basis of certain expectations about Poulenc’s writing. (When you’re expecting to hear a tritone, you don’t go for a 5^th.)

Playing from a choral score

Playing parts for a chorus rehearsal has nothing to do with any other type of playing, such as producing legato sound with good fingering.

This may sound completely outrageous, but it is what I do:

• Stop thinking. Whenever you allow thoughts about the possibility for mistakes, you will make many more of them. So stop analyzing and just play.
• Play what you see.

• Go for the chord, not the exact parts.
• Play the 1^st chord, then hold it with the pedal.
• As soon as you have played the 1^st chord, move your hands to the next chord as quickly as possible. You will be “over” the notes, ready to play, early.  The accuracy comes from being early.
• Your hands/fingers should be in chord position.  Being in the general area on the keyboard is not enough.
• Always look ahead. There is no time to check out what you have already played. So as soon as you have played a chord, your eyes must be looking at the next one.
• You might want to practice one chorus at a time (i.e. Chorus I is at the top of the page).  This is one way to familiarize yourself with the harmonic language without being overwhelmed by all the parts right away.
• Realize that many parts are duplicated. There are only a certain number of notes in every chord.

• If you are new to playing so many parts on a page, start by playing the top and bottom lines together.  Your eyes will be scanning the entire page that way.

Good luck!

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Q&A, talking during organ prelude (cont.), this & that

Cover art for Potpourri by the artist P-Model ~ image via Wikipedia

Welcome to my potpourri!

Q&A

1.  How does one memorize bass lines?

This is a foolproof way to memorize inner parts as well.

• Practice the bass line separately, musically, as you would a melody.
• Write in good fingerings.
• Can you sing the bass line away from the piano?

2.  How can one avoid being nervous before a jury?

This also applies to other performances, of course.

• You are going to be nervous. Don’t deny it. That just makes it worse.
• Focus on what you are going to do.
• Don’t talk to people. That dissipates your energy.
• Practice slow breathing.
• Channel your nervous energy into the performance. This becomes easier the more you perform.

Talking during the organ prelude in church (cont.)

Florence, an organist and blogger, commented on my April 13th post, Don’t drown out the organist!, then followed up with a post on the Pedal Points

blog on the same topic. You will find some interesting comments there, as well as some terrific prior posts.

This and that

Now that it’s almost summer and the colleges are out, I am readjusting my focus. During the past several weeks I have usually felt like there wasn’t enough time. Have you ever felt like you were always in the wrong place and needed to be somewhere else in 5 minutes?

Those circumstances are not conducive to detailed practicing. I was throwing in a lot of last-minute fingerings, keeping one step ahead of sight-reading but not much more (at least that’s the way I felt).

Yes, I can do that. But I don’t enjoy doing only that.

Today I practiced solo piano music (a Bach Prelude and Fugue and 2 movements of Debussy’s Children’s Corner) in a concentrated way for the first time in weeks! It’s so nice to be able to take the time to truly listen and sink into the keys. Since I have a solo recital on July 22nd, this needs to happen now.

I also practiced organ music on the piano for the Sunday service.

And I am taking my time(!) to learn Patience by Gilbert & Sullivan. Having time (a month before the run-through!) means being able to find ideal fingerings and really learn the piece. That way, when I’m more stressed in the Fall (rehearsals will be in September and October), I won’t be so concerned if a practice session is shorter than I’d like.

Does your focus change depending on what you’re playing? What about the time of year? 

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Summer Concerts

 

See complete details about Rocky Hill Concerts.  4 Sunday afternoons in July in air-conditioned comfort!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 8 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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First impressions

Audition Cartoon (Photo credit: Mr. Daniel Ted Feliciano)

Auditions are a lot like job interviews.

When job coaches write about interview preparation, they talk about how to make a good first impression:

• Sit toward the front of the couch or chair so you can stand easily.

• Have your resume in your left hand, ready to go.

• Stand immediately when the interviewer enters the room.

• Smile and shake hands.

Why is all of that important?

• You don’t want to be sunk into the couch (bad posture, hard to stand).

• You don’t want to have to dive into your briefcase to look for your resume.

