Piano Addict

PA Shorts: Practice, Perfection, & Personality

Piano Addict — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:29:37 +0000

Lately, cyberspace has been full of posts and articles dealing with practice and perfection. Together, they have all got me thinking hard about both myself and my students. We can all get so involved in our beloved work that we don’t notice when we begin to merely walk the walk or talk the talk.

When I was a kid, my Dad would just tell me to practice longer or harder if I wasn’t getting results. It was only when I got to college that I learned that I had to have practice strategies and correct technique for repetition to work. Otherwise, I was just doing the wrong thing over and over even when the notes were perfect.

The Myth of Practice Makes Perfect Perfect Practice

When Perfection Paralyzes The Problem with Perfect Practice

Assessing Your Practice Habits A Coach’s Pep Talk Working Out Life While Working Out

Here are a few of my questions and thoughts after reading the above:

If the elements of deliberate practice are different depending on the task at hand (say learning a Beethoven sonata vs. improvising over a given progression), can they be defined for a student? How would I change my practice forms to reflect this?
Is perfectionism nature or nurture? Is there hope that such a person can be helped to consider the listener’s experience? It’s interesting that Maestra Kim has noticed that many such performers “find their niche in modern repertoire where a correct performance tends to require a literal reproduction of the notated instructions.” I find that “modern” works require much more thought and work, on my part, to create an expressive performance.
How can I help my students accept that they are experts at some things, novices at some things, and someplace in between on other things? I always include “What did I do well?” in my self evaluation sheets. We talk about time management in terms of how much time should be spent on that which we do well vs. that which needs attention. Is this enough?
Music students learn the same life lessons as put forward by Coach Walsh. How can I best help a student focus on the beauty of even the simplest piece, continual improvement, and lifelong learning, rather than on the student in their class who plays Liszt’s Rigoletto Paraphrase at age 15 when they are still playing early intermediate level pieces?
How can I continue to help my students deal with inevitable human mistakes in performance by moving forward so that the musical idea is undisturbed. Those who have achieved mastery level in anything still make mistakes. They just deal with those mistakes differently.

Please feel free to add your own questions & thoughts in the comment section below.

SuiteLinks: February 4

Piano Addict — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:50:51 +0000

In this SuiteLinks: Pursuing a warhorse, Fourth Orange, New kind of cancer therapy, How your morning routine may be hurting you artistically, Abbey Simon opens festival at 90, Piano makes you smarter at redistricting, and more!

Cancer patient’s playing spreads joy

Art Nouveau piano to be displayed again in Paris

Abbey Simon to open festival

Funny on mobile device interruptions (also a take on Murphy’s law)

Ganz’s extreme Chopin

Prokofiev ‘short’ Fourth Orange

On the branding of an artist

Ohlsson pursues a warhorse

Killing creativity by routine?

Piano teacher better at redistricting than PA legislature

Artist Portrait: Adam Gyorgy

Piano Addict — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:26:03 +0000

Adam Gyorgy grinned as we began our Skyping. I could imagine that he had just bounded into the room. “ I’m sorry we are late. [we weren’t] I was at Carnegie Hall doing some pre-recording. We comb our hair, we look in the mirror. We want to adjust our playing we listen to ourselves. I think recording is the best medication. You are recording this? Let me change and I’ll call back in 2 minutes—2 minutes I promise.”

30 seconds later we were up and running.

Adam has an energy and enthusiasm about him that is infectious. It is there when he talks about music, when he talks about teaching, his foundation, his academy, the potential of young artists he meets on his worldwide tours, languages, and soccer.

When Adam, was little he drew all his pictures upside down. Everyone, including the doctor, thought there was something seriously wrong in his head until one day his Dad realized he was merely making his drawings so the person sitting across from him would see them right side up.

Today, just as he used to draw for the observer, he makes music for his audiences. “Arts is about performing and building connections between people. It’s not a horse race. Competition is very important but at the same time, the audience, my friends, and fans- I think about them when I am on the road and spend most of my time enjoying arts and enjoying what I am doing.”

