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Gretchen Saathoff

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

Tag Archives: teaching

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

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

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!

★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★


My E-book

“Goal-oriented Practice” helps you practice backwards, forward, and upside down. Whatever works!

50% OFF!  Even my non-musician little sister says, this book contains NO JARGON.

Please click here to see the intro, T of C, reviews, and reader comments.

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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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What does your music say?

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by GretchensPianos in directed practice, expression, fatigue, focus, goals, learning, listening, motivation, music, new approach, positive playing, practice, practicing basics, preparation, process, progress, slow practice, tools

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

music education, pedagogy, teaching

Bananaquits, locally common in wetter areas.

Bananaquits, locally common in wetter areas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the end of each semester, my students play as if they are in a coma. This semester is no exception.

I was the same way when I was in college.

Don’t you think there must be a way to make music even when we are tired?

Lessons

The effect of fatigue on one’s playing often means that there is no music there. Who wants to hear only notes?

  • We have a harder time hearing what we are doing.
  • Feeling how much weight we are directing into the keyboard is more difficult, too.
  • Every composition sounds the same.
  • Every page sounds the same.
  • No melody.
  • No dynamics.
  • The solo and the orchestral interludes sound just alike.
  • In fact, there is no differentiation between sounds at all.

All of us should be so bored with that, we have to find a way to make music!

Taking a closer look

Stop! Don’t go into a practice room with the tired goal (if there is a goal) of slogging through the notes. What’s the point? What are we improving on/listening to? Why are we there?

Yes, it is possible to practice when tired and make music/make progress during that time.

A new approach

If this is the first time you have been asked to look past the fatigue and find a way to be in the room during your practice sessions, that’s OK. I hope you will read to the end of this post.

Choose an option or two:

  • Slow down.
  • Speak out loud while you are playing a phrase, like this:
    creeeeee-sceeeeeen-DOOOOOOO…

Hearing your own voice will result in the crescendo happening in the music, not just in your imagination. Why? Speaking activates one more “track” in your brain.

  • Speaking could also include fingering, note names, counting, text to a song or aria, harmonic changes, etc.
  • Rather than playing a piece from beginning to end, isolate sections with similar dynamics. Does your sound fit with the dynamics indicated? By doing these sections back to back, you can feel the dynamic level in your fingers/hands/arms/shoulders/back, and will be adept at finding that level when you put the piece back together.
  • Practice hands alone, or separate parts in a contrapuntal piece.
  • Practice melody and bass, everything except melody, etc.
  • Exaggerate! When tired, we tend to retreat because we have less energy. Scaling back later is easier than making everything louder, so go ahead. Play out!
  • Take breaks. A short walk outside will energize your playing a lot more than spending your break time in the practice room.

After you’ve had some rest, that is the time to play at tempo and check out how your slow work fits together.

I can attest to the fact that this works.  During graduate school, I found myself preparing a difficult recital program on weekday evenings.  Like everyone who works in the daytime, I was tired later on.  So I had to slow down, talk myself through phrases, and learn the music that way.  The only time there was energy available to “perform” the music was on weekends.  Yes, that took lots of patience,  but it was so worth it!  (Having a performance date was an excellent incentive.)

The first step is to recognize that fatigue happens. Of course it affects our playing! But it doesn’t have to impede our progress.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

E-books

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

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

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

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 8 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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How to help adult beginners play pain-free

09 Monday May 2011

Posted by GretchensPianos in health, injury, learning, music, piano, practicing basics, process, teaching

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

adult beginner, pain, piano, teaching

Katzenjammer, the Four Hands on One Piano Musi...

Image via Wikipedia

“When I practice this piece, I feel  pain.”

Adult students sometimes experience physical discomfort when learning a challenging piece.  A good teacher will know how to facilitate a student’s practicing so s/he can play comfortably and not incur injury.

Causes

Tension

Some people are not the most relaxed beings on the planet, myself included.  Tension we carry every day is a contributing factor.

