Companion
July/August 2011
Volume 3, Number 4 Single Issue $9.95
Published by the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy
14 Livia Rév: Musical education is about more than just music
Columns 4 Editor’s Page The changing faces of piano study
by Mark Ainley
Pete Jutras
20 Frank Glazer: The coda continues
6 Winds of Change Robert Weirich
8 Personal Perspectives
by Duncan Cumming
Thoughts on the Tiger Mom debate
26 Ivan Ilic: ´ A left-handed complement to Frédéric Chopin
Ann Schein, Fenia I-Fen Chang, and Bruce Berr
72 Questions & Answers
by Michael Johnson
Louise L. Goss
Departments 30 Jazz & Pop
38 I play my best
Introductions and endings
43 Poetry Corner
Phillip Keveren
58 First Looks
32 Perspectives in Pedagogy A review of Succeeding at the Piano
58 Indian Character Pieces
Rebecca Grooms Johnson with Gail Lew and Sylvia Coats
60 New music reviews 64 CD & DVD reviews
40 Repertoire & Performance
66 News & Notes
Music for one hand
67 Pupil Savers
Nancy Bachus with Lyle Indergaard and Joyce Grill
68 Keyboard Kids’ Companion
46 Harmony Why should I consider having my piano tuned in anything but equal temperament? Bruce Berr with Trevor Stephenson
70 Advertiser Index 52 Technology RMM really is for everyone! George Litterst with Lori Frazer
56 Tech Tips
JULY/AUGUST 2011
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Companion Publisher
Associate Editors
Contributing Editors
The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy
Nancy Bachus Bruce Berr Michelle Conda Rebecca Johnson George Litterst Craig Sale Scott McBride Smith Helen Smith Tarchalski
Tony Caramia Louise Goss Steven Hall Geoffrey Haydon Phillip Keveren Barbara Kreader Jane Magrath Christopher Norton Robert Weirich Richard Zimdars
Editor-in-Chief Pete Jutras
Executive Director Sam Holland
Design & Production Bob Payne
Advertising
Managing Editors
Tiffany Smith
Steve Betts Susan Geffen
Copy Editors
Circulation
Carla Dean Day Kristin Jutras Kristen Holland Shear
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The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy is a not-for-profit educational institution (501c3) located in Kingston, New Jersey. The mission of the Frances Clark Center is to extend the influence of her inclusive and revolutionary philosophy of music education at the keyboard. In so doing, the Center conducts research, develops and codifies successful methodologies and applications, and disseminates its work in the form of publications, seminars, and
conferences that focus on improving the quality of teaching. Our goals are to: • Enhance the quality of music-making throughout life; • Educate teachers who are dedicated to nurturing lifelong involvement in musicmaking from the earliest to the most advanced levels; and • Develop methods and materials that support an artistic and meaningful learning experience for all students regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic status.
In the September/October 2011 issue: Special issue commemorating the 200th birthday of Franz Liszt A Liszt Odyssey: An interview with Alan Walker by Helen Smith Tarchalski An interview with Blandine Ollivier de Prévaux, Liszt’s great-granddaughter, by Elyse Mach De Profundis: Instrumental Psalm for Piano and Orchestra by Franz Liszt (1834) by Michael Maxwell 2
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Franz Liszt the teacher by Sandra Soderlund Jazz & Pop with Geoff Haydon Perspectives in Pedagogy: A survey of current methods: The Robert Pace Keyboard Approach Music Reading: How do you teach a college major who has poor reading skills? Columns by Barbara Kreader and Jane Magrath Questions and Answers with Louise Goss Keyboard Kids’ Companion, News, Reviews, Pupil Savers, and more!
Clavier Companion (ISSN 1086-0819), (USPS 013-579) is published bi-monthly by the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy, 90 Main Street, P.O. Box 651, Kingston, NJ 08528. Periodicals Postage Paid at Kingston, NJ, and at additional mailing offices. Printed in USA. Contents © 2011 by Clavier Companion. All rights reserved. None of the contents of this magazine may be duplicated or reprinted without advance written permission from the publisher. The statements of writers and advertisers are not necessarily those of Clavier Companion, which reserves the right to refuse to print any submitted advertisement. Subscriptions and Circulation Subscription rates are $29.95 for one year, $55.95 for two years, $9.95 for single copies (includes shipping and handling), $26.95 for individuals in groups of five or more in the US. Canadian subscription rates are $35.95 US funds for one year, $67.95 US funds for two years. Foreign subscription rates are $41.95 US funds for one year, $79.95 US funds for two years. All non-US subscriptions payable by Visa or MasterCard only. Claims for missing copies cannot be honored after 60 days. Please allow a minimum of four weeks for a change of address to be processed. Address subscription and change of address correspondence to: Clavier Companion, P.O. Box 90425 Long Beach, CA 90809-9863 Toll-free: 888-881-5861
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JULY/AUGUST 2011
Columns 4
Editor’s Page Pete Jutras, Editor-in-Chief
The changing faces of piano study ot too long ago, I attended an inspiring session on the application of learning technologies at the University of Georgia, where I teach. The keynote speaker, Dan Schmit, asked us to imagine vocational time travel. Schmit noted that in most professions, a time traveler from long ago would be very uncomfortable in the modern world. For example, a physician from the nineteenth century would not understand any of the equipment in a modern doctor’s office, nor would an accountant from long ago recognize a computer spreadsheet. Schmit worried that teaching might be an exception. Since so little has changed in education, he asked, could the teachers of our great-grandparents show up in a modern classroom and feel somewhat at home? He challenged us to assess what we do as teachers and ask some tough questions: Are we constantly refining and improving our methods? Are we applying recent discoveries about human cognition, learning, and understanding? Are we noticing changes in the student population, and are we making the necessary adaptations to reach these new groups? In short, are we complacent with the same old approaches, or are we constantly striving for improvement? These are great questions, and I agree wholeheartedly that we should never allow our teaching to become routine, let alone stale or outdated. One of the great joys of life is the fact that we can always be learning new things. Are piano teachers stuck in outdated routines? There are a number of aspects of piano teaching that say yes: We teach an instrument that has not changed for a hundred years. The bulk of our repertoire was composed between 1700 and 1945. We pride ourselves, for good reason, on the traditions passed down from masters in intimate, one-to-one settings. Many of us can trace our piano lineage through our teacher’s teachers back to a famous performer, perhaps even to a creator of the repertoire we play—maybe Clementi, Liszt, or Beethoven. These are traditions worth preserving, and they are a magical part of our world. They do provide valuable insight into the methods of the giants who came before us. At the same time, we must make sure that we are living (and teaching) in the modern world. As much as I would love to time travel, I don’t want my students to feel like they have been transported back a century when they come for a lesson. I want to interweave great traditions with the most efficient, effective, and innovative means of teaching to create lessons that reach students in their world with relevance and excitement. Staying up to date could include a variety of subjects, from employing new technology to championing repertoire composed since our students were born. For this column, I’d like to focus not on what we teach, but on who we teach, for who we teach ultimately has a great impact on how we teach.
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Have the students in piano studios changed over the last hundred years? While I wasn’t around during the Taft administration to see for myself, I suspect they have. For starters, adult students are now a very strong part of the piano student population. One major publisher recently told me that Book 1 of a given adult method will typically outsell Book 1 of the same method for children. Adults learn quite differently from children, and teachers need to adapt their instruction to effectively reach adults. This process of adaptation is healthy for teachers, as they must learn to present their knowledge in a variety of ways. I imagine that today’s students have a greater diversity of ethnic and cultural backgrounds than one might have found a century ago. I know my own children are attending school with children whose families come from a variety of countries. This diversity is not limited to nationality—today’s classrooms have a wider mix of learning styles, abilities, and needs. Part of this is due to the success of mainstreaming, and part of it is due to a greater understanding of (and ability to diagnose) different learning modalities. All of this diversity forces the teacher to adapt to meet each student. The onesize-fits-all approach that was common a century ago no longer works, and I think that is a great improvement for teachers and students. As you dig into this issue, I hope you’ll see that it represents many of the changing faces of piano study. Our two cover subjects are both teaching and performing well into their nineties, and they serve as an inspirational model for adult students everywhere (as well as a great link to those important traditions of the past). Three essays on the “Tiger Mom” debate address the growing population of Asian students and challenge us to explore different approaches to practice, discipline, and parenting. The Technology department helps us to see how music can have a major impact on the lives of students who have physical limitations that might preclude them from traditional instruction. I’m optimistic. I’m inspired by those in our profession who encourage us to try new strategies, methods, and technologies, and I do believe that we are evolving for the better. The stereotypical piano teacher who used knuckle-rapping as a primary teaching technique is a distant memory for older generations, no longer a reality for today’s youth. Let’s continue to challenge ourselves to stay current, to make improvements, and to recognize what’s new with our students, even as we maintain our hallowed legacy. This process of self-assessment and self-criticism can ensure that we continue to grow. When time travel is finally invented we will welcome teachers from the past, but we don’t want them to feel too comfortable in our studios! p JULY/AUGUST 2011
Winds of Change Robert Weirich
t’s midsummer as this issue sees print, and the quiet time since those year-end recitals and juries has been most welcomed. After thirty weeks of lessons, I’m ready for a change. The longer the term goes on, the more I feel that I can’t hear my students’ progress—I’m too close to them, too familiar with their tendencies. They undoubtedly feel the same way about me. On an early morning walk in my tree-shaded neighborhood, I unravel the cacophony of the term. The school concerto competition happened back in January: one of my students won, but another who plays quite well didn’t make the finals. No matter—a week later, the second student won out over the first in a competition out of town. A few weeks after that, I attended a recital by a young competition winner who was performing on the artist series in town. This particular night, the immensely talented young pianist, whose Chopin Preludes recording I liked very much, left me cold. I wondered how this could be the same artist. In fact, I heard in him many of the tendencies I hear in my own students: sloppy rhythm, short-changed rests, a lack of legato. I went home in a bad mood. A month later, a well-known veteran of the concert stage performed on the same series—playing beyond fault, but emotionally reserved. The mechanics of the playing were so perfect that a mistake was out of the question. One admired the control, yet longed for some personal exposure. As I walk I think of another of my students who had played a recital around the same time. Here’s a young man from a sheltered background, home-schooled, quiet, shy, certainly no globe-trotting virtuoso. As he plays in this, only his third recital ever, he misses some things, fouls up some tempo relationships, but he also makes some ravishingly beautiful sounds, especially in the second half of his program. I notice that he pauses longer at the end of a phrase than I’ve heard before in a lesson, stretching out the meaning, listening to it with his whole being. He makes me hear it, even though I’ve heard him play this same moment many times before. The moments multiply; by the end of the program I realize I have heard more music made by my student than by either of the artists downtown. It may seem unfair to compare world-class artists to my students, but isn’t it true that music making is something that takes one’s whole being? Immense talent is certainly helpful in making a career, but anyone who invests integrity and authenticity into the act of music making stands a good chance of moving a listener.
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Robert Weirich leads an extremely active career as a pianist, teacher, author, and activist. He has performed at venues including Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Marlboro. He holds the Jack Strandberg Missouri Endowed Chair in Piano at the UMKC Conservatory in Kansas City, MO. He has been a frequent contributor to many publications, and from 1984 to 2003 he wrote the columns “The View from the Second Floor” and “Out of the Woods” for Clavier. He is a past president of the College Music Society, and he has twice received the Educational Press Achievement Award for his writing. 6
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Alas, my student won’t have a big playing career. He started piano too late to lay down the circuitry needed for a flawless technique and to develop the sharp, sensitive ear that one needs to learn music quickly and unerringly. But he can make music. He can communicate a musical message that is honest, from the heart, and ultimately moving. How could this happen, I wondered. What occurred to me during my student’s recital was that the music itself had changed the student. My teaching was only a small part of it—it was much more a result of the degree to which the student opened himself up to the music, and let it build his consciousness. His emotional sensitivity was not only heightened by the music he played, but created. He was no longer the naïve, home-schooled boy from farm country—the music had altered his circuitry, added to his being, whether he knew it or not. At another time during the past semester, I read a “contribution statement” while attending a leadership symposium. It came from Benjamin Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, whose words I quoted once before in this column. Zander believes that defining oneself in terms of success or failure is a dead-end. His solution: define yourself as a contribution. What did you contribute today? He suggests that everyone can contribute something, and by writing a contribution statement, you focus your activity. Here is Zander’s, and before reading further, I suggest you take a good long breath, because when you finish reading it, that breath will be taken away: To share the most powerful language ever devised by human beings...that stirs one’s soul, rearranges one’s molecules, turns one’s being inside out. It gives you a new insight on life, a new place to stand, a new range of experience. He’s talking about music, of course. Just sharing that language is contribution enough—the power is in the music. The music does the work. Music has indeed rearranged my student’s molecules, turned his being inside out! Nothing else in his life could have done this. Music has changed him, possibly forever. I’d love to ask Zander how it is that music has this power. My guess is that it has something to do with the fact that music is sound, and sound involves vibrations. Quantum physics tells us that everything vibrates, even solid matter. Could the nature of musical sounds, organized by composers of extraordinary sensitivity, somehow alter our own vibrating consciousness? For thousands of years, Eastern thought has concerned itself with sphotavada (sound metaphysics), which conceives of all manifestations in the universe, both mind and matter, as consisting of sounds of varying concentration, frequency, and wavelength. According to this ancient Hindu belief system, there are four categories of sound to consider: vaikhari, which is the sound produced by plucking a string; madhyama, which is the transition between heard-sound and its inner vibration; pashyanti, the sound heard only by the spiritually-awakened aspirant; and finally, para (from the Sanskrit word meaning “transcendental” or “beyond”), which lies deeper than ordinary silence—it is an inner sound that is experienced as the unrealized root-sound, or sound potential. Who knows? For now I am content to contemplate the rustling of the wind in the new oak leaves. My hearing is coming back. p JULY/AUGUST 2011
Inspire the desire to aspire.
