31 Thursday Mar 2011
Posted in article, music, new approach, performing
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Image by niclindh via Flickr
Why It Was Time For James Levine to Step Down from an orchestra member’s point of view, WQXR.com
The Critic Returns, As the Performer NYTimes.com
31 Thursday Mar 2011
Posted in learning, left hand, music, page turns, piano
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Image by Toni Blay via Flickr
News Flash: being left-handed is not an advantage in piano playing! I have this on irrefutable authority.
Since you asked ;), left-handed players’ left hands still take longer to learn parts.
Being left-handed makes turning pages with the right hand harder because the right wrist doesn’t flip as fast. Typically, a left-handed player will move the music way over to the left, then turn with the left hand.
30 Wednesday Mar 2011
Posted in Uncategorized
Looking forward to ginger ale and popsicle delivery when a friend gets off work.
30 Wednesday Mar 2011
Posted in Uncategorized
Flu. 😦 New post when it goes AWAY.
27 Sunday Mar 2011
Posted in career, chorus, editing, goals, marking the score, music, piano, preparation, priorities, process, serving music, tools, work
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Image via Wikipedia
Download “Regina Coeli” for $2.44
It is not necessary to play a piano reduction as written. Publishers are not always pianists, and some reductions are practically impossible to play. Different publishers and editors make different conclusions about how to reduce orchestral scores, so you will see wide variations between reductions of the same piece of music.
The intent is what matters, as well as support for the solo and chorus parts. And, as always, clarity is more important than playing every note printed. After all, this is not piano music! No points are handed out for playing piano reductions exactly as written.
Listen to a recording for orchestration and sound (articulation, length of notes, how accents are performed, etc.)
Provide full orchestral sound when needed
Rewrite for clarity in piano sound
Retain composer’s style
complete chords ~ exception possible when chorus sings full chord
Download “Regina Coeli” for $2.44
My changes:
|
Page/Bar |
|
|
2/18 |
Omit ”D” in RH to accommodate trill. Altos sing ”D,” so the pitch is heard anyway. |
|
4/21 |
Omit 2nd ”E” in RH to accommodate leap of a 10th in melody. Although ”E” is missing from the harmony temporarily, upon practicing the passage this way several times, there seems to be enough going on so it won’t be missed by the audience. Every 16th note is still present rhythmically. |
|
5/36 |
Move 16ths in beats 2 and 3 to LH, down an octave, to accommodate melodic leaps in melody. |
|
5/37 |
Add ”C” to RH under trill, add ”B” under ”G.” Omit 2nd “middle C” and ”B” from LH (wide reach). Open 5th on beat 3 for LH would be unacceptable, as would omitting low ”G.” |
|
6/45 |
Play ”C” and ”E” with left hand, same octave, to accommodate trill. |
|
6/47 |
Drop lower RH part down an octave, play with LH, resume as written with dotted chords. The accommodates RH trill. |
|
7/49 |
Fast tremolo, not 16ths. |
|
10/81 |
Divide 16ths between hands as necessary to accommodate trill and bass line. |
|
10/83 |
3rd beat, drop 16ths down an octave, play with LH. |
|
10/86 |
Play 16ths with LH. |
|
10/87 |
3rd beat, play ”C” and ”B” with LH. |
|
11/96 |
Beat 2, drop 16ths down an octave, play with LH. |
|
11/100 |
4th beat, omit lower octave in LH. |
|
12/101 |
Omit lower octave in LH through low ”C” on 3rd beat. 2nd beat, drop 16ths down an octave, play with LH. |
|
12/102 |
Tremelo in LH. |
|
12/108 |
Omit ”G” in RH. |
|
14/123 |
Play root position triads in LH. |
|
16/145, 146
|
Divide middle part between hands as necessary. |
|
16/148 |
Beat 4, drop RH “F” down an octave, play with LH. Omit low ”D” in RH. Trill doubles, don’t need. |
|
16/149 |
Beat 1, end trill on ”C” in RH, omit remainder of RH chord. Chorus sings complete chord anyway. |
|
16/150 |
Beat 4, omit ”F” in RH. |
|
16/151 |
Beat 1, finish trill on ”C”, omit remainder of RH chord. Full chorus is singing, piano plays ”E” octave in 2nd 8th note of bar. |
The “piano part” you play should sound like the piece was composed. Don’t introduce sounds that are not in the orchestra if you can help it.
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25 Friday Mar 2011
Posted in directed practice, performing, Uncategorized
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23 Wednesday Mar 2011
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Articles have appeared in The New York Times and the Boston Globe, providing detailed information about the most recent changes:
You: Levine Cuts Back on Work for the Met (nytimes.com)
James Levine withdraws from remainder of BSO season (boston.com)
Letter: Missing James Levine (nytimes.com)
“James Levine Withdraws from Tanglewood”
18 June 2010
Classical music news: Does the case of James Levine show that maestros, money and media are too tilted toward celebrity?(welltempered.wordpress.com)
James Levine Cancels Another Performance
(artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)
Mr. Levine has cancelled more and more frequently over a period of ten years. With that in mind, I find his recent decision to be a positive for all concerned. Both the Met and the BSO recently made plans for conductors to be available in case of cancellation.