New musical material

Big chords
Unfamiliar hand positions
Different range on keyboard

Typical scenario

It’s about the age of the student at the time of piano study.  Children have flexibility that adults do not.  So when an adult begins something new that requires physicality, s/he is already facing at least somewhat of a problem.

The same set of circumstances occurred recently with two of my adult students.

Example #1

In a composition with left hand chords throughout, there are just two causing the problem.  Both chords require an octave reach with additional notes between.  More importantly, the chords are in the middle of the keyboard.

When something like this causes pain, it is crucial to the student’s health for the teacher to stop immediately during the lesson and look at what the causes might be.

In this case, the left hand and arm are in a new position, reaching over in front of the body at an unusual angle.

Example #2

Similarities:  chords; new hand and arm position.

Differences:  one chord is played legato to the next; left hand plays above middle C, making the arm stretch even further and taking the hand out of its area of familiarity.

Ways we can help

Ask the student to Stop.  Slow down.  Relax.  Then notice whether the student’s arms and hands are relaxed.

Look for places where the left hand has to move in toward the back of the keys (i.e. thumb plays a black key), and then begin moving in that direction earlier. (So the “choreography” will be on the diagonal, not a sudden two-inch difference.)

Move the torso ~ lean to the right!  Adult students may never have thought about this.  But maintaining “good” posture ~ back straight, hands and arms square with the keyboard ~ is not helpful here.  (“Good” piano posture is angled at times.)

The elbow should be close to the body, not held out to the side.

Sometimes it is helpful to flatten out the hand.

Look for every possible place to relax, and program that into the practice sessions.  Practicing in that way will take more time, but the student will avoid injury and learn the piece faster.

Remind the student to warm up first every day.  Then start practicing with the difficult passage rather than playing through the entire piece from the beginning just to get there.  If the student is already tired, pain will set in more easily.

In the second example, above, the left hand has a chord or two and then a rest.  Relax during the rest.  After that, there are two chords played legato, two more, etc.  Each two-note group has a phrase mark.  Between all the two-note groups are excellent places to lift the hand, relax (fingers together), then continue.  Just add a quarter rest or more.

Limit the length of time spent on difficult passages.  They need to be alternated with taking a walk, playing something else (different musical style, more comfortable range), practicing the right hand, etc.

Teachers can also help by eliminating any deadlines for when the piece has to be played in tempo.  The student’s health is more important.

A student’s ability to read music and learn pieces beyond his or her technical level is something that can happen with adult beginners.  Ignoring pain is not an option.  We as teachers need to be alert to possible problems and be ready to help.

Have your students experienced pain when learning a new piece?  How did you help them practice?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Teaching the individual

06 Friday May 2011

Posted by GretchensPianos in career, focus, freedom, goals, learning, new approach, outside the box, priorities, process, progress, something new, teaching, the unexpected, tools, variety, work

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

approach, individual, teaching

Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, a dalmatian resc...

Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog helps teach children ~ Image via Wikipedia

Teaching is a fascinating thing.  For me, tapping into the unique way in which each person learns produces the best possible results.

Most of my students are age 16 and older.  Because they are taking lessons for one reason ~ they want to ~ they have no juries, exams, grades, or requirements.

So there is no list of prescribed repertoire.  I’ve been enjoying the freedom this implies.  (I also understand, having been a student and having taught in schools, that formal programs have requirements.  And there are several teachers I know online who have semester- or year-long projects for their studios full of young students.)

Each student is different.  Musical preferences, goals, prior experience, learning methods, and hand shape are unique to each person.

Therefore, I believe that repertoire and teaching approaches should be scrutinized.  Lessons need to fit each student.  Not only that, but lessons need to fit the learning capabilities of each student on that day.

Whose agenda is it?

Peoples’ energy levels vary with time of day, day of week, how much sleep they had the night before, whether they have eaten recently, how many papers need to be written in two days, and even changes in the weather.  It is every teacher’s job to pick up on all the variables.

If something isn’t working that day, the best way to make progress is to change direction.

