Practicing after a break

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goals, motivation, new insights, practice journal, returning after hiatus, slow practice

Source: Pixabay. Public domain. Let’s go!

Today I am starting to practice again after a break.  This post explores some aspects of returning after taking time off.

Not perfect?

Although we may vow to practice every day without exception, we all find ourselves taking a break from time to time, whether planned or due to illness, other responsibilities, being on hold with ConEd, travel, etc.

Feeling guilty? 

In the past, I would get angry with myself.  Not helpful!  That leads to yelling at yourself when staying calm would be the way to go.  When you acknowledge that everyone has days off, getting back into the loop is much less of a struggle.

What we can expect

What can we expect when we start again?  (Note that I did not say “start over.”)

Perfection?  Probably not.  However, if you are going back to music you have practiced recently, you can expect improvement!  Somehow, “ignoring” the music for a while lets it “cook.”  You will most likely find new insights when you return to it.

Jell-O fingers?  Yes… so I use the first practice session to concentrate on my warmup.  Skipping the warm-up after time off just doesn’t work well for me.  I need to feel the muscles in my fingers, so I exaggerate the movements.

Playing at performance tempo?  Even if that were possible, wouldn’t we be inviting wrong notes, fingerings, errors in dynamics and phrasing?  Practicing under tempo is useful, but extremely slow practice is not necessary.  I’ve already learned the notes.  But right now, performance tempo invites mistakes that I’d rather not add to the mix.

First day back

I usually dislike my playing that first day.  That is frustrating, but by now I expect it.  By the second day, it starts to sound better.

The first day back also seems to be a good time to assess fingerings.  If something feels uncomfortable (a level or two below “rusty”), this may be the time to experiment.  See whether a different fingering feels better.

Dynamic changes may not sound smooth.  In addition to that, if a notated dynamic contrast is completely missing, mark the spot in your music!  That means you didn’t learn that spot well enough.  This is a great time to eliminate the “oops” and fix the gap.  When you’ve remedied the problem, that phrase will usually fit into the whole more easily when you return to performance tempo in a few days.

I find it extremely motivating to set a goal, such as a performance date.  With a concert in place, I am far less likely to return to vacation mode.  (I have an aversion to making a fool of myself on stage.  Wonderful incentive!)

It is also helpful to keep a practice journal.  You’ll be able to see your progress.  I have found that dropping and then returning to a program speeds my progress toward my performance goal.  If you have a journal from the time you started learning the notes, you will be able to eliminate guess work and have accurate feedback.  (Do you remember what you did a week ago?  A month ago?  Keeping a written record is very helpful.  There is no reason to expect oneself to remember everything.  Remembering the notes is enough!)

Mix it up!

In an online piano forum, participants were exchanging ideas about how to return to practicing after a break. (What’s the secret? How can I make this easy?) Differing viewpoints emerged, as one might expect. Looking through the comment thread was invaluable.

One participant advocated starting out exclusively with etudes. Another suggested practicing only new repertoire. Someone else planned to play familiar music, waiting to add new pieces until s/he was back in shape.

While reading the thread, it seemed that perhaps taking something from everyone might be best.  In that way, etudes are included but not intimidating. Familiar music needs to be there so we feel like we know how to play! And new repertoire keeps us making progress.

What do you think?

This post has been updated from 2010.

What do you do when returning to practice after a break?  How do you help your students get back into it?  How much time do you need to get back to normal?

Comments welcome!

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How 2 high school seniors mastered Bach style in just 2 rehearsals

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baroque music, baroque period, collaborative piano, flute, high school, interpretation, J.S. Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach, music education, phrasing, style, trio sonata, violin

Have you worked from scores containing editors’ markings that could be interpreted as being misleading? How did you proceed?

Last week I had the privilege of collaborating with a talented violinist, a high school senior.  One piece on her recital program was the Trio Sonata for Flute, Violin and Continuo in G Major, BWV 1038, by J.S. Bach.  The flutist was also a high school senior.

Both played very well.  Baroque style, however, seemed to be unfamiliar to them. So they relied on the score much more than on listening to each others’ phrasing.

The edition we were using contained editors’ markings which were misleading if taken literally.

First rehearsal

This was to be our only rehearsal together, with the exception of a short time in the hall prior to the performance.

