Q&A: Ergonomics of piano playing

Tags

exercise, health, healthy eating, piano, practice, stretching

Source: Pixabay

While a computer tech was trouble-shooting at the house this week, he was interested in my ergonomic keyboard. In fact, he is going to purchase one.

Take a look!  http://www.thehumansolution.com/keyovation.html

That got me thinking about this post, first published in 2010.

Someone searched this blog recently for “ergonomics of playing the piano.”  Let’s replace that with “playing the piano safely.”

We can maintain our ability to play the piano for decades by being aware and looking for variety.

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, it happens all the time.

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 20-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 (i.e. more use of your hands)

Same thing.  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!

You can read much more about ergonomics here.

And while you’re here, please take a look at my E-book! “Goal-oriented Practice” is all about being smart, saving time, and achieving better results.

If this post has been helpful and you think your friends and contacts would benefit from reading it, please share. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

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Perfect pitch and relative pitch: how do they differ?

Tags

absolute pitch, Music, perfect pitch, piano, relative pitch, Seiji Ozawa, sight-singing, Tanglewood

Image via Wikipedia

This post went viral when it was first published.  Here it is again for your enjoyment.  Please contribute to the discussion in the Comments section!

Do you have perfect pitch?  Would having perfect pitch be useful?  Can it be learned?  Taught?

Please scroll down to Comment #50 for an expanded view on this topic.

Perfect pitch cannot be acquired ~ either you have it or you don’t.​  A discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of perfect (“absolute”) vs. relative pitch would be pointless, so I’m not going to go there.  Instead, this post will help clarify some of the ways in which the two types of pitch are different.

I don’t have perfect pitch, but feel fortunate to have very good relative pitch.

Someone with perfect pitch can:

• instantly sing any pitch name​ when asked
• always sing the “Hallelujah Chorus” in the original key, D Major
• hear any music they know in the appropriate key
• “hear” a score by looking at it, in the printed key
• begin singing a song note-for-note with accompaniment without anyone giving the pitch in advance

A story!

In a class coached by Martin Katz, I partnered with a singer who had perfect pitch.  We were about to begin “Ach, ich fühl’s” from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte when Martin whispered, “Give her the pitch!”

I chose to defy authority and ignore his directions.  We began the aria, the singer was right on, and Martin said, “Oh.”

Another story!

An organist I know also has perfect pitch.  During a wedding in which I collaborated with a singer, he proved it!  The last song before the processional was in the key of A-flat Major, transposed down from the original key.

The organist did not know what our program was, and I was as yet unaware that he had perfect pitch.  In addition, even if had known the song cycle we performed selections from, he didn’t know we were using a transposition.

Immediately following the final song’s piano postlude, I heard John playing the organ nearly imperceptibly.  He began in “our” key, in “our” dotted rhythm, modulating with a big crescendo to D Major, the key of the processional.

I was not only impressed ~ I knew I’d never be able to do that.

Yet another story!

At the wedding reception, John told me that prior to being hired for his full-time position, he was part-time with an additional job in a synogogue.  The Rogers electronic organ had a transposition function.  During one service, he decided to check it out!

He programmed the transposition he wanted and started playing.  When he heard the sound come out in a different key, his hands moved over!

That may be the flip side.  Perfect pitch makes transposing nearly impossible.

Relative pitch allows people to:

• sight-sing easily by using interval relationships
• transpose more easily than someone with perfect pitch
• learn music quickly
• “hear” a score just by looking at it, but the key may be incorrect
• come close to singing A-440 (just now, I sang a “G” instead)
• comfortably listen to music not exactly “at pitch”

When I was in college, a chorus I was singing in lost pitch during a concert.  The conductor looked at me to ask for a pitch for the next piece!  He must have though I had perfect pitch.

I gave him a pitch and hoped it was close.  (Having a discussion with the concert in progress didn’t seem like such a great idea.)

A few years later, everyone in Tanglewood‘s vocal program was required to attend sight-reading classes.  All of us were excellent sight-readers, so we loathed going to class.  It felt like a waste of good practice time.

So we took turns showing up, a few at a time.  After four or five days of this, we began getting notes in our mailboxes from Seiji Ozawa!  We had to go to class or be dismissed from the program.

To be fair, this was a class in sight-singing contemporary music.  The method used was fixed “do,” with numbers.  (“Do” was always “C,” so “C” was 1, “D” was 2, etc.)