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To RSVP or for dates, locations, and more information, please visit
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PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES
Thoughts on the
Tiger Mom debate
T
o say that Amy Chua has touched a nerve with parents is an understatement akin to saying that Franz Liszt had an influence on piano performance and teaching. Since the publication of her book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in January, and the subsequent Wall Street Journal article “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” a firestorm of discussion and debate on parenting has broken out across the United States. This debate has played out in major media outlets of every stripe, from the cover of Time to The Colbert Report. The dialogue is not only taking place among journalists—it has also been hotly debated by teachers, parents, and students in the blogs and message boards of countless websites. Go to Google and type in the words “Battle Hymn.” You’ll find that the first automatic fill-in is “of the Tiger Mother.” “Of the Republic” is now second to Chua’s book in the search engine hierarchy. I believe that no matter what “side” of the parenting debate you fall on (and I think there are many sides), the discussion that is being generated is healthy. It is acutely applicable to music study, and thus of particular interest to Clavier Companion. We are quite pleased to present three essays on the topic. Each author is an accomplished pianist and piano teacher, and each author presents a unique point of view. I didn’t give the authors any direction for these columns, other than to write what they think. I hoped that they would present a range of ideas on this complex topic, and I wasn’t disappointed. As always, I invite you, the reader, to contribute your own thoughts by writing to
[email protected]. p —Pete Jutras
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Dear Mom, by Ann Schein
y piano students know that I ask a million questions in order to stimulate their minds and imaginations! At this moment, my own mind and imagination have been deeply stirred after reading an article that appeared in The Wall Street Journal in January, an article that was excerpted from a new book by Dr. Amy Chua, law professor at Yale and author of two highly acclaimed best sellers. The titles of Chua’s other books are blockbusters: World On Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, and Day Of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance—and Why They Fail. Definitely out of my area. The title of Chua’s new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, has a more familiar ring, but it is already mildly irritating. Has she not helped herself to a large portion of our iconic American hymn title, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, a spiritual anthem sung on somber and hallowed occasions? It was the title of the excerpted article, however, that jumped off the page. Sweeping forward— where angels fear to tread—its headline, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior,” attacks her readers head-on! With this outrageous claim, our intrepid Tiger Mom has just taken on all other mothers of the world! (She meekly retreats in an ensuing interview, saying, “The word ‘superior’ was not my idea!”) A second article appeared just days later in the Ideas Market blog of the WSJ, and something in it caught my eye: a letter from the older daughter, Sophia, to her Mom. “Tiger Mom,” she writes, “You have been criticized a lot since you published your memoir... One problem is that some people don’t get your humor. They think you’re serious about all this, and they assume Lulu and I are oppressed by our evil mother. This is so not true. Every Thursday, you take off our chains and let us play math games in the basement...No outsider can know what our family is really like.” Oh, Sophia, we do know, because your Mom has chosen to write a book about you that has reached celebrity status. Sophia and Lulu, you are now famous. On the front jacket, I read, “This is a story about a mother, two daughters and two dogs.” After this benign sentence came a zinger. “It’s about a bitter clash of cultures.” What has that to do with a family and two dogs, I wondered? Then I turned to the back cover and read, “Chinese parenting—at least if you are trying to do it in America, where the odds are all against you—is a never ending uphill battle, requiring a 24/7 time commitment, resilience and guile!” (Emphasis mine.) My shackles firmly up now, I devoured the book cover to cover. In the course of its 229 pages and roughly thirty-four chapters, Chua’s breathtaking put-downs of “Western” values, education, and culture came fast and furiously! She loses no time in criticizing “rich Westerners” (are these Americans?) who spoil their children, and she is disgusted by the “weak-willed Moms” whose musical progenies are content with just one hour of practice, and in some cases, just a mere half-hour, after which they receive lavish gifts, even Legos! (Where in the world did she encounter these people?) We then read about her
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own bribery of a gift of a new dog for her youngest daughter, Lulu, if she would just play a perfect cadenza in her Viotti Violin Concerto! While awaiting her own daughter’s audition at Juilliard, Chua makes note of all the “grim mothers” pacing back and forth waiting for their offspring to finish their lessons. “Can they really love music?” she sighs. (At least those Moms stay outside the lesson studios, in contrast to her own “Helicopter-Mom” presence inside!) Commenting on Manhattan’s “terrifying” culture of excess privilege, complete with sign-ups for SATs available on entrance to Nursery School (this may have some validity), Chua anxiously awaits her own daughter’s acceptance into one of these exclusive institutions. No Chinese mother could ever stomach an A-minus, Chua assures her readers. Western moms would praise their children to the skies on receiving such a grade! She extols the ancient Chinese virtue of mothers suffering in silence while pushing their children to gut-wrenching loads of work, and she adds that for Chinese moms, Happiness Is Not An Option! (She then complains at the top of her lungs about her own agonies of mothering in a best selling book!) “I am losing my youth!” she wails. Going even further, Chua tells her readers how she caused some guests to leave a dinner party in tears after she told them about hurling withering epithets at her daughters, calling them “garbage” when they disobeyed her, in order to inspire them to more respectful behavior. “This would never destroy their self-esteem,” she boasts to the shocked dinner guests. (Who can ever forget this “garbage” story?) Westerners, she lectures, are too concerned about their children’s psyches and tiptoe around their little darlings’ fragile egos with fear and trembling. Chua admits that she spies on her children to keep them in line, and uses pure guile to get them to practice their musical instruments until they drop, while dictating the “correct” interpretation to them phrase by phrase, bowing by bowing. (Is she actually qualified for this job?) Come hell or high water, her children are not going to fail! She cannot fail! No Chinese mother can fail! They are Superior! “I Know!” she shouts, “I’ve done it!” When her daughters insist that they are not Chinese anymore, they are Americans (good for them!), Chua cries out in frustration, “But you are Chinese!!” Hopelessly spoiled by the “Western values” she criticizes, while simultaneously deploring the “decadence and indulgence” in Western society, Chua turns her charming humor back onto herself and regales us with a story of her own “wretched excess” when her fourteen-year-old daughter, Sophia, wins first prize in a piano competition. Rewarded with a performance in Carnegie Hall itself, Mom loses her senses and books the family into the luxurious St. Regis New York for the occasion, reserving the even more famously grand party space, the Fontainebleau Room, for the after-concert reception. We also hear about her husband’s near nervous breakdown when he receives the bill for this extravaganza for family, friends, and a crowd of ravenous teenagers! Dear Sophia, we are sure that you truly did play a beautiful CLAVIER COMPANION
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recital, and that you richly deserved such a joyous celebration. And Lulu, we are moved by your incredible strength and spirit in convincing your Mom that there was another way to your happiness and fulfillment than playing the violin, and that you can both tell your mom that you are “Americans” now! We do know without a doubt that you have a tremendously gifted, and yes, Superior Mom, who loves and cares for you with her whole being. And we love that your Dad makes you pancakes and takes you to Yankee games! (Your Dad, for me, is the hands-down hero of your Mom’s book!) America is our melting pot, and we worry that somehow, somewhere, your mother has missed a lot of the best things about our country—success stories that are sadly absent from her book. We want to be sure that you know about the hundreds of fine music schools, music camps, youth orchestras, and fabulous music festivals that are thriving across this land, with so many talented students just like the two of you coming year after year to study with selfless instructors who are passing on to young talents the greatest
inspirations and traditions of Western classical music. Happiness is engraved in our American DNA, and it is deep in the souls of the greatest musicians of the world. Hopefully, your Mom will soon write her next best seller—and present you with your third dog! p
Ann Schein served on the piano faculty of the Peabody Conservatory from 1980-2000, and she has been an artist-faculty member of the Aspen Music festival since 1984. She has performed in more than 50 countries across the world, with artists including George Szell, James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Colin Davis, and Jessye Norman. She was trained in her native United States, where she studied with both Mieczyslaw Munz and Arthur Rubinstein. She has received many distinguished honors for her Chopin performances and recordings, and her 1958 recording of the Nouvelle Etude in A-flat Major was recently included in Marston Records’ special collection A Century of Romantic Chopin.
To be or not to be Top by Fenia I-Fen Chang
t was a cold Sunday in January when the Dallas Music Teachers Association held its Symphonic Festival piano competition. Icy conditions on most of the roads made it very difficult to drive from home to the competition site. Many parents chose to stay home and skip the competition. However, almost all of the Asian parents made it there. As usual, all of the winners had Asian last names! When people asked me about the differences between Chinese parents and Western parents, I always like to tell this story: In my neighborhood there is an activity center and a math school sitting on opposite sides of the same street. On any given Sunday, you will see a lot of traffic as parents take their kids to different classes or activities. Most of the cars turning into the parking lot of the activity center are driven by American parents dropping off their kids for basketball, swim lessons, or simply to play. The cars turning to the math school contain Asian families, most of them Chinese. Dr. Amy Chua’s article in The Wall Street Journal about the superiority of the Chinese parenting style has drawn a lot of criticism on the internet, but as a Chinese mother and a music teacher myself, the article touched some of my daily debate—what is the best for my kids? I agree with Chua about the parenting philosophy of most Chinese parents. (As Chua, I am also using the term “Chinese mother” loosely. These parents could be Korean, Indian, or from any other ethnic group that subscribes to the strict parenting rule.) Most Chinese parents do have a goal in mind to produce children who display academic excellence, musical achievement, and professional success. And, as Chua pointed out, most Western parents worry that pushing kids too hard academically will hurt their children’s self esteem. This difference is evident in music study. Although parents of all ethnic groups would like to have their children learn to play instruments, most Westerners would rather enroll their children in group
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lessons to simply have fun, rather than find a really good teacher to train their children to display musical mastery. On the contrary, most Chinese parents would think that having fun at a group music class is a waste of time and money. If you ask a typical Chinese parent to take a Myers-Briggs personality test, most of them will probably have these characteristics (taken from the ESTJ personality type as described at www.personalitypage.com): “...they take parenting responsibilities seriously,... They like to be in charge, and may be very controlling of their children. They do not have much tolerance for inefficiency or messiness. They dislike to see their mistakes repeated.... They will have little patience with the unstructured, “go with the flow” attitude of their perceiving children.” This is not, as Dr. Chua stated, because Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything. This might be the thinking of my grandparents’ generation. The strict and academic-successdriven Chinese parenting philosophy, in my view, has more to do with the Chinese culture. The imperial examination system solidifies the thinking that only academic excellence will give you success in life. Chinese parents don’t believe in great carpenters or successful salesmen—they want their children to be professors, doctors, or lawyers. Academic achievement is at the core of a child’s upbringing in most Chinese families. It is no coincidence that Chinese parents produce so many whiz kids and musical prodigies. As a music teacher, I am in agreement with Dr. Chua that kids need to be pushed. Given the choice, children will always choose play over practice. As parents, we need to make sure that they spend enough time working on perfecting their knowledge and skills, be it in an academic field or in music. I also believe we need to challenge kids to get over the difficult parts of their study. As Chua pointed out in the article, “This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents JULY/AUGUST 2011
tend to give up... Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence...Once a child stars to excel at something, he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun.” Nobody wants to hurt a child’s feelings. However, if parents are too anxious about their children’s self-esteem, praising children’s mediocre performances instead of challenging them, they will likely miss opportunities to unveil the children’s potential. Having said that, I don’t think it is necessary to exhaust all tools to motivate your children, including calling them names and using negative words to describe them. One thing I notice in my teaching career, be it private teaching or at the college level, is that there are different degrees of intelligence among different people. For students who are not that smart or naturally talented, a harsh challenge might ruin their confidence. As a music educator, you will need to adapt to the talents you have, to know there are limits to how far you can go, that you cannot just keep pushing everybody. Dr. Chua is lucky to have two very smart girls who can meet a demanding mother’s endless challenges. Applied to other children, these techniques might produce rebellious teenagers or cause nervous breakdowns. It is generally believed that Western parents will try to respect their children’s individuality, support their choices, encourage them to be what they want to be, and provide positive reinforcement. There is nothing wrong with positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. However, don’t mistake that for accepting mediocrity and being a pushover parent. There may be some super geniuses or extremely talented children who will inspire themselves to greater things without any outside influence. But a lot of these achievers were pushed to be successful by their parents as well. Most of us are just ordinary people who will choose to take it easy if given the choice between working hard and having fun. This is especially true in regard to learning piano or other musical instruments. It is a very complicated process of the brain processing the score and telling both hands to do different things simultaneously. Even the smartest brain will need a lot of practice to master the skill. You will only have fun if you can get past the hard parts. For most kids, you need strict parents to push you past those hard parts. I believe all decent parents want what is best for their children, and they want their children to be at the top, if possible. Most Chinese parents believe that to get to the top, the best way to prepare your children is to let them have a higher goal for themselves, to let them realize their potential, and to arm them with skills, work ethics, and confidence. It may not always get them to the top. But it will certainly give them a good chance to be successful in this highly competitive society. p
Born in Taiwan, Fenia I-Fen Chang made her solo debut at age eleven, after winning the first Japan Kawai piano competition. She has performed at major venues in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, France, and the U.S., including Alice Tully Hall & Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in New York, Strathmore Hall & Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She holds B.M. and M.M. degrees from Juilliard, and a D.M.A. from the University of Maryland, and her teachers include Abbey Simon, Russell Sherman, Jerome Lowenthal, Thomas Schumacher, and Santiago Rodriguez. Devoted to music education, she has served on the faculties of, among others, Washington Bible College, National Taiwan University of the Arts, and Texas A&M-Commerce. She is the Founder and Artistic Director for the Asian-American Performing Arts Association of Texas, and she currently maintains a private teaching studio in Plano, TX. JULY/AUGUST 2011
Not everyone is winking by Bruce Berr
his is the second opportunity I’ve had to publicly share my views on the Amy Chua article, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior.” Some of what follows is from my essay, “A Colorful Life” which appeared on the last page of the April 2011 issue of American Music Teacher, but I have room here to elaborate. I don’t agree with Chua’s educational philosophy as stated in the Wall Street Journal article, (I have not read her book from which that article was excerpted), but I am thankful it appeared because it has ignited discussion about many current educational issues, making possible a public discourse that has needed to take place for a long time. In the last ten years in my independent piano studio in an upper-middle class Chicago suburb, have I seen a decline in discipline and rates of achievement? Yes, to a degree. Have more families over-scheduled their children with extra-curricular activities such that their chances of achieving excellence in any one area are greatly diminished? Yes, definitely. Have I encountered more parents who seem to coddle their underachieving children and make excuses for them? Yes, definitely. Have many (but not all) of my best students been from Asian families? Yes. And yet I still disagree with Chua’s approach? Most definitely! It’s obvious to me that none of the Chinese parents in my studio treat their children as Chua does—not even close. Instead what I see are parents who are willing and able to do what some others in the studio are not. More on this later. I believe that many American educators are grappling with a society that increasingly seems to be losing its focus in terms of how hard work, dedication, external reward, and meaningful, pleasurable accomplishment fit together. There is an interview on YouTube with the saxophonist Branford Marsalis, in which he comments on his teaching experience. Although I don’t share the tone and degree of negativity in that clip, I do agree with his broad view: “Most of my students are not willing to work to live up to [their potential] . . .We live in a country that seems to be in a massive state of delusion—where the idea of what you are is more important than you actually being that. And it actually works as long as everybody is winking at the same time.” Are we all winking? Perhaps collectively, but Chua’s approach is no cure. It offers extreme “solutions” to complex situations that require nuance and fine differentiations. Trying to solve grey problems with black or white solutions might seem to work, but down the road new problems arise that are imprints of the old ones, just turned inside-out. For instance,
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We do not have control over the values and standards our students are exposed to in their homes. But we do have control over what happens in our studios, and what and how we communicate with students and parents, all of which makes a difference in their lives.