I liked many aspects of what I heard:

• In-tune playing.
• Good balance of sound (one player not louder or softer than the other).
• Legato playing, appropriate for this largo movement.
• Nice tempo.

In the “needs work” department:

•  Give and take so the moving part could carry the music.

Each player needed to diminuendo on the long notes, as they had alternating parts. Both players were more familiar with other musical styles, where a crescendo would be called for instead.

Notice in this clip that the top part (flute) plays tied notes while the 2nd part (violin) has more melodic and rhythmic interest.  The give and take in the sound when the players honor that approach changes the sound completely. Now it sounds baroque rather than romantic.

•  The music needed forward motion.

This could be heard primarily in the flute part.  The flutist, looking at the editor’s markings, playing the slurs as indicated.  In addition, because she needed to breathe, she would breathe after a short note.  That took just enough extra time to interrupt the flow of the music, whereas taking time away from a long note in order to breathe would not have had the same effect.

 

 

Take a look at the top two parts (flute and violin, respectively).  Notice how the markings seem to ask for the longer note to be slurred to the shorter one?

The music flows when exactly the opposite phrasing is used, as in the notation at the right of this example:

So we changed it!  The sound improved immediately.

Second rehearsal 

This rehearsal was with violin and piano only.  However, we had an opportunity to discuss the Bach.

At the end of the first rehearsal, my impression was that the violinist understood the changes we had made.  The flutist had improved, but was still relying on the printed score more than listening to the flow of the music.

My suggestion was for the violinist and the flutist to get together by themselves.  They attend the same school and have free time, so this was not a problem.  I asked the violinist to coach the rehearsal, finding musical lines they could play together, such as this one:

My goal was to make any differences in phrasing between the two players as clear as possible. Rehearsing alternating lines might not have had the same effect.

Pre-recital and performance

I am delighted to say that the sound was transformed!  During our brief time in the recital hall prior to the performance, we had just a few minutes to rehearse this piece. After marking in accidentals that crept up on both players, likely because of nerves, I felt encouraged.  If everyone could remain calm, count, listen, and enjoy it, we had an excellent chance of performing well.

And… it happened!  The audience loved what they heard, and I felt gratified.

Here are two YouTube videos of this beautiful piece.  Enjoy!

One version, performed with piano:

And another version, this time with harpsichord:

Have you worked from scores containing editors’ markings that could be interpreted as being misleading?  How did you proceed?

 

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How to learn a chromatic left hand in a week or less

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Accidental (music), chromatic music, Franz Liszt, Liebestraum, piano pedagogy

A helping hand (Photo credit: JMaz Photo)

Yes!  This really works!

In this example, you will need to be patient and keep your desired end result in mind.  When you stick to it, though, it takes less than a week to play the left hand fluently.

The music

One of my piano students is playing “Liebestraum” by Franz Liszt, arr. Bastien.  This is a simplified version in which the left hand plays primarily quarter-note broken chords.  The piece is very chromatic, which requires reading accidentals in quick succession.

The melody is not difficult.  Adding the left hand makes a huge difference in the piece’s impression on listeners.  The harmonies are often unusual, but by adding them, the repeated melody notes have direction.

Let’s get started!

You will recognize this well-known piece as soon as you hear it, so play the melody first.

The left hand should be learned separately.  Accidentals can derail things in a second!  Give yourself a break and focus only on the left hand during a few practice sessions.

Look at the structure

The compositional form is ABA.  The departure from the opening key occurs, of course, in the B section.  This is where the accidentals happen so often they can be confusing.

My student started her practice sessions with the B section, left hand alone, for a few days.

What, specifically, do you need to work on?

If your answer is, “the entire piece,” or “the middle section,” you need to improve your ability to identify where the problems are.  Looking at the entire piece, or a long section, is far too vague an approach for you to progress in a reasonable amount of time.

Fingering

Are you using good fingering?  Have you written the fingering in the score?  It is not necessary to write a number on every single note.  Look for places where your hand could stay in the same range, but the music moves to a different place on the keyboard.  What fingering can you use to make that transition go smoothly?  You may need to adjust the fingering earlier in the phrase.

Important:  Use the same fingering every time.  There’s no getting around this one.  You will learn the piece much faster.

Practice challenge

Do you read bass clef easily?  My student does not, so I gave her an assignment.  For one week, she said the names of the notes aloud while playing.  When she started doing this during her lesson, she was reluctant.  When she tried it again, she was speaking so softly, I couldn’t hear her (directly to her right!).