Learning relative pitch

A person’s pitch can be improved through the use of solfedge and other methods.  (But again, perfect pitch cannot be learned.)  I have also found that when someone takes piano lessons, s/he can acquire a visual conte​xt that provides a consistent reference point.

Related articles

• Lend Me Your Ears! (Because mine can’t tell a G# from a G) by musician and blogger Elaine Fine
• The Mysteries of Perfect Pitch by William Lee Adams, Psychology Today
  

What is your story?  I’m all out.  Do you have perfect pitch?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Happy Birthday, Norman Luboff!

Tags

arts, Music, Norman Luboff, Norman Luboff Choir, Pianist, piano

Norman Luboff
(May 14, 1917 – September 22, 1987)

I had the privilege of touring the United States as pianist with The Norman Luboff Choir twice. I am grateful to have had such a wonderful experience.

 Discography of The Norman Luboff Choir

 

 

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Split fingers? Here’s a CURE!

Tags

harpsichord, Katerina Stamatelos, keyboard, Music, organ, pharmacist, piano, split fingers

Providone Iodine solution by Polylab. (Photo credit: artist in doing nothing) Photo by Stan Dalone, Flikr

 

Do your fingers split?

Katerina Stamatelos, my multi-talented friend from Greece, offers the following:

… I have a great “advice” for your cracking fingers (at winter):  it comes straight from my pharmacist who has faced a similar problem during winters!  He has cures his by doing just this simple routine every night:

Put a tablespoon of iodine in lukewarm water, and just soak your hands in it for about 15 minutes!  That’s all!  Do it every night, before going to bed!

He said that, since he has been doing this, he never had this problem again!!!!

Hope it works for you, too!

This certainly sounds like it’s worth a try, yes?  Thanks so much, Katerina.

Please share your thoughts in the Comment Section below!

Extreme patience pays!

Tags

Chord (music), flute, piano, student

Patience (George Michael album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of my adult students broke so many long-term barriers last weekend!  This is the first time she has achieved consistency and sustained concentration.  What a lesson!

She started playing flute as an adult beginner, then added piano class about 2  years later.  When my piano class was discontinued, she tried progressing on her own at first, then started private lessons 6 months later.

So she has been plugging away for about 12 years now.  That is a huge commitment on her part.

Breakthrough #1

2 triads were marked to be played legato, but the top note of each was to be played with the thumb.  Instinct took over at last, and my student played the lowest 2 notes of each chord legato.  Definitely a first!

#2

Several right-hand notes happened to be below the staff.  My student, having started out playing flute, was not required to read below the staff for at least 2 years.  (The lowest note on the flute is middle C.)

Her usual way of finding notes below the staff is to say “one below C,” “two below C,” etc.  That works, but that was the only method available to her.

On Saturday, something wonderful happened.  She played an A below the staff right away, no calculation necessary.  Then, on the next system and 1/2 a page to the right, she played a G!  I was flabbergasted!  She just did it!

After she had finished playing the piece, I mentioned the feat she had just accomplished.  She shrugged it off because G is next to A.  I certainly didn’t expect that.  She has never thought notes below the staff could be easy.

#3

We were checking out the theme to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.  This was completely new to her.  She will be learning the Bastien arrangement over the next 2 weeks.

First, we looked at the triplets.  My goal was to remove the need to look closely at every note, since each triplet is part of a scale.

My student played each triplet, no problem.

Next, I asked her to add the next note (a quarter note) in order to eliminate a possible glitch in the flow of the music.  She did it!  She was able to look at the 1st note of each triplet, then move her eyes over to the quarter note.  She played each of the snippets perfectly the 1st time!  There was never a triplet, pause on the 3rd note, stop to figure out where the quarter note was, then play the quarter note.  (When a passage is learned that way, it is very hard to remove the glitch and find the line.)

After that, she played the entire melody.  I was so happy that no past fears crept in.

#4

In the theme from Sheherazade, the accompaniment in the left hand includes something that has been a problem in past lessons.  Two quarters in the top part descend to a half note, while the lower part has two half notes.  Everything is marked legato.  Holding a key down with part of the hand while changing pitches with another part of the same hand is not easy!  Again, she just did it.

And finally, a potential problem, nipped in the bud  🙂

When we looked at the left hand accompaniment in the Tchaikovsky, my student announced, “I’m not going to count the rests.”  So she “tried out” the left hand in that manner.

While she was playing, I thought about her comment.

“Trying it out” is a habit of hers that is hard to overcome.  It must feel safer to play so no one can really hear you.  It occurred to me that random chords allowed for random glitches, too.