• You want to appear alert, not reluctant.

• Just because you’re nervous doesn’t mean you can’t smile.

In auditions, the same mindset sometimes eludes us. Last weekend I was house accompanist for several auditions, so there was plenty of time to observe a variety of entrances into the room.

Some things to look at:

• Arrive warmed up! The audition panel is not there to give you practice time.

• Have your resume in your hand. If you carry a briefcase, great. But digging around is a waste of everyone’s time.

• Knowing your range would be helpful.

• Look at your music after making copies! Is the entire piano part visible? (If the bass line is missing on the last staff, you may hear something you weren’t expecting.)

• Make sure the song/aria title, show/opera, and composer appear on the first page of the copy.

• Punch holes in the copies, then put them into a binder back-to-back. If the copies are single sided, then tape the pages so the pianist can turn them easily.

• Find the tempo on your metronome. Then write the metronome marking at the top of the music. This gives the pianist something to go on. S/he only has about 3 seconds before your audition starts.

• Don’t offer excuses to the audition panel. Everyone knows you’re nervous. If you weren’t, you’d sound like a robot. Excuses make you sound unprofessional and could cost you a part.

What we can do

• Practice warming up in the car, even on non-audition days.
• Practice our entrance in the mirror.
• Practice our entrance and our music on our friends.
• Practice breathing exercises to control nervousness.
• Do more auditions to become used to the process.

Ready for your audition?  Break a leg!

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Announcing our new concert series!

Christ United Methodist Church

271 Rocky Hill Rd. (Rte. 66)

Northampton, MA

announces

 

Rocky Hill Concerts

Sundays at 4:00 p.m.

July 8, 15, 22, & 29

Reception to follow

Artists

Red Valley Fog
folk music

Bob Sparkman & Jerry Noble
traditional jazz

Gretchen Saathoff
pianist

Anna DeLoi
harpist

Suggested donation $10

Complete information:
http://rockyhillconcerts.wordpress.com

The church is air conditioned!

Save the dates!

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Presto changeo!

Amateur magician performing “children’s magic” for a birthday party audience (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This post is about playing “catch up” at the end of the semester.  I’m sure you all know how that feels!

Times and dates seemingly change at random, so “normal” is feeling like you’re in the wrong place.

Practicing consists of jumping from one type of writing to another, never having enough time to practice any one thing as well as you’d like.

Extra trips must be made because of added events, school and student schedule changes, additional traffic due to crowds attending added events, etc.

Your sleep, meals, time to return phone calls, computer time, and just about everything else are affected.

These are all things that needed to be addressed during the past 3 weeks:

• Patriots Day (only in MA), which changed bus schedules

• 2 trips to Amherst College to pick up music

• 2 trips for rehearsals, 1 for final rehearsal and concert

• Learning parts for Hampshire College Chorus

  • One score badly notated

  • One open score in shape notes, no piano reduction

  • Haydn’s “The Heavens are Telling,” which I did not want to crash through

• Changed times for students’ lessons due to their schedules

• More trips than usual to practice organ, necessitated by other schedule commitments

• Practicing solos for Gilbert & Sullivan auditions next weekend

• Making a dent in scheduling our new concert series

• Contacting possible volunteers for 13 summer Sundays when choir is on vacation

Things will calm down after next weekend. By then, there will “only” be church music, concert series details, summer Sunday details, solo recital music, Gilbert & Sullivan choruses and ensembles (i.e. the remainder of the operetta), and arts transcription to do.

By the way, I love being busy. But I prefer to have a more settled schedule.

How do you handle the end of the semester? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 8 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

Back to top

New post coming soon!

Running (Evermore song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hello Everyone,

I’m late again!  The end of the semester is always so busy.  Even running as fast as possible is never enough.

There is a post cooking in my head, though, to be put into writing very soon.

Thanks for your patience!

~ Gretchen

Update to previous post

La Cathédrale Engloutie (Photo credit: Pierre Metivier)

Wow. My student, who was nearly comatose last week (you know, end of semester…) played SO WELL today! She learned how to reliably produce the substantial variety of sounds required to play Debussy’s “Sunken Cathedral” ~ in ONE WEEK!