New review by pianist and conductor Andrei Strizek
20 Sunday Mar 2011
Posted in constructing a piece, crossword, directed practice, fun!, learning, music, new approach, outside the box, practice, process, teaching, tools, variety
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The first crossword puzzle, created by Arthur Wynne,
published in the New York World on December 21, 1913.
Do you do puzzles? How do you go about it?
Some people:
go across first, then down, always in order
do the reverse
skip all over the puzzle
do the long clues first
do all the short words first
Sometimes I like to solve one word across, then down, alternating until I get to the bottom of the puzzle grid.
Do you have a consistent approach? Or do you mix it up?
Not every puzzle works the same way.
Flexibility rocks!
If every piece is approached the same way, practicing is boring.
A Saturday morning student brought a book of Irish tunes for flute with piano accompaniment this week, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. We had a great time doing something different!
She showed me how she had practiced the tune (flute part) with the right hand of the piano part. I thought that was an interesting choice ~ not what I would have chosen, but who says you can’t do it that way?
After she played her version, I wanted to see what happened if she switched around. So she played the tune and the left hand, then both hands of the piano part.
Then I asked her to play the piano part while I played the tune.
When we switched to a different piece, our final version for the day was with her playing the tune and the left hand while I played the right hand part above the tune.
My student found that she could be more flexible than she ever thought possible. I think that came from doing something different in the first place ~ she had to let go.
Skip around. Don’t do the same thing the same way every single day.
Sometimes:
Practice hands alone
Start with the development section
Nail the key changes by starting before and continuing past a key change for a couple of bars
Nail the meter changes in the same way
Tempo changes too
Dynamic changes
Practice the end first
Work on the most difficult sections, then switch to another piece
Look at the music away from the instrument. Sing it in your head.
Conduct
Dance around the room while you sing out loud
Teach it to someone else
Play sequences/repetitions out of order, last section first
And then play it like you are performing it!
Did you solve the whole puzzle?
Any questions? 😉
18 Friday Mar 2011
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Wyoming Park Theater Company’s “A Christmas Carol” ~ Image via Wikipedia
A piano student may or may not decide to continue with the piano. In fact, most students will develop other interests after awhile.
In the future, a piano student may decide to:
And even if none of the above happens, someone who is educated about music will be an informed audience member, better able to enjoy the music. Creating audience members of the future is one of my goals in teaching.
It is entirely within reach for someone to benefit from having the piano available as a tool.
The keyboard provides visual relationships.
One of my students is a terrific self-taught guitar player. His more recent piano study has clarified many things for him, especially concerning range.
Both of these are helpful to singers and conductors, especially.
16 Wednesday Mar 2011
Posted in assembly, constructing a piece, directed practice, fingering, listening, music, organ, pedal, piano, practice, preparation, process, video
Please turn up the volume on your computer.
I agree. Don’t you wish you were an octopus? I do sometimes.
Learning a fugue takes patience! Each voice must be learned separately before we can perform them together with confidence and clarity.
As I do not play the harpsichord, I am not able to offer suggestions. Portions of this post may, however, be relevant…
Finding good fingerings is the single most helpful thing we can do. Start with the subject, then the second entrance, etc. Adding middle voices is easier when there is a theme to work with.
Practice each voice with the fingering likely to be used later. If we avoid this, then we’re setting up something that won’t work. The fingering we need is the one that works while playing other voices. Yes, that raises the level of difficulty, but the resulting sound will be more cohesive.
While practicing the separate voices, concentrate on exaggerating the finger articulation. Having the ability to feel intervals in our hands is a learning track that helps a great deal later.
After every voice is comfortable with good fingering, we can begin putting the fugue together two voices at a time. This needs to be done in every possible combination in order to hear the way the voices relate to one another.
When playing two voices together is comfortable with the correct fingering, then play the lower voices together. Omitting the top voice allows us to hear the remaining lines clearly. Most of us remember the top line more easily, but in a fugue all voices are accorded “equal time.” There is no part that is always in the background.
And now… drum roll!… put everything together! You will want to use a slightly slower tempo at first. Playing at performance tempo immediately makes it too easy to revert to bad fingering. We all sound better when legato lines stay that way. Fingering is crucial! Slowing down a little enhances a positive outcome. Playing too fast right away results in our having to undo things later.
If you play organ, you’ve just added a voice. Your feet will be playing an entire fugue line, including subject, countersubject, sequences, etc. But don’t panic… it’s fun!
You’ll need to practice the pedal part a lot. It has to become so familiar that it’s completely independent of the manuals.
Practicing every keyboard part by itself in combination with the pedals will be very helpful. You’ll get more pedal time in, also hearing the pedal part with each manual voice as well as against it.
Good luck! 🙂
Many thanks to C.I. for the blog idea!
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