when a beginner lacks innate discipline in piano study (which is naturally true for most), draconian methods that ignore the unique personality of each person can be utilized “successfully” to produce intensive practice. The result may be impressive in that students learn how to play progressively advanced pieces, but at what price? Do they also learn how to be creative in this way? To be good listeners to music? To love what they’re doing? To understand what they are playing? During the thirteen years that I was a fulltime university professor, the majority of our most physically accomplished students were Asian, and they did work very hard. However, as competent as they were as players, almost all (even those raised here) struggled mightily with the creative aspects of being a pianist: projecting the structure of music beyond the score markings; communicating emotional depth; being able to play by ear or improvise, let alone compose. When presented with early intermediate piano literature to learn on their own for pedagogy class, many could not make musical sense of the score without instruction or hearing a recording. Early intermediate! Was this demographic weakness cultural in origin? Was it the result of an austere learning approach that championed precision over romance, material over spiritual? Was it just a coincidence? I don’t pretend to know the answer, but I do know that Chua’s article does not even hint at these important aspects of musical adeptness. So I don’t agree with the discipline-above-everything approach of Chua, nor do I agree with the parents I’ve seen firsthand who, for various reasons, avoid fostering a healthy work ethic and pursuit of excellence in their children. However, I am inspired and encouraged by the families in my studio—Chinese and others—who do skillfully, lovingly juggle the needs and wants of their children, helping them grow into creative, decision-making adults. My description of them from the AMT article: [They] impart to their children through their words and behavior that hard work and fun are not mutually exclusive, rather the greatest pleasure comes from both intertwined; make firm unilateral decisions when necessary but do so kindly; persistently frame music study as a privilege and responsibility that requires commensurate effort over time; limit their children’s outside activities so they can enjoy doing excellent work (not perfect), but still allow the child choices; are involved in their young children’s home practice from a practical standpoint (helping with structure and even content, regardless of their own music background) and an emotional one by showing sincere interest and providing moral support during bumpy times; set an example of commitment by rarely missing or being late to lessons, and being on top of scheduling lessons, attending recitals, and paying tuition; reinforce the joy of music by listening to art music in their homes, and bringing their children to concerts of all kinds, not just those by pop stars; model that recreation and a social life are natural, desirable facets of a healthy person’s life; communicate that piano study is part of an education that is not just about procuring a career, but helping a person grow into themself, thus learning how to live a life rich in many ways. This was all said best by a Chinese mother in my studio, Ms. “W,” when I interviewed her for the Winter 2004 issue of 12
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Keyboard Companion: “You have to balance everything. You already know how you would like your kids to be in the future. Everything I do is based on this vision. I want their life to be very colorful for them: to know music, to enjoy sports, and to be good students. I don’t need to push them really hard to do this, but I feel I have to prepare them.” Seven years later, her children are still all of that, plus they are happy, levelheaded, beautiful people.
You can hear parts of the interview with Ms. “ W ” on the Clavier Companion website: www.c laviercompanion.com/Inter vie w1/ Interview1.html. After the AMT essay appeared, I replied to someone who disagreed with the perspective, “I think we both agree on one thing: the survival of the art music we love requires a discipline that seems to be showing up less and less in American homes. We all need to do what we can to reverse this unfortunate trend.” We do not have control over the values and standards our students are exposed to in their homes. But we do have control over what happens in our studios, and what and how we communicate with students and parents, all of which makes a difference in their lives. What are we each trying to create in our studios? Skilled players? Creative musicians? Music lovers? Better learners of any subject matter? Self-confident people? Strong character? Some combination of these? Students are people who have not yet grown into who they are, even at college. They are unknown, evolving entities. Therefore, it seems to me that the more we treat our students as people first, musicians second, and players third, the more likely we are to help them grow into well-balanced, healthy people and learners, and the less likely we are to do harm. As their skills deepen, talents emerge, and preferences crystallize, adjustments can be made. By then, they are willing partners in the process, showing diligence borne of passion, curiosity, and a heartfelt desire to accomplish a goal. There are some who think that the more Lang Langs we try to produce, the better. Instead I believe that each person realistically achieves maximum musical resonance at a different “pitch.” Discovering that pitch takes time for everyone—student, parents, teacher—and it requires intentionality to allow that “string” to vibrate freely of its own accord, guided by foresight and empathy. p 1
Copyright © 2011 Music Teachers National Association. Used by Permission.
Bruce Berr has been an independent teacher and university professor of piano and pedagogy for a long time. He is known nationally as a clinician, educational composer and arranger, and author on a wide variety of topics related to teaching, music, and piano. His column on personal observations, “ad lib,” appears regularly in American Music Teacher magazine, and he has been editor of the Rhythm department for Keyboard Companion and Clavier Companion since 1997. Please visit www.bruceberr.com for more information.
JULY/AUGUST 2011
Musical education is about more than
music An interview with Livia Rév by Mark Ainley
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Photo © 2009 Jacques Leiser. Used with permission.
ery interesting. But not beautiful.” Livia Rév is examining some modern art on the main floor of the Institut Hongrois in Paris, an exhibition that was set up between the start of her master class that morning and the lunch break. The Hungarian pianist, who stands barely five feet tall, has hardly finished her pronouncement before she is off again, wandering through the gallery. At age ninety-four, she shows no signs of slowing down, evidenced by a recital and week of master classes at the Institut for students from Hungary and other countries. Her acute observations about music, art, and life, and her dynamism when playing and teaching are remarkable, signs of a brilliant intellect and a life devoted to the best in musical expression.
“V Beginnings
Born in Budapest on July 5, 1916, Rév began her studies at a young age with Margit Varro, winning a Grand Prize at the age of nine and making her orchestra debut performing Mozart ’s Concerto for Two Pianos in E-flat Major, K. 365/316a, at age
twelve. At the Franz Liszt Academy she studied with Klara Mathe, Arnold Szekely, and Leo Weiner, winning the 1st prize; later (from 1934 to 1936) in Leipzig she worked with Robert Teichmuller and Paul Weingarten. Like most international concert artists, Rév gravitated to the piano at a young age. “I was five years old when I heard the piano played for the first time, and I was stunned because it was a large piece of furniture for me and there were these extraordinary sounds coming out of it! I was absolutely fascinated, and then I went to listen to a young girl who used to practice, and I loved it so much that I went to listen to her every day, and that was the beginning of my musical education.” The story of Rév’s beginnings with the piano and music is quite different from the norm today. “I started playing at the age of six when I received my first piano lesson as a birthday present. It was in the summer—I was born the 5th of July—and I was sent to the countryside after my first piano lesson with some piano scores I had been given. I spent all of my holidays going through these scores to discover the music, without a piano, and when I returned CLAVIER COMPANION
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Budapest, who was the chamber music teacher. This was obligatory for all instrumentalists, so all the musicians, violinists, conductors, studied with him. Many of those who became famous had been taught by him—he was a wonderful musician and his only goal was to help nurture good musicians. “I had a formidable education, with all my studies in Budapest, and then in Leipzig, and then again in Budapest when I trained as a teacher (I got my diploma in 1938). I had good luck because Madame Varro was a student of one of the best students of Liszt’s, Árpád Szendy, so musically I descend directly from Liszt. And Teichmuller, my professor in Leipzig, was a student of Brahms. So I was very fortunate.”
Thoughts on performing
Liva Rév, 1975
to Budapest, I had read them all and could read music fluently. I don’t know how I played them, as I wasn’t quite prepared for that yet, but I learned to read music much earlier than learning to read letters at school. Fortunately my education started by reading music because very often the young musicians of today don’t know how to do so. Everything becomes easier to do if you can read music properly. I believe this is why a lot of students abandon their musical training at a certain point—the effort gets to be too great.”
Influences When asked about her education, Rév’s emphasis goes immediately to Margit Varro above all others. “She should be very well-known, because she was the most marvellous, most gracious teacher in the world. She wrote a book in 1921 called Dynamic Piano Teaching—Methodology and Psychology. Varro translated the book into German, and it is still compulsory reading in conservatories in Germany today. I was taught by her and one of her students and was exceptionally well trained. “Then there was Teichmuller in Leipzig, where I stayed for two years before the war, and L eo Weiner in 16
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Livia Rév has been before the public for more than eight decades. She is still active as a pianist, and even gave her first performance in Switzerland in September 2009 at the age of ninety-three—the clips that have been uploaded on YouTube show that she retains tremendous interpretative abilities, with a rich tone and beautifully shaped phrasing. While she may not have been the biggest headliner, she has performed far and wide and on auspicious occasions. Having settled in France after the War with her French husband, she was particularly successful in London, where she played with all the major orchestras under renowned conductors such as Boult, Cluytens, Jochum, Kubelík, Silvestri, and Sargent. She also adores chamber music and played for a decade with the famous cellist János Starker. She has made well-received recordings for the Hyperion label of works by Debussy, Chopin, and Mendelssohn; Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe said that Rév “has a strong claim to being the most alluring Debussy pianist alive.” Having played for more years than most people live, Rév has been witness to profound shifts in the musical life of the planet, which she speaks about with clarity, certainty, and sincerity. Among the changes Rév discusses are those relating to performance. “Each period or era has a different style. When I was quite young, great Romantic liberty was in vogue—but only if it was authentically felt. And then there was a period after the war when everything was awfully metronomic. After this period there was another period of great liberty, but not by feeling it—simply by distorting the rhythm.” When I chuckle at the sad truth that she articulates, her voice becomes very serious. “Please don’t laugh,” she scolds. I assure her that is a laugh of resignation and understanding, and she continues with an even more astute observation. “Performers give the impression of feeling something that they have never truly felt—and we can sense it right away. “Pianists now play so well, quickly, softly, loudly, all one could hope for, but they are often not making music. They are not free to express themselves, or they have nothing to say. As my teacher Madame Varro said, ‘All is well done, except for the music.’ All these big international competitions, which are unfortunately necessary nowadays, as without them the impresarios wouldn’t know whom to introduce to the concert societies, reduce the musical JULY/AUGUST 2011
plane to what we can measure: force and speed. The talent, and all the rest, we cannot. Musical expression, inspiration—we can’t learn it, we can’t grade it. We can give a score for speed and force, but for the rest, we can’t. And then there are juries who are generally made up of former competition winners. I am very proud that I never entered a competition—and now I wonder whether I would have won if I had! “All the work that one does at the piano will only take you to a certain level, but there is something else that we cannot really teach: the spirit. If we are not born with it and we don’t cultivate it afterwards, then it is missing.” Rév tells the story of a young pianist sent by a French impresario to play for her. “I was to give my opinion what I thought of him. Well, I thought that my Steinway would crumble to dust because he played so hard on it, and so I had no idea if he had talent or not. I asked him if he could play me something classical, by Mozart, or Beethoven, or Brahms, and he said, ‘I don’t have them in my repertoire—what do you play?’ And I replied, ‘Well, in fact those are the composers that I play,’ to which he replied, ‘Oh, so you only play easy music...’ So how is it that this ‘easy’ music is so difficult for others? They play Stravinsky and Prokofiev and all these pieces that are difficult so well, but when they get to something ‘simple’ there is very little going on.”
Thoughts on teaching and repertoire For this reason, Rév is particular about what her students play. For the master classes in Paris, she asked them to prepare a Beethoven Sonata from the first ten, as they are more classical and ‘simple’ and yet, as she explained, ‘simple’ is not easy. While teaching, Rév will not play more than a few measures to make a demonstration, something she learned in her own training. “Madame Varro avoided as much as possible playing us anything, and, if she did, it was only a tiny little excerpt of a piece, but never a whole piece, because she wanted us to avoid copying her. This helped each student to find her own nature, her own voice.” Rév sits attentively or walks near the student, making observations, for example, about accents fitting within the structure of the work, and how patterns repeat themselves and how to highlight them. When I mention these comments later on, she is quick to point out, “Anything I say about structure isn’t really about the structure. It’s about how to get students to breathe life into the music, how to express the richness of the composer’s emotions.” A structure is a structure, but it needs to be filled with something—something, as she stated earlier, which competitions cannot measure. Which brings us to another topic that has changed over the course of her career: fidelity to the text, which is less the point for her than the music that it reveals. “Today we have thousands of pianists who play a thousand times better than others in the past, and me for example, but they forget that we represent the music and not only the notes. And that is a shame, as the musical level of performances has fallen. One hopes it will go up again, which it should, as it has gone so far down it has no other choice!” JULY/AUGUST 2011
Livia Rév in 1952 and 2010.