  • Remove one or more parts from the music.
  • Leave out the ornaments today.
  • Work on a specific section.
  • Ask the student to play one hand at a time.
  • Make the piece into a duet for you and your student.  After you’ve played it one way, switch places.
  • Switch to a contrasting piece.

Three of my students brought pieces they had found to their lessons.  Even if a teacher may have had other plans for the lesson, I have seen great success in following the students’ suggestions.  That doesn’t mean that other things are not important.  Adding students’ ideas to their lessons provides ongoing motivation.  And music they bring along is usually more challenging than what they are playing already.

In this way, students can improve a level or two in a very short time.

Music we added

Golliwog’s Cakewalk ~ you can read about it in a previous post.

Chopin’s Prelude in E minor ~ read about it here.

Irish dances for flute and piano ~ another previous post.

Music from video games ~ my student’s college concentration is gaming.  Who knows?  Maybe he’ll compose music for games in addition to programming them!  His score reading skills have improved considerably, as has his ability to rewrite unplayable scores.

Unqiueness

The UMass/Amherst Department of Continuing Education offered adult beginner piano classes for several years.  I taught these classes for four or five years, after which United States visas were restricted.  Enrollment dropped, and the classes were discontinued.

The most interesting aspect of the classes was that 8 of 10 students each semester were from foreign countries.  One woman, from Iran, told me both of her brothers studied an ethnic instrument similar to the guitar as children.  She wasn’t allowed to take lessons because she was a girl.  At age 40 or so, this was her first opportunity.  Her commitment was unwavering.

During one class session, I decided to walk around the room and answer students’ questions.  There were several, often concerning musical terms.  As each student had his or her own native language, everyone was trying to understand Italian musical terms in their first language as well as in English.  Not so easy!

After answering 5 or 6 peoples’ questions, two students seated next to each other asked me the same thing.  Finally!  I could help two people together!

Not so.  Each was from a different country, and translated differently.  So my first answer didn’t make sense to the other person.  I don’t think “one size fits all” works in general.  It certainly would have been inadequate here.

How do you teach?  Do you have a long-term plan that you adhere to, or do you vary your approach with each student?

Please share your experiences in the comment section below!


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Let the music flourish!

27 Wednesday Apr 2011

Posted by GretchensPianos in confidence, determination, directed practice, expression, focus, goals, learning, listening, motivation, outside the box, perception, process, progress

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Chopin, Music, piano, student, teaching

photo credit: Daniel Barkley

This post was inspired by one of my wonderful students.

Background

She is a 1st-year college student.  Her past involvement in music includes piano lessons in 2nd grade (which she hated) and choral singing.  She is also singing in chorus this year.

Aptitude

A good ear, easy ability to feel chords in hands, immediate recognition of interval spacing as it translates to the keyboard, naturally clear pedaling.  She may have perfect pitch.

Motivation

She possesses a great deal of self-motivation and curiosity.

Lessons

In September, we started with an adult beginner’s book and a book of exercises.

That soon changed to pieces chosen by my student in place of the beginner’s book.  In this case, it was the right choice.  We are working our way through the exercises a page or two at a time at the beginning of each lesson.

About 2 weeks ago, my student mentioned a piece she had on her iPod.  She couldn’t quite sing it, but I thought I recognized part of it.  So I played the beginning of the melody.

She became quite animated and said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah!”  Her iPod listed the title.  It was Chopin‘s Prelude in E minor.

As soon as we confirmed that we had the same piece in mind, she said, “Teach me!  Teach me!”  So we did some of the melody by ear.  At the next lesson, we had the printed music.

Then something amazing happened.  My student sight-read the entire piece, hands together!   Sure, it was under tempo.  Of course she needed to eyeball the chords.  But she’s a beginner, and she sight-read it!  She didn’t give up, didn’t give in to frustration, and never doubted herself.

She was so excited!  She couldn’t believe she could do that.

After working on fingering and chord progressions for a few minutes, I asked her what kind of piece she thought it was.  She was immediately able to supply descriptive words, which made me very happy.

