R.I.P. Piano

The Piano has had some distressing press of late...

In June the Los Angeles Times reported that the piano has lost its status in US homes replaced by the guitar (this news was also reported with great sadness at the recent Music Teacher's of California conference in Santa Clara) - read the entire article below:

The piano's status in U.S. living rooms is declining - Los Angeles Times

The July 2009 BBC Music Magazine published a story "Hammer Horrors! It shouldn't happen to a piano...Fifteen tear-inducing examples of utterly beastly keyboard maltreatment" with some of my favorite examples such as:

14: the MIT students dropping a piano off Baker House to prove the gravity works (great video of the first piano drop on You Tube)
10: being eaten by your piano (in the Japanese horror film "Hausu" Melody is munched by her grand piano fingers first) --- I don't really blame the piano - what piano wouldn't want to eat a "melody"?
9 and 13: La Monte Young (I've the pleasure of working with La Monte) says to feed and water the piano in performance or try to push it through a wall.

and many, many more very funny or horrifying examples. To see the examples from the magazine go to:

www.bbcmusicmagazine.com

So, I guess it is rather serendipitous that I'd see the piano here on a recent trip to Texas...








Photos from a Tyler, Texas cemetery.

Piano Blogs

Today (procrastinating...) I fell prey to the 21st century phenomenon of GOOGLING myself. Good news, my blog appeared first on the list when I googled: Diary of a Pianist! Hooray...now for some other blogs I discovered today...ENJOY!

A blog by a pianist in Oregon. I love the pansies on the piano keys! I've been so impressed with the piano community in Oregon. It is thriving with blogs, performances, the International Piano Festival in Portland, workshops and classes for teachers and pianists throughout the year...I could go on...so unlike the rather moribund piano culture in San Francisco.
http://www.mainlypiano.com/Mainly_Piano/Home.html

An interesting post regarding why music is no longer taught in US public schools (except in RARE cases). As he (Piano Man - not Billy Joel) mentions, he does not flesh out his idea in his blog post, but his thesis is similar to mine about the importance of music and art in society.
http://blogs.anythingpianoco.com/

This is a lovely journal about playing the piano and music examples are written out! (I have to take the time to learn how to do this for my blog posts!)
http://www.pianojournal.com/

This link is not for a piano blog, but I include it because my husband is related to William Kapell. I love Kapell's playing --- his bravura playing never lacks lyricism nor soulfulness.
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/21/arts/music-notes-diary-of-a-gifted-pianist.html

I think I've posted blog entries like this! (I love the "bad pianist practice diary" title. I thought about naming my blog: Diary of a Mad Pianist, but thought that was to derivative and maybe could become a self fulfilling prophesy!)
http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2007/06/kitan-on-the-keys-a-bad-pianists-practice-diary-1/

10 minutes a day

I'm always telling my students that just 10 minutes a day of practice will make all of the difference in their playing. My students do not really believe me, so I decided to prove my theory by learning a Chopin Etude in just 10 minutes a day (so I'm not just saying "do as I say, not as I do", but "do as I say and as I do too"). I will perform the piece for my students on their recital on March 1, 2009.

I began this experiment on February 2, and I've chosen to study Chopin's Etude "The Butterfly" Opus 25, No. 9.

First I slowly read through the piece hands together. Then I began to formulate a practice plan.

For me the left hand part will be more difficult that the right, because of the leaps and there are more notes (!)
1. practice the left hand alone every day
2. bring the left hand up to tempo right away / practice 4 - 8 bars up to tempo

Try not to start at the beginning every day
1. start at the "end" one day, then the "beginning" the next day
2. only work on sections / 4-8 bars a day

Slowly put the hands together
1. I found uncomfortable stretches for my right hand - then because I was slow, I realized that I was not bringing my arm over with my hand
2. Play lightly - sometimes when I'm slow I tend to use too much arm weight / think light butterflies fluttering from note to note

Memorize as I learn
1. I heard about this technique at the Portland Piano Festival last summer (July 2008). It was a tip from pianist Hans Boepple. Learn the first measure and play from memory. When the memory is secure memorize the second measure and then play the first two measures from memory, repeat until the piece is memorized
2. Analyze the harmony / this helps with memory and quick note learning

This is my strategy for this week. By next Monday, all the notes will be learned, the left hand part will be up to tempo, the whole piece will be played hands together at a medium speed, and some parts will be memorized.

Ann Saslav's Thoughts about Learning Music

From my mother-in-law, Ann Saslav --- thoughts about playing the piano...

