SEP 24, 2012: Learning the score of a piece of piano music away from the instrument is the quickest way to really learn where the notes are, there's no question about it. Otherwise, you're trying to learn by touch. But it's the mind that comes first, then the fingers.
The problem with learning the notes away from the instrument is that it takes a lot of concentrated thought. There aren't too many people who can sit there hour after hour and learn the notes and the patterns. You have to pause a lot, because memory and abstract concepts are involved. And then you have to imagine touching the instument while you read. But often enough the touch you finally do produce on the instrument after this is much more pleasing than the kind of touch you improvise at the instrument while learning the notes straight off the page.
The other way, just learning it from the score directly to the instrument, involves a lot of fumbling that you can do without if you get all that organized away from the instrument. You also find that you remember more of where the notes are and what comes after what if you simply get that stuff done at a desk.
But learning away from the instrument has its drawbacks. It's possible to underestimate a technical difficulty while sitting there reading. However, with time your judgement is likely to improve. I think the best places to learn away from the instrument are the tricky ones. It's nice to really know and conceptualize those places that would be so draining to the mind and fingers if you're reading the music while playing----and get them worked out before you sit down to play.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Notation and Performance
SEP 20, 2012: There is a relationship between the printed score of a piano piece and the performance of it, but it seems unclear at times. The main thing from a practical standpoint for the performer is: do you know the relationship between the printed score and your own performance?
If you haven't looked at the score before you play it, you can close your eyes momentarily and memorize some of it on the spot. But if you try and learn it away from the instrument first and then play it on the keyboard, you may be up against technical problems which you didn't forsee. Any way you look at it, the relationship between what's on that page and what's happening at the keyboard is a complex one.
Playing the piece like a computer would play it may be a good start, but eventually you will have to put some of your own sense into it. Ultimately, knowing the notes beforehand is a very handy way to learn the piece quickly, but you still need to check the score to see if you got into the habit of hitting some wrong notes or leaving out some important markings.
Even more, you may have invented a beat or two---or even a whole bar, in the left hand, in the right hand, in one voice, in a bass line. You've suddenly turned composer and you don't realize it. So going back and checking the score is a great way to find out how imaginative your composing/revising skills actually are. Hopefully, in most instances, you'll agree with what the composer wrote as long as it's playable for you.
If you haven't looked at the score before you play it, you can close your eyes momentarily and memorize some of it on the spot. But if you try and learn it away from the instrument first and then play it on the keyboard, you may be up against technical problems which you didn't forsee. Any way you look at it, the relationship between what's on that page and what's happening at the keyboard is a complex one.
Playing the piece like a computer would play it may be a good start, but eventually you will have to put some of your own sense into it. Ultimately, knowing the notes beforehand is a very handy way to learn the piece quickly, but you still need to check the score to see if you got into the habit of hitting some wrong notes or leaving out some important markings.
Even more, you may have invented a beat or two---or even a whole bar, in the left hand, in the right hand, in one voice, in a bass line. You've suddenly turned composer and you don't realize it. So going back and checking the score is a great way to find out how imaginative your composing/revising skills actually are. Hopefully, in most instances, you'll agree with what the composer wrote as long as it's playable for you.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Tempo Adjustments
SEP 18, 2012: A lot of the small tempo adjustments you do in performance are intuitive. You may never quite do them the same way twice. But sometimes you get a tricky run or sequence of notes that you can't play at the same tempo. Maybe you could get it up to tempo after months and hours of work. But supposing you want to perform it next week.
Here's a suggestion: why not slow down--just slightly---the whole section that comes before it. If not the entire section, then a few bars before. I'm not big on completely changing a composer's score. But there are some ways to slow down the place right before the problem area so that you can deal with the tricky passage and still make it sound integrated with the rest of the section and the entire work.
You may have to work an hour or two on the run or sequence or whatever it is (trill, embellishment, pattern), but once you get past those two hours or less and have adjusted it all properly, not only will it still be in keeping with the composer's intentions; you may have figured out a new approach to the piece that is still faithful to it in that you got the notes and rhythms (and markings) correct while at the same time fitting it into your current technique.
Here's a suggestion: why not slow down--just slightly---the whole section that comes before it. If not the entire section, then a few bars before. I'm not big on completely changing a composer's score. But there are some ways to slow down the place right before the problem area so that you can deal with the tricky passage and still make it sound integrated with the rest of the section and the entire work.