After the 1st time through the chords, we talked about this.  When I suggested that counting could save later rhythmic problems, I demonstrated by playing 2 adjacent chords; randomly the 1st time, then rhythmically.

I think she bought it… we’ll see in 2 weeks.

And the credit goes to…

My wonderful, extremely patient, persevering student!  Congratulations!!!

What do you think?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

For more information about practicing:

E-book

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

Are you stuck?  My book provides tested methods for you and your students to identify problems and eliminate them forever!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 9 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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Johnny One Note*

Tags

acoustic piano, Bach, Church service, digital piano, Eighth note, fugue, piano, Prelude, Quarter note, Sunday

(Image credit: Flickr)

In choosing music for Sunday, I decided on two Bach Preludes and excerpts from a Fugue (keeping the postlude short).  The service had been scheduled to be outdoors, which meant I would be playing a digital piano.

All three works are pieces I have not played before.  So note-learning commenced immediately.

After reading through everything, I went back to look for clues about the construction and articulation of each piece.

In one Prelude, especially, a seemingly insignificant detail turned out to be crucial to most interpretive decisions throughout the piece.

There are two compositional elements that must be clearly differentiated:  

• quarter-note chords; and
• thematic material.

At first, I honored the length of the quarter notes.  That plan worked for 7 measures!  Time to find another plan.

Now look at bar 8.  How can the quarter note “G” be held while continuing with the thematic upper part (B-flat and A-flat, etc.)?  Even if I were able to stretch from G to B-flat, the tone quality would suffer on the 16th notes. (My left hand is unable to play E-flat and G at the same time, too.)

Using pedal to sustain the “G” is out of the question.  The next two 16th notes would be blurred.

So I tried playing an 8th-note “G”!  And it worked.  But consistency in articulation is so important when voicing Bach’s music.  Establishing longer quarter notes over 7 bars and then playing a single 8th note instead just wouldn’t make it.  So I jumped from one quarter-note section to the next, checking them all out in the shorter version against the opposite hand.

Bach’s intentions are best expressed in the clarity between his compositional ideas.  I hear the piece as if orchestrated, with a group of instruments playing the quarters and strings (in their appropriate range) playing the thematic portions.

Seeing quarter notes notated in opposition to the eighths and sixteenths of the thematic portions makes the difference in parts visually clear.  I don’t see the notation as an error.  Imagine all the ink on the page if 8th notes and 8th-note rests were used instead.

This afternoon (Thursday), the plans for the outdoor service were changed. We will be having an indoor service, and I will be playing an acoustic piano.

Friday update:  I tried something new today with the quarter note in question.  If the moving part is played with an appropriate break to accommodate the ascending interval from D-flat to B-flat, it is possible to make the “G” sound a little longer.  I like the way that sounds, so now I’ve added a breath in the moving part.

Immediately after the breath, the piece continues in tempo.

This piece is still evolving for me.  I have decided to postpone playing it until I feel comfortable.

What do you think?  Please share your thoughts in the Comment Section below!

* When I was a staff accompanist at Smith College, one of the voice 
teachers often referred to Bach as "Johnny Rivers." 

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Marie-Claire Alain and thoughts about service playing

Tags

choir, Church, Congregation, Daniel Roth, hymns, J.S. Bach, Marie-Claire Alain, Music, organ, piano

Marie-Claire Alain, the masterful French organist, prolific recording artist and teacher, passed away last month. 

Marie-Claire Alain’s NY Times obituary

She approached every composer whose music she played with great integrity, as one of her many former students says:  “…she always regarded the composer, of whatever period, as the ultimate authority.”

~ Daniel Roth

And isn’t that what all of us need to strive for?

Speaking of the organ works of J.S. Bach, which Alain researched and recorded extensively, she said:

“…You can’t play a Bach chorale… without knowing the liturgical text on which it is based, without knowing why it was written.”

We also must translate texts when they are in a foreign language!

Now let’s take some of Alain’s wisdom and talk about congregational singing.

• How well is your congregation singing?
• What can we do to enhance the singing?

Some moments in last Sunday’s service have stayed in my mind:

1. An unfamiliar hymn;
2. A sung response to a reading;
   
3. A well-known hymn; and
   
4. A fun moment!

Unfamiliar hymn

My choir suggested that I play an entire stanza rather than a shorter introduction.  That encouraged everyone to sing out.

