ON PRACTICING

HANS BOEPPLE        “ON PRACTICING”

Practicing is “where it all takes place.” The lesson serves as making a roadmap for the week ahead. Student knows what to do for their homework. Do piano students have the same clear understanding of what they are doing.

TYPICAL STUDENT ASSIGNMENT: Mozart Sonata      Half hour a day – sight read through as many times as you can , then set metronome At 60 and eliminate places where you have to slow down; then increase tempo. Student arrives and says I got to 80, but playing for the teacher it is mistake ridden. “Let’s go back to 66, then we’ll see.” If you went to the doctor and he told you what to do for the pain in your side, and you came back not having done what he told you to do, he would say “Why are you back, because I’m just going to tell you to do the same things I told you last week.” That’s like some of our students and lessons!

It’s all about details and following instructions.

How much time should I spend practicing?  Depends on your goals.

Play for your own amusement.

Sonatina-Sonata Level.  Half hour

Advanced Level  An hour a day.  

Competition.  2-3 hours. a day

Scholarship to a top school   3-4 hrs. a day

Your practice must be enough to support whatever level is your goal.

Technical Exercises.   It’s not really technique until certain standards of speed and refinement are involved.

ANYTHING under 120 is slow

GOAL should be scales at 160 to be able to handle Beethoven Sonatas

25% of practice should be technical exercises of all kinds.

MAKING BIG SKILLS into HABITS

HB: Account of what his music looked like under a teacher: Measures are filled with pencil marks, every measure is filled. Imagine how many marks would disappear if you just did what the music tells you to do!

FOUR MAIN IDEAS IN ALL HEALTHY PLAYING:

1.     Do what the music says to do.

2.     Play the rhythm accurately.

3.     Bring out the melody.

4.     Shape the melody.

What would I have to do in order for the teacher to say “Play the melody less loudly.” So HB made overemphasizing the melody a habit.

Counting out loud – the single most important musicianship skill. Counting is verbal conducting.

Sophisticated reasons for counting:

• ·       Important things happen on the 1^st beat
• ·       4^th beats tend to roll into 1^st beats.
• ·       2^nd beat seems to fall away from beat 1
• ·       Think 4, 1, 2, 3   or 3 4 1 2  or 2 3 4 1  with an accent on beat 1
• ·       Hyper counting – Minuet in G   Counting reveals all of these levels:

o   1  2& 3  (Beginner)

o   1 2 3 4 5 6 (measures in pairs)

o   1          2          3          4  OR     1    &     2   &     3    &

• ·       Counting helps organize

Bring out the melody – make it a habit!

Shaping a melody is sophisticated and requires thought

·       Two melody notes must be either louder or softer than each other

·       Long notes emphasized – Play TO the long notes

·       Use a + or – on each note of a phrase

·       Now play it that way!

·       HB: I see a committee in my head – one conductor, one is in charge of beauty, one musicianship police, just like a finely tuned  basketball team.

SLOW PRACTICING – WHY?

·       Some people believe that in slow melodies each note is so important, but in fast melodies notes are not as important. NOT TRUE

·       Every element in a slow performance must be retained when speeding up.

FAST PRACTICING has its place, too.

Develop stamina; nothing can take the place of playing through the piece many times.

Wonderful Session! So inspiring!

FROM HOT CROSS BUNS TO LES ADIEUX

INGRID CLARFIELD  -  FROM HOT CROSS BUNS TO LES ADIEUX

Ingrid says in the convention book “Inspiring artistic performance should be an integral part of piano study from the first lesson. “

I stuck with the Teaching Artistry and Technique track for Pedagogy Saturday because it’s been a passion of mine for years, and I’ve presented “Teaching Artistry from the Beginning” to several Minnesota Local Teachers Associations for the past few years. I was eager to find out what Ingrid Clarfield’s stand on it was. But first, I stood in a long line at Starbucks for coffee! First things first, you know.

