Too good!

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Class

Bravo in Barcelona.
Shutterstock image. Source: Pixabay.

A new blog post!  Surprising, I know.  Having a few days’ vacation time gives me an opportunity to catch up a little.

A most amazing thing happened in musical theater class a couple of weeks ago.  I’m so excited to have a chance to tell you all about it!

A student took her turn a few minutes into the class, singing “Almost There” by Randy Newman.

She had nailed “All That Jazz” by John Kander just the week before, so I was anticipating that this would also be wonderful.

As it happened, she was anxious about something. When she began to sing, I could barely hear her. I wanted to get into it and play, but my sound would have covered her voice.

Why was she nervous?

It could have been anything.

• Was she coming down with something?
• Was she unprepared?
• Was she working on one aspect of vocal production rather than performing the song?

What was going on?

She was worried about the high note at the end of the first phrase, so she held back out of fear that her voice might crack. This is a freshman class. The students are shy about making a fool of themselves in front of other people, even in class. (I’ve been there myself so many times! As a freshman, I was so nervous in my first voice jury that I forgot every word after the title of a slow song in English! I changed my major immediately.)

The professor, who is also her voice teacher, identified the problem and found a way to deal with it.  Among other things, she vocalized the student to a top note a third above the one she was concerned about.

And THEN…

On the fourth or fifth try, she knocked everyone out of their chair!  She was SO GOOD!!!  It was perfect.

Next:

The professor talked about how well the student had just performed, giving her kudos for her substantial progress this semester.  She talked about how gratifying it was to witness this as a teacher, saying, “If I had my shoes, I’d throw them!” ++

Huh?

She elaborated.  In the African-American tradition, when something is “too good,” audience members throw their shoes! *

And then the professor burst into tears.  It was so moving.

The student was in tears soon after.

And the class was speechless.

And that, for me, is what it’s all about.

++  Class is held in a studio with a dance floor.  Everyone takes off their shoes so the floor remains grit-free. If a dancer were to trip on grit, s/he could sprain, dislocate or break something, putting him or her out of the game for a long time.  So that’s why the professor didn’t have her shoes!

*  Both professor and student happen to be African-American.  After class, I shared with the professor that I worked in an African-American church in Brooklyn for quite a while, also performing in other venues with the music director, who is a wonderful singer. However, when things were “too good,” no one threw their shoes.  So where did that come from?  She said it’s a Southern thing.  People even throw their shoes in church!

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Backwards Day!

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Music, pedagogy, teaching

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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Are you sure you want to do this?

Tags

Cello, Concert Artists Guild, Holland, New York City, Vending machine

West 65th Street, New York City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My answer has always been “Yes!”  No question.

Shortly after moving to New York, I attended a weekend seminar sponsored by the Concert Artists Guild.  Different speakers took about an hour each.  The seminar provided information for musicians wanting to get there careers to the next level.

One participant, a cellist, had recently finished a degree at Juilliard.  She was wondering what to do next.  Shortly after the seminar, she became the cellist in a well-known string quartet.

My career progressed significantly as well.

The conductor of the New Haven Symphony was one of the speakers. He opened his presentation with the question, “Are you sure you want to do this?” He spoke about performing outside the city.  When the concert is over, you have to enjoy going to the bus station and plugging quarters into the vending machine.  That’s dinner!

He was right then, and still is. Inconvenience is built into the reality of being an artist. Unless your life centers around your residence, and there are very few distractions, you just have to deal.

Possibly due to my Dutch heritage, I’ve become pretty good at finding ways to enjoy the ride.  The Dutch have to cooperate with their neighbors for their own survival, since Holland is, after all, below sea level.  They are also happy about small things, not relying on major events to find something to be happy about. So, when plugging those quarters into that vending machine, it’s fun to make the best choices from the selection available.  When faced with no time to have a sit-down dinner, calling ahead to a restaurant works.  Good food on the bus trumps bad food or late-night dinner.  Ordering delivery on a day off is more fun, even when eating out of “to go” containers, when you can use something other than gourmet plastic utensils.

When you live in New York, you learn very quickly that transportation delays happen all the time.  So you have a choice:  you can feel upset whenever that happens, or you can deal with it and have something along to do.

I love going “somewhere else,” which I rarely had the opportunity to do as a child.  Music has been my ticket to make that happen.  If being inconvenienced is part of the deal, I’ll take it.

What’s the alternative?