As for her own preferred composers and repertoire, “Naturally we would start with Bach, and then there’s Mozart, Chopin, and Debussy. Of course there are all the others, but one has to keep in mind one’s physical and technical capabilities. As I am so small, and have such small hands, I couldn’t simply play anything. I played lots of Liszt nevertheless, which already gave me some problems to resolve, physically. I could never play, for example, the great concertos of Brahms, which I adore and know very deeply, but which would be impossible for me to play. When we’re not at ease and we force ourselves, we can’t really play.” CLAVIER COMPANION
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“Now I must tell you a little story, something which took place when I was preparing my recording of Chopin Nocturnes. While I was playing, at a certain moment, I had the impression that my soul had met Chopin’s— that they were in contact with each other. It was something so bizarre, and yet from that moment, I had the sense of a freedom of expression. I had the impression that I could now express myself as I wished, as I felt. Whether this is true or not is up to you to decide. Whether it was real or imagined, the impact was profound.” Indeed, her commercial recording is imbued with a sense of authority and freedom, and her 2009 Lausanne interpretation of the Nocturne in B-flat Minor Op. 9, No. 1, is remarkable for its singing line and balanced Romantic expression.
Livia Rév, 1947
Family several times when there were gala benefit concerts, and there was always a member of the entourage who was present to accompany me and hold my hand as I took a bow. Because this time I was in front of the Queen and the Queen Mother, there was no one there. And when I went to bow, as deeply as I could in order to respect the Queen, the heel of my shoe got stuck in my dress, and I fell backwards. It threw me completely off guard, and I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t know what to do, so I bit my tongue. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before and it hasn’t happened since—it just had to happen on this occasion! It was so funny to me. One of the members of the court came to me and said, ‘You played so beautifully that we were more than willing to forgive your gaffe.’”
Career and family
Music is not just about music
I asked Rév about her own experience making a career as a pianist. “There are people who decide ‘I want a career, and I will do whatever it takes.’ I had a friend at the Academy in Budapest who was trained to have a career in America. Once she finished her studies in Budapest, she went off to America to start her career. We never heard anything of her again. We cannot decide our careers— they come or they don’t come. It’s not we who decide. It’s the public. In any field, we cannot ultimately decide on our careers. Did Mr. Sarkozy know as a child that he was going to be President of France?” While much is often made about women not having had the same chances as men, Rév herself did not experience this. “I never came across anyone who gave me the impression that I couldn’t have a career because I was a woman. I was married, and I had children, luckily for me, and by chance I had my children between seasons, so I never missed a season! And now I have two wonderful children who help me with everything and who are happy, and they make me happy. There were a number of pianists who didn’t want to marry or have children because of their careers. I am very happy that I was able to create with my husband a warm family atmosphere for my children, and I don’t feel that I sacrificed my career for it. In fact, I didn’t even really live for my career—I lived to play the piano. That was my goal, not my career.” When talk turns to pianists she admired, Rév is quick to praise Annie Fischer as not only one of her closest friends, but also as one of the most impressive pianists she has heard. “When I heard her play, it was possibly the first time that I didn’t miss a single note, it was so fascinating. From the first note, she took us and didn’t let go until the last note—that was my impression; it was such passionate and intense playing.” The other pianists that Rév says had the biggest impact on her were Ernst von Dohnányi and Sviatoslav Richter. A career as long as hers is surely filled with interesting concerts and experiences. When asked about some highlights, she responds, “An impressive concert with the great Charles Grove in London, when we played the First Concerto by Bartók. And then a performance of the Chopin E Minor Concerto with Rafael Kubelík when I was seven months pregnant with my first daughter. And then there was a concert at Buckingham Palace—I was invited by the Queen of England, and there were 1,500 people. I had played for the Royal
Today, Rév continues to balance her good humour and direct views of music making with a gentle disposition and generous nature. Awarded the Legion of Honour by President Sarkozy on July 14th last year, she is remarkably free of pretension. When I first meet her in the lobby at the Institut Hongrois, she is sitting with a gentle smile. She cordially invites me to join her for breakfast—she had not had time to eat before coming from her home in the suburbs. We sit in a small area up a flight of stairs, which she navigates remarkably well, eating French bread with jam and drinking coffee. She looks at her watch in horror when she realizes that she is still eating forty-five minutes after class was scheduled to begin—but she needs to eat and so her students must wait, and she continues to eat. She will not be rushed. Whatever she does, she does it fully. Once in class, she is completely focused on her students. On the lunch break, she invites a member of the public to join us and her students, and we walk around the corner where we pick up some quiche and other baked goods, which she insists on paying for herself, and we all head back to the Institut kitchen. As she speaks, her blue eyes sparkle and she is very animated. Her small stature and advanced age may initially belie the depth of her energy, but her wisdom and dedication are apparent in all interactions. Music is but one way in which she expresses herself and through which she enables others to do the same. Just as she stated that structure is not about structure, the music is not just about music. “The only truly important thing in life is love. That’s what I aim to give my students. That’s all that I can do.” p
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A Canadian writer and teacher with a particular interest in historical piano recordings, Mark Ainley has researched and written about a number of important pianists, most notably Dinu Lipatti and Marcelle Meyer. His research about Dinu Lipatti led to the discovery and publication of previously unpublished recordings of this legendary artist. He currently operates the websites www.thepianofiles.com and www.dinulipatti.com, along with matching pages on Facebook. In addition to writing for websites, magazines, and CD booklets, he also gives presentations focused on historical recordings by great pianists and the shifting tides of interpretation. He can be contacted at
[email protected] Photos on pp. 16-18 courtesy of Liva Rév, www.liviarev.com/en.
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Frank Glazer at Bates College, 2006 Photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen
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by Duncan Cumming any people have played all thirty-two Beethoven Sonatas in one concert season before, but I would be willing to bet that no one has done it for the first time at age ninety-five. Frank Glazer holds a unique place among concert pianists and teachers. He is the last living student from the Berlin days of the great Beethoven interpreter Artur Schnabel (other students remain from his teaching in Italy and New York). Surely no one who has ever performed the complete Beethoven cycle for the first time, including Schnabel himself, has ever brought ninety years of study and performing experience to bear on his performances. In addition to this heroic Beethoven series, this nonagenarian has recently given concerts and master classes from Maine to California as well as in Austria, Iceland, and Japan. This past season, at age ninety-six, he played a program that included Bach’s Chromatic Fantasie and Fugue, Liszt’s Sonata in B minor, and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, which were all new pieces to him. He keeps adding to his enormous catalog—he doesn’t believe in recycling his performance repertoire. He’s never too old to learn new things. And for almost eighty years (fifty consecutive years at the college level), he has been a dedicated, effective, and generous teacher.
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Frank Glazer in 1936. Photograph by Ben Pinchot.
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$8,000 a year.” The cousins suggested that he play for their teacher, Jacob Moerschel. Before he agreed, Glazer wanted to know two things: “Is he old? Does he hit?”2 The cousins reassured the young musician and made the appointment. Glazer played Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 13, “Pathetique” and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Moerschel accepted him on the spot. Glazer later learned from Moerschel’s widow that when he left that audition, Moerschel said, “At last, I have found the person who is going to do something. I can see it in his eyes, and I’m sure he has the Sitzfleisch [capacity for work].”3
Vaudeville calls
Young Frank Glazer at the piano.
Origins Frank Glazer was born on February 19, 1915, during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. He was the sixth of nine children born to Benjamin and Clara Glazer, Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. Their sparse furnishings included a piano. By age three, Glazer could pick out, among other tunes, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” and “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.” With so many children for Clara to look after, Blanche, the oldest child and only girl, happily took on her little brother Frank as her special charge. One of Glazer’s early memories was making muffins with Blanche; she often baked cookies and made cocoa for him as well. When Frank was five, Blanche dropped to the floor in the living room. Glazer remembers watching his father pick her up in his arms. She was rushed to the hospital, but later that night she died. Needless to say, Frank was devastated. As a child, Glazer’s interest in the piano was sustained and inspired by his sister’s playing; whatever playing he did was by way of trying to imitate her. In essence, Blanche was his first teacher.
Teachers Young Glazer went through a number of temporary (and not always competent) teachers before his study with his first professional teacher, Raphael Baez. The price was eighty cents a lesson. Glazer remembers him this way: He was a sinister-looking man with a goatee and mustache that drooped almost down to his chin. He wore a black cape, a black felt hat with a wide brim, and he walked with the aid of a cane. I didn’t look forward to those lessons because when I made a mistake he would pull my hair, if it was long enough, or hit the back of my head with his hard knuckles while saying Um Gottes Willen (“For God’s sake”). There were plenty of those hits. Although I didn’t understand the German expletive, I knew it was bad news.1 In the summer of 1927, something happened that altered the course of Glazer’s life. Two cousins asked him how he was doing in his piano lessons. To their surprise, the twelve-year-old answered that he wasn’t getting anywhere, and he was going to quit and become a ballplayer since, in his words, “ballplayers can make 22
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Meanwhile, in the summer of 1927, a cousin arranged for Frank, a violinist, and a cellist to form a trio playing classical music in a vaudeville context. Glazer’s professional career was underway. The trio was one of seven acts in the vaudeville show, and it didn’t take long for a manager to notice the pianist in the group. Soon he was touring with “Baby Dolores,” who sang and danced. The manager, Mrs. Frank Billings, created a five-piece band called the “Kiddie Revue” which included violin, piano, drums, saxophone, and banjo. The Mistress of Ceremonies was Baby Dolores herself, and soon they had a chorus line of dancers. Every week there were two rehearsals and ten shows. Glazer worked on his homework as well as his music theory assignments backstage between shows. For all the performances and rehearsals he was paid a total of fifteen dollars per week, which he dutifully turned over to his family. In return for this he received fifty cents a week as an allowance. In order to get permission to work, Glazer had to go to juvenile court. Child labor laws, even then, protected children from being exploited by their parents. Glazer played in vaudeville shows from 1927 to 1930. The teenager played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue only eight years after it was written, once performing it twenty-eight times in one week! Years later when he played Rhapsody in Blue with the Lyon Philharmonic in France, an elderly gentleman told him he had heard Gershwin play it, and Glazer was the only pianist he ever heard who played it the way Gershwin played it.4
Salons Jacob Moerschel brought Glazer to play in people’s homes, in the style of the nineteenth-century salon. Everybody benefited from these events. His hosts got to listen to Moerschel talk about his years in Vienna where he heard Johann Strauss and met Antonin Dvoˇrák. Perhaps the study of the piano was only one of the skills Glazer learned from Moerschel; he seems to have passed along his gift for storytelling as well. At these events Moerschel laid the groundwork for the possibility that one of the wealthy salon hosts might fund Glazer’s study in Europe. Moerschel was well aware that Glazer’s parents wouldn’t be able to provide the kind of life education the young and enthusiastic boy deserved. In November of Glazer’s senior year of high school, Moerschel became ill. In February, the week following the twenty-eight performances of Rhapsody in Blue, Glazer was to play Moskowski’s Concerto in E major with the Young People’s Symphony at the Milwaukee Auditorium. After playing three vaudeville shows, he changed into his tuxedo and headed to the Milwaukee Auditorium. On the way, Glazer stopped to see the bedridden Moerschel. Two months later, almost twelve years after Glazer lost his sister, tragedy struck again—Moerschel died.
Study with Schnabel Moerschel had been working out a plan for young Glazer’s path. While he was ill, he told Glazer that he should study with Artur JULY/AUGUST 2011
Frank Glazer tuning a piano. Photograph by Mottke Weissman.
had come such a distance all alone at such an age (Glazer was only seventeen at the time). Glazer thinks Schnabel was very entertained by him, although he didn’t intend to amuse him. Schnabel’s smile and the twinkle in his eye reminded Glazer of his own father. The lessons took place in Schnabel’s home, in a large room with two beautiful concert grand Bechsteins and an enormous library. The lessons were fun because Schnabel had a lively imagination and a great sense of humor. All the students were invited to attend all the lessons. Schnabel, of course, was giving a lesson for the benefit of the student who had paid. The others were allowed to come at no extra expense, which was a way of learning a great deal of music and getting good teaching for free. “The trouble with this system,” Glazer recalls, “was that if you went to everyone else’s lesson you wouldn’t have time to practice yourself.”6 Because of the Nazi situation and because Schnabel was both Jewish and outspoken, there was fear that his apartment might be ransacked by the storm troopers as apartments of others had been. In May of 1933, Schnabel and his entourage of family and students left for Italy. Schnabel lived in Tremezzo on Lake Como, and Glazer lived one village up from there in Cadenabbia. The atmosphere in Italy was much more relaxed than it had been in Berlin. Glazer made many friends in Italy and enjoyed hiking, wonderful food, and boat rides on Lake Como. The rest of Europe in 1933, however, wasn’t as stable; the political climate was growing more and more uncomfortable for Jews. Schnabel decided he wouldn’t teach the following year and didn’t know whether he would relocate to London or stay in Italy; he wasn’t going back to Berlin. After much thought, Glazer realized that he didn’t want another piano teacher, so he decided to return to America.
