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Gretchen Saathoff

~ Collaborative Pianist/Vocal Coach ~ forging partnerships, making memorable music together

Category Archives: practicing basics

Backwards Day!

24 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by GretchensPianos in coach, collaboration, concentration, correcting sloppiness, directed practice, dynamics, fingering, focus, freedom, fun!, goals, health, healthy independence, improvisation, learning, longevity, motivation, music, new approach, outside the box, perception, piano, practice, practicing basics, priorities, process, risk, something new, teaching, tempo, the unexpected, tools, variety

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Music, pedagogy, teaching

Backwards day!

A delightful seven-year-old, arriving for her lesson, immediately announced “This is Backwards Day!”  Who knew?

I went with it, of course.  Resistance would have resulted in one unhappy student.  What actually happened?  We had tons of fun!

What transpired

  • We said, “Goodbye!”
  • We shuffled her books so the top one was in back
  • We chose a piece from the back of the book
  • She played the end first
  • We went backwards, line by line
  • “I love it” became “It love I”
  • Fast became slow, and vice-versa
  • Loud was soft
  • Cresc. was dim.
  • She tried a piece with her hands crossed (good practice!)
  • She taught me how to play something while she sat in my chair
  • She asked me questions like she was the teacher
  • And then we said, “Hello!”

Why backwards?

  • Backwards is good!
  • Start in different places
  • Vary repertoire
  • Play different dynamic schemes, different rubato, different tempi
  • Try the opposite if Plan A isn’t working
  • Find fingering backwards ~ where do you need to end?
  • Nail the endings by practicing them first
  • Practice movements, songs, and sections in reverse order for more flexibility and security

Why backwards works

  • Reversing the order of movements assures “equal time” when something interferes with your practice session
  • Going backwards is fun!
  • Shaking things up enhances concentration
  • The usual expectations of the same thing in the same way every day are avoided

Do you sometimes practice backwards?  Do you help your students mix it up?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by GretchensPianos in Bach, balance, coach, collaboration, concert, directed practice, dynamics, editing, learning, marking the score, music, new approach, perception, performing, piano, practice, practicing basics, preparation, process, progress, rehearsal, rhythm, serving music, teaching, tools, video

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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

Bach title page

Bach page 1

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.

bach-page-1 clip 2

•  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.

bach-page-1 clip

 

 

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:

Bach rhythm

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:

bach-page-1 clip 3

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?

 

★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★


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Optimize your practice time!

28 Thursday May 2015

Posted by GretchensPianos in career, directed practice, distractions, dynamics, fatigue, fingering, focus, goals, learning, music, performing, practice, practicing basics, preparation, process, progress, security, slow practice, tempo, tools

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manage time, optimize time, practice, preparing for concerts, save time

opera score
Image by romaryka via Flickr

How do you manage your practice time?

[This is a repost from December 2009.  Enjoy!]

Since it is almost impossible to have the same amount of time available every day, it helps to be organized and flexible.  After all, exact repetition every day is soooooooo booooring.

Do you start at the beginning of your program each time you practice?  Are you able to practice everything each time?  Do you have several programs going at once?  It usually happens that I have many different situations to prepare for all at the same time.  With all those variables of performance dates, types of music (vocal, instrumental, collaborative, solo, choral music, etc.), there is rarely a time when everything is ready to go on the same day.

I have found it crucial to set priorities for each practice session.  Depending on the time available, the dates of upcoming concerts, and whether or not a piece is ready to perform, I make a list in my head ~ or sometimes on paper ~ about what I can realistically accomplish that day.  (Most of the time it works.  Sometimes I revise my goals along the way ~ and don’t get mad.)

Keeping a notebook of practice sessions helps immensely.  When you can see the last date you worked on a certain piece, as well as what you did, progress is easier to achieve.  If you don’t know what happened last time, or what state the piece is in, you could spin your wheels for quite a while just figuring out where you are.  And while it may feel good to just play something, it is a huge waste of time.  If you use your time well, you can learn twice as much music.