Adam is currently performing all over the world, recording, pursuing a doctorate at the Liszt Academy, teaching and giving masterclasses, and serving as director of the Adam Gyorgy Castle Academy, a summer piano institute in Budapest.

His newest project to come to fruition is the Adam Gyorgy Foundation which, after 6 years of planning and fundraising, had it’s official big launch” (Adam’s words) with a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall Sunday, January 29 at 3 pm. The concert included classical repertoire and the improvisations for which he is well known. A CD of the performance will be released this fall so everyone will have the opportunity to hear it. Adam talks more about teaching, performing, improvisation,the foundation, and this event in the video above.

To be entered into a drawing for one of 3 CD’s (we already gave away 2 on the Piano Addict FB page), comment on this post before 12 pm EST Thursday Feb. 2.

SuiteLinks: January 29

Piano Addict — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:15:50 +0000

In this SuiteLinks: Remembering Clare Fischer, The Cohen Variations, New test for sight reading, 30′s Cotton Club piano sounds anew, Zimbabwe’s Uncle Harry, Pianist 1 Composer 0, and more!

Egoyan explores new worlds

Working out and music

The Cohen Variations

Sight reading exam

Willie Pickens at 80 (scroll down past the ad)

The Olympianist

Keith Jarrett and rituals

Zimbabwe’s Uncle Harry

Interview: Valentina Lisitsa (thanks Pnoman:)

1930′s Cotton Club piano sounds again

Pianist 1 Composer 0

Remembering pianist, composer, arranger Clare Fischer

Review: Sound Sketches, Supersonics, Soundwaves, & Soundscapes

Piano Addict — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:58:27 +0000

Sound Sketches Books 1 & 3: Graham Lynch

Graham writes the following about his Sound Sketches:

The inspirations behind the series were in part the ordres of Couperin …and the Debussy Preludes. These were both close to what I wanted to do in terms of writing short character pieces that had a lot of poetry and atmosphere in them, as well as a sense of fun and drama at the keyboard. I’d felt from my own teaching that pupils at the early grade levels in particular didn’t have access to much serious music that used a rich harmonic language, and in a way these pieces are a kind of ‘harmony manual’ in which pupils can subconsciously pick up and learn to interpret exactly how harmony speaks to a musician …Above all, I wanted students to be enchanted by the sound world and the possibilities of what a piano can do, even at a basic level.

What immediately struck me about both of these volumes was the enormous variety of patterns. The harmonies in these pieces are broken in inventive and colorful ways. A pianist will master accompaniments and gestures in LH, in RH, as well as multiple voices in either hand without even realizing it. The titles and descriptions appeal to a wide variety of interests and experience and truly help the pianist to paint musical pictures. I loved the markings in measure 23 of Clouds (Bk 1), perhaps a little louder… (so polite!) and in Lago di Como (Bk 3) like the stillness of a lake untroubled by the wind. I am going to have to add some new musical adjectives to The Musical Adjectives Project after playing through these pieces.

My favorite pieces are the very atmospheric ones in each volume: Sleeping Cat, Paris Valse, Silk Road, Dangerous Mountain Ascent, Clouds, Once and Again, and Cavern (with Dragon) from Bk 1, and Kite Surfing, Delfi, Marin, Lago di Coma, Storm Scene with Mountains, and Goodbye Ullapool from Bk 3. All the pieces (23 in Bk 1 and 17 in Bk 3) have a sense of drama and movement that draws you in and keeps you playing and wanting more. An enchanted world indeed!

The pieces range from 1-3 pages in length and are cleanly printed and clear of distractions. Pedaling is left mostly up to the pianist however there are suggestions throughout for using both the damper and una corda pedals. Tempo and expressive markings are a mix of Italian and English. These pieces are not beginner pieces. Volume 1 is appropriate for later elementary/early intermediate players. With so many pieces and variety in each volume, there is absolutely room for growth within them. A student would not progress out of them overly quickly, which can be a problem with large collections.

Check them out! You can find them at the Sound Sketches link above and Graham assures me that he has kept the postage to the USA exactly the same as in the UK to keep them easy and inexpensive (9.99£) to obtain.