On the third try, she did it!  I challenged her to continue doing that, even when practicing alone.  I know it works… I use the same approach sometimes, saying fingerings out loud.

At first, she needed a slow tempo.  The idea is to play at a steady pace while saying the letter names loud enough so someone can hear you across the room. Maintaining a steady pace makes it much, much easier to go a little faster in a day or two.  The hesitations will disappear, and mistakes won’t have a chance to be built in!

Try for a steady tempo, even if that is slow, for now.  You don’t want to build in “hurry up and wait” like a New York driver!

Why bother to say the note names out loud?  Can’t I just say them to myself?

NO!  And this is why:  Speaking creates an additional track in the brain.  It is one more way to know the piece.  Finger memory alone is too risky.  Patient work on many levels truly pays off.  Those levels include:

• visual memory
  • of the notes on the page
  • of the keys you play on the keyboard, in the sequence of the piece
• auditory memory ~ how does the music sound?  Can you sing the tune?
• finger memory ~ how does playing the piece feel?  Do your fingers, hands, and arms feel it differently than other pieces you know?
• fingering memory ~ it can be helpful to say the fingering out loud.
• harmonic structure ~ do you know which chords you are playing?  I’m not talking about which chord inversion, whether there are 6th chords, or anything beyond the basics.  You need to know what the basic harmony is.

How to increase the tempo

After you can comfortably play the left hand while saying the note names out loud, going slightly faster will be easy!  But don’t go from the slow tempo to, say, 12 counts on the metronome faster all at once.  Speed up a little at a time.

When I practice this way, I increase the tempo by 2 or 4 clicks/minute.  At the end of the practice session, I write down what the fastest tempo was that day.  On the next day, it usually does not work to begin at that tempo.  So I back up a notch, get comfortable with that again, then go to the fastest tempo from yesterday.  Arriving at that point doesn’t take long.  Then things proceed from there.

As you reach faster tempi, you may want to back up more than one notch to begin the next practice session.  Things improve quickly, so don’t worry if you need to start slower.

OK, now you can play the left hand at a convincing tempo with no glitches!  You did it!  Bravo!

Getting both hands into the act 

It’s time to slow down a little and add the right hand.  You will progress faster if you continue to say the names of the notes in the left hand.

Where do your eyes focus?

My student had no problem with this at all.  I asked her whether her eyes were focusing in a different place on the page now.  She said that they were, in the white space between the two staves.

That is crucial to playing both hands together!  When one’s focus is on the right hand, the left hand is out of focus and collects mistakes.  (Oops, I meant to play….)

My hunch is that we all tend to focus on the top line more than the others.  This is true in piano music, open choral scores, opera scores, etc.  That is not particularly helpful!

Choice of music

“Liebestraum” is a good piece with which to learn these tools, since the melody has so many repeated notes.  That makes it easier to look at the left hand.  You can play the melody by ear.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Opera rehearsals, next stage

Tags

Haddon Hall, piano reduction, rehearsal

Programme for Haddon Hall from 1893 ~ Image via Wikipedia

Practice notes, short version.

Haddon Hall rehearsals will reach a new level next week.  The soloists have been asked to attend rehearsal, and will be integrated with the chorus.

Why practice differently?

The piece is difficult for both soloists and chorus.  The key level changes without warning, so it’s hard to hear where your line is headed.  In addition, the soloists, orchestra, and chorus play off each other in intricate rhythms.  Sometimes only the rhythms are difficult; at other times, the key level changes simultaneously.

Why more than once?

This afternoon, I practiced differently than in previous sessions for the same piece.  In fact, I practiced many sections 2 or 3 times.

In Monday’s rehearsal, I will be jumping around in the score more than ever.  So first, I made sure I knew all the voice parts (solos plus chorus).  After that, I practiced the piano reduction.

And then I went back to be sure the singers will be able to hear which key they’re in!  That means that it’s crucial to play some harmony all the time.

What we need to see

Keep in mind that when you’re dealing with opera scores, the voice parts are often out of order, i.e. a bass part often appears above a treble part.  It’s up to us to keep them all sorted out.  Brackets, arrows, and extra clef signs help, as do fingerings, circled bass intervals and harmonic changes, and surprising accidentals.