Musicians and actors share one quality, the ability to "recreate" the thoughts of others (the master composer, the master playwright that created the work studied)...and it has been my experience that "learning" and "re-creating" and "remembering" are three different processes. Each depends on separate brain-functions that are somewhat cognizant to the student.

1. Learning and discovering:
Part a. is sketching a new piece of music at first-reading, reacting to it as one travels over its patterns and noting the reactions that one feels.

Part b. is carefully and meticulously learning every note physically and coordinating the patterns into larger sentences...paragraphs...and finally, a total overview of the work. This is the process called "practicing". Practicing can be tedious or exhilarating depending on many factors of health and restedness and anxiousness to prepare for a deadline..and discipline. (This is another subject entirely!)

2. Re-creating: It is of utmost importance for the public Performance to be a FRESH and SPONTANEOUS recreation...for performer and audience...as though hearing it for the first time as a delighted participant. The act of "communication to the audience enters here too"...with projection of energy as though exclaiming an exciting discovery to a friend...and a professional artist take into account the acoustics of the hall (how many "friends" and how close to the acoustic piano will they be?..activating different projections for chamber music blending, or solo projections with and over an orchestra collaboration..changing weight productions and fingerings and use of pedals accordingly and instinctively).

3. Finally, remembering (memorization)....depends entirely on the conscious ability of the performer to understand the above (1., and 2.) and to "will" the execution and emotions of the music to take place even in the private practice studio or home many times before performing before the public. The daily public IS the performer him-or-herself in the practice room growing increasingly familiar with the material, the emotions, the projections. This work is never finished but continues even the day after the public performance. It is the performer's repertoire for life!

For more about Ann:

http://www.arts.state.tx.us/rosters/touring07/disc.asp?id=114
scroll down to find information about Ann and Isidor Saslav's touring program in Texas


http://www.anthonyritchie.co.nz/opus/opus45b.html
a piece written for Ann when she was a touring artist in New Zealand

http://www.nsula.edu/news/grieg03.html

a 2007 project that inspired my "Journeys" program featuring the Lyric Suite, Opus 54 of Grieg

8 Plus Hands

This past Sunday, I was fortunate to be part of an eight hand piano gathering at the home Juli Innman in Napa to read through arrangements of Symphonies by John Poole. Seven pianists gathered to play symphonies by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Beethoven and Dvorak as well a transcription of Gounod's Faust. John has promised to provide a link to the session with a list of the works we played. Coming soon.....

How to Get Out of a Practice Slump

Parents and students often ask me how to motivate their child or themselves to practice --- especially when the they feel stuck in a musical rut. If only I had the magic formula! Alas, I do not, however, here are a few suggestions that have worked for me or for my students.

1. Be patient! Being in a practice slump often means that the student is about to break through to a new technical level.

2. Think quality not quantity. Practice as little as 10 minutes a day. Set specific goals for each 10 minutes. Work on only one measure, phrase, or piece per day. Learn a scale a day. Or don't practice any new repertoire -- just play your favorite pieces for 10 minutes a day.

3. Repertoire. Sometimes the pieces students are working on are just not inspiring, even though they may be important to study to continue to develop piano skills. Find a piece on the piano that you just can't wait to play (old or new repertoire). This is a strategy that works for me. I always have a least one piece that I have to play every day, because I love it so. Once students are at the piano playing something they love, it is easier to work on the repertoire that is hard or giving them trouble.

4. Think Teamwork. For parents: offer to be your child's piano coach. Then offer your child the opportunity to coach you through something you are having difficulty with --- getting enough exercise, stopping smoking, cutting calories etc. It's always easier to get through a down period when you are part of a team.

What the parent can do as part of the team: Sit with your child while they practice. Playing an instrument by yourself is lonely - especially when the rest of the family is watching TV or playing games. Don't offer suggestions or corrections. Just be there and offer gentle encouragement if it is needed.

5. Rewards. When students are in a slump, punishment is not going to help. Offer rewards for practice. Pay yourself to practice. It is work, after all. Go to a concert --- find performances that will inspire in any genre. Arrange a lesson with a different coach or master teacher as a special motivation. Your regular teacher may be the best in the world, but outside perspective often provides a needed spark.

6. Make a "PLAY" date! Arrange to have a friend or family member who also plays the piano or another musical instrument to get together with the student -- perform for others informally including your family -- adult students have arranged piano potlucks with other pianists to practice performing a complete work, or simply to share the repertoire they are learning.

Most important of all - don't give up! As with any difficult time in life...a musical slump too shall pass.