“Are you sure you want to do this?”  

What is your answer?

Comments?  Please use this Contact Form, or email me at gretchensaathoff1 [at] gmail.com

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Choosing music for an outdoor service… or not

Tags

Anticipating various scenarios, Clavinova, Mother Nature, Outdoor church service, Planning ahead, Sunday

(Image source: Wikipedia)

Our plan is to move the church service outdoors this Sunday.

When choosing music earlier in the week, the first thing I did was to look at the weather forecast.  As it turns out, we have deferred to Mother Nature twice already this summer.

For August 4th, AccuWeather.com predicts that it will be “partly sunny with a t-storm.”  With that in mind, I chose music that can move easily from a Clavinova outdoors to an acoustic piano inside if necessary.  (I’ll play piano this time so as to eliminate the possibility of last-minute pedal and registration changes.)

The music

The Clavinova has only one sound.  The volume can be raised or lowered with a toggle wheel, but there are no alternative sounds available (such as harpsichord, flute, etc.).  So the music needs to being written for one manual, and the ability to employ voicing to differentiate various parts (melody/accompaniment; fugue lines) will be quite limited.

I prefer playing sacred music for services, not piano preludes by Chopin and
Debussy,

The music needs to have an organ pedal part that can be played along with the manual parts (i.e. close to the left hand in range).  Another possibility would be to choose music with no organ pedal part at all.

Pieces that are 2 pages in length would eliminate page turns.  That way, when clothes pins are keeping the printed music steady, they can stay there for the entire piece.  (It’s safer!  Picture removing clothespins, turning the page, and re-clipping the clothespins, while playing the entire time.)

What else?

Although I have played services outdoors under the roof of a picnic shelter, the setting on Sunday will be completely in the open.  I will need hair clips and sunglasses.  

West Nile Virus has come to the area, so bug spray is a necessity.

And may I please borrow your dog to fetch the things I drop?

Thanks!

Repertoire for August 4th

Prelude
Come, Thou Almighty King     Martin Stellhorn
The organ pedal part can be played an octave higher.  This will allow the piece to move without arpeggiating the bass and tenor lines (to accommodate reaches wider than the span of the left hand).

Offertory
Praise God the Lord, Ye Sons of Men     Johann Gottfried Walther
This piece is contrapuntal, but is not a fugue.  The tune is clearly in the top voice, so it will be easily heard when played on a Clavinova.

Communion
I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table     Paul Kretzschmar
The embellished tune is a right-hand solo.  Played on the organ, a solo stop on a separate manual would be the way to go for clarity.  With the embellishments, the tune stands out from the slower left-hand rhythm, so I think it will be OK played on a Clavinova.

Postlude
Now Thank We All Our God     Georg Friedrich Kaufmann
This is a toccata with the tune in the top voice.

As it happened

This is a follow-up, added on Monday.

We had a beautiful day!  During the outdoor service, the breeze kicked up 2 or 3 times, but I was reduced to holding the music with one hand and playing with the other only once.  That was during a hymn.  With the congregation singing at the time, it was fine.

The Clavinova has more variety available in volume by touch than I had recalled from a year ago.  That was a welcome surprise.

In the offertory, the editor indicates in the score that the melody is to be played an octave higher when all parts are heard on the same manual.  I actually forgot during the service until the B section.  When moving up an octave, though, the sound was unsatisfactory for a melody.  So I went back to playing the score as notated.

Around 11:30 a.m., we had a few raindrops.  I was in Amherst by then.

Later on, we had light rain.  But the “t-storm” forecast never materialized.

Score!

Have I forgotten anything?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Trying something new? Proceed with caution!

Tags

Education, Music, pain management, pedagogy, piano

Stretching Exercise ~ Image via Wikipedia

My students, as well as contributors to a piano discussion forum in which I participate, often talk about the same dilemma.  When trying something new, they have physical pain! 

This should not be the case.

People’s first reaction, and I include myself, is that the pain will go away.  It doesn’t.  Don’t ignore pain!

I have encountered pain from time to time.  My hand tires when practicing octaves or a strenuous piece (think Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata).  There are ways to handle this.

Pain is a warning!

Pain is a warning sign, not something that will go away by practicing more in the same way.  Pain is not acceptable, and you should not expect to “get used to it.”  Isn’t your playing more important than plowing ahead no matter what?