If I’m increasing the tempo, I write down metronome markings in my practice notebook (but not on the music).  While things are in such a state of flux, I’d rather not have all that writing on the score.  (And erasures wear out the paper.)

When I’ve worked on dynamics, I write that down.  How did it go?  What needs to improve?

Sometimes my impression of a composer’s intent will change, so I write that down, too.  That could change again in a day or two.

Trouble spots definitely make the notebook.  And then I make sure I concentrate on them until they’ve been solved.  Allowing portions of a piece to stay unlearned or remain uncomfortable is truly asking for trouble in performances.

Keeping written comments is the best way I’ve found to get all elements of a program together at the same time.  (It’s like cooking a large dinner, except there’s no backup such as a warming oven or a microwave!)  Having one piece or movement that I’ve ignored until the week before a concert makes me very uncomfortable.  (That happened exactly once.  I discovered on stage, of all places, that I had never put fingerings in a Haydn trio.  Oops.  I felt nervous just for that one reason.  A friend who was in the audience said she noticed, but that it was a good performance anyway…  and I trusted her not to lie to me.   And it will never happen again!)

On days when my practice time is limited, I often surf from one problematic spot to the next.  The next time, I do the same thing in reverse.  Why waste time practicing what you already play well?  You could be reinforcing unusual fingerings, making fast passages more comfortable, calibrating accelerandi and ritards, improving dynamic contrasts, playing the end of one movement and the beginning of the next, practicing intros and interludes in piano reductions or songs, or making a myriad of other effective choices.  What about the ending?  If it’s faster and louder, especially, I spend short periods of time getting it to be foolproof so I can be memorable in the concert.

A word of caution:  I have found that I often feel rushed when I have limited time.  So I play faster.  NOT helpful.  I have improved upon this tendency by being aware of it.  Now I frequently practice under tempo when there is too little time.  That increases my concentration and keeps mistakes from creeping in due to tension and anxiety.

And on those days when there is plenty of time, I revel in it.  Finally!  Time to “perform” an entire program!

How do you manage your practice time?

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Are you heading into June without a teacher? Need fresh ideas to share with your students?  Teach students as individuals, and perform with confidence.

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I can’t play this! I’ll NEVER be able to play this!! NO ONE can play this!!!

24 Sunday May 2015

Posted by GretchensPianos in career, confidence, constructing a piece, directed practice, distractions, fingering, focus, goals, learning, metronome, motivation, music, new insights, perception, performing, piano, practice, practicing, practicing basics, preparation, process, progress, self-assessment, slow practice, tempo, tools

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piano reduction

I can't play this!

These thoughts go through my head every time I open a difficult score for the first time. How about you?

Background

This is the slow section of Mozart’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra #5, first movement.  In other words, the “piano” part is an orchestral reduction.

The right hand, when played by the orchestra, is divided between two string parts. Pianists, though, are required to perform gymnastic feats in the reduction, playing both parts in the same hand.

This section of the concerto is serene, slow, and quiet.  To achieve a murmuring sound on the piano is difficult, especially due to the fingers passing over one another and because the normally resulting accents must be avoided.  (It is not possible to play all the notes in the right hand while keeping the hand quiet, playing only five keys ((one for each finger)), and not moving to a different range on the keyboard several times.  In other words, don’t try this at home!)

Facebook comments

When I posted the above pic on Facebook, the following discussion ensued:

First, on 5/1:

[Photo caption]
The most recent addition to my catalog of Finger Busters.

[Discussion]

DG:  Finger busters is right!

AE:  What she said!

HW:  Dang!

MDS:  Wowser.

CBW:  Oh my!  😦

Then, on 5/22:

[Photo caption]
Remember this? The “ack!” phase?

Aced it in today’s performance.
I feel a blog post coming on.

[Discussion]
CH:  Looks “Greek” to me Gretchen but I’m grateful there are artists like you that let those like me enjoy the music!

CBW:  OMG!!!
TP:  Makes my head ache just looking at all those notes!!!

GS:  Exactly. My 1st thought when opening a score is often, “I can’t play this… I’ll NEVER be able to play this… NO ONE can play this!”