I frequently mark the key or time signature at the beginning of a line, page, or entrance, as rehearsals skip around in the score and start in the middle of a line or page.  There may be key or meter change indicated a page and a half before a starting point.  So if it’s not marked where you need it, you may not remember.

Also, writing in the name of the character at the top of a page in the middle of a solo line assures that we will play the line in the correct octave, even when rushed, starting in the middle of the solo.  (Tenor or soprano?)

Mark your score!

Got a pencil?  Marking the score can save you lots of time and even more mistakes.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Related articles

• How to practice for opera rehearsals (gretchenspianos.wordpress.com)

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What Irene can teach us about learning music

Tags

arts, Education, Hurricane Irene, pedagogy

Image by Calsidyrose via Flickr

How did you fare with Hurricane Irene?
Did you receive warnings of its potential severity? Did you take them seriously?

Preparation

Amherst residents received voice mail messages from both the Town Manager and the CEO of the electric company. They warned that we could be without power for at least a week. The local paper published a list of steps to take in advance of the storm. The governor of Connecticut set a time of midnight on Saturday as the end of a reasonable preparation window.

I took the following actions:

• gratefully accepted the loan of a flashlight from my Saturday student
• shopped for food
• thought through the scenario of having no electricity
• went back to the store for food that required no microwave, stove, or oven
• filled several water bottles
• filled the bathtub with water in case it was needed
• took candles and matches out of the cabinet
• closed and locked all the windows
• was home well before midnight on Saturday
• charged my cell phone

The storm

My neighborhood “got lucky.” We had:

• some rain, but no deluge
• some flooding, but not in my apartment complex
• no electrical outages
• the phone worked
• even the computer worked!

Everyone I know was prepared for worse.

What can we take from this? And what does this have to do with learning music, anyway?

Well, how about preparedness?

When we think through most things that could happen during a performance, we can ensure that they will be less likely to bother us if they do, in fact, happen.

• The piano could be less than wonderful.
• The pedals could be badly regulated.
• The bench could be the wrong height.
• A light could blow out.
• The room could be too cold or too hot.
• A phone could ring.
• A door could slam.
• One of our fellow performers could start rushing or dragging.
• A baby could cry.
• Someone could cough.
• A draft could blow the music around.
• Our page turner could be less than competent:
• Sometimes s/he will wear fragrance.
• Sometimes s/he will miss a turn, or be late or early.
• Sometimes s/he will be in our way.

How to learn music as well as possible

We can practice for various scenarios, rather than just getting through the music.

The most helpful thing I have found is to have reliable fingerings marked in the music.

As soon as the fingerings are there, I get them “into my hand.” This means being able to feel intervals in my hands and always arriving early to the next place, whether that be a new hand position (pivoting with the thumb) or jumping to a new range on the keyboard.

Practicing at various tempi, including “too slow” and “too fast” is crucial. Even if I am practicing a solo program, the acoustics at the performance venue are an unknown. Being able to adjust immediately helps me as well as the audience.

My piano happens to be a Baldwin, which doesn’t repeat notes extremely well. That turns out to be an advantage! Very often, the performance piano has a faster return, so repeated notes are suddenly much easier.

The Boy Scouts

You know what they say, “Be Prepared.”

Many thanks to C.I. for suggesting this topic!

To what lengths do you go when learning music? Do you practice as though your life depended on it?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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8 Pros and a Chorus

Tags

Gil Robbins, Mary Robbins, Occasional Singers, Paul Winter Consort, The Highwaymen

The Paul Winter Consort ~ Image via Wikipedia

This post is dedicated to the memory of Gil* and Mary Robbins, and in honor of their children,  Adele, Gabrielle, Tim, and David.

While living in New York, I was the accompanist for the Occasional Singers, a chorus conducted by Gil Robbins that performed avante-garde music. Gil’s wife, Mary, sang second alto, and daughters Adele and Gabrielle (“Gabby”) sang when they could. They all had the most gorgeous voices!

Professional soloists would be engaged from time to time, depending on the repertoire for a particular concert.

When a chorus member came down with laryngitis or strep throat just before a performance, a “ringer” (substitute) would be hired. Ringers typically sang the dress rehearsal and the concert.

The Ringer

One such situation involved an all-Spanish program. But this wasn’t just any Spanish program ~ this one included pieces in 6 dialects!

