The other day, I received an email from a friend asking how I would begin teaching a new adult piano student who is about at intermediate level.
I have enjoyed teaching several such students. My first thought was, “They’re all different!” Just as every person has different interests, their own look, speaking voice, and preferences in reading material, movies, food, etc., our approach must honor that person’s individuality.
So in my view, no one series of piano method books will entirely meet any student’s needs. Giving each student a comprehensive look at a wide variety of sounds and styles requires diverse resources.
This is my friend’s email:
“Hi Gretchen,
I was trying to think who might be able to help me and I thought of you. I have a new adult piano student. She reads music well but has pretty bad technique so she is limited in what she can play well. She has used those collections of 50 favorites and has some fairly good exercise books. I would consider her an intermediate piano student. I would really like to find a series that I could use with her that would be fun but would also challenge her. She seems to like classical music although I would love to try something else too. Any ideas. I looked at the Alfred Adult series but couldn’t figure out what level she might be. I just don’t have enough students to really know…..and most of my adult students have been beginners…..I never had a student where I need to break some really bad habits before. Anyway, any help will be GREATLY appreciated.
C.”
And my response:
“Hi C.,
Great to hear from you! I’m honored that you would use me as a sounding board.
My suggestion would be to skip around among different books. Going in sequence probably won’t work. In addition, all series books have pieces assigned to a certain level by the person who compiled the series. Each compiler/teacher thinks differently, and each student has different strengths and weaknesses.
That said, I like Alfred’s adult beginner book, Music for Millions, and skipping around in A Dozen A Day. For the latter, I don’t think it’s necessary to do every exercise, or even complete exercises. Understanding the concepts feels more important to me.
Best of luck! Just go with your gut, and let me know how it goes. Hmmm… I feel a blog post coming on! Maybe you could let me know what you’ve tried and we could take it from there.
Take care,
~ Gretchen”
For further thoughts about teaching students at any level, also applicable to teaching other instruments, please see my ebook, “Goal-oriented Practice.”
Improvising is a wonderful opportunity for piano students to learn more about what makes music effective . . . or not so effective. Here are three important principles that pianists should consider in order to improve the quality of their improvisations.
Phrasing
One of the most important aspects of successful improvising is phrasing. A musical phrase is like a sentence or short paragraph in spoken English. Just as we don’t keep talking without brief pauses between sentences and paragraphs (at least most of us don’t!), a good improviser will create musical phrases with space (rests) between them.
The average phrase will typically consist of smaller intervals (unisons, seconds, thirds and fourths) with larger intervals appearing less frequently.
In written English it’s important to vary the length of one’s sentences in order to keep the reader interested. The same is true when improvising music. Varying the lengths of improvised phrases helps keep listeners’ attention.
Another aspect of phrasing is contour. The contour of a phrase may rise, or fall, or rise then fall, or any of a number of combinations.
Both the length and contour of phrases can help to create or release musical tension (see below).
The following G-flat pentatonic scale (black keys only) improvisation for RH employs phrases of various lengths and different contours. Each phrase consists of intervals of a third or less.
Unity is important because it provides consistency, which the human brain usually prefers. Without consistency, an improvisation may sound like a jumble of disconnected notes.
Contrast keeps listeners awake and interested. Without contrast, music can become monotonous or even boring.
Unity is created through repetition. An improviser might repeat notes, a phrase, a motif, a rhythm, or a harmonic progression, etc.
Contrast is created through change. An improviser might change the length or contour of phrases, change the rhythms used for different phrases, change the range (playing higher or lower), change the dynamics, change the tempo, etc.
An easy way for beginning improvisers to make sure they’re providing both unity and contrast is to improvise with an ostinato or simple harmonic progression in the LH (which establishes unity) while playing a varied improvised line in the RH (which creates contrast).
Tension & Release
A third important factor in effective improvising is building and releasing tension. Just like a good film creates and releases dramatic tension, a good improvisation creates and releases musical tension.
A few ways to increase musical tension include:
Playing higher and higher
Playing louder
Playing longer and/or more complex phrases
Playing faster
Some ways to release musical tension include:
Playing lower and lower
Playing softer
Playing shorter and/or less complex phrases
Including more space (silence) between phrases
Pianists who pay conscious attention to phrasing, unity/contrast and tension/release will create more interesting and effective improvisations and are bound to increase their overall confidence as improvisers.