And then I learn it.

TP:  Some people like a challenge and some are gluttons for punishment!GS:  And some find it necessary to freak out EVERY TIME. I don’t think child prodigies do that…

TP:  In my trade we call it it SIDS…self induced disaster, the process of psyching yourself out before you even know what you’re up against! lol

GS:  I b the expert!

SN:  So how did the tempo end up?

GS:  120 and 72. Felt reasonable, thank God…

GN:  A great feeling to have worked something out in practice and then play it in performance with no “hitches” . . . .nice work!

GS:  Thank you!

KC:  cool, still growing into the job, Gretchen, that is so great.

GS:  Oh, I have the same reaction every time I open music I haven’t played that looks difficult.

Reality check 

How long did it take to reach performance level with this piece?

Although my Facebook “bookend” posts were three weeks apart, I was busy when I first looked at the score.  There was no time to practice it right away.

After consulting my practice notes, I realized that I had learned the piece at performance tempo in 8 or 10 days.

Got perspective?

This is not an idle question.  I am genuinely curious.  This is an aspect of people’s careers that is rarely talked about, as far as I know.

I am well aware that many musicians learn music faster than I do.  One of the vocal coaching fellows at Tanglewood (there were 3 of us that summer) could learn even a newly composed score still in manuscript form and perform it in 3 days.  He had the enviable ability to skip the practice stage most of us need to get the music into his hands.  Currently head of the composition department at BU, he is a conductor, composer, wonderful pianist, and vocal coach.

My teacher at Aspen was practicing Hindemith slowly with the metronome when I arrived for my lesson one day.  She had never played the piece.  Four days later, she performed it flawlessly, much faster.  So I went home and learned how to practice slowly with the metronome, increasing the tempo in increments.

On the other hand, another teacher practiced Schubert’s “Die Schöne Müllerin” for an entire year before performing it.

What was Horowitz’s time requirement for mastering the repertoire he performed? Rubinstein?  Glenn Gould?  Myra Hess?  Clara Schumann?

A pianist who was interviewed on NPR, when discussing a recent CD release, let it be known that he had practiced one piece for 15 years before ever performing it!

So it seems that preparation time is highly variable.

First take

What do child prodigies say to themselves when first opening a score?  Have you heard anyone talk about that?

I suspect that my self-talk may stem from the fact that I was not a prodigy. While there was music in my family, many musicians I know listened to recordings and attended concerts from an early age.  Several had parents who were professional musicians.  They had mentors who connected them with effective teachers.  Good instruments were acquired early.  All of that makes a difference.  I’ve been playing “catch up.”

A childhood friend recently reminded me that, when I would be invited to go somewhere, my response would always be, “I can’t.  I have to practice.”

Following my senior recital in college, a few friends came back to the recital hall from the distant reception to ensure that I was planning to attend.  They were afraid I would go back to the practice room immediately.  (I’m slow about packing up after a performance.)

B.B. King said it very well:

“It seems like I always had to work harder than other people. Those nights when everybody else is asleep, and you sit in your room trying to play scales.”

My audience!

 

And now I’d like to thank my audience, who listens attentively whenever I practice and never, ever complains.  And thanks also to everyone who commented on Facebook.

What do you say to yourself when you open a difficult score for the first time?  Do you have a panic response?  See it as a challenge? KNOW you’ll be fine even before you begin?  Do you have an idea about how long it will take you to learn a piece before you’ve even started?

★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★


Are you heading into June without a teacher? Need fresh ideas to share with your students? 

My E-book helps you practice more effectively, teach students as individuals, and perform with confidence.

http://gretchensaathoff.com/e-books/e-book-goal-oriented-practice/

Thank you!

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I can sight-read. Why bother with fingering?

09 Saturday May 2015

Posted by GretchensPianos in career, chorus, directed practice, expression, fingering, goals, music, opera, organ, pedal, piano, playing fast, practice, practicing basics, preparation, priorities, process, progress, Q&A, question, responsibility, serving music, tools, work

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damper pedal, music education, pedagogy, pianistic fingering, piano reductions

Source:  Pixabay

Source: Pixabay

This is a question I encounter so often!  