Returning home Schnabel in Berlin. Moerschel and Schnabel had both been students of Leschetizky in the 1890s, and Moerschel had followed Schnabel’s career. Moerschel insisted that Glazer study with Schnabel and not someone else. Near his death, Moerschel sent Milton Rusch to speak with potential sponsors, and funding was secured. Glazer left his family, Milwaukee, and America for Berlin. Glazer recalls his feelings at this crucial turning point in his life: A few months before I left home, the teacher upon whom I had been completely, utterly dependent for direction and guidance, not only in my studies, but also in my career and life in general for almost five very impressionable years—this true mentor—had died. Losing him, I also lost his unflagging support and encouragement. Furthermore, I had left behind a large and closely-knit family as well as all the friends with whom I had recently graduated from high school. And I expected to be away for two years in a country where I didn’t know anybody. At home, in Milwaukee, I had performed a great deal and was probably considered to be a proverbial “big fish in a small pond.” It was so very far away from, home, sweet home!5 Glazer arrived at ten at night and went directly to Schnabel’s house in Charlottenburg, as Schnabel had instructed him. Schnabel was teaching; he often taught until midnight. His secretary told Glazer he couldn’t possibly see Schnabel that evening and he should come back the next day. She sent him out into the night. Glazer remembers his initial interview with Schnabel as both a marvelous, inspiring time and also one of great confusion. Schnabel was delighted by Glazer’s naïveté. He had never met anybody who JULY/AUGUST 2011
Back in Boston, at eighteen years of age and mostly on his own, Glazer was still quite a young artist. He was grappling with issues all artists face: From where comes real conviction of interpretation in music? How can he play convincingly with rubato, with flexibility? Can he trust what he feels, or does he still need a teacher to tell him right from wrong? When will he be an artist in his own right? By October of 1936, Glazer Frank Glazer with Artur would begin to find his true voice at Schnabel. Lake Como, Italy, the piano. It was then, at the age of 1933. twenty-one, that Glazer triumphed in his New York debut at Town Hall. The composer Kurt Weill wrote in a letter to a friend after the concert, “Frank Glazer is an excellent musician and a pianist of high qualities. The best test for his great talent for me was his fine interpretation of the Schubert Sonata, which is a very difficult work to perform. I am sure he will make his way through the concert halls of the world.”7 The concert didn’t go unnoticed in the New York press. No fewer than four newspapers ran glowing reviews of the young pianist’s professional debut. The fact that there were four newspapers represented at all suggests a special concert and a special time in concert coverage; today the debut of an unknown pianist would never attract so much attention. The opening line of the review in the New York Evening Journal (October 21, 1936) is reminiscent of Schumann’s heralding of the arrival of Brahms: “A young pianist CLAVIER COMPANION
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burst upon the musical horizon who is a real personality—his name is Frank Glazer.” Three years later he made his professional orchestral debut, playing Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony in Symphony Hall. This time five newspapers reviewed the concert. The Boston Transcript (April 18, 1939) wrote, “He played at every stage as if the cruel passage-work were the most natural activity in the world for him. The remarkable accord among soloist, conductor and orchestra strengthened this confidence. The performance was applauded, as it deserved to be, in almost tumultuous fashion by the audience.” Koussevitzky himself called Glazer “A most interesting and exceptionally gifted young artist whose compelling, sane, masculine temperament affords great pleasure.”8 George Szell wrote, “I consider him among the very best of American pianists,”9 and Eugene Ormandy stated, “I was deeply impressed by his wonderful art and fine interpretation. In my opinion Mr. Glazer is one of the finest American pianists today.”10
Beginning anew Despite his growing success as a gifted performer, Glazer’s curious mind craved a deeper understanding of the instrument and technique, and where those two forces intersected. An audition had been arranged for Glazer with professional manager Carl Engel. However, Glazer made up his mind that he was going to investigate playing the piano as if he had never studied with Schnabel, in fact as if he had never played the piano at all, and he was learning to play for the first time. How shall I sit? How shall I hold the hand? How can I play the piano in the best, most efficient way? He wanted to learn to use only those parts of his bodily equipment that would be necessary, and not a bit more. He decided that using muscles when he didn’t need them to play what he was playing was dangerous, and as he got older his muscles would grow more and more tense. Glazer reduced his tremendous repertoire to the study of five-finger exercises. His friends back in New York all thought he had lost his mind, but he felt that he was on to something important. He knew that even if he were accepted onto Engel’s roster and given huge concert tours immediately, he would feel unfulfilled because he had left this project incomplete. Career or no career, he had to take a chance and figure this out. It goes without saying that this gamble paid off, as seventy years later, when nearly all of Glazer’s colleagues, friends, and contemporaries have hung up their tuxedoes because of tendonitis, arthritis, or other medical problems, he is still playing brilliantly.
A generous teacher Perhaps Frank Glazer’s greatest legacy is his teaching. Glazer
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had been teaching privately for many years and was an artist-inresidence at Bennett College when in 1965, in the middle of his busy concert season, his friend Walter Hendl called him up at his New York City apartment. A pianist was taking a sudden and unplanned sabbatical from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, of which Hendl was director. Could Glazer commute to Rochester a few times that term to teach the lessons? Glazer hadn’t been looking for that kind of work and didn’t really want to be tied down to an academic schedule, but he would find a way to make it work for one semester. After filling in for that one term, his phone rang in New York again. Walter Hendl said, “I have six ‘Glazer beams’ in front of me insisting that you come back next year!” The students who had studied with Glazer had arrived in a delegation in Hendl’s office, saying they wouldn’t remain at the school unless he found a way to bring Glazer back. He agreed to stay until the youngest graduated, but the youngest kept being younger and he was there fifteen years. In 1980, now professor emeritus at Eastman, he and his wife moved to Maine and he was immediately invited to become Artistin-Residence at Bates College. More than thirty years later, he remains in that position. In 1986 I met Frank Glazer for the first time. The warmth of his personality and the generosity of his spirit shone from the instant we first shook hands. He invited me to work with him on technique. I began making a two-hour commute to his house once or twice a month. There was never a time limit on the lesson. A typical lesson went like this: 7:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 1:00 AM 2:00 AM 2:01 AM 2:05 AM 2:10 AM 3:00 AM 10:00 AM 12:00 PM
Pick him up at the airport from Turkey, Israel, Japan, etc. Out to dinner on the way home. Arrival at his home. Discuss trip, concerts. He says he’s going to bed; I am welcome to practice as late as I like. He wanders through in his pajamas saying he forgot something. “Don’t mind me.” Second trip through the room—he makes a small suggestion. He suggests I start again, and sits down in an armchair. We perform the complete “concerto for solo piano with man in a nearby chair in his pajamas singing the orchestra part.” We both go to bed. Proper lesson; he plays the orchestra part on the second piano instead of singing. Mrs. Glazer cooks lunch.
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What keeps Frank Glazer going? That’s easy; he needs to get ready for his next concert and there’s always another concert. He credits his longevity as an artist to his wife of fifty-four years, Ruth. His efforts at developing a thorough technique in his twenties and thirties made him last. Certainly the art itself has kept him young—the company of Beethoven, Schubert, Bach, Liszt, and so many others, and his desire to learn music he’s never played. Ultimately, though, I think his happiness as he approaches a century of life stems from his generosity of spirit. The kindness he shows his colleagues, students, former students, and friends has not only been a great benefit to the musical world at large, but somehow it has also turned back on the giver and helped sustain him. Many professors get a sabbatical every seven years; Frank Glazer has taught at one and sometimes two institutions every term for the past fifty years—100 straight semesters affiliated with a college or university on top of his concertizing, recording, and private teaching. Personally I think his happiness and positive attitude seem to lead to his generosity. Or maybe it’s the other way around.
Coda After a concert in Wisconsin in March of 2001, Frank Glazer was rushed to the hospital for what was ultimately quadruple bypass surgery. The music world held its collective breath. When he had recovered enough to fly home, I met him at Logan Airport in Boston. The first thing he said to me was, “Well, Duncan, it appears I’m entering the coda of my life. When it comes to codas, I can only hope that God is as generous as Beethoven.” Beethoven was known for his disproportionately long codas, and when Beethoven arrives at a coda the piece is often far from over. The first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is 631 measures long, and the coda is 129 measures. Therefore, if Mr. Glazer began his coda at eighty-six, he should live to be 108. But Beethoven didn’t bother conforming to anyone else’s standards, so why should Mr. Glazer conform to his and stop at 108? p Duncan J. Cumming, on the faculty of the University at Albany, is the author of The Fountain of Youth: The Artistry of Frank Glazer. He has performed concertos, recitals, and chamber music concerts in cities across the United States as well as in Europe. He has recorded for Centaur and Albany Records and his new fortepiano recording with Christopher Hogwood is due out later this year. He is a member of the Capital Trio, a piano trio in residence at the University at Albany. He studied at Bates College, the European Mozart Academy, and New England Conservatory, and he earned the Doctor of Music degree from Boston University. Duncan and his wife Hilary have two daughters, Lucy Rose and Mairi Skye, and a son, William Bear.
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Drawing from the 1938-1939 Boston Symphony brochure.
1
Glazer, Recollections, unpublished pamphlet, p. 1. Glazer, interview by author, 5 July 2002. 3 Ibid. 4 Glazer, interview by author, 28 January 2009. 5 Glazer, “Journey into a Special Moment,” unpublished lecture, pp. 2-3. 6 Glazer, interview by author, 9 September 2002. 7 Kurt Weill, letter to Alfred Strelsin, 21 October 1936. 8 Serge Koussevitzky, letter to Olin Downes, 1936. 9 Eugene Ormandy, letter to Vladimir Golschmann, 1938. 10 George Szell, letter to Erik Tuxen, 1950. 2
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A left-handed complement to
Frédéric Chopin: An interview with
Ivan Ili´c by Michael Johnson
American expatriate pianist Ivan Ili´c has just finished a semi-private recital of Godowsky’s Chopin transcriptions for the left hand at his Bordeaux apartment, and the thirty guests are sipping Bordeaux rouge in his dining room. Most of us had been unfamiliar with the repertoire before this event, and many seemed awestruck that so much music could come from playing with one hand virtually tied behind the pianist’s back. Mr. Ili´c is a recent Godowsky devotee and has just finished recording the twenty-two left-hand variations for the Paraty label in Paris. It is scheduled for launch in July. In the post-recital hubbub, fellow expatriate Michael Johnson cornered him and made a date to discuss his thinking behind the music. They met a few days later for a serious talk.
Photo by DH Kong.
Why all this attention to the left hand? Isn’t it needlessly difficult?
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No, in fact the more I have come to know Godowsky’s left-hand variations, the more I realize that his hugely important contribution to the repertoire has been overlooked. His Etudes were composed at the very beginning of the twentieth century, and there are very few pieces for solo piano in the twentieth century that come anywhere close to this level of technical ingenuity and expressiveness. CLAVIER COMPANION
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Was Godowsky trying to find new dimensions in sound?
For well over a year now, and it has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done—certainly the most difficult. This music has pushed me in every way.
What was behind your decision to attack this repertoire?
Photo by DH Kong.
How long have you been concentrating on lefthand Godowsky?
If so, he certainly succeeded, and he expanded the way one can use the piano. He reveals a tremendous hidden potential in the instrument. You can’t say that about many twentieth-century composers. Of course, since most composers after him are completely unaware of his music, there have been very few who have continued on that same path. For them, he was one of the many ‘dead ends’ in music from the first half of the twentieth century. Most of the composers of the twentieth century did not have the pure musicianship, grounding in tonal harmony, or fluency at the piano to follow his act. Just to get comfortable with the idiom takes tremendous dedication, and many composers preferred to write music of little value that was based on purely abstract ideas in order to prove their intellectual credentials. What a waste of talent and an assault on our collective sensibility!
Of all the great repertoire out there, why choose these transcriptions? I like the idea of championing music that is still unknown, yet much more interesting than most of the ‘forgotten’ piano repertoire that other pianists are peddling these days. Godowsky is the real thing, a forgotten genius, and the only reasons thousands of pianists worldwide are not playing his music are either that they haven’t been exposed to it or because it seems unapproachable. It’s like walking into a bar and seeing a woman so beautiful that no one approaches her for fear of being rejected. Yet she is lonely and complains to her friends that no one talks to her. That’s Godowsky in a nutshell.
Don’t you find the music intimidating? Yes, at first I was terrified. But from experience I know that if I feel butterflies in my stomach when looking at a score, it’s a sign that it’s the right thing for me to be working on.
Do you really feel that the piano has been neglected by composers in the twentieth century? Yes and no. It is mind-boggling to me how many people spend months learning Boulez Sonatas. Except for Ravel, Debussy, and Bartók, the twentieth century actually didn’t produce that much great solo piano music. I might add certain works by Ligeti, Kurtág, Messiaen, and Rzewski, but even the Russians age poorly. When I was an adolescent, the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues, Stravinsky Etudes, and Prokofiev Sonatas and Concertos made me want to become a pianist, they were so exciting to experience as a concertgoer, and so I understand their superficial appeal. But now they leave me indifferent.
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My goal is to prove the worth of this music in the hopes that some day all conservatory students will work on at least a couple of the Godowksy Etudes to beef up their left-hand technique. But the only way for that to happen is to convince them of the music’s beauty, because musicians choose repertoire with their ears. Those who choose this repertoire for its difficulty are a minority, and they are not always the most convincing performers.
Some musicians object to this attempt to improve on the genius of Chopin. What’s your bottom line? Does Godowsky enhance or pervert Chopin? Several Godowsky Etudes are clearly more expressive than the originals by Chopin. Numbers thirteen and two are obvious examples. The original version of No. 13 is beautiful but much less sophisticated; the original version of No. 2, the infamous first Chopin Etude, is musically monotonous compared to the left-handed version. There are plenty of other examples. Godowsky’s music affords a glimpse into an alternative universe void of atonality; he is much more creative with relatively simple building blocks than composers whose harmonies are crunchier and supposedly more sophisticated, but whose grasp of music (and especially the piano) pales in comparison to Godowsky. He was a real musician’s musician.