Complaints I’ve heard involve:

• new hand positions
• unfamiliar chords
• arpeggios
• new fingerings
• unfamiliar articulation
• staccato
• marcato
• octaves
• repeated notes
• double thirds

Many of us, myself included, tend to practice until we get it right.  We lose track of time, and have no idea how often we have repeated the same passage.

My suggestions:

• Look at your practice setup.  Is the bench at a good height for you?  Is there enough light?  Are you away from cold drafts and the air conditioner?
• Remove yourself from the “I have to get this NOW” mindset.
• Stay aware of the level of tension in your body.
• Limit the amount of time you spend on a new passage to a few minutes, not 1/2 hour or more.  (10 to 20 minutes is plenty.)  Set a timer if necessary.
• If you feel pain, STOP IMMEDIATELY.  You need to stretch* (illustrated above ~ turn forearm over and stretch hand down, too), take a break, have a snack and some water, and either stop for the day or work on something completely different.
• “Something completely different” means something in an easy hand position, slow practice, playing with the opposite hand, etc.
• You can always return to the problematic passage later in your practice session (IF there is no pain), or in a day or two.
• Practice smarter.
• If your new passage has you crossing one hand over the front of your body, that is a big reach.  You need to relax and experiment with the angle of your hand, arm, and body.  This will take longer than 5 or 10 minutes, but when you do find a comfortable angle, you will no longer be in pain.
• Slow down.
• Relax between notes, chords, hand positions.
• Block everything, playing all notes together, then thumb alone (which pivots your hand to the new position), then another block, then thumb, etc.
• Mark rather than play.  Or just mime on top of the keys.  You can learn a lot this way!
• Look at the music away from the piano.
• Listen to recordings ~ either several of your piece, music of the same composer, or maybe something else to relax your brain.

If you have been trying something new and are experiencing pain, I hope this post provides insight and encourages you to approach new technical requirements differently.

All of us need to be alert to pain, addressing it immediately to avoid injury.

*Stretches should each be done twice, at 85% capacity, for 30 seconds.  The purpose is to return the tendons, stretched in one direction while playing, to normal range of motion.

I do stretches whenever I feel pain, as well as after each practice session.

Have you encountered pain when learning a new technical feat?  How did you handle it? 

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

E-books

Learning a new piece? New program? Heading back to school? Looking for teaching ideas? Then this is the perfect time to read “Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer!”

Goal-oriented Practice

August 2011 review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

When You Buy a Piano

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Performing focuses my practice

Tags

Music, performance, practice, Progress, Sight reading

Image by Anirudh Koul via Flickr

I don’t know about you, but I have an aversion to making a fool of myself in public.

Some musicians prefer performing, some recording.  Still others like to play for their own enjoyment.

I love performing, and also enjoy recording.  But playing for myself doesn’t quite do it.

There is some intangible component to having an imminent performance that makes my practicing much, much better.  Today, for example, I had a heightened awareness of sound, variety of articulation, being ready in advance, and clear dynamic contrasts.  Next concert ~ two days away (unless it’s three ~ allowing for snow).

How does this happen?

Well, it could be related to sight-reading ability.  Sometimes being a good sight-reader can be a disadvantage.

What is sight-reading good for?

• reading through repertoire to choose programs
• deciding on program order (key, tempo, and mood relationships)
• playing rehearsals ~ although we would like to have the music in advance, that sometimes doesn’t happen

How can sight-reading get in the way?

• using the same fingerings consistently is more difficult
• reading through the piece is more fun than practicing
• making mistakes and going on is easy ~ missing a fingering rarely causes a train wreck
• when used as a practice method, sight-reading ensures that little if any improvement occurs

How does nearing a performance date change things?

• fear of playing badly kicks in
• mistakes and sloppy playing suddenly become much more obvious
• imagining a large hall with an audience is completely different from playing for 4 walls in a smaller space
• playing through pieces suddenly becomes a waste of time
• making the playing as foolproof as possible becomes crucial
• I hear with different ears!

In short, performing makes me the best I can be.

What focuses your practice?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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‘Tis the season…

Tags

avoiding boredom, inspiration, Music, repetition, Ruth Slenczynska

Image via Wikipedia

…to play the same music over and over!

Thanks to my best buddy Louise for the blog post idea!  She wonders how musicians manage to do this several times a day for weeks at a time.  Good question!

The easy solution would be to “phone it in.”  I’ve made a personal resolution never to do that.  Too risky (for missing cues, notes, etc.), not to mention boring.