Short answer:  Because if sight-reading is all you ever do, then that’s the best you will ever play.

Today, while learning a Mozart piano reduction (violin concerto), I had to stop myself from switching between fingers on a single key several times.

We have two options:  sight-reading and improving.  (One is more fun than the other!) The pic above accurately represents the way I feel when I have to write fingerings in my music.

The problem, for me, stems from three sources:

1.  Sight-reading (both music I need to learn and music that’s put in front of me in work situations);
2.  Organ playing; and
3.  Playing for chorus/opera/dance/musical rehearsals.

To elaborate:

1.  Sight-reading is a great skill to have!  Without it, there would be far fewer work opportunities.  The problem is that when one relies only on sight-reading, fingerings are random and so is the resulting sound.  The playing will be slower and have considerably less finesse.  In addition, when sight-reading is the only game in town, the music benefits from very little thought.

2.  Organs and pianos both have keyboards, but they are completely different mechanically.  To sustain a pitch on the organ, the key must be depressed. On piano, the damper pedal is available.  Organists are trained to play a key with one finger, then switch to another while still depressing the same key.  That’s how they navigate around the keyboard while playing legato.  Playing the piano in that manner, however, is not helpful except in cases where the fingering cannot be solved in other ways.

3.  When playing piano reductions (chorus, opera, and concertos where the pianist acts as the orchestra), pianistic fingering is not possible.  There are too many notes included in a piano reduction to fit under the hand. (Reductions are not “pianistic.”)  So “bad” fingering often results.  The object is to get to the next location on the keyboard however you can, ahead of time.

So, what is “good” fingering?

  • Good fingering is pianistic (comfortable);
  • Good fingering enhances the flow of the music;
  • Good fingering makes use of different parts of the hand for intended results.
    • The thumb is heavy;
    • The pinkie gets a bright sound;
    • The 3rd finger can imitate French horn;
    • The 4th finger is guaranteed to be softer; and
    • 2 and 5 are great for flute solos.

Try playing Mozart.  Unintended accents will be immediately disruptive. Making good fingering decisions is the shortest route to playing appropriately.

Schumann, Verdi, and Prokofiev sound distinct from each other when played by good orchestras.  Why not play them with different sounds on the piano, too?

Why spend valuable practice time eliminating accents produced by the thumb when you could find a better fingering?  Practicing for hours attempting to produce an accented downbeat with the 4th finger is similarly a waste of time.

What do you think?  Is fingering important to you?  How many practice sessions do you spend playing the same music before writing in fingerings?

How do you get around the keyboard?

Source:  Pixabay

Source: Pixabay

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Please take a look at my ebook,

Goal-oriented Practice.  Now available at 50% off, only $10!

Free of musical jargon, it will save you time.  By identifying practice goals, you will soon be able to learn music more accurately, resulting in confident playing.

Click on the link to see reviews, book intro, and table of contents!

Thank you!

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Goal-oriented Practice now 50% off!

25 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by GretchensPianos in career, directed practice, distractions, ergonomics, fingering, focus, goals, health, injury, learning, new approach, new experience, new insights, outside the box, perception, performing, piano, positive playing, practice, practicing, practicing basics, preparation, process, progress, teaching, tools

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Goal-oriented Practice, Music, pedagogy, perform, practice, teaching

E-book Cover SALES PAGE

My e-book, Goal-oriented Practice, is now available at 50% off!

Please email me with any questions at gsbook121 [at] gmail.com

Bulk rates also available.

For purchasing information, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/15yF2yK

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Singing what you play: how does that work?

04 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by GretchensPianos in constructing a piece, directed practice, emotion, expression, focus, goals, learning, listening, music, practice, practicing, practicing basics, preparation, priorities, process, progress, rehearsal, serving music, singing, tools

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Pete Seeger teaching William Boyce "Alleluia" round in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, 2011  Source:  Wikimedia Commons

Pete Seeger teaching William Boyce “Alleluia” round in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, 2011. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Do you sing your music as you practice?  I recommend it (see previous post).