Is the public ready for this rather unusual rumbling bass clef sound? Absolutely. It would be fascinating to give a whole concert devoted to all twenty-two Etudes, and I plan to do it in the near future. It will be daunting to prepare, but it is the best way to make a strong case for the repertoire. As I did with each book of the Debussy Préludes in previous tours, I give great importance to the order of the works to frame this unusual sound world in a greater narrative form. It is a kind of meta-Godowsky recital project. JULY/AUGUST 2011
Are you doing this to develop left-hand strength to make better use of it in two-hand works? That is among the reasons, yes. Left hand strength adds extra layers of richness to the sound in two-hand repertoire. I have always been interested in the importance of the bass in music—it is the source of the harmonics and therefore the foundation of a voluptuous sound. I am also slowly returning to composing for the piano, and I hope that my writing will now have the improved balance between density of content and transparency of sound that I admire so much in Godowsky’s music.
What specific technical problems have you faced in mastering these pieces? The major difficulty is building the agility of the left hand. It’s a shock to take on Godowsky and suddenly feel like a beginner after over twenty years of intensive study. It’s like a slap in the face.
What else makes these works tricky? There are significant musical difficulties to consider: ‘breathing’ in pieces that are continuous streams of notes is always a problem at the piano. There is also the challenge of balancing the different registers of a concert grand with one hand, not to mention the sophisticated pedaling that’s called for throughout. Then there’s the intimidation of the scores themselves—the way the pieces look on the page is enough to keep most pianists far, far away. I hope to convince my colleagues that they’re really missing out.
Do you feel it’s worth the relearning, the hard work, the intensive practice? Yes. I feel I have made major headway in developing my own personal practice techniques to overcome huge difficulties more generally. It also feels glorious to perform these pieces, with their supple, languid phrases, when they have been well prepared.
keyboard was unlike anything I had ever seen and that inspired me to push my technical limits. He is also an iconoclast and says exactly what’s on his mind without sugar coating, which I really admire. There are very few people in classical music who don’t have some kind of mask. Sometimes they remind me of a bunch of spayed or neutered cats, too cautious and lacking in character while cultivating a certain gratuitous eccentricity.
What is next in your plans for development? I have no idea what comes after Godowsky. This is a love story that needs to run its course. But I do know that I will throw myself at it head first. p Editor’s note: For a discussion of teaching pieces for one hand, please see this issue’s Repertoire & Performance department. Michael Johnson, an American journalist based in Bordeaux, served on the board of the London International Piano Competition from 1997 to 2005. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune, Business Week, International Management, and Clavier Companion, among others. He has also served as a Moscow correspondent for the Associated Press, and he is the author of four books. Ivan Ili´c is an American pianist of Serbian descent. He holds degrees in music and mathematics from The University of California at Berkeley, and he pursued graduate studies at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, where he took a Premier Prix in piano performance. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Glenn Gould Studio, and the American Academy in Rome. His first recording, a CD of music by Claude Debussy, received Mezzo Television’s Critic’s Choice Award, and was named a Top Five CD of the Year by Fanfare magazine.
Has Godowsky changed your perception of other composers? Certainly. Among other things, I now realize that the traditional repertoire is ridiculously right-hand heavy.
Did your teachers lead you into this repertoire?
Photo © Jean Marie Laugery.
No, I have opted to work more or less in solitude for the past four or five years. A solo career is so demanding that it’s in your best interest to become self-sufficient as soon as possible. Of course it is helpful to have an outside perspective; nevertheless I find it difficult to avoid creating a dependency there. It’s also hugely satisfying to be able to say that you created something wonderful without anyone’s help. Godowsky’s life is proof of that idea, as he was largely selftaught.
What have you retained from your most recent experience with a teacher? François-René Duchâble in Paris was one of my last teachers. His command of the JULY/AUGUST 2011
Ivan Ili´c plays at the Salon Sauternes of the Grand Hotel 'Régent' in Bordeaux. CLAVIER COMPANION
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Jazz & Pop
A multi-talented keyboard artist and composer, Phillip Keveren displays a tremendous versatility in both his concert performances and his original works. He composes in a variety of genres, and is widely acclaimed for his piano publications.
Mr. Keveren presents keyboard concerts and publishing workshops in more than fifty cities a year. Recent tours have taken him to Australia, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
It’s Got That Swing:
Jazz & Pop
Phillip Keveren, Editor
Introductions and endings really great meal is made even better with a tasty appetizer and dessert. A Christmas tree is just not complete without a shining star on top and a decorative skirt around the base. In the same way, a pop or jazz arrangement can go from OK to spectacular with a unique introduction and ending framing it. Let me introduce you to “Molly Malone,” aka “Cockles and Mussels”—a lively little Irish folk tune.
A
Example 1: “Molly Malone”
Phillip is co-author, major composer, and MIDI orchestrator of the internationally acclaimed Hal Leonard Student Piano Library, a complete piano method for young students. His unique arrangements are also featured in The Phillip Keveren Series from Hal Leonard. A pioneer in the field of MIDI orchestration, Phillip has created software programs for Yamaha Corporation and produced dozens of piano performances for the Yamaha MusicSoft Library. He is in demand as a “traditional” orchestrator as well. He frequently composes for studio projects in various media, with his orchestral arrangements featured on recent releases by popular recording artists John Tesh, Twila Paris, Bob Carlisle, and Larnelle Harris. Mr. Keveren holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition from California State University, Northridge, and a Master of Music in Composition from the University of Southern California. He lives in Brentwood,TN, with his wife, Lisa, and their two children, Lindsay and Sean.
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“Molly” uses a very common chord progression in the first 8 measures—the I-vi-ii-V7 “workhorse.” This progression would serve us well as the underpinning for an introduction and ending. One could simply “vamp” on this progression in the left hand before launching into the tune, but having some secondary melodic interest will set things up nicely for the entrance of the primary theme. Example 2 incorporates an introduction using the first five notes of the G Major scale above two passes through the I-vi-ii-V7 progression. The ending returns to the melody used in the introduction, followed by an accented G13 chord (see Example 2). “Molly” uses a descending bass line in the second eight measures that would also be a catchy progression on which an introduction and ending could hang its hat. By quoting “Molly’s” rising third motif as a secondary melodic idea, we further enhance the effect. Notice how these two ideas tie the arrangement together while adding harmonic interest and rhythmic bite (see Example 3). I hope these ideas will help you to find creative ways to frame your own adventures into pop and jazz arranging. p
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Example 2: Version 1 with introduction and ending.
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Example 3: Version 2.
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Perspectives in Pedagogy
Rebecca Grooms Johnson, Ph.D., NCTM, is a nationally respected leader in the field of piano pedagogy. She is an independent teacher and has taught extensively at the college and university levels. Rebecca is active in the Music Teachers National Association, where she has served as President of the Ohio Music Teachers Association, National Chair of MTNA’s Pedagogy Committee, and National Certification Chair. She is currently Vice-President of the MTNA Board of Directors, and three times a year she publishes a feature in American Music Teacher titled What’s New in Pedagogy Research.
This issue’s contributors: Gail Lew is a nationally respected leader in the field of piano pedagogy, an independent studio teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area, an international adjudicator, and serves as Editor for the California Music Teacher magazine. She is also Chairman of the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy Committee on Independent Music Teachers. Gail received her bachelor’s degree in piano performance, a master’s degree in music history, and a Lifetime California State Teaching Credential with specialization in music education.
Dr. Sylvia Coats, NCTM, has been professor of piano pedagogy and class piano at Wichita State University for the past twenty-five years. She authored Thinking as You Play: Teaching Piano in Individual and Group Lessons, published by Indiana University Press. Her credits include presentations at conferences throughout the United States and internationally in Italy, Malaysia, and China. She has held many offices in MTNA, including National Certification Chair, and has served as a member of the Board of Directors. The Kansas Music Teachers Association honored her as 2007 Teacher of the Year.
Issues and Ideas:
Perspectives in Pedagogy Rebecca Grooms Johnson, Editor
A survey of current methods: Succeeding at the Piano his issue continues Clavier Companion’s sur vey of piano methods.1 Each article in this series has three sections—an introductory synopsis by the Associate Editor, two articles written by teachers who have used the method extensively in their studios, and a response from the authors of the method surveyed in the previous issue. We hope that you find these articles to be an interesting and helpful overview of all the most popular methods currently on the market!
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Succeeding at the Piano - by Helen Marlais Publisher: The FJH Music Company Inc. Levels: Lesson and Technique Book (with and without accompanying CD), Theory and Activity Book, Recital Book (with CD)—Preparatory through Grade 2A. Proposed schedule for future releases: Grade 2B—May, 2011; Grade 3A— October, 2011; Grade 3B—April, 2012; Grade 4—October, 2012. Alpha: This series espouses what the author terms “familiarity training,” in which new concepts are introduced in the order of listen, play, see, learn, and reinforce. The first half of the Preparatory books utilizes off-staff notation, with partial staff introductions to 2nds and 3rds. An eclectic approach to reading includes intervals, guidepost notes, middle C, and modified C positions. Rhythmic pulse is equated to heartbeats and initially uses unit counting. Teachers may consider one of the strengths of this method to be its early inclusion of arrangements of melodies from the classical repertoire. Short paragraphs introduce the composers, and lyrics have been added to most of the themes. A majority of the pieces in the Preparatory books have teacher duet parts. Although
the covers of all the books show a group of students in a lesson situation, there is no indication that this series is particularly directed to teaching in groups. Lessons and Technique: In addition to the author’s contributions, repertoire in the Lesson and Technique and Recital books includes compositions by Timothy Brown, Kevin Costley, Mar y Leaf, Edwin McLean, and Kevin Olson. Pieces are sometimes preceded by a “Before playing” list of preparatory activities, and occasionally followed by “After playing, ask yourself ” questions such as “Did I count all the quarter rests?” Most of the pieces in the Preparatory, Level 1, and Level 2A Lesson and Technique books have lyrics, and continue to include arrangements of themes from the classical repertoire. The graphics are tasteful and age appropriate. Various composers are referenced on the technique pages (e.g. “Technique with Beethoven—Major five-finger patterns and triads”), but without any overt reason other than, perhaps, to continue the method’s emphasis on classical composers. Extensive suggestions are given for the correct technical approaches to the exercises. By combining the lesson materials with technical instruction, a more seamless integration between the two is ensured. Theory and Activities: Six activities are presented throughout these books: Writing (drills and games), Time to Compose, Rhythm (with an emphasis on steady beat), Ear Training, Follow the Leader (rhythmic clap backs), and Parrot Play (melodic play backs). Pages are correlated with the Lesson and Technique books and are visually attractive. Recital books: Correlated with, and continuing much of the format of the Lesson and Technique books, some pieces are preceded by “Before playing” suggested activities and occasionally followed by “After playing ask yourself ” evaluative
1 The aim of this series is to review the core materials of piano methods that are either new or substantially changed since a similar series of articles appeared in Piano Quarterly in the 1980s. Please see the September/October 2009 issue of Clavier Companion for more details on this project. For reviews of methods that are older or have not been revised recently, we invite you to revisit the original Piano Quarterly series.
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questions. A majority of the compositions have lyrics and some have teacher duets. Compact Discs: The Lesson and Technique books can be purchased with or without accompanying CDs; however, all Recital books contain the accompaniment discs. These recordings are unique in several ways. In the early pages of the preparatory books a voice counts off each piece (e.g. “one-two-ready-play”). Throughout the currently available levels of this series, this voice gives the title and page number of each piece, and interjects praise, pedagogic reminders, or evaluative questions at the end of the practice tempo rendition. All solo pieces are played unaccompanied on an acoustic piano at both practice and performance tempi. Pieces with teacher duets have the practice tempo duets on acoustic piano, and occasionally the performance tempo duets are played by an acoustic string quartet—a refreshing sound after
many years of hearing sampled electronic accompaniments. Teacher’s Guide: Currently available for Preparatory and Grade 1, this guide contains information about the author’s “familiarity training” philosophy and other pedagogic aspects of the series. Ensuing pages provide an overview of the Lesson and Technique books and discuss new concepts, reinforced concepts, teaching suggestions, practice steps, and technique tips for each page. Omega: Although the latter half of the series is currently in production, Dr. Marlais indicates that the concepts and repertoire in the concluding Grade 4 books will equip students for the repertoire in Succeeding with the Masters Volume 1, The Festival Collection Book 4, and In Recital series, Books 4 and 5. A concept chart of the remaining levels is available on the FJH website: http://www.fjhmusic.com/piano/satp.htm. p
Artistic performance from day one by Gail Lew
M
Comprehensive approach
Logical learning sequence Spanning the first half of the Preparatory book, there are plenty of off-staff reading pieces that introduce quarter, half, dotted half, and whole notes, with 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures. A strong pedagogical foundation is laid in this section with technical work on “Perfect Piano Hands” and warm-ups that address arm weight, strong fingers, and flexible wrists (see Excerpt 1). Emphasis is given to steps, repeats, recognizing notational direction, and intervallic reading. New concepts appear in orange boxes, and green “After playing” boxes offer ideas to develop musicality. From my perspective, the Preparatory Level seems best suited for the five- to seven-year-old beginner, and for students requiring exhaustive reinforcement; it may, however, be too slow for the precocious, quick learner. With many instructions for the teacher included on the page, it seems to be rather text-heavy. JULY/AUGUST 2011
Technique with Papa Haydn Learning a natural hand position
1.
Hand position is very important. It is the first step in making a beautiful sound. • People play the piano all over the world! Look at Papa Haydn and the piano student as they place their hands over the globes.
ct Piano Hand rfe e P
s”
This series presents new, innovative ideas, combined with tried and true piano pedagogy. SATP uses an integrated pedagogical approach: reading is a combined Middle C, intervallic, and multikey approach; rhythm is internalized by the student and learned like a language; technique is incorporated into the Lesson and Technique books, ensuring that correct technique is learned from the beginning; repertoire includes terrific motivational music; and the CDs are both innovative and educational. The mixture of classical themes by master composers such as Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, and Brahms with FJH composer originals is excellent. Students get to know “Papa Haydn” from day one. What fun! It’s all part of a comprehensive music curriculum that not only develops good posture, hand position, and practice habits, but also includes reading, rhythm, technique, theory, ear training, playing by ear, music history, and composition. For a complete approach, students need the Lesson and Technique Book, the Recital Book, and the Theory and Activity Book.