When one of the baritones had to drop out just before the concert, I wondered how a ringer could handle all that with only one rehearsal.

Bruce, the ringer, was someone I knew. He sang with the choir of St. John the Divine, also conducting that group for a time. In addition, if I remember correctly, he sang with Musica Sacra. And I’m sure there were other groups. He was always busy.

There was no question that he could sight-read the pitches and that he had good languages.

In the dress rehearsal, he was amazingly unflustered.  He would sit back in his chair, leaning forward from time to time to add a phonetic (pronunciation) symbol to his music.

We performed the concert the following evening. He sang flawlessly.

The Small Group

One work we sang was composed for chorus and a smaller solo group. The Western Wind, to everyone’s delight, was engaged to sing with us.

This wonderful group bowled me over during the dress rehearsal. There was never a visible cue. Not one. No hand movements, no nod of the head, not even an eye cue.

Yes, the group sings together very often.  But how do they ensure the perfect ensemble that they attain in every performance?

A Very Special Drummer

Another concert included a piece with a bongo part! Our drummer was a member of the Paul Winter Consort.

The chorus had rehearsed the piece for weeks. Their first entrance came only ½ beat after the first sound from the drum.

There we were, on stage for the dress rehearsal. (The “stage” was the platform at the front of St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village.) The drummer was stage left.

When it came time to rehearse this piece, Gil gave a preparatory beat or two, and the drummer played his first sound.

And then, everyone’s head snapped sharply to the left. They forgot to sing!

The first sound from the bongo was so sharp and so impressive, if the doors to St. Joseph’s had been open, you could have heard it in Riverdale.  I think everyone was beyond startled.  We were in shock!  Too funny.

*Gil Robbins joined The Highwaymen in 1962.  Here they are, singing “Cotton Fields.”

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Related articles

• Gil Robbins obituary (guardian.co.uk)
• Gil Robbins obituary (nytimes.com)
• Mary Robbins obituary (nytimes.com)
• Gil Robbins of The Highwaymen (1931-2011)(The-Reaction.blogspot.com)
  

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How to edit a piano reduction

Tags

edit, Mozart, piano reduction, Regina Coeli

Image via Wikipedia

The program for an upcoming chorus concert includes Mozart’s “Regina Coeli.”  I am currently editing the piano reduction.

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.

​Types of piano reductions in collaborative piano playing

• opera
• oratorio
• vocal/instrumental solo with orchestra
• chorus with orchestra

Notation in piano reductions

• often misleading ~ instrumental solo lines may not be accurate ~ listen to recording, also look at full score if possible
• chords often arpeggiated when not performed as such in orchestra
• parts sometimes written in a different octave for piano
• stretches too wide to be played on piano

Editing

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

• arpeggiated chords appropriate?
• broken chords possible or disruptive?
• melody must be in a clear register
• what sort of sound are you hearing?  Brilliant top?  Substantial bass?  Important inner parts?  Subdued?  Sharp attacks?  Sustained?

​What to strive for

complete chords ~ exception possible when chorus sings full chord

• character of phrasing
• supportive, consistent bass line
• counter-melody
• inner harmonic parts
• clarity

​What to change

• anything that interferes with playing important elements ~ put it in the other hand or simplify
• doublings when difficult to reach
• wide stretches can often be rewritten as triads, for example.  If that sounds convincing, it trumps a broken chord.
• arpeggiated chords ~ reductions frequently contain arpeggios when there are none in the score.  The notes are plunked into the reduction at their original pitches, but since no one can stretch far enough to play them as solid chords, the editor adds wavy lines to indicate arpeggios.  Don’t buy it!
• separated tremolo (i.e. a 2-note chord followed by a separate 2-note chord) when solid tremolo sounds more orchestral.  It’s only notated separately by an editor, not the composer.  Play a solid chord to start, then tremolo.

Mozart’s “Regina Coeli,” K. 276, Kalmus edition

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.

Bottom line

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.

How do you approach playing piano reductions?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

E-books

Goal-oriented Practice
New review by pianist and conductor Andrei Strizek

When You Buy a Piano

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Related articles

• Q&A: sight-reading in chorus rehearsals (gretchenspianos.wordpress.com)
• Basic piano skills: the ultimate guide to why you need them (gretchenspianos.wordpress.com)

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Effective Translation

Tags

coaching, interpretation, Music, story, text, translation

Image via Wikipedia

During graduate school, I found myself sitting in my host’s living room over Christmas break, the music for a program of Messiaen songs spread out on the couch, French-English dictionary in hand.