For the past 2 or 3 days, I’ve been thinking about why this works so well.

When playing involves brain work only, one can become caught up in the exact length of each note, the weight given to each, the dynamic changes from one note to another.  That level of detail is crucial to interesting playing, of course, but isn’t that mind-boggling, doing all that thinking?

When I practice in that way, I find that I am physically removed from producing the sound.  I am not a participant in playing phrases. I notice that when I sing while playing, my body takes care of all that.

When the amount of breath sent through the body to produce the sound varies from pitch to pitch, the breath maintains the line.  The body (arms, hands, tips of fingers) produces music, not just mathematical changes. What if someone told you that to reach a certain goal involving myriad details, all you needed to do one thing?

This is the best explanation I can come up with at the moment.  I hope it is helpful.  Singing makes all the difference.  It coordinates separate, much smaller details, making them an organic whole.  And it’s so easy!

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Why singing is the best thing you can do

31 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by GretchensPianos in career, constructing a piece, directed practice, expression, fingering, focus, music, piano, practice, practicing, practicing basics, process, progress, serving music, tools

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Source:  Wikimedia Commons.  Carl Van Vechten, 1880-1964, photographer.  Public domain.

Leontyne Price. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Carl Van Vechten, 1880-1964, photographer. Public domain.

This afternoon, I practiced some music I hadn’t played in several weeks.  While reviewing notes, fingerings, and dynamics, I found myself thinking about the function of the passage I was working on at the moment.  Was it melody?  Accompaniment?  Beginning, middle, or end of a phrase?  And then I started altering the lengths of the notes to accommodate the direction of the line.

But that felt too removed from the sound. Then, by chance, I started singing the line. Everything changed immediately.

Why?

It was no longer necessary to intellectualize the length of each note (this one is shorter, this one is slightly longer, this one falls away from the previous sound, this one leads up to the next one).

Singing instantly makes the line legato, continuous, and infused with life.  Singing makes it human.  Pianos don’t do that.  Organs don’t either, really, unless the organist uses the volume pedal all the time.

So this is my recommentation for today, tomorrow, next week, next month…

Sing the line!  It changes everything.

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

01 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by GretchensPianos in directed practice, fingering, focus, goals, learning, left hand, marking the score, metronome, music, new approach, piano, practice, practicing basics, preparation, process, progress, teaching, tempo, tools

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

A helping hand

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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Crucial stretches for every keyboard user

15 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by GretchensPianos in article, balance, career, computer, daily ergonomics, ergonomics, exercises, fatigue, health, injury, links, longevity, music, organ, piano, practice, practicing basics, repetition, rest, slow practice, tendonitis, tools, variety, warm up

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articles, links, related posts, staying healthy, stretching

This post is for musicians and computer users.

“Keyboard user” is a conscious decision for inclusion in the title (rather than “keyboard player”) because  computer operators need to stretch.  So do organists, harpsichordists, pianists, electronic keyboardists, and others who use the small structures of their hands and arms in repetitive fashion.

Keyboard users move their hands and arms (and backs and shoulders and necks and heads) primarily in one direction, often for long periods of time.  Work, music, and play can become mesmerizing.  We forget to take breaks, or postpone them to do “one more page.”  And then, an hour later, we’re still at it.

We have all seen athletes stretch.  That makes sense, right?  We are also athletes.  We use smaller structures that are not built for the amount of stress we put on them.  Stretching helps address the problem.

New discussion

A discussion of stretches recently came up on Facebook.  This link takes you to a new article on the subject.

I am delighted to see ongoing interest in stretching.  Everyone benefits by having the topic back at the top of their “to do” lists and reading about others’ experiences.

My friend Michael Meltzer and I continued the discussion.  Michael said:

My last teacher was the late Louise Curcio in New Jersey, who began every lesson with about ten minutes of stretches. She explained, “We are creatures of habit. When you are not properly stretched, you’ll begin your practice in slightly incorrect or imprecise arm & finger positions and configurations. Your brain will remember those incorrect lineups and unconsciously seek to recreate them, interfering with learning and mastering your pieces.”