Excerpt 1: “Technique with Papa Haydn” from Helen Marlais’ Succeeding at the Piano Lesson and Technique Book, Preparatory Level.
“
y first introduction to Succeeding at the Piano (SATP) was in Los Angeles at the 2010 Music Teachers Association of California convention. There was super-charged excitement in that standing-room only session. I was immediately drawn to the clever cover art featuring an artistic drawing of Helen Marlais teaching a group class seated around the grand piano, and I was anxious to try the new method in my own studio.
2. Imagine that your hand is covering the top of the little globe.
Now form your own rounded, natural hand position for playing.
L.H. (Left hand)
• Look at your hands—do you notice your curved fingers? • Do you notice the space between your fingers? • Do you notice how your knuckles look?
R.H. (Right hand)
PLACE A MONDAY
UNDER THE DAYS YOU DID THIS PAGE. TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
5
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Lesson and technique together It is great to see a method that combines lesson material and technique rather than putting them in separate books. From the very beginning phrasing and artistry are emphasized in every lesson. Students are introduced to the idea of playing beautiful phrases by creating a rainbow in the air. The “Before playing” and “After playing” points develop musicianship, good practice habits, and excellent listening skills. Using a highly effective spiral approach to learning, numerous topics are introduced at once with a later return to each concept.
Eclectic reading approach “Guide Notes” and intervallic reading are utilized in a combined reading approach (see Excerpt 2). Students learn on-staff Guide Notes Bass F, Middle C, and Treble G, which are then color coded in red. Early-level pieces remain in stationary positions, but are not restricted to a typical Middle C position. Thankfully, thumbs do not always play Middle C! This integrated approach to music reading avoids problems with students becoming locked into any one position. CLAVIER COMPANION
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Excerpt 2: “Learning Guide Notes” from Helen Marlais’ Succeeding at the Piano Theory and Activity Book, Preparatory Level.
Excerpt 3: “Hall of Fame—Which Composer Is It?” from Helen Marlais’ Succeeding at the Piano Theory and Activity Book, Grade 1.
Lesson Book p. 49
Learning Guide Notes T R E B L E
M I D D L E
B A S S
• You have learned about famous composers in your Lesson and Technique Book and Recital Book. • Draw a line from the composer to the fact that matches below.
& Ï˝www ´ Î Ç ? ÇÎ´Ï˝ww C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
Write the name of the guide notes below each dancer. The 1st one is done for you.
&w
&w
Middle C
&w
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Lesson Book p. 77
Hall of Fame —Which Composer Is It?
Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
?w 39
Chopin
This composer wrote Ode to Joy. (page 46 Lesson)
Grade 1 emphasizes multi-key work and thoroughly reinforces all of the concepts introduced in the Preparatory Level. The traditional F-A-C-E is presented for treble staff spaces and adjacent spaces are related as the interval of a third; however, the names of the treble staff lines are not included, nor is there any mention that thirds can also be line-to-line.
This composer from Germany wrote Hungarian Dance No. 5. (page 49 Lesson)
Brahms This composer wrote symphonies for the people of London, England. (page 22 Lesson)
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This composer was married to a pianist named Clara. (page 73 Recital)
Schumann This composer grew up in Poland but spent most of his life in Paris, France. (page 28 Lesson) This composer was born in Austria and played for kings and queens in Europe. (page 62 Lesson) 55
Natural rhythm Off-staff reading begins with unit counting, and then moves to metric counting when the student is introduced to the 4/4 time signature. Quarter notes are initially related to the natural rhythm of walking and to the beating of the heart. No confusing rhythms are introduced since eighth notes and dotted quarter notes are not presented until Grade 2A.
More than just theory Can theory be “fun”? The answer is YES! Correlated with the lesson books, the theory books include writing and note-spelling activities, rhythm experiences, ear training exercises, sight reading examples, “Time to Compose” opportunities, and other diverse, creative, and fun activities. I especially love the early introduction to master composers (see Excerpt 3). In “Follow the Leader” sections, students listen to and clap back rhythms. “Parrot Play” activities give students an opportunity to play back short melodic patterns of well-known songs. These activities are perfect for my group theory classes.
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Motivating repertoire Succeeding at the Piano contains interesting and creative original music with fresh appeal, captivating titles, and a variety of styles and genres. The development of hand independence is also a big plus of this method. Melodies are either divided between the hands, or harmonized with intervals or single notes. Genres are varied and include folk, blues, country, traditional, classical, and contemporary (see Excerpt 4). Pedagogically sound arrangements of classical themes encourage students to gain an appreciation for the classics. Katherine, for example, was anxious to play all the pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin, and she has quickly moved to pieces from Kabalevsky, Op. 39; the Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook; and a collection of early Mozart pieces. Student favorites include The Merry Farmer (Grade 1), Japanese Pagoda at Night (Grade 1), Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Grade 1), Angelfish (Grade 2A) and Festival in Seville (Grade 2A).
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Excerpt 4: “Festival in Seville” by Timothy Brown, from Helen Marlais’ Succeeding at the Piano Recital Book, Grade 2A.
Lesson Book p. 53 CD 40/41 • MIDI 20
Festival in Seville
Key signature: All F’s and C’s in the piece are sharp.
# 3 & # 4 Œ b œœœ. With energy
4 2 1
P
> ? # # 34 œœ. # & # ˙˙ ..
by Timothy Brown
Œ b œœ. œ
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1 5
P
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b œœ .. > >œ . œ. 2 1
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4
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4 2
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F
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The accompaniment CDs help students to achieve musical, artistic, and educational goals; and best of all, the students love playing along with the recordings. Using the CDs helps students learn, reinforces correct practice habits, and provides students with an opportunity to play many of the pieces with a string quartet accompaniment. Most of the songs have lyrics that young students can easily relate to and fall within an average vocal range. Each piece has a single track in three parts. In Part 1, the students hear their part with the teacher duet at a “practice speed.” In Part 2, after the student plays the piece with the accompaniment, Dr. Marlais gives a short verbal instruction or affirmation that is ideal for home practice (for example, “Did you remember to use your Perfect Piano Hands?” or “Playing steadily while counting aloud will help you play even better.”). Then, in Part 3, students play the piece at performance tempo with the accompaniment.
Meeting my goals The goal of my studio is to instill a life-long love of music, and I choose methods that will help me attain that goal. SATP achieves this on several levels: the colorful graphics really appeal to students; the generous use of classical themes makes them feel that they are playing “important music”; the short pieces are easily mastered with 100 percent accuracy within one week; students develop smart practice habits; and above all, students develop a love for music. p
4
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30
3
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4 2
2
9
13
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œ œ œ
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f
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5
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Adding interest
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Matching the curriculum by Sylvia Coats tell my university pedagogy class to develop their own curriculum for each student based on what they think the student should know and be able to do, and it really helps when a beginning method matches that curriculum. Succeeding at the Piano is a welcome addition because of its sound pedagogical basis and delightful music. Dr. Marlais is an excellent musician and pedagogue, and she brings her extensive background and creativity to this recently published method. It is written for five- to nine-yearolds and should take six to nine months for each level. I had my pedagogy class use SATP Grade 1 with a group of ten-year-olds who had prior piano background, and one of my colleagues uses the method with a quickly advancing six-year-old.
I
Sound before symbols In learning to read music, I want my students to be able to hear and sing melodic movement up and down in steps and skips—to audiate what they see on the page. SATP lets students first experience concepts through sound and feel, and then learn to associate the sounds with musical symbols. SATP combines conventional note reading (Middle C), intervallic reading, and multi-key reading approaches. Some students might find this hybrid approach to reading rather confusing, so the teacher may need to stress consistent reading habits for each new song. For instance, always find the first note from the closest landmark, then say direction, interval, and note name. Students learn to read by grouping notes into patterns, hearing the sound, and associating them with the feeling of the pattern in the hand. Concepts are experienced before learning their names. JULY/AUGUST 2011
For example, in the Preparatory book students see space and line notes in the introduction of 2nds before the staff is introduced; they clap back eighth-note rhythms by ear before they are introduced in Grade 2A; and they see four beats in a measure with bar lines before the time signature is added. Thus, students will have an “aha” moment when they put a name to the concept that they have already discovered. The music will make sense to them. My students who begin lessons in September learn about melody and rhythm first by ear and later with off-staff notation. Then, when given Christmas music during the holiday season, they are very motivated to learn to read these on-staff pieces. SATP enables students to read successfully by using seasonal music to motivate them.
Feeling the pulse Succeeding at the Piano teaches rhythm through movement activities such as walking, marching, clapping, or tapping while counting aloud. In learning rhythm, I want my students to use their whole bodies to move to the pulse, while clapping the rhythm. Once they develop a sense of beat, rhythms are easily related to a steady pulse. In the early stages of the method, I recommend choosing one movement from the suggested list of activities to develop a consistent approach to learning the rhythm in each new song. For example, always step to the beat while clapping the rhythm. Lyrics are also spoken and sung in rhythm. The steady quarter pulse is compared to the feeling of a steady pulse of a heartbeat, and clever illustrations picture hearts in quarter noteheads (see Excerpt 5). CLAVIER COMPANION
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Excerpt 5: “The Steady Beat” from Helen Marlais’ Succeeding at the Piano Lesson and Technique Book, Prerparatory Level. The Steady Beat Rhythm marks time in music.
1 HEART BEAT =
=
q
Excerpt 6: “Maracas” by Kevin Olson from Helen Marlais’ Succeeding at the Piano Lesson and Technique Book, Grade 1. Staccato
To play with a short, separated sound means to play staccato.
(QUARTER NOTE)
With your teacher,
1.
Stand in place and clap this beat:
2.
Stand and lightly tap your head with your hands to every beat.
3.
Walk around the room and swing your arms back and forth with every beat.
4.
Sit on the piano bench and sway to the beat.
1
& œ œ œ 1
Before playing:
• Prepare the harmonic intervals. • Tap hands together and count aloud.
4 &4 œ œ Œ œ. œ. Lively 3 1
See F They
? 44
Which picture shows you a steady beat? Circle it!
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ma a
Œ
2 1
?
œ.
the play
& œ œ œ. œ. 5
6
& œ œ. œ. .
Play and listen to the difference in sound. Staccato and legato are opposites!
To play staccato, once you play the key, lift your wrist and forearm quickly to leave the key.
œ.
œ.
A note with a dot under or above it tells you to play staccato!
1
œ.
They click Oh, these
-
œœ Œ .
ra sam
Maracas by Kevin Olson
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and clack and keep a ma - ra - cas make me
play - ing on to
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CD 16 • MIDI 15
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L.H. over
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y my
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beat. feet!
After playing, ask yourself:
Integrating lessons and technique One of the major strengths of this method is the combining of healthy technique with the lesson book repertoire. This integration brings attention to technique so that it is a “must” for student and teacher, rather than only a supplement. “Technique with Papa Haydn” makes the exercises enjoyable, while students learn how their bodies feel when playing the piano in a healthy, tension-free way. Six basic techniques are taught in the Preparatory and Grade 1 books: posture and finger, hand, and arm position; arm weight; flexible wrist; two-note slurs; weight transfer; and rotation. In Grade 2A the basic techniques are reinforced and become more complex.
Varied genres A buffet of folk, classical, jazz, and original music appeals to students and teachers, and the longer pieces in the Recital Book are appropriate for class lessons and recital performances. Many classical themes are included in each book, with music adapted from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Offenbach, Chopin, and Brahms. The
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DUET PART: Kevin Olson (student plays 1 octave higher)
? 44 Œ œ # œj ˙ P.
L.H.
œ
2
? Œ œ. # œj ˙
œ
œ
œ œ.
5
9
5
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5
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Œ Œ
• Did I play staccato? • Did I play with “Perfect Piano Hands”?
# œj ˙
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5
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3
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2
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theme from Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu in Grade 1 is a lovely arrangement with a teacher duet. Added lyrics and composer histories help students make classical music a part of their daily lives. Various styles, articulations, and scale forms, including major, minor, modal, and pentatonic, keep the songs fresh and musically inviting. Pieces are harmonically varied to engage the ear and make colorful sounds. Teacher accompaniments complement the student parts—they are interesting, yet simple enough not to distract. I predict “Maracas” will be a hit with any student (see Excerpt 6).
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Thoughtful practice SATP encourages students to think during their practice. “Before playing” points are excellent and help students develop good practice habits, while “After playing” assessments encourage students to listen carefully as they play. The illustrations are lovely, often humorous, and support the musical concepts. Text in colored boxes draws attention to helpful tips, and occasional red text in the score gives gentle reminders. If your students are distracted by the amount of text on the page, you can choose from the many good suggestions and highlight what to focus on in their home practice.
Musicianship skills Learning to listen is vital in developing a sensitive musician. The theory books maintain this focus rather than presenting the mindless drill of some theory books. Students are asked to listen and clap back rhythm patterns and to sing and play folk songs by ear. By listening and singing intervals and melodies, students associate what they hear with what they see. Composition, improvisation, transposition, and ear training are integrated consistently throughout the method. These musicianship skills reinforce the reading approach with the sound coming before the symbol so that students develop “inner hearing.”
My home state of Kansas holds an event once a year called Music Progressions, during which examinations are given in repertoire, theory, history, and listening. Grades 1 and 2A of SATP fulfill the Level 1 and 2 requirements by introducing major and minor pentascales, white note triads, and tonic and dominant notes.