My host, entering the room, noticed what I was doing.  He proceeded to tell me, “Don’t translate that!  You don’t need to.  Just play the music.”

I hope you find that statement outrageous!  I did.

A discussion followed.  I wasn’t making an impression, but I had no intention of stopping, uncomfortable situation or not.  Out of desperation, I said, “If I don’t translate this program, I’ll flunk out of school!”

That squelched the conversation, and I finished without further unsolicited advice.

Why is translation so important?

You need to know exactly what you’re saying!

• Maybe you know that the text is about water.  You need to go further.  What kind of water?  Rippling brook?  Crashing surf?
• Perhaps you recognize the word “heart.”  What is your character’s heart doing?  Beating faster?  Is your character in despair?  Sobbing?
• When you have repeated chords for several measures, what do they indicate?  A heartbeat?  Being out of breath?  Why?  A tolling bell?
• Is your character saying something or thinking it?  Big difference!
• Is your character talking to or about someone?  You need to know.
• Is this person having many thoughts at once, or is s/he going crazy?
• Is the text serious or not?  Funny?  Ironic?

Translating text right away will make your life much easier.  You can make a plan to interpret the music meaningfully and coach singers with their motivation and character in mind.

If you have been reading this blog, you know how I feel about learning the notes first like a robot.  We all need more information so we can feel the music.

Use a printed dictionary!

Google and online dictionaries are fine for looking up isolated words.  But I advocate doing text translations with an actual foreign-language dictionary.  The more definitions, the better.  You will also be able to refer to synonyms, antonyms, variations, etc.

One of my favorite things to do is an accurate translation of a German text, followed by an outrageously inapproriate one (in my head)!  So many choices….

Write the translation word-for-word into the score

When the translation appears immediately above the original text, you will save time and not have to rely on memory.

Don’t skip anything when translating ~ one word can change an entire sentence.  (“She said lightly, ruefully, coyly, lovingly, darkly….”)

Gail Fischler of the Piano Addict blog challenged her college students to think of adjectives to describe their recital pieces.  Interesting concept!  One student’s idea was “playful, with a hint of brooding.”  That would change your musical approach, wouldn’t it?

Of course, while you’re at it, you will translate all musical directions in the score, too.

Now do another translation in the vernacular

• Use everyday slang
• Include idioms
• Avoid formality

The goal is to understand & convey the story (more like John Grisham than Shakespeare) ~ so you could tell it to your best friend or an audience.  Be conversational.

Include translations in your concert programs

You will want to use English sentence structure.

If the text is complicated or over-long, a synopsis may be preferable.  Plot synopses for operatic scenes, for instance, provide plenty of detail without becoming confusing to the audience.

Do translations yourself

This is the only way you can ensure accurate results.  Besides, after you’ve done the work, you will have in-depth knowledge of the text.

“Poetic” translations rhyme in English.  They do not accurately translate a text.

Translations printed in the music often tell a nice story, but not THE story of the original text.

Volumes of published translations may be accurate for one or two stanzas, but not in subsequent ones.  Sometimes they can provide a good place to start, but you must look up any words you are unsure of.  How can you tell if you don’t check?

Are you in the habit of doing translations?  How do you go about it?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is an E- and a Print book!  Click link for  great reviews and wonderful readers’ comments.  Purchase here!

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Got a pencil?

Tags

collaboration, Music, pit orchestra, rehearsal, score, singer

Image via Wikipedia

You need one!

Why?

To mark your score!

Very often, musicians pride themselves on being able to remember everything.  Some even see it as a personal failing if they forget.

But what’s the point?

There is no reason not to mark the  score.  Requiring oneself to remember everything does nothing to enhance a performance.  And the audience can’t see your music, anyway.

When someone expects to remember unmarked instructions and then forgets something, that slows down the rehearsal both for her/him and for everyone else.

One example:  marking the score can help a singer find an elusive pitch.  I circle a pitch in another voice part that I have trouble finding in my own part later.  By marking my pitch earlier as well as the one I need to sing, I can blast the pitch in my brain, ignoring everything else.

Marking the score moves the eye along to  facilitate reading.