How can we avoid zoning out?

A few ideas:

Always find a way to “reinvent” the music, as tired as that term may be.

Practice the program every day, whether you know it in your sleep or not.  Be engaged.

A musician who lived in my building in New York made a good living as a sub in Broadway pit orchestras.  He played 5 instruments, and practiced every one of them every day. That’s what it takes.

Practice the program out of order.  Switch it up. Keep your brain working.

Change something about your practice environment, such as the temperature, lighting, or chair height.  This also keeps you alert, as well as preparing you for day-to-day changes at the venue.  The pianist Ruth Slenczynska uses this approach.

Practice at different tempi. This provides the opportunity to hear everything differently.  Who knows?  You could change your interpretation partway through the season!

Vary the dynamics. You don’t have to play exactly the same way every time, in most cases.

Take breaks in different places (not always after the same piece).

In a church situation, you could harmonize hymns in a variety of ways, add a descant, improvise between verses, or even stop playing.

With anthems, the added instruments could change from time to time.

The choir and soloists could sing from different places in the room.

You could switch up the solos.

What was probably the most effective trick was suggested by a friend.  The Fantasticks, for which I played the harp part on a keyboard, had a run of 36 shows last Spring at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield, MA.  Imagining one person in the audience who had never seen the show made a big difference to me.  Then I had all the incentive I needed to be involved, to communicate the music like it was new every time. Thank you!  You know who you are… : )

I also enjoyed watching a veteran actor every night. He has been in theater for over 40 years!  His ability to “read” the audience in each show, changing his performance to match, fascinated me.  Thanks, J.T., for the inspiration!  I learned so much from you.

How do you manage to perform the same music throughout an entire season?  Please share your ideas in the comment section below!

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Give me a break!

Tags

Artur Rubinstein, health, Music, practice, practice breaks

Artur Rubinstein, 1906 ~ Image via Wikipedia

How many hours do you practice at a stretch?

During my freshman year in college, a senior named Becky accompanied the Male Glee Club.  Fairly often, as most people were headed to dinner, she would stay behind in the music building to practice.  No amount of cajoling would change her resolve.  This would occur most often when she needed to learn music on short notice.

At crunch times, Becky would say, “I’m going to lock myself in the practice room and stay there til I can play it.”  What do you think?  Good idea?

Artur Rubinstein wrote that did the same thing.  He loved his busy social life, and hated to practice when he was young.  While staying in the villa of one friend or another, he would let practicing slide until two weeks before a series of concerts.

With the pressure building, Rubinstein would lock himself in the music room and learn his program.  But there was an added incentive!  He talked about having a bowl of cherries on one side of the music rack, chocolates on the other.   🙂

Practicing for long periods with no breaks leads to problems, even more when stress is present.  A few that come to mind are brain and muscle fatigue, and inviting injury.

Long-distance haulers have mandatory breaks written into their contracts.  Why don’t we add a similar mandate to our practicing contracts with ourselves?

Do you know when you need a break?

Many people don’t.  Do you:

• lose track of time when you practice?
• push in order to “get through” and “save time?”
• stop eating regular meals?
• practice beyond your ability to listen effectively?
• find mindless repetition creeping in?

I have seen myself doing all of these far too often, both in practicing and in computer work.

All of us are most alert at the beginning of a session​.  Even without considering the issues of eating and being vulnerable to injury, we will obviously accomplish much more if we remain alert.

How can we notice?

If you “check out” while practicing, as I do, there are some small things you can do to help yourself out:

• write​ down your start time
• set a timer or an alarm OR
• develop a habit of checking the clock
• take break before you need one​ ~ don’t let it go.
• make sure to take a break once every hour

Remember that the small structures of our hands and wrists were not built for multiple repetitions.  They need​ time off in order to recover from practicing.

So even if it’s only getting a glass of water, take a break!  Your body and mind, the learning process, and your neighbors will thank you.

Do you take practice breaks?  How often?  How do you remind yourself?

Please share your ideas in the comment section below!

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Challenge by a 7th-grader

Tags

challenge, Children's Corner, Claude Debussy, Golliwog's Cakewalk, Music, piano, teaching

Excerpt from "Golliwog's Cakewalk" ~ Debussy ~ Public Domain

My  students often choose one piece as a favorite in piano recitals.  The “winner” in one was, not surprisingly, Debussy‘s “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner.*

It was played very well by a high school junior.  And the student who was completely bowled over was in seventh grade!