Then I showed her about harmonic rhythm and how to make the left hand more subtle while sustaining the melody.

And even without having technique that is advanced enough to do that, she did it!  All of a sudden, she was producing beautiful music.

So this is what I think:

Perception begets technique;

Motivation lets the music bud, flower, and then flourish;

And we all need to stop trying so hard and get out of the way!  We all have music in our hearts and souls ~ otherwise we wouldn’t be doing this in the first place.

What do you think?  Do you sometimes get in your own way?  Do you experience a better outcome when you stay out of the way of the music?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!


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Adult beginner sees the light!

07 Thursday Apr 2011

Posted by GretchensPianos in distractions, focus, learning, music, new approach, new experience, new insights, perception, piano, teaching

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Music, pedagogy, piano, student, teaching

Source:  Wikimedia Commons

Source: Wikimedia Commons

My mother was afraid of the water.  She took swimming lessons for the first time in her late forties.  She must have been very scared.

One of my students, an adult beginner, is similarly afraid of the piano.  But she had an “aha” moment this week!  I was so happy for her!

Background

My student, in her 50’s, enrolled in my piano class a few years ago.  She returned every semester until the class moved to a different day.  Then she had a schedule conflict, so decided to try playing on her own.  Six months later, we started private lessons every other week.

She comes from a strict background, which shows up during lessons as an extended litany of why whatever we’re working on will fail.  In addition, she has played flute for several years.  She reads treble clef well, but continues to have problems with bass clef.

Her sight-reading in lessons is often better than her playing of the music she has practiced.

​Two weeks ago

We were working on a right-hand exercise from A Dozen a Day.  After one or two minor fixes, it went well and seemed to make sense.

Next, we looked at the left-hand version of the same exercise.  Big problems cropped up, so I was trying to understand why.

The left-hand exercise begins with the thumb on Middle C, a whole note.  The 5th finger continues on beat 2 with an F for 3 staccato quarters.  Then the thumb repeats Middle C, with the 5th finger playing 3 E’s in the same manner.  (You can go on from there.)

My student would play Middle C, and then the trouble started.  She had a glitch in finding the first note for the 5th finger.

I realized that she hadn’t looked ahead, even as far as the 2nd note.  When I reminded her, there was no improvement.  What was going on?

I asked her to say aloud the name of each beginning 5th finger note, i.e. “F,” “E,” “D,” “C.”

What do you think happened?

She was unable to do that right away.  I was surprised, but then, I’m not an adult beginner.  There was a ton of interference going on about the perceived difficulty of blocking everything else out and focusing on one note.

This seemed to go all the way back to the way things were in piano class.  The question, “Which note is next?” triggered consideration of all 88 keys.  Anything was fair game.

In her lesson this time, she was able to calm down and name the notes, but it took at least 5 minutes of cutting through the static.

And then something extraordinary happened.

This week

We started the lesson with the left-hand exercise.  She aced it!

I wanted to know why.  Wouldn’t you?

In thinking about how to investigate, I decided to ask how she had practiced the exercise.

She said, “I knew I started on F.”  There was no angst.  It was an immediate, clear answer.

YES!  She was grounded before starting to play.  I’m quite sure this is the very first time she has been able to play without being petrified.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic.  This is a huge step.

Have you experienced similar moments with your students, or in your own lessons?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Philipp

05 Saturday Feb 2011

Posted by GretchensPianos in a tribute

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Greenwood Music Camp, Ivan Galamian, Marlboro Music School and Festival, Music, Philipp Naegele, teaching, Thomas Cole, viola, violin, Voyage of Life

Elena Yasinski, a gifted violin student of Philipp Naegele, graciously shared her college essay with me.  She knew Philipp for several years, as you will see when you read her wonderful contribution.

★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★

As the floor begins rushing upwards beneath my feet, I pull off my hood, which is sprinkled with rain and the scent of colored leaves.  The elevator chimes and I step out and turn left.  The door of room 360 is open and I can see Philipp reclining on his hospital bed contentedly reading Mark Twain.