• repeated bars can be marked with big numbers
• the next bar (leaving the repetition) can be circled
• the one pitch that’s different in otherwise identical phrases can be circled
  
• a fingering that is missed several times can be rewritten larger
• the first note on a staff/page can be written at the end of the previous staff/page
• when the number of staves per page changes, an arrow can go in the left margin next to your part
• mark repeats, coda, dal segno, and other markings you need to see quickly
• when a repeat requires turning back more than one page, write in the number
• circle any meter or key changes you need to, and write in an advance alert

Marking the score for collaborative work:

mark singers’ breaths in the piano part where you can see them

write a word-for-word translation in the music above the singer’s line

a wavy line works for anything that takes more time to sing or play (i.e., a word beginning with several consonants, a string player’s shift)

Marking the score for pit orchestra:

Normal pit lighting is terrible.  During one run, I found that I couldn’t see my penciled markings on a hand-written part.  There were several errors and huge cuts, so finding a way to make a road map was crucial.

During the dress rehearsal, I noticed a trumpet player’s part.  She had marked the cuts with neon stick-on arrows.  So I bought some and did the same.

Don’t be shy ~ you need to know where to look in the music!

One exception:  keeping written notes about something that will change frequently, such as metronome markings when you are increasing the tempo of a piece.  Those numbers will be changed so often, they are better recorded in a practice log.  Frequent erasures in printed scores make holes in the paper.

You will find more about keeping a practice log in my new E-book.

So, what score-marking tricks do you use?  Please share your ideas and experiences in the comment section below!

While you’re here, please visit the info page for my new E-book!  “Goal-oriented Practice:  How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer.” ~ about making steady progress without getting stuck!

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Two types of rehearsals, played differently

Tags

choreography, chorus, rehearsal playing

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This week I played a variety of rehearsals.  This post talks about how my approach changed to accommodate the needs of each.

Choreography

Sections of movement begin on action words (“march,” “dance”) in this production.

• make each new section obvious in advance so participants can more easily make the switch
  

Participants are thinking about their feet and where they are on stage.

• play sharply
• loud enough so people on opposite side of room can hear easily
  
• make staccato speak
• prominent bass line ~ foundation of rhythm and harmony
• if the singers rush or drag, don’t allow it ~ play percussively, steady tempo, no matter what
• NO rubato
• play an intro before starting point from an obvious spot, counting loudly so the singers know where they are (they are not looking at the score)
• harmonic structure and main beats are always more important than every note
• when repeated chords change rhythm (i.e. quarters to eighths), emphasize the change
• play in the character of the choreography (i.e. march, lilt)

I am suggesting that your playing needs to be louder than usual.  But avoid making it heavy.  Everything will slow down!  What’s needed instead is constant impetus.

Chorus

learning unfamiliar music

• begin rehearsing under tempo
• make entrances obvious
• play w/very little pedal
• conduct from piano by the way you play, or use hands too
• if unfamiliar text slows down note learning, use nonsense syllables instead for now
  
• have singers mark score ~ breaths, diction, details to help them read faster
  
• ask singers to exaggerate consonants to reinforce rhythm

Knowing What Each Rehearsal Requires

A good rehearsal pianist will be able to intuit what is needed.  If you’re not used to that, it takes a little practice.  Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• What kind of part are you playing?  A piano reduction?  A flute solo?  A guitar part?

Your volume, type of sound, and articulation (length of notes) all need to project that.

• Are the singers/dancers near you, or dispersed across the stage?  Are they backstage on the opposite side from you?
• What are the acoustics like?  Reverberant?  Soundproof?  Dry?

Be sure everyone can hear you, and remember that they are thinking about sets, costumes, other people, and their feet.  If this rehearsal is off book, your cues will be especially helpful.

• Is there a conductor?

If not, then you are the conductor.  For the most part, you will be conducting with your playing.  The participants need to hear the orchestra part, and you will need both hands to make that work.

• Is the choreographer or stage director asking you to start in a place that works?

If a different place would be better, tell everyone where you’re starting, and then just do it.  You don’t need permission, and the singers/dancers/actors need a good, solid cue.

What do you think?  How do you provide what is needed in various types of rehearsals?  Please comment in the section below!

Related post:  Rehearsal playing

While you’re here, please take a look at reviews and readers’ comments about my new E-book!

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