Doug Hanveyteaches improvising to aspiring creative pianists in Portland, Oregon. HisPiano Lab Blogfeatures fresh ideas, tips and inspiration for piano teachers and students.
A young boy plays with a toy drum that was given to him during Joint Task Force-Bravo’s visit to at the Sisters of Charity Orphanage in Comayagua, Honduras, Jan. 25, 2015. The Sisters of Charity Orphanage is one of seven different orphanages from around the Comayagua Valley that the U.S. military personnel assigned to JTF-Bravo have supported over the past 17 years. In addition to spending time with interacting with children, members have also collected and donated much-needed supplies and food, as well as helped in minor construction work on the buildings in which the children live. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Heather Redman). Source: Wikimedia. Public domain.
Isn’t this a wonderful photograph?
★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★
Background
A high school flutist and I performed the piece excerpted below on a recital in April. She plays quite well, but this piece was full of syncopation. Keep in mind that she was looking at the flute part only (top line). Pianists usually play from the complete score (solo line plus piano part).
Excerpt from “Allegretto” from Suite de trois morceaux, Op.116 by Benjamin Godard
First Run-through
The soloist knew her part securely. But the rhythm in the piano part, not surprisingly, threw her off. She took the right hand part (off-beat) to be the beat. So, for example, in the 3rd bar of the 2nd system, her quarter note was one beat late, played after the last chord in the piano part.
Second Try
I played my part as printed, counting out loud. We would stop along the way to correct rhythmic mistakes. She would look at the score when the rhythm threw her off.
That approach resulted in about 50% improvement in our brief rehearsal.
Taking a Closer Look
I continued to think about her that evening. How could this be a better experience for the student, with the performance in front of an audience only a few days away? Was it sink or swim? Or could I do something to help?
In Her Shoes
After considerable thought, I realized that the student was relying primarily on what she had heard during our brief rehearsal. She didn’t have the piano score, and told me she had not listened to recordings.
Going by sound alone complicates things in this case.
Try it! When you sing one low note followed by two higher notes at the same pitch, listen to the way the higher pitch is easier to hear. It would take a lot to make the low note take over as the anchor. Hearing the pitches without looking at the score can easily sound like the low note is an upbeat.
A singer, by contrast, would have the score to refer to. Instrumental parts are published separately, so only the solo line is available unless they keep a copy of the score (or someone provides it).
To add to the challenge, I learned the next day that the student has a cochlear implant. That would make it more difficult to hear anything, possibly also causing a delay in the perception of sound.
The Next Day
Fortunately, there was more rehearsal time available. I checked with the teacher to ask whether it would be acceptable for me to call the student’s parents with the goal of finding another time to get together. We found a time for the following evening.
Recording the Piano Part
I realized that we had only rehearsed the piece one way; as printed.
Since the off-beat is so easy to hear as the beat, I wanted to try something. The student had her phone with her, so we recorded the piano part twice: the first time on the beat; the second as written.
The “on the beat” version went very well! We practiced the piece that way again. This time, the student tapped (stomped, really) her foot on the beat.
Then we practiced the piece as written. She was much closer.
The Core Problem
The student had been attempting to understand the syncopation without knowing where the beat was. You can’t have an off-beat without feeling the beat first.
I encouraged her to march around the room, stamp her feet, and sing, play, clap… whatever would get the rhythm into her body. I suggestion that she count, tap, stamp, clap, or whatever else she wanted to do, louder than the piano part.
Her First Response
“I can’t tap my foot in the performance.”
I agreed, and went on to say that it’s OK to tap your toe inside your shoe, especially the first time you’ve ever done this. And you can do whatever you need to do in rehearsal. The audience doesn’t see you rehearsing, nor does it know what you’re thinking in performance.
Solo Flute Practice
She did it! She had two days left to experiment, and addressed the problem at home without my being there.
Performance
Wonderful! She played out, sounded secure, and was not particularly nervous.
Followup
Two or three weeks later, I ran into her at school. After we said hello, I asked how she felt about the performance. Her response: “It went better than I thought it would. I felt very comfortable.”
What do you do when a student is thrown by something new? Comments welcome!
★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★
Please take a look at my e-book!
“Goal-oriented Practice” Are you practicing well? What do you do when you hit a snag? How do you help your students practice?