I knock tentatively.

“Oh! Hello,” he says with a warm smile.  “Come in.”  Philipp grew up in Germany, England, and New York City and English is his second language.  His accent is totally unique.  I cannot capture it, no matter how hard I try.

I place a small, white box on the table next to his bed.

“I got you some marzipan.” I had remembered that last year Philipp had offered me a piece of marzipan before a lesson.  He told me I could have some if I knew I liked it, but if not, he would prefer to save it for a true marzipan-lover like himself.

I put my case down on a chair and take out my violin.  I start to tune, then stop as a doctor comes in.  He asks Philipp if I am his granddaughter.

“No, she is my exceptional violin student.”

“But he is my grandpa!”  I protest.  Philipp is nearly seventy years my senior, and after six years of working together our relationship has become more of a grandfather-granddaughter bond than a student-teacher bond.

The doctor leaves, and I resume tuning.  I take a deep breath to center myself, then begin to play the second movement of Vieuxtemp’s Violin Concerto No. 4.  As I play, I close my eyes and recall a lesson Philipp gave me on this piece two years ago, when I first learned it.

I was in Philipp’s house.  I remember playing the piece, then stopping and looking at him.  He opened his eyes wide, bared his teeth, and rubbed his pointer finger vigorously against them.  I played the phrase again, the second time digging my bow into the string.  He closed his eyes and nodded in approval.  I went on to the next phrase, which is full of chords.  Philipp stopped me and said, “Hit the string from the air, like a tiger swiping something with its paw.”

I have never seen Philipp play violin.  By the time I started working with him he had developed a tremor in his hand that caused his bow to skip.  This must have been a devastating loss.  He was one of the first participants in the Marlboro Music Festival and a student of Ivan Galamian.  Now his teaching style is unique because he cannot physically demonstrate how to play.  Instead, he uses descriptive language, singing, and whistling to show me.

At first this method of communication was challenging. It is much easier to copy something your teacher does than to translate his metaphors into music.  I often did not know exactly what he meant, or how to achieve the desired effect or sound.   For the first couple of months I sometimes cried in lessons because I felt that I was frustrating and disappointing him.

Gradually the language barrier fell away, and then completely dissolved.  I now know exactly what Philipp means when he says things like “etched in copper”, or “no pink underwear”, or “like church bells.”  By describing the desired sound, he allows me to conjure it in my own way.  I respond to his words with my playing, and we carry on a beautiful conversation in our own language, one that only we completely understand.

I bring my mind back to his hospital room.  I breathe in and continue playing.  But my thoughts wander again, this time to a postcard that Philipp sent me.

I received the postcard this past summer while I was away at Greenwood Music Camp.  Philipp was in Marlboro recovering from his recent open-heart surgery.  The picture on the front is of Thomas Cole’s painting, The Voyage of Life: Childhood.  Philipp’s note reads, “Dear Elena, This picture is one of four depicting the stages of life – you are here, emerging into the world – the fourth picture has the boat all beat up and an old man coasting in quiet waters – an angel beckoning… guess whom?? Enjoy every minute of stages 1-4!!! Love, Philipp.”

This is partly why both of us are now so sad about me going away to college.  We each realize that the time we have left together is limited; we do not know where in the world life will take me, nor when the angel will summon him.

My awareness shifts back to his hospital room, and I finish the piece high up on the E string, playing as sweetly as I can.  I look at Philipp.  He just smiles and says, “Beautiful.”

★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★★ ☆.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.• ヅ★

Thanks so much, Elena!​  Your tribute to Philipp is especially moving, and could not have been written better.

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Click here for information about my E-book,  “Goal-oriented Practice.”

Related articles
  • Updated: In Memory of Philipp Naegele (gretchenspianos.wordpress.com)
  • A Tribute to Emanuel Vardi and Philipp Naegele (gretchenspianos.wordpress.com)
  • For Philipp Naegele by Alex Ross
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Reader Q & A: how to get students excited about learning tempi

14 Tuesday Dec 2010

Posted by GretchensPianos in fun!, goals, learning, motivation, music, new approach, process, progress, question, teaching, tempo, tools

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

choosing repertoire, involvement, Music, pedagogy, student, teacher, teaching, tempo

3D Character and Question Mark
Image by 姒儿喵喵 via Flickr

When a student has only minimal interest/ involvement in a piece s/he is playing, we need to ask ourselves why.