Then I made a poor choice.  I played the second stanza much softer.  The congregation sang considerably less well as a result.

The third stanza went much better.  I changed registration, but made sure to play louder.  The congregation should never be drowned out, though.

Sung response

We sang a response that included a 3-note keyboard introduction.  A low pedal note came first, followed by 2 melodic notes leading to the congregational entrance (forming a 3-note scale).

We rehearsed the response in choir rehearsal before the service.  Things went well!

During the service, I played the 3-note introduction and everyone had trouble with the sung entrance.  That gave me a few seconds to figure out what to do.  (The response was interspersed with spoken text.)

Second try:  I look over toward the choir and nodded my head when it was time to sing.  More help was needed.

I hate playing an introduction with a ritard at the end or a fermata on the last note.  Both approaches result most often in a slower tempo.  Accelerating during the singing only works a fraction of the time.

Third try:  I added a breath!  So everyone heard the 3-note introduction with the last note cut off.  It worked!  Everyone came in confidently, right on time and singing the right pitch.

When there is no sound, everyone knows it’s time to sing!

Well-known hymn

Since everyone was so familiar with this hymn, a member of the choir who plays piano decided to play with me (I was playing the organ).  But we weren’t together this time.

The hymn was “Guide Me, O thou Great Jehovah.”  The words demand that it be sung out.  When untrained singers do that, they tend to run out of breath.  And once people feel short of breath, the effect can be cumulative as the music  continues.

As the hymn progressed, I listened to the congregation (always do).  They needed breathing time, often in the middle of a line.  The pianist kept going with no breaths.  And then, when there were words that could go on (phrases that belong together), the pianist played quarter-note chords as they appear in the hymnal.  Vertically.

Next time we’ll have a brief rehearsal together.

Hymns are deceptive that way.  The look alike oftentimes.

Looking at the words is crucial!

Practicing hymns

Sight-reading hymns during the service invites poor outcomes, detracting from the service.  To enhance the service, this is what is needed:

• Sing the hymns out loud while playing.  This is the only way you will know how much time it takes to breathe.
  • Are you running out of breath?  Then the tempo needs to be faster.
  • Are your words unclear in fast passages?  It takes time to get words out.  Adjustment needed!  Slower tempo or give more time to certain passages.
• Look at the words of every verse.  You can change registration to enliven the text, play some parts and not others, play only the tune, cut out completely, etc.
  

A fun moment

We sang “Let Us Break Bread Together” just before communion.  I decided to play this one on the piano, since improvisation comes to me more easily there.

At the end of the last verse, someone in the congregation began harmonizing above the tune.  I found myself adding time to honor the harmony.  The congregation was also listening, and everything worked out perfectly!

For a previous post on hymn playing:  “Creative hymn playing“

Please add your thoughts to the comment section below!

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REPOST: Split fingers ~ what to do?

Tags

cracked fingers, health, Music, piano, practice, split fingers

‘Tis the season for finger splits! Be sure to read the comments following the post. You will see that fellow musicians have many different approaches to dealing with this common problem.

The top 2 circles indicate splits in progress; bottom circle shows a split with callouses.  Source:  my cellphone camera, my right hand.

Pianists! Do your fingers split or crack?

I have dry skin.  Callouses build up from playing the piano, then split due to the hours spent playing or from cold weather.

Sometimes the split turns into a deeper cut, similar to a paper cut.  Ouch!  When that happens, blood can get onto the keys.  (It’s not pretty!)

So, after much experimentation about how to make this better in order to continue playing, I have found something that works.  Other pianists have also suggested solutions that work for them.

Measures I’ve tried (groan!)

Liquid Band-Aid ~ wears through when playing

regular Band-Aid ~ slips on keys, tape gunk comes off

paper tape ~ too thin for this purpose

heavy duty tape ~ too gunky, too thick, can’t feel keys

Other pianists’ recommendations

NuSkin

One of my teachers, and Gail Fischler, of the Piano Addict blog, both use NuSkin.  I find that it wears through, but you may want to try it.

My preferred “fix”

Johnson & Johnson First Aid Waterproof (“adhesive”) Tape

Here’s how:

1. Tear off a piece of tape.
2. Affix tape around end of finger, making a “U” shape along sides of fingernail
3. Use another small piece the other way ~ this piece will cover the nail and back of finger (the ends should be even)
4. Then use a longer piece around the finger, like a Band-Aid, overlapping the ends.  The purpose is to keep the first two pieces of tape in place.
5. Last step ~ smoosh tape around finger.