First lesson following the recital

The younger student (I’ll call her “H”) told me excitedly that she wanted to play that piece.

What would you think of first when considering her request?

My immediate reaction was, “The student who played the piece is four years older!”

After that, I thought, “You’re really not ready.”

And I said “no.”

This went on for a couple of weeks.

The challenge

H then asked me why I kept saying “no.”  I’m so glad she had the courage to call me on it!

I was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to handle the piece, would become completely discouraged, and stop studying.  So I told her all of that.

Next lesson

H said, “What if I promise not to quit?”  Aha!  Good suggestion!

So I felt much better about saying “yes.”

And then

We tackled the piece! H could handle the beginning and the end fairly well.  The middle section, though, was beyond her.  “Cedez?”  What the heck is that?  In addition, she hadn’t had much experience pedaling.  (There were also hand-position changes, wide stretches, unusual fingerings…. and the key signature!  See musical example, above.)

So we did the difficult parts by rote.  That was a little tedious, but possible.

Next recital

H performed the piece!  She was terrific!!!

End result

H had skipped at least a year of slower, step-by-step learning.  She improved more than I could have imagined.

So I’ll resist saying “no” in the future.  Enthusiasm trumps experience sometimes!

Have you been challenged by a student who wanted to play something that seemed too difficult?  How did you handle the situation?  What were the results?

Please share your experience in the comment section below!

While you’re here, please take a look at my new E-book ~ “Goal-oriented Practice:  How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer“ ~ make steady progress without getting stuck!  PRINT VERSION NOW AVAILABLE.  Coming soon:  Kindle version on Amazon.com!

*Read more about Children’s Corner on this blog here.

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“Where is melody?”

Tags

Chopin, Music, student, taking risks, teaching

Image by Sabrina Tang via Flickr

Chopin in two sentences!

A former piano student I had the pleasure of teaching for two years grew up in Korea.  She had studied piano for six years before I met her, always in a class situation.

She described her classes as only playing the notes.  The teacher would walk around the room, saying “OK, next” when students knew the notes.  So the students would turn the page and go on.

Hence the following story.

First lesson

My student (I’ll call her “K”) played something for me, I don’t recall what.  Everything sounded like everything else.

So I said, “Where’s the melody?”  K’s response was a confused facial expression.  She honestly didn’t know.

After some discussion, K said, “I thought it [playing music] was just playing the notes!”  Given what transpired in her previous piano classes, this was not surprising.

Second lesson

K and I discussed what she would like to work on.  (This was Continuing Ed., no requirements.)  She answered, “Chopin, Fantaisie Impromptu.”  I took a very deep breath while thinking about what I would say.

My initial reaction was that she would never be able to learn the piece, given her current  repertoire.  Had she done anything with complicated rhythms between hands?  No.  Nor did she have a practice plan to handle this piece.

And then I thought further.  She had the chops, she sight-read well, and she was accurate.  She loved the piece, and had the maturity to accept that she might need to switch to something else.

So I said “yes,” wondering whether I had just made a big mistake.

Next lesson

K had broken down the rhythms, and was playing very slowly, fitting the right hand’s 16th notes in with the left hand’s triplets.  Accurate, yes, but think about it.  It wasn’t music, and getting the sweeping sound required would take forever.

So I took another big risk, suggesting that she just play it.  Let each hand do what it wants to, and don’t analyze the rhythm so meticulously.  K reacted with surprise.

Next lesson

It worked!  Just like that.  Yes, the tempo needed to be faster, but the music was there.  I wouldn’t recommend that leap for every student, but K was ready to go there.

More progress

With a student recital coming up,  K wanted to perform.  So we started working on presentation.

Since K had never performed before, we practiced walking to the piano, how to begin the piece, and bowing afterwards.

Next lesson

I asked K how she had been practicing the piece.  How was it going?  How did she feel, with the recital a week away?

Her response:  “I ask, ‘Where is melody?’  Then I bow to wall.”

So there you go.  Chopin in two sentences!   : )

Have you taken chances with your students?  What was the outcome?  Please share your experiences in the comment section below!

While you’re here, please take a look at my new E-book, “Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer“ ~ making steady progress without getting stuck!  Print version coming soon!  Proofed first copy last week!!!  Very exciting!!!

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