I’m going to assume that the student had some say in choosing the piece.  Assigning repertoire and expecting compliance is not the way to go, in my opinion.

Background:  when I was in high school, my teacher assigned music I didn’t like.  Or at least I didn’t understand most of it.  There was no discussion, unfortunately.  I was too shy to say anything to my teacher, so I sightread all my lessons for 4 years instead.

Let’s assume that the student simply hasn’t gotten “into” it yet.

I often start asking questions.

  • What do you think this piece about?  (You can start with the title!)
  • Do you like it?
  • Why/why not?

etc.

During the discussion, find a way to draw the student out. There is no such thing as a wrong answer. Their thoughts are important, and can change everything about our teaching.  If a response is “I don’t like it because…,” you can always counter with “what if?”

When you have arrived at what the piece is about and what it means to the student, you can discover a tempo together.

To make a tempo mean something, or “stick,” I have marched, danced, walked slowly, run, skipped, jumped, and hopped around the room with my students.  Make up words.  Have them write a story or poem or draw a picture about the piece.  You’d be surprised what they come up with!  If your student wants to change a phrase, allow them to do that.

When attempting to discuss a piece with a middle school student recently, I received “eh” and “uh” and shoulder shrug answers.  After several minutes of this, I’d had it!  I found myself doing an exaggerated imitation.

“Why is it, when you come for your lessons, you’re smiling and have all this energy, and when you leave, you have an animated conversation with your mom?  But right now, you look like you’re in a coma, couldn’t possibly play two notes, and don’t care a thing about the music?”  At that point, I sighed loudly.  “Could we please try this again?”  I exaggerated her facial expressions, posture, and “speech,” and tried to be funny.

In retrospect, it must have been the exaggeration that cracked the ice.  The student laughed!  That’s progress.  After that, we had a much better back-and-forth.

Demonstrating a phrase or two in the “wrong” tempo makes an impression, as long as you exaggerate.  When you play too fast, be sure to have a train wreck.  And when you play too slow, yawning can be effective… or sing words, running out of breath before the end of the first or second syllable.  Then stop while you loudly gasp for air, and go on.

So go ahead! Exaggerate!  Dance, sing, clap, whistle, yodel, conduct, jump ~ whatever you have to do.

First you have to get their attention.

How do you get communication going with your students?  Please share your thoughts, and anything I’ve left out, in the comment section below!

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Pothole Insurance!

13 Saturday Nov 2010

Posted by GretchensPianos in acoustics, auditions, career, cold places, collaboration, concentration, concert, concert day, distractions, focus, gigs, music, new experience, performing, preparation, rehearsal, teaching, tempo, the unexpected

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distractions, Music, New York City, Ruth Slenczynska, Smith College, snags in performances, teaching

A large pot hole on Second Avenue in the East ...

Image via Wikipedia

Is there such a thing?

While living in New York City, I worked in  law firms for awhile (backup jobs).  All employees were provided with a car service home after a certain time at night (I think it was after 8:30, required by Federal law).

One night, en route from Wall St. to the West Side Highway, my driver was winding around the one-way streets as usual.  When he rounded the 4th or 5th corner, we encountered ~ what else? ~ Con Ed!  Their truck, tents, and mountains of miscellaneous stuff took up the whole street, curb to curb (their specialty).

Just as I was about to voice my exasperation, the driver turned to me and said, “You know what they’re doing, don’t you?  They’re installing potholes!  They only come out at night.”

Best laugh I’d had for months, all the way to the Upper West Side.

What about the potholes we all encounter in performances?  Something new and unexpected  happens every time!