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Town crier in Plymouth, Devon, England, 2014. By Sullivanthepoet. (Own work.) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
New information updates previous blog posts! Recent input informs the way we handle injuries, where each of us is in the perfect pitch conversation, and ergonomic instrument development.
First, Don Ehrlich, who plays an ergonomic viola, posted this comment on Facebook:
Don: Hi Gretchen, An interesting point in time that this [link to my guest post] reached my computer. You don’t know this: The injury to my right thumb got worse and worse. For example, I played a performance of Bach’s 3rd Brandenburg Concerto, where in rehearsals I couldn’t get my bow to behave as I wanted it to. (It did work out in the performance, thank heavens.) Turns out to have been a broken tendon. I found a Very Good hand surgeon in Kaiser South San Francisco. He operated on me on April 13. I’m only now in recovery, trying to regain my skill, strength and endurance. Today I had an appointment with my physical therapist, one recommended by my surgeon. He is weaning me off my range-of-motion exercises and giving me strengthening exercises. Life is never easy, I guess. There is a new-styled frog for violin/viola bows, the Galliane frog. It’s supposed to be ergonomic, though I don’t know how. I was hoping to have it in place already, for my recovery, but that hasn’t happened yet. I can keep you posted, if you like.
Gretchen: Thanks for being in touch, Don. I was unaware that tendons could break. Best of luck, and yes, please keep me posted.
OK if I add your comment to your guest post?
Don: Of course.
My physical therapists usually like to say to avoid surgery at all costs. Well, for me it became intolerable, and surgery became necessary.
Gretchen: Thanks, Don. I know 2 other people who have had tendon surgery (a finger was trapped in closed position for both). They are completely back to normal now; one is a pianist.
“Goal-oriented Practice” Are you practicing safely? How do you approach physically demanding works? Do you power through when the pressure is on? How do you guide your students?
This book will help you take a step back, save practice time, learn more music, and perform with confidence.
50% off!!!
What did you find here? What would you like to see? Comments welcome!
If this post has been helpful and you think your friends and contacts would benefit from reading it, please share.
Source: Wikimediacommons
File: Nuovo_regno,_fine_della_XVIII_dinastia,_conversazione,
1352-1336 ac ca, da el amarna poi hermopolis.JPG
The links provided in this post will take you to articles related to recent posts on this blog. Links to my posts are also listed here. Please take a minute to look around! Comments welcome!
“Goal-oriented Practice” Pleasetake a look!
My book will save you time. In addition, you will soon be learning more music. You will gain insight into teaching students as individuals. Both you and they will perform with confidence.
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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?
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!
For reasons I won’t discuss here, today found me “off my game.” Has that happened to you?
Why?
Even while warming up with finger exercises I am completely used to, I couldn’t feel my hands or fingers in the usual way. That may have been okay, but my hands repeatedly slipped off the keys.
That is, of course, unacceptable.
So, what do you do? Stop practicing for the day?
Not wanting to quit right away, I opted to see if I could find a way to accomplish something.
Warmup
The first thing I did was to slow down. A lot.
Then I flattened my hands more than usual, resulting in more finger surface on the keys. That helped accuracy quite a bit.
Okay, warmups worked after making adjustments in speed and hand position. Now it was time to practice some music.
Music
Playing at performance tempo wasn’t going to work. Warmups had brought that to the forefront already.
The music I wanted to practice to day was Bach and Messiaen from my July solo program. After not playing it for some time, a slow tempo was needed.
When I tried hands together, that didn’t work for the same reason the warmups were uncomfortable at first. I couldn’t feel my hands or fingers very well.
Something that worked
The approach that worked was hands alone slowly, concentrating on fingering and phrasing. My ears were fine, so listening seemed like the way to go.
What about tomorrow?
I know why I was off my game today, and expect that tomorrow will be better. Hopefully, “bad” practice days won’t happen any more frequently than they have up until this point!
What do you do when you have a “bad” practice day? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Summer Concerts
See complete details aboutRocky Hill Concerts. 4 Sunday afternoons in July in air-conditioned comfort!
E-books
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La Cathédrale Engloutie (Photo credit: Pierre Metivier)
Wow. My student, who was nearly comatose last week (you know, end of semester…) played SO WELL today! She learned how to reliably produce the substantial variety of sounds required to play Debussy’s “Sunken Cathedral” ~ in ONE WEEK!
![By Sullivanthepoet. (Own work.) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://gretchenspianos.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/town-crier.jpg)