You may have to work an hour or two on the run or sequence or whatever it is (trill, embellishment, pattern), but once you get past those two hours or less and have adjusted it all properly, not only will it still be in keeping with the composer's intentions; you may have figured out a new approach to the piece that is still faithful to it in that you got the notes and rhythms (and markings) correct while at the same time fitting it into your current technique.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Going Back
SEP 13, 2012: As you're taking the tempo slightly faster when practicing---particularly with a metronome---it's important to know when you have lost mastery over the passage or bar you are practicing. Living in denial seems to be the rule, sometimes even for professionals. So....when you suddenly realize you're not playing the notes anymore (leaving some out, missing some, playing some wrong ones), now's probably the time to take the metronome back several notches.
You may be thinking, "I've already done this. I'm spending too much time on this." That may be a good reason to allow more time than necessary. But when you go back to where you do have mastery--and start the slowly-getting-faster process again, it will feel good. Because now you know you're getting it. And "getting it" at any tempo is what it's all about!
You may be thinking, "I've already done this. I'm spending too much time on this." That may be a good reason to allow more time than necessary. But when you go back to where you do have mastery--and start the slowly-getting-faster process again, it will feel good. Because now you know you're getting it. And "getting it" at any tempo is what it's all about!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Woodshedding
SEP 6, 2012: If you've ever had the urge to just take some time off of your regular practicing and concentrate on one or two key bars of difficult music, you're certainly not alone. If you could only get those two difficult bars----then everything would be better, or so you believe.
But suppose the progress you make on those two bars are so small compared to the hours put in that it seems it may take years to master them. Then, maybe it's time to look for alternate solutions. Trying different fingers may work. Also, trying different speeds, subtle shifts in tempo, may help. But a lot of times you may need to get in there and leave out a few notes--or recompose the bars altogether.
The difficult part is getting it to blend in with the rest of it so that only those really familiar with the work will notice that anything's different. As you know, it's possible to play the same piano piece with the same notes and dynamic marking and yet make it sound altogether different. How about reversing the process---so that you change or leave out a note here and there, and yet it sounds similar to other performances.
I don't want to go into detail about how to do this. Obviously, someone with more composing skills will have less effort in doing this essential process. But however you do it, it would help if it sounded natural, and even those extremely familiar with the music may not notice it unless they're listening closely.
You might use that alternate passage until you master it as written. But if it takes hours and hours and you're making minimum progress on it, that may mean it's time to revise the passage to fit your technique.
But suppose the progress you make on those two bars are so small compared to the hours put in that it seems it may take years to master them. Then, maybe it's time to look for alternate solutions. Trying different fingers may work. Also, trying different speeds, subtle shifts in tempo, may help. But a lot of times you may need to get in there and leave out a few notes--or recompose the bars altogether.
The difficult part is getting it to blend in with the rest of it so that only those really familiar with the work will notice that anything's different. As you know, it's possible to play the same piano piece with the same notes and dynamic marking and yet make it sound altogether different. How about reversing the process---so that you change or leave out a note here and there, and yet it sounds similar to other performances.
I don't want to go into detail about how to do this. Obviously, someone with more composing skills will have less effort in doing this essential process. But however you do it, it would help if it sounded natural, and even those extremely familiar with the music may not notice it unless they're listening closely.
You might use that alternate passage until you master it as written. But if it takes hours and hours and you're making minimum progress on it, that may mean it's time to revise the passage to fit your technique.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Getting a Feel for the Practicing You've Done
SEP 5, 2012: Sometimes when you're learning a tough new piece of piano music, you can get lost in the negative feelings about your abilities---when in actuality you've made great strides. Every piece that's new to you has challenges that you've probably never encountered before. Or, if you've encountered them previously, you haven't seen this particular array of problems in this particular order.
Still, I think it's good to ask yourself after you practice on a section: how did it feel to you? Sometimes there's one small thing that's off---and it's still bothering you. It taints the entire section. You can go back and work on that detail, but even if you learn the detail, putting it into context with the section often doesn't go as well as planned.