I walked in on the session a few minutes into it, and Ingrid was saying, “Teach artistry from the beginning stages of learning a piece, even with beginners.” She went on to demonstrate (with her LH helper Alejandro Cremaschi) from repertoire pieces, focusing on the ends of phrases. I always think of Marvin Blickenstaff saying “the last note of the phrase is the quietest.” If we could just drill that into every student and check to see they apply it to every phrase, how happy would we be with our student’s artistry? I’m convinced we need to harp on it a little more after hearing students this past judging season. Ingrid and Alejandro use many repertoire pieces to demonstrate elegant phrasing over and over.

I loved her suggestion to use the words “Big Fat Arm Circle” when the student is performing pentascales. I tried to get a picture (but was too far away) of the cute cartoon character on the screen flexing Big Biceps as she demonstrated how to play a pentascale artistically with a crescendo and decrescendo.

Some of the repertoire pieces used to demonstrate were from William Gillock, Dennis Alexander (Forest Murmurs) Brahms Opus 118, Beethoven Sonata Opus 2 No. 1, Chopin Waltz Opus 64 No. 2

VOICING   Some interesting thoughts regarding voicing:

·       Teach to voice the top not of RH (or LH) in the simplest of patterns.

·       “BURY” sections that repeat

·       When the student doesn’t even know where the melody is! (using Clementi Op. 36 RH repeating octaves)

·       They must listen to professional orchestral records to understand the sounds of orchestra instruments to be effectively color sounds and make their playing mimic orchestral sounds.

Ingrid Clarfield ended exquisitely, with “Arioso for Right Hand Alone” by Dennis Alexander from Keys to Artistic Performance Book 3. Long sigh . . .

Hello Again

This "all but forgotten" blog is about to get some new life! The past few years have been hectic and eventful, to say the least. Everything was compounded last May 1st, when I was driving my mom and myself home from an out of town funeral. We came about to Le Seur, MN, and a semi pulled on to the on ramp at the same time I tried to take a drink of coffee. My mom had finished her coffee and had tucked my cup into her mostly empty cup, so the coffee splashed all over my face and we were on top of the semi in the blink of an eye. It was a terrible accident. We were transported to the hospital in Le Seur. When the doctor came in to see me, x-rays had already been taken, and he gently told me I would recover from my injuries, but my mom would not. She passed this life a little while later, with my brother at her side. While I'm sorrowful that she died, she went the way she always wanted. She spoke to us many times to tell us she did not want any extreme measures to prolong her life. I'm just sorry I can't talk to my mom and best friend the way we used to. 

My comfort comes through my personal faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I grew up with great parents who were Bible believers and took me faithfully to church, where I was taught the gospel story from the time I was a toddler. When I was 16 I accepted Christ as my savior, and have walked with Him every since. What comforts me is that I know I'll see both my mom and dad someday, and it will be a great reunion. What's more, I'll see my savior face to face. "What a day that will be, when my savior I shall see, and I'll look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace. And He'll take me by the hand, and lead me to the Promised Land; What a day, glorious day, that will be." This is the Ultimate Comfort.

Scarlatti and Pickles and Peppers

I just love when it nears MMTA Contest time and students are almost fully prepared. I can sit back and just enjoy their music! Thanks for all your hard work. Here are Ellen, performing Scarlatti Sonata in D Minor and Katie, performing Pickles and Peppers by Adaline Shepard.

 

 

Best (and WORST!) Ways of Practicing

I'm indebted to Louise Mann for the following contributions, which I agree with wholeheartedly! Which camp are you in?

The Top 10 Best Ways to Practice
1. Play at a speed (tempo) that allows for accuracy and no fumbles, frustration, or stops and starts.
2. Step 1.
3. Continue to repeat Step 1.
4. Gradually increase tempo.
5. Note where, when and why mistakes occur and analyze for solution.
6. Cut out hard spots and work ‘em to death, then back up a bit and paste them back in.
7. Remember: 3 times in a row without a mistake. This can be done on a small section, larger section, or the whole piece.
8. Patience - practice right no matter what. Take plenty of patience pills (breathe!).
9. Start today, don’t delay! And plan fingerings early!
10. Engage the ear and brain!