Supersonics, Soundwaves, & Soundscapes: Daniel McFarlane

The pieces in these books have a very popular, sometimes hard edged urban vibe. They range in level from elementary to late intermediate and are filled with syncopations and interesting rhythms. Be warned! There are loads of 16ths in complex combinations (even in the level 1 books). Players who love television and movie scores will love these pieces.

Styles include rock, jazz, pattern based new age, pop song, boogie, funk, salsa, and more. Soundscapes One includes pieces with the titles, Hacked, Urban Beat, Nitro, and Behind Enemy Lines–examples of the aforementioned hard edged urban vibe. I especially was struck by the Soundwaves volume which includes a longer piece entitled Monsoon and two suites (for want of a better word). The first is entitled The Lake and includes Mist, Reflections, and Undercurrent. The second, Lost, includes Lost, Round and Round, SOS, and The End. I love that these pieces tell entire stories and spark the imagination in the process.

You can purchase digital and print editions of these books at Daniel McFarlane’s link above. I used my iPad to view and play through them and it worked just fine in my music reader. Sound files are available for each piece by way of the link. Just click on the cover of each book see a list of the pieces. If you purchase the digital copies, be sure and keep your receipt as proof of purchase. Apparently, Daniel’s first volume was illegally distributed in Hong Kong and even arranged for Harp without permission! He says to look out for periodic promotions on the site and hopes you enjoy the pieces.

SuiteLinks: January 21

Piano Addict — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:02:03 +0000

david.loudon@googlemail.com (via morgueFile)

In this SuiteLinks: Book of pianist interviews, Remembering Gustav Leonhardt, Slenczynska celebrates 87th, Eight handed pianist, Hear the lost Brahms piece, Why Schiff won’t play in Hungary any longer, First Love after 25 years, and more!

Schiff puts his foot down

Schiff plays lost Brahms Albumblatt

Yamaha launches interactive sheet music app

Ruth Slenczynska celebrates 87th with original debut program

A musical life restarts at 60

Interivew: Andrew Harbridge

Selling a 300 yr old instrument

Eight handed pianist

Stunning new Hall

Remembering Gustav Leonhardt

The Bark Side

Book: At the Piano Interviews with 21st Century Pianists

Ambassador for Bach

First Love: Sue Perkins

Thoughts On An Upcoming Competition

Piano Addict — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:51:14 +0000

Some thoughts for my student as she prepares for a competition…

Welcome to the next step of your personal musical journey. You will meet some colleagues who are musically much more mature and experienced than yourself. You will also meet those who are less experienced and mature. You have to be strong enough to be who you are at the moment you perform. You cannot try to please or be like anybody else or your playing will sound insincere, disjointed, and possibly a bit insane.

It has been a joy for me to change my role from one who helps you see the possibilities in your repertoire to that of one who listens to your unique ideas and helps you implement them. I will always tell you what I think does and doesn’t work and give you ideas for resolving issues. However, it will be up to you to use those ideas creatively and incorporate them into your interpretation.

As you take the next step in speaking with your own musical voice use everything you have learned about music and being human—your whole self. Remember what you learned when you played Mama in The Music Man: that stranger with the suitcase who may be your very last chance. Let the voices interact. Make them sing to and with each other, interrupt, support, echo, argue, console, and more. Record yourself a couple times a week to see if your ideas can be clearly heard.

You need to balance your practice between disciplined nitty gritty work and large scale creative work. When you attack the nitty gritty (even in small sections), don’t forget to play beautifully (even with the metronome). If you merely drill, then drilling is what your final playing will sound like. Remember that you are drilling body, heart, and mind together as a whole.

Half of practice is facing that which we don’t do well and admitting we need to change. Don’t forget the other half though. Be sure you know which things you really do well and give yourself credit. When you record yourself make notes of the good stuff as well as that which needs attention.

Don’t forget the role of rhythm in a musical performance. You can voice exquisitely, use fabulous dynamics, incorporate a wide tonal palatte, phrase wonderfully, and have all the fingers in the world but if the meter is incorrect, there are false accents in passagework, or the overall tempo is not steady and logical, your playing will sound heavy, awkward, flat and/or dull.