During college, memorable snags during performances, juries, and other people’s juries (I collaborated with almost everybody) included:

  • playing a solo jury with the piano next to a huge soundproofing panel hung on the adjacent wall
  • another solo jury with one juror wearing red, another swinging his foot ~ out of rhythm
  • a particularly gifted cellist’s jury ~ she was a freshman, nervous, resulting in her playing a Popper etude and launching, without a break, in the Brahms E minor Cello Sonata.  I wasn’t ready for “no break,” but fortunately the piano’s first entrance is after the cello’s first note.  Whew!  Made it!  Won’t happen again!

Some of the highlights in performances after college were:

  • trying to ignore a phone (land line) ringing loudly 12 times(!) in the middle of a Beethoven trio performance ~ no answering machine, no human picking up
  • freezing in a January orchestra gig at St. John the Divine ~ they said to wear long underwear!  The cathedral is old, enormous, unheated, and windy.
  • having sweaty hands in a choral performance at NYU in May, on a hot day with the building’s heat still on ~ my hands slipped (often) for the 1st and only time
  • playing a concert on Luboff tour where the piano was on a high platform (i.e. unmovable), 1/2 an auditorium away from the stage
  • having sight lines obscured between me and the soloist ~ at a singer’s City Opera audition ~ I was able to read cues from the back of her dress
  • due to space limitations in a church concert series, relying on the back of the violinist’s head and the tip of her bow
     

    What can we do?  How can we “deal?”

    The pianist Ruth Slenczynska, in an event at SIU, talked about the way she practices during the two weeks preceding a concert.  She intentionally creates uncomfortable conditions for herself!  One day she’ll practice in bad light, the next in a cold room, then with the bench at an uncomfortable height, etc.

    Pianist Peggy Lazarus, who lives near Boston, prepares her students for performances by making noise during their lessons.

    As she said in a recent email:

    “we practice with distractions…..my students play and I bang on drums, wail like a baby and blow a train whistle!   Usually we all end up laughing…”

    Great idea!

    During college, my fellow music building inhabitants and I would go into each others’ practice rooms to make noise, take the music away, and dance around.

    One more situation comes to mind.  On occasion a concert venue will be highly reverberant.  If a performer arrives just before the concert to warm up at the hall, that can change everything.

    Do you practice with slower tempi from time to time?  Playing slower in reverberant halls will sound clearer to the audience.  Unless the reverberation is out of control, that is.

    Putting more distance between the piano and another instrument can result in a separation of sounds, which ensures more clarity.

    Producing shorter sounds makes a difference in live rooms.  As a pianist, I also use less pedal (more in a dry acoustic).

    Sometimes it’s difficult to hear yourself and other performers on stage.  You have to do the best you can.  Just try to play like you rehearsed.  And watch your collaborators like a hawk!  You’ll be relying on sight cues rather than sound.

    I wouldn’t want my students to feel jumpy due to anticipated distractions when they go into a performance.  But making them aware of how important it is to focus and to expect things to happen can be very helpful.  Think of all the cell phones out there.

    Learning the music in a variety of ways is good insurance.  That way, when distractions happen, the performer can say the names of the notes, say the fingerings, focus on the chord structure, etc.  Silently, of course.

    In the midst of an oratorio performance last year at Smith College, a small dog found his way onto the stage via an open door.  The soprano soloist nonchalantly picked him up and handed him to an orchestra member.  (I don’t remember what happened after that.)

    The conductor said he had been expecting a cell phone to ring, but a dog?  And he didn’t miss a thing.  The singer scored attention in the review for her dog catching skills in addition to her expressive singing.

    Stuff happens.

    With that said, being able to “deal” comes with experience.  I wanted to write about it in the event that someone else might navigate a little easier.

    Do you prepare yourself and your students for the unusual things that happen?  How do you go about that?

    What have you encountered in performances?  What were the results?

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

    And be sure to check out the book sale!  Special prices on “Goal-oriented Practice” are effective through midnight on Thursday, November 18!  Both the E-book and print versions are available at bargain discount rates.  Don’t miss out!

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