The Top 10 Worst Ways to Practice
1. Start from the beginning and fumble through to the end.
2. Repeat Step 1.
3. Continue to repeat Step 1 while growing tired of making the same mistakes in the same places over and over again.
4. Make mistakes and correct/continue without making mental post-its of where or why they occurred.
5. Repeat Step 4, probably while repeating Steps 1, 2 and 3.
6. Practice the parts you can already play, and neglect the ones you can’t.
7. Repeat Step 6, probably while repeating Steps 1-5.
8. Too fast—too soon—too often. Get pulled over for speeding.
9. Ignore all those numbers above and below the notes.
10. Last minute cram-sessions.

Is your student practicing enough? See this Table of Practice Times:

1 60-minute Practice per Week = 2 Months Progress in 12 Months
1 30-minute Practice per Day = 6 Months Progress in 12 Months
1 45-minute Practice per Day = 12 Months Progress in 12 Months
1 60-minute Practice per Day = 15 Months Progress in 12 Months
1 90-minute Practice per Day = 24 Months Progress in 12 Months
2 Hours Practice per Day = 36 Months Progress in 12 Months

7 Deadly Practice Sins

I was reading some other blogs and came across this great article. What are the 7 deadly practice sins? 

1. No routine

2. Too isolated

3. Inadequate instrument

4. No Availability

5. No Structure

6. No goals

7. No support 

Read the whole article here

By author Samantha Coates, of http://blitzbooks.com 

How do you plan to practice this year?

I've been lurking on the How To Practice website for a long time. Now Mike Saville has announced: It's here! The Complete Beginners Guide To Practice! 

 

 Go to the website link to find out how you can download a free copy. This guide is for anyone who plays (and practices!) the piano; students, parents, and teachers. I'm loving what I see here. More updates after I read the guide a little more.I've already talked to a few parents who are concerned that their students start practicing right this year. So I'm resurrecting a handout I did about 5 years ago and will post about this handout How To Begin A New Piece and How To Practice Every Day! in the near future. Stay tuned. Happy Practicing!

5000 Fingers Of Dr. T

You really must see this!

Bart has only one enemy in the world: his piano teacher Dr. Terwilliker. Dr. T has a mad plan to force 500 young boys to practice at his magnificent piano 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bart is the only hope to save these boys from being enslaved. Fantastic sets, screenplay, and even song lyrics were provided by Dr. Seuss. Features the only piano academy ever known to be equipped with cells and surrounded by an electric fence.

No electric fences in MY studio!

Music Ace Maestro

Teachers, click on this link for a chance to win a FREE copy of Music Ace Maestro http://musicmattersblog.com/2010/08/05/win-a-free-copy-of-music-ace-maestro-worth-127-95/  Leave a comment over at Natalie Wickham's blog http://musicmattersblog.com for a chance to win. Thank you for your generosity, Harmonic Vision!

Practice Chains are Here!

Students are well on their way to filling their practice chains. It took me a while to figure out how to hang them in the studio, but an over-the-door set of hooks did the trick. One bead on the practice chain equals one full day of practice. Either the repertoire or the fact they get to see their practice accumulate is really motivating students to practice during the summer. Yay, on both accounts.

. . . and more than a month later . . .

Here we are, and it's post Honors Concert and post MMTA convention. I'm busily teaching summer students and we have only 3 weeks left in the teaching year of 2009-2010. I'm amazed that time just slips through my fingers like water through a sieve. I'm constantly confronted with the limits that time puts upon me. I'd just love to sit at the piano and sight read through every book in my studio, but that will never happen without the rest of my household falling down around me.