Take breaks, drink lots of water, and do stretches during your practice hours. Consider alternating between sessions of practice at the piano and sessions away from the piano where you imagine every detail of your performance. If there is a spot you can’t imagine well, spend some extra time on it at the piano because that spot is a guaranteed danger in performance.

Most of all, embrace the solitude, in practice at the piano and away from it, that is a part of every creative person’s life. You need boatloads of time away from others to find your deepest self and connect it to your music. Only then will you receive the insights we know as true creativity. And, don’t be surprised if you are awakened at 3 am with an idea either!

SuiteLinks: January 14

Piano Addict — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:49:35 +0000

In this SuiteLinks: Remembering Alexis Weissenberg, Musical law & order, Afghan music academy rebuilds post Taliban, Premier of “new” Brahms piano piece, Music for LH, and more!

Weissenberg: of fire and ice

Weissenberg’s music saved him from death camps

Sharing a keyboard

Ohlsson eyes Liszt

Afghanistan music academy rebuilds post Taliban

“New” Brahms piece gets premier

Haimovitz & O’Riley team up

Law and Order music style

Piano from Apps for Hunger

Music for LH

One Year Later: What’s Your Policy?

Piano Addict — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:17:07 +0000

Saturday January 8, 2011 was a sad day in Tucson and for the country. The massacre took place at the Safeway where my family shopped for many years. One of my fellow piano teachers and her husband were there when the shots rang out. Our Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head and despite remarkable progress, still fights to recover. Nineteen others were wounded. Six people are dead including a nine year old girl and a Federal Judge.

Last year we sat, glued to our television, unable to truly comprehend the reality of what was unfolding. My friend Gretchen tweeted about her feelings of guilt for having been in rehearsals all day. My Son in Law found it hard to share our Granddaughter’s joy in playing in the snow for the first time.

One year later, our Gaby has made remarkable progress in her recovery. There was not a dry eye among those watching the news footage of her and husband Mark serving holiday dinners to military families. Her prime time interview with Diane Sawyer held the country spellbound. The role of music therapy in her recovery process is awesome. The families of the slain have begun the rest of their lives without their loved ones. The community has come together with vigils, runs, walks, concerts, and more to help in the healing process.

Shortly after the Columbine shootings, I had a piano recital scheduled. I remember how worried I was that I would not be able to play my Mozart- the Sonata in A K. 331. It just seemed so wrong to be performing a piece full of so much joy. Funny, how I didn’t have any such concerns about the Liszt, Prokofiev, or Scriabin on the program.

Well, I did perform it, and somehow it was one of the best performances of my life. I think what I learned that night was that taking delight in life is a policy that also honors victims of tragedy.

This weekend the community came together to honor the victims of January 8th, as well as, to celebrate the fact that this trajedy reminded us all to make it a policy to delight in life. Some participated in vigils, some came together to pray, some again left cards, flowers and tokens at the scene, some created alliances against violence, some organized runs, hikes, concerts, yoga, and bike events. Some even played & taught Mozart, Liszt, Bach, et al, arranged South American songs for elementary students, and blogged.

What’s your policy?

Parts of the above were originally published in the post, Delighting in Mozart, January 9, 2011.

SuiteLinks: Jan. 6

Piano Addict — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:45:12 +0000

In this SuiteLinks: Ax retraces steps, The bold yet undersung, Brubeck goody, Pianist’s temptation, Geri Allen at the Vanguard, What a discarded piano can do, Pianistic happy birthdays, Fleisher interview, and more!

Thibaudet incredibly close

Behind Cherry’s piano desk

Piano journey fills the heart

Ax retraces steps

Brubeck goody

John Cage on I’ve Got A Secret

Shure & Temianka: Bold yet undersung

John Cleese on creativity origins

Pianist’s Temptation

Geri Allen at the Vanguard

Boy finds discarded piano and his path

Happy Birthday dear __________

Fleisher on overcoming disability Part 1 Part 2

String version of Goldbergs dances