A pianist friend trims the corners, then smooshes the tape even closer to her finger.

I remove the tape just before playing a concert or audition.  It stays on for rehearsals!

The timing of when you remove the tape is your call.  Playing with or without tape changes the way you feel the keys, and that change takes some getting used to.

A word of caution: Remove the tape when you’re not playing.  Or, if the split is painful, at least remove the tape at night.  Leaving it on too long results in raw cuticles.

Amy swears by this

The music director of a show I did recently says Krazy Glue® was recommended by her father, a carpenter.  Krazy Glue doesn’t sting, doesn’t wear out or tear, provides cushioning, and isn’t gunky.  (I have yet to try it.)

Further considerations

Using hand cream, moisturizer, etc., is also important, and can postpone splits.

Hand cream should be non-greasy, so as not to slip on the keys or gunk them up.  There are many available types that are effective.

I use Aveeno® hand cream.  It remains effective even after you wash your hands, soaks into the skin, and is non-greasy.  CVS has a generic version that works just as well, and is slightly less expensive.

Mild soap is less drying to the skin.

Do you wear gloves when it’s cold?  Mine have Thinsulate® lining ~ wool and fleece dry out the skin.

Wearing wool clothing also dries out the skin, hands included (from handling the clothing).  Fortunately, tech materials are equally as warm.

Emergency treatment

From time to time, the split just won’t go away.  That typically happens when there is an extended cold spell.

A dermatologist gave me a prescription several years ago that really works.  You might want to ask your doctor.  It’s Salicylic Acid 2% in Aquaphor, a compound made at the pharmacy.  It breaks down callouses.  The same stuff is used in callous-removal products for the feet.

I apply it to my finger callouses before bed, then wear plastic gloves.  The resulting hand moisture from the gloves is an added bonus.  The callouses soften after a night or two, and heal a day or two after that.  Yes, it takes time, but it works.  I have yet to find an instant solution.

How do you handle finger splitting?  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

How to Maintain Your Piano

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Emily’s Movie: Take 2

Tags

chorus, Emily Dickinson, Felix Mendelssohn, film, fortepiano, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, piano, scratch track

Image via Wikipedia

This is the first update about my work for an upcoming film about Emily Dickinson, the 3rd in a series of documentaries.

I have been practicing seven of the Mendelssohn “Songs Without Words” and Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata.

Background

We will be videotaping in order to make a scratch audio track so the producer can organize his approach for the actual film.  This will probably take place within the next two weeks.

A practice interruption

Things were going along according to plan, when I caught the bug that’s going around.  For the first three days or so, what I thought might be a sinus infection may have been allergies instead.  But with swollen eyelids, a headache, and a sore, scratchy throat, exactly what it was didn’t seem to matter.

And then a virus hit.  That intensified things, making for many sore muscles and major intestinal upset.  At that point, I stopped eating, stopped practicing, and slept most of the time.

Not to lay the details on you, but taking two days off from practicing was not part of the plan, especially with an approaching deadline.

Heading for the piano

Finally on Friday, I felt better, mostly.  There were still achy muscles, and I was dehydrated.  But I wanted to try practicing.

Practicing after 2 days off

A full-out practice session would not have been helpful.  Instead, I made sure to stay relaxed, play under tempo much of the time, and focus on listening.

I was not expecting to hear progress after taking two days off.  But it does happen.  Some pieces had better flow.  So the music had been cooking in my head while I was asleep.  🙂

My big discovery!

In Mendelssohn’s Op. 67, No. 3 (called “Song of the Pilgrim” in the Schirmer edition), I had been feeling bogged down by the repetitiveness of the phrases.  How could this piece be played expressively?  Did I need to find a different tempo?  Change dynamics?  Use more rubato?

Relaxing, listening, and looking more closely at the music yielded results.  There are several articulation markings that I had missed completely.  That’s probably because the Schirmer edition looks so dense on the page.  (So much for buying the least expensive edition to save a few bucks…)

New focus

Now I’m practicing both hands being detached at the same time, and later with only the right hand detached.  (Try it.)  Beyond that, the phrasing is clearly indicated, so I just need to internalize it.

In retrospect, I had been getting in the way of the composer’s intentions.

Big difference!

The project in general

The details have been changing day by day.  A fortepiano was mentioned, but that has not been finalized.  And yesterday, someone suggested that there be a chorus singing part of the soundtrack.

Onward… I’ll post another update as we continue working.

Related post

• Emily’s movie

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