I've spent a lot of summer days with Camille, Narissa, Susan, and Merrily, deciding the pieces for the 2012 State Contest List. We've found some gems that we hope will go over well. Each year on the list I find so many pieces that are new to me. This year (2011 contest List) I've been enamored with Amy Beach's 'Barcarolle' and Moszkowski's 'Pantomime.' Up until I damaged my right wrist and thumb, that is . . . one day it just appeared. My small hands have always been a frustration for me. Since fracturing my right wrist a couple of years ago, I've had trouble reaching even an octave. After spending one evening playing pieces with a lot of RH octaves, this little pain in my thumb showed up, so I've got to let it rest for a while so it can heal.

Nothing profound, here, just enjoying summer and life with my family.

Celebrating My Students!

Minnesota State Piano Contest Finalists 2010

Back Row: Katie, INB; Ellen, INA; Paige, JRB; Jackie, INB; Matthew, INB
From Row: Bryce, JRA; Megan, PRI; Nolan, JRA; Caroline, PRI; Jessie, JRB

MMTA Theory Certificates Earned

Matthew, Level 3
Emily, Level 1
Megan, Level 1
Jackie, Level 1

Piano Performance Trophy Winners 2010

These are students who proved they are developing into well rounded musicians by completing 10 items out of a list of 20. Front Row: Anna, Nolan, Bryce, Caroline, Megan, Ruchika Back Row: Justin, Ellen, Hannah, Matthew

Congratulations to all of you!

Rialto Ripples

It has been a good, long time since I last blogged. Good reasons, though. I was finishing my last 6 months of a 4 year term as VP of Piano Contests for MMTA, AND working on a new website for MMTA AND working on the marketing committee for MMTA. Didn't leave much time to even breathe . . . All those projects are coming to a conclusion, and our studio recital was last night. Students played really well and I was so pleased. I ended the concert with "Rialto Ripples" by Gershwin.

George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershowitz. His parents emigrated from Russia to the U.S.A in 1891. He first discovered music at age 10 at a friend's violin recital in a school auditorium in the lower East Side of Manhattan. George’s early interests were not in music, but street sports. When a piano was brought into the Gershowitz home for brother Ira, George (age 12) was the one whose interest was sparked. After playing from memory a song he had heard on a neighbor's player piano, George’s parents invested in lessons. By age 15 Gershwin had quit school and landed a job as pianist and "song plugger" for a Tin Pan Alley music-publishing firm, Jerome H. Remick & Company, at a salary of $15 a week. To increase his income, Gershwin recorded piano rolls under various pen names. For his efforts he received $35 for six rolls. He was interested in both ‘serious’ and popular music, and composed in both styles. He was one of the first composers to combine jazz and classical music styles. "Rialto Ripples" is George Gershwin's first published instrumental, at age 19, and his only piano rag. Ripples follows a typical rag style, alternating the main melody with contrasting melodies. It's fun, it's delightful, it's a toe-tapper, and a smile-maker.

I have never had so much fun playing at one of my recitals!

Do You Ever Wonder?

Do you ever wonder if your students are practicing over the break? That's my state of mind right now. One the one hand, I'm glad that my students are forming good habits, partially due to the incentives in place in the studio that I blogged about in October. I'm grateful for the beginning students who have finished a level of method books and always come prepared to their lesson. Additionally some beginners are almost ready to participate in the MMTA State Piano Contest in January, along with many middle school and high school students. JRB and above students have an opportunity for extra coaching on their contest piece on January 8 and I hope they all sign up for a time. Also coming up on January 22 and 23 is the Ribbon Festival, a recital for students at Wayzata Bay Mall, an opportunity to hone performance skills.

Still, I'm thinking of how to inspire them further - maybe some kind of practicing contest? I'm open to any ideas. If you're a teacher, what do you do to inspire students to greater growth in the months between January to May?