If you've been using the method I described in the opening post of this blog, you may think that all you need to do is to keep adding bars of music until you get one section completed. Once it's completed, then it's on to the next. Well, sometimes it can be that way, if there are no significant challenges to you in the section you just learned. But more often than not, it seems, there will be something that didn't feel right. Maybe the timing needs work. Maybe the touch wasn't what you thought was supposed to be there. It could be dozens of other things.
One way to check about whether the work you did felt a certain way is to try it again the next day and see if the same feeling comes back. If it does, and the feeling tends toward the negative, now you've got a clue as to what to do next. At any rate, just putting the time in regardless of how it felt to you may not be a help in the long run. Knowing how the work on your practicing felt after you completed it is a good way to anticipate problems that often come up later on.
Still, I think it's good to ask yourself after you practice on a section: how did it feel to you? Sometimes there's one small thing that's off---and it's still bothering you. It taints the entire section. You can go back and work on that detail, but even if you learn the detail, putting it into context with the section often doesn't go as well as planned.
If you've been using the method I described in the opening post of this blog, you may think that all you need to do is to keep adding bars of music until you get one section completed. Once it's completed, then it's on to the next. Well, sometimes it can be that way, if there are no significant challenges to you in the section you just learned. But more often than not, it seems, there will be something that didn't feel right. Maybe the timing needs work. Maybe the touch wasn't what you thought was supposed to be there. It could be dozens of other things.
One way to check about whether the work you did felt a certain way is to try it again the next day and see if the same feeling comes back. If it does, and the feeling tends toward the negative, now you've got a clue as to what to do next. At any rate, just putting the time in regardless of how it felt to you may not be a help in the long run. Knowing how the work on your practicing felt after you completed it is a good way to anticipate problems that often come up later on.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Immersion and Segmentation
SEP 4, 2012: Is it better to drop everything else when learning a new piece of piano music? Or would it be more practical to segment the amount of time in units of 20 or 30 minutes---or even smaller?
If a new work has to be ready for performance within a month, it might be a good idea to engage in immersion---work on it to the exclusion of everything else. That is, if there are no other obligations. But there's a lot to be said for taking the learning process in units of 15, 20 or 30 minutes. For one thing, if you can get yourself to stop after the alloted time, you can measure how long it may take to get a section learned. When you're in immersion, that kind of objective thinking often gets left by the wayside. You may jump from one section to another during immersion because it all has to get done, so you may think there's no harm in doing the learning in a highly unplanned way.
But immersion has its good points, too. If you're concentrating on one piece of music exclusively, you can develop a sense of continuity that you simply can't by taking the learning process in segments. Oftentimes, a piece of piano music will come together after a certain number of hours---things will suddenly start to fall into place.
Looking at the score without performing the work is just an outstanding idea, I think, because then you know where you're going---regardless of which learning method you use. Just throwing a bunch of time at a new piece of piano music may get frustrating if it's not structured too closely.
Yet another solution is to partially immerse---by practicing, say, three hours a day in addition to the rest of your work at the keyboard. That one would make sense, even if there's a deadline coming up. The main thing is that it needs to make sense to you, the performer. Because if it makes sense to you during the practice time, who knows, it just might make sense to your audience, too.
If a new work has to be ready for performance within a month, it might be a good idea to engage in immersion---work on it to the exclusion of everything else. That is, if there are no other obligations. But there's a lot to be said for taking the learning process in units of 15, 20 or 30 minutes. For one thing, if you can get yourself to stop after the alloted time, you can measure how long it may take to get a section learned. When you're in immersion, that kind of objective thinking often gets left by the wayside. You may jump from one section to another during immersion because it all has to get done, so you may think there's no harm in doing the learning in a highly unplanned way.
But immersion has its good points, too. If you're concentrating on one piece of music exclusively, you can develop a sense of continuity that you simply can't by taking the learning process in segments. Oftentimes, a piece of piano music will come together after a certain number of hours---things will suddenly start to fall into place.
Looking at the score without performing the work is just an outstanding idea, I think, because then you know where you're going---regardless of which learning method you use. Just throwing a bunch of time at a new piece of piano music may get frustrating if it's not structured too closely.
Yet another solution is to partially immerse---by practicing, say, three hours a day in addition to the rest of your work at the keyboard. That one would make sense, even if there's a deadline coming up. The main thing is that it needs to make sense to you, the performer. Because if it makes sense to you during the practice time, who knows, it just might make sense to your audience, too.
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