… looking at it carefully, I think the exact words SHE would have used would have been “arm and finger postures” instead of finger positions & configurations (my words).

Used by permission. Thank you, Michael!

Why stretch?

When playing or using a computer, our muscles and tendons adjust to accommodate our repetitive, uni-directional motions.  The muscles and tendons on the top of the forearm and hand lengthen, while on the underside, they shorten.

This results in an imbalance which can result in injury.

The stretches we need to do help things return to normal.  We need to stretch in the opposite direction from the way we have been moving while playing an instrument or using a computer.

The following comes from a previous post about ergonomics as applied to keyboard use.  As school revs up and we all become busier, combating stress and tension are even more important.

We can maintain our ability to play an instrument or use a computer for decades by being aware and looking for variety as we proceed.

Awareness of warning signs is important to avoid injury.  Once someone incurs an injury, s/he becomes more vulnerable to further injury in the future.  So even if you think it could never happen to you, please read on.

Be aware

  • If you feel numbness, tingling, or pain, you need to take a break.
  • If anything hurts, even a stiff neck, you need to look at that.
  • Practicing mindlessly for hours on end without a break is never a good idea.

Incorporate variety

What’s your plan?  How do you practice?

Going at something as fast and loudly as possible will get you injured in no time.

Here are a few ideas about staying safe.

You can practice:

  • hands alone
  • slower than performance tempo
  • loud/soft
  • changing range on the keyboard
  • alternating difficult passages with less stressful ones
  • mixing up a stint of staccato practicing with legato (use your body in different ways)
  • for leaps and glissandi, measuring distances and calculating timing by faking it (above the keyboard ~ no need to play all that often)
  • feeling chord shapes in your hands, also above the keyboard
  • more carefully when you’re tired

You can:

  • alternate practicing and gripping activities with passive activities, such as reading or taking a walk, talking on the speakerphone.  For example, lifting weights and practicing are both stressing your body, thus making you more vulnerable to injury.  Your body needs a break in between.
  • play with your hands and arms in a natural position (you don’t have to be exactly lined up with the keys!)
  • look at your practice setup ~ lighting, chair height, your distance from the keyboard (do you have room to navigate?)
  • always use healthy body alignment (feet on the floor, supporting your body ~ no slumping forward, no legs wrapped around chair legs, no feet on chair rungs, no head on hand on elbow resting on the piano)
  • look at the music away from the piano
  • conduct, sing, walk the rhythm, clap, speak the text in rhythm, try dynamic changes out with your voice
  • take a 10-min. break every hour
  • practice in more than one chunk of time during the day
  • eat 3 healthy meals every day (don’t skip a meal in order to practice!)
  • exercise!
  • stretch your body and warm up your hands before practicing (5 min.)
  • stretch your arms, shoulders, and back after practicing (5 more min.)

Computer use

The same awareness is important here.  Look at your setup, use good body alignment (don’t lie on your bed, resting on your elbows).  Take breaks.  Move your arms, shoulders, and back when you type, like you would on an old manual typewriter with tiered keys.  Stretch before and after computer work.

Computers probably demand more fast work without breaks than practicing an instrument.  No one talks about good body alignment in workplaces.  Deadlines are much more important.  (Fed-Ex leaves in 5 minutes!  Are you done yet?)  And, unless you’re self-employed, you’re likely to have someone who wants you to produce more, faster than you need to be going.  Pressure means vulnerability to injury.

Why not take a look at your usual approach to the computer during your time off, at home?  Try looking at yourself in the mirror, or ask a friend to help.

At work, you can set your phone alarm to alert you once an hour.  Stand up, walk around, stretch, breathe, and something relaxing.  Take a break!  The up side of leaving your work where it is for a few minutes is, you won’t turn into a pretzel!

What do you think?  What is your approach to practice and computer use?  Do you have certain ways of going about it that work particularly well for you?  Do you take breaks?

Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section below!

You can read more articles on this blog about ergonomics here.

Also, while you’re here, please take a look at my E-book!

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