New Composer Bucks Incentive

I restructured how my "composer bucks" incentive works a week ago. I borrowed an idea from another teacher and called them "Diligence Dollars" and put the categories right on the students' assignment sheets. Students can now earn $1 if all materials are brought to the lesson, $1 if all practice is recorded and signed, $1 for each completed assignment, $1 for practicing 5 days, $4 for practicing 7 days, $3 for learning a new piece on your own, and $5 for participating in a piano event.

The change seems to be going over well, judging by how diligent students were last week. It's so great that students are sightreading new pieces and going ahead in assignments and really thinking through them correctly. The best thing I've noticed this week is those converts to practicing at least 5 days and some 7 days. Love the change and improvement in their lessons because of it!

If you would like to see the new assignment sheet, go to my website mvpianostudio.com to the resources page and find the assingment sheets there for the past few years. Happy practicing!

pianomorning.com

Found a new website that has piqued my interest: http://blog.pianomorning.com/

Pianomorning was created by composer Ann Buys and there are tons of theory worksheets and piano pieces free to download if you are a member. Coming up soon are original arrangements you can use in your studio for Christmas. Really worth checking out! There's a great giveaway for a free membership going on right now. To learn more, go to http://blog.pianomorning.com/

Happy teaching!

Fred Plays Today

I came across this on the Piano Teachers Forum today (a Yahoo discussion group). Helen, from the UK, found this while cleaning out her studio.:

About Fred by Linda Fox

After getting a definition, from a pupil, of "unconscious" (ranging from the perfect "not aware" to "it's when you're lying in the street"), I ask the pupil if she knows that she has an unconscious of her own.

We quickly christen the unconscious "Fred" (except for one little girl whose Grandad is called Fred and who insists on calling her unconscious "Bob")

I explain that Fred can do a lot of things like breathing and walking, even though you can take charge of these yourself if you want to; Fred can even guide your footsteps. How often have you arrived at school (or wherever) without ever thinking of how to get there?

And Fred can play the piano. He learns very quickly. He learns even when you've only done it once, which means he may very likely learn it wrong. The trouble is, too many people let Fred do the playing when he hasn't really learnt it properly yet, and somehow they don't seem able to wrest the control back from him. Any mistake which keeps happening even though you know about it, is the result of Fred playing. When Lousie (my first Fred owner) plays the phrase instead, in other words when Louise is concentrating and controlling the playing, it will probably be right.

I can't teach Fred. Only Louise can do that. And you can't really play a piece without Fred's contribution at all, or it would be like sight reading every time. The problem is, many children teach the whole thing to Fred and then sit back and let him play every time from the on. It's like pressing "start" and having no further input. You can always recognise this:

They can't easily play hands separately
They're totally unable to start anywhere except back at the beginning.
Often they don't even recognise the beginning of, say, the ninth bar.
Any mistakes will ALWAYS be there and cannot be eradicated.

The mistakes are not only wrong notes. Rushing, dragging, playing wrong rhythms, playing through rests, wrong dynamics or articulation. These are all programmed into Fred's rendition.

Once the pupil has recognised this, and realises her power to discipline and control Fred, she can develop a very healthy working partnership with him, letting him cope with the straightforward left hand while she concentrates on the more wayward right, for instance.

Louise tends to blame Fred too easily, actually, but her exasperated cry of "oh Fred!!" when the mistake has happened yet again, is usually met with "well, sort him out then" or even "well, don't let Fred play that bit for a while".

She took grade 1 last term. "How was Fred?" I asked when she came out, much to the mystification of the other waiting candidates and teachers. "Oh, he popped up once or twice", she said cheerfully, "but I played most of it myself today".

====

I reckon most of us can recognise Fred's playing in our students. I thought it was such a good way to helping them to understand what's going on.

Helen (UK)

"UP NORTH"

Doesn't every Minnesotan take a vacation "Up North?" We've been going to a resort near Hackensack, MN, for well over 50 years. I'm including a few photos taken this year at Sunset Bay Resort on Baby Lake.