Guiding the teacher A Teacher’s Guide is available for the Preparatory and Grade 1 books. The introduction explains Dr Marlais’ pedagogic philosophy and clearly outlines her approach to reading, theory, technique, musicianship, and repertoire. I plan to use it as a reading assignment in my pedagogy class, and I think that intern teachers as well as experienced teachers will appreciate the lesson plans for each unit. The well-constructed curriculum of SATP encourages conceptual instruction rather than merely teaching the pieces. I always urge my pedagogy students to prepare students for success with challenges that are attainable. Helen Marlais writes, “The method is designed to create excellent musicians with a passion for music.” SATP succeeds in making music learning engaging and enjoyable. p All excerpts from Succeeding at the Piano by Helen Marlais. Copyright © 2010, 2011 The FJH Music Company Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission.
Author Response Response to Music Moves for Piano review Editor’s Note: Clavier Companion will invite the authors of each method series reviewed to respond to that review in the following issue. The response from the authors of Music Moves for Piano is presented below. huge thanks to Clavier Companion and to associate editor Rebecca Grooms Johnson for this series of piano method reviews. I also sincerely appreciate Barbara and Kristine’s excellent personal reviews of Music Moves for Piano. This piano series supports Dr. Edwin E. Gordon’s lifelong, research-based Music Learning Theory, or theories of audiation. Briefly, audiation means listening to, performing, and thinking music with understanding. A core belief is that the aural art of music is a powerful human resource and a birthright that can and should be made accessible to and individualized for all. Individualizing instruction is a top priority: every student needs to be challenged appropriately, and this is possible in audiation-based piano lessons. A prototype for a sequential-learning, audiation-based piano instruction method did not exist when this series was imagined. Therefore, from the beginning of development (in 1992), my students and their parents served as an experimental laboratory for constructing curriculum guidelines and for putting this aural approach on paper. Enthusiasm was surprising. There was an intuitive sense that music really is a listening (aural) and performing (oral) art, and that developing audiation skill, while developing musicanship and performing skills, provides intrinsic rewards. Robert Schumann’s maxim: “The most important thing is to cultivate the sense of hearing...” became a reality. Music patterns—their content always in context—build the foundation for comprehending music. Therefore, understanding pattern instruction and the pattern learning sequences, along with how to teach without notation, is necessary for teaching this piano series. Students adapt easily because they are involved in a personal
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and natural way of learning. However, all of us—teachers and parents—learned music differently. Consequently, a change in thinking and the development of new teaching techniques are needed. MMP workshops are very helpful. We expect changes in technology and medicine, but changing the way music is learned and taught is difficult. However, the rewards are long-lasting. Tonal and rhythm patterns are created specifically for learning how to audiate. Two- or three-tone tonal patterns are without rhythm and are based on harmonic function: tonic, dominant, and so forth. Tonal patterns are always learned in context, for example, major or minor. Students sing tonal patterns: singing develops tonal audiation. Two- or four-pulse rhythm patterns are without pitch and are based on different categories, such as rest, tie, and upbeat. Rhythm patterns are always learned in the context of a meter. Students use coordinated body movement (moving to pulsebeats in the heels and meter-beats using hand touches) while chanting rhythm patterns: body movement is essential for rhythm understanding. Separating rhythm patterns from tonal patterns follows Lowell Mason’s educational principle, ‘Learn one new thing at a time.’ Through sequenced tonal and rhythm pattern instruction and pattern activities, students acquire a personal music vocabulary that they use to learn, remember, create, listen to, talk about, and perform music. Labels, or technical names, learned during pattern instruction further music understanding and communication. Patterns are also used by students to create short “throw-away” improvisations created with the voice or at the keyboard. Like language, students are expected to use what they know: improvisation is similar to conversation. The curriculum for Music Moves for Piano provides activities for teaching to the individual student within a group setting in order to challenge students appropriately. Feeling successful is important for student achievement. Rote solos for technical and musical development are essential for the success of this series. MMP students learn CLAVIER COMPANION
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to perform with technical ease, avoiding many pitfalls. Students and teachers may select from the many wonderful piano pieces in contemporary methods and in the general literature. Fellowship, student interaction, and common activities enable longterm retention of music concepts that are learned when students engage in contrasting activities of “same/different” sounds. Continual performances for each other provide experiences that relieve or reduce performance anxiety. Nineteen years of creating and teaching an audiation-based curriculum has shown some amazing results in my studio. This piano series has been used successfully for all ages, including adults. It may be used one-on-one, but I have found that students like being at lessons with other students: they learn from each other. Activities for learning to audiate are enjoyed by students of all levels and ages and demonstrate proof of research stating that most children and many adults learn best through body movement: body movement cements learning. Most importantly, I discovered that the internal music learning process is a slow one that requires time for absorption and experimentation. It cannot be hurried.
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Lesson time activities and home assignments develop a broad music literacy. And, to top it off, students become excellent readers and writers of music notation. They are able to apply personal audiation and performing skills to the understanding of music notation when they are ready to think abstractly, around age eleven. At this age, students begin to “see with their ears” what is on the page and read/hear patterns and sound shapes in context. It is all a matter of learning style and sequencing: similar to language, students first read and write what they know. Hats off to Edwin E. Gordon for his dedicated longitudinal research about how we learn music. He synthesized well the contributions of many music educators to create theories of audiation that
are fundamental for developing musicianship, performance skills, and love for music. I am excited about the musical growth observed in students who have studied using this sound-to-notation approach. Current students and “graduates” compose, create movies, play in bands, teach, make CDs, listen to music, attend music performances, accompany, sing in musicals, participate in church and community music programs, and perform for others as well as for their own enjoyment. Creativity and audiation are at work as these students, who are the future of music in our world, continue to make music and incorporate it into their life experiences. p —Marilyn Lowe Author Music Moves for Piano
I play my best . . . when there is a kindred spirit listening with open heart and mind, one whose senses quiver at music’s unfathomable beauty, a person who responds with infinite currents of appreciation, understanding, and even forgiveness when warranted. . . . when music’s profound message casts away doubt and anxiety and guides each finger to lower keys at the exact speed and angle with a disembodied sense of not playing at all, but rather of being played by a force beyond comprehension. . . . when a lifetime of hard, devoted work and experience coalesce into a surprising synthesis of feeling, thought, and physical coordination that replace self-consciousness with the very spontaneity which, as I imagine, guided the masters in creating miracles of sound and form that “stir the innermost regions of the soul.” . . . when I intuit that the silence following the final tone is impregnated with the possibility of similar experiences and new beginnings that can resound, shape, and inspire all of life’s remaining days, making the musician and the person one and the same. —Seymour Bernstein
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Repertoire & Performance
Putting It All Together:
Repertoire & Performance Nancy Bachus, Editor
Nancy Bachus is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and has taught for twenty-seven years at the college and university level. She is the author of Alfred Publishing’s “Spirit” series: the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Beyond the Romantic Spirit piano anthologies, and the Exploring Piano Classics series, graded literature with a cross-indexed technique book at each level. Certified as a Master Teacher by MTNA, she currently maintains an independent piano studio in Hudson, OH.
This issue’s contributors: Lyle Indergaard is Professor of Piano at Valdosta State University where he teaches studio and class piano and serves as Keyboard Area Head and Graduate Music Coordinator. He has degrees from Minot State College (B.A.), the University of Wyoming (M.A.), and the Eastman School of Music (D.M.A.). As a Fulbright Scholar to Germany, he studied and subsequently taught at the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik.
Joyce Grill, a former faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, holds the MTNA Master Teacher Certificate and has been the Wisconsin MTNA State President, the Division Vice-President, and was named a MTNA Foundation Fellow in 2006. Grill holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has also received training at the School of Fine Arts in Fontainebleau, France, where she studied theory and composition with Nadia Boulanger and piano with Robert and Jean Casadesus. She presents workshops to teachers throughout the country and serves on several arts advisory boards. Known for her ensemble writing, Grill is also a frequent guest conductor for multi-piano concerts. Named the WisconsinMTA Composer of the Year for 2011, many of her compositions are available from Alfred Music Publishing.
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Music for one hand hen I was in eighth grade, I fell while roller-skating and broke my right arm just above the wrist. I assumed that piano lessons would be on hold for at least six weeks as it healed, but instead, my teacher assigned me a piece for left hand alone called “Andante Finale” from the opera Lucia di Lammermoor by Theodore Leschetizky. I loved the challenge and thrill of playing scales and arpeggios throughout the length of the keyboard with just my left hand, and “wowing” everyone who would listen with this brilliant piece. (Still in print today, it is published by Musica Obscura.) I also recall that my teacher at school insisted I turn in all assigned homework, and learn to write it with my left hand. This was not nearly as much fun as playing the piano singlehanded. Now I realize it was fortunate that my right hand was broken, since most onehand music is for the left hand. The left hand fingers can more easily handle the harmony and activity while the thumb, the stronger part of the hand, plays the melody. I remember working to balance
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melody and accompaniment with different fingers of my left hand, and my surprise that “one-hand music” could have such a full, rich sound. There is no question that my left hand technique improved a great deal from this experience. Since then, I have collected this repertoire, and when I receive a call about a piano student with hand injuries, I have a supply of music at many reading and technical levels for either hand. In fact, I sometimes give a student with two perfectly good hands a piece for left hand, to develop better voicing and control. Similar to my experience, Lyle Indergaard became interested in this literature after breaking his right arm, and illuminates several left hand works for us. Most of these are at the early advanced levels. Realizing the need for music at elementary and intermediate levels for one hand, Joyce Grill composed some, and cites other works that can be used in the early years of piano study. With or without injuries, these works add variety and freshness, as well as solid pedagogy, to our teaching repertoire. p
Music for the left hand by Lyle Indergaard suspect that most pianists are only vaguely aware of the existence of music for left hand alone. My own experience with this repertoire began as a student when I broke my right hand in a softball game and had to wear a cast for five weeks. My teacher suggested that I study the Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand and the Brahms piano transcription of the Bach Chaconne in D Minor for solo violin. Instead of being depressed about my injured hand, my practicing was invigorated by these marvelous and challenging works. The amount of music that has been written for the left hand is astounding. Theodore Edel’s book Music for One Hand
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(Indiana University Press) catalogues almost 1,000 original pieces, transcriptions, concertos, and even chamber music for the left hand, ranging from elementary teaching pieces to some of the most difficult music ever composed for the piano. As in my case, injury to the right hand is the most common reason for exploring lefthand repertoire. Accidents around the home and sports injuries are an unfortunate fact of life. Overuse injuries such as tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and dystonia are also relatively common among pianists. Many great works for the left hand have been composed for injured pianists. Paul Wittgenstein, an Austrian pianist who had JULY/AUGUST 2011
lost his right arm in World War I, commissioned Maurice Ravel’s famous Concerto for Left Hand as well as concertos from Paul Hindemith, Sergei Prokofiev, and Benjamin Britten. He also composed and arranged many works for himself. The Russian composer and pianist Alexander Scriabin wrote his Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9 for left hand after suffering a serious case of tendonitis in his own right arm from over-practicing.
Special attention should be given to coloring the melody differently from the underlying harmonies, such as at the end of line two (see Excerpt 1). Excerpt 1: “Prelude No. 6” from Six Preludes by Frederico Mompou.
Pedagogy in left hand music Injury is not the only reason for playing or teaching left hand music. Since the left hand is traditionally the weaker hand, students of all ages and abilities can gain strength, velocity, agility, and control by exploring this repertoire. Certain aspects of piano playing are brought more sharply into focus in left hand music. Since the left hand is responsible for the entire texture of the music, voicing becomes a key issue. Innovative fingerings are often required, since five fingers are essentially doing the work of ten. Careful pedaling is vital in maintaining a bass line and harmonies while the hand is playing in a higher register. Also, since this music often covers several registers, the player must re-position at the keyboard and learn to make rapid, accurate horizontal movements across large distances.
In line three, the B-flat 4 of the melody is suspended through the broken harmony and resolves to A-flat 4. The figure occurs throughout the piece and must be pedaled as indicated to delineate the harmony. The B-flat 4 must be played with enough emphasis to sustain through the harmony so that it can properly resolve to the A-flat 4 (see Excerpt 2). Excerpt 2: “Prelude No. 6” from Six Preludes by Frederico Mompou.
Exercises for left hand There are several excellent sets of exercises for the left hand alone. These include Die pflege der linken Hand,Op. 89 (Training of the Left Hand) by Hermann Berens (Schirmer, Peters); Twelve Studies for Left Hand, Op. 92, by Moritz Moszkowski (out-of-print, but can be downloaded at the Petrucci IMSLP website); and Exercises et etudes techniques pour La Main Gauche Seule by Isidor Philipp (Durand). Felix Blumenfeld’s Etude in A-flat, Op. 36 (Petrucci IMSLP); Béla Bartóks’ Etude (1903, available at http://www.pianorarescores.com) and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Six Etudes,Op. 135 (available at Masters Music Publications) are superb concert etudes. Besides physical or pedagogical considerations, a pianist may choose to study and perform a piece for left hand simply because it is appealing. The novelty and challenge can be motivating in itself. Aficionados of piano virtuosity should definitely explore the left hand compositions of Leopold Godowsky. His original works and transcriptions of Chopin etudes and Strauss waltzes for the left hand represent the non plus ultra of piano technique.
The B section of the Prelude concludes with the dramatic highpoint of the piece. In order to play the following passage effectively, the pianist should be positioned at C5 and maintain a relaxed arm during the broad, lateral movements. The following fingering will help achieve a true fortissimo by maintaining a strong hand position (see Excerpt 3). Excerpt 3: “Prelude No. 6” from Six Preludes by Frederico Mompou.
Left hand repertoire The remainder of this article will examine three works for the left hand in closer detail. Players new to this repertoire should expect an initial awkwardness—physically and mentally—as the brain must learn to adjust. It is also important to sit about one octave higher than normal (about C5) for most left hand music.
“Prelude No. 6” by Frederico Mompou (from Six Preludes, Salabert) This hauntingly beautiful Prelude (1893-1987) is an ideal introduction to left hand repertoire. Virtually unknown, it is not listed in Edel’s book. Essentially a miniaturist, Mompou is renowned in his native Catalonia, the region of northeast Spain around Barcelona. His music can be described as post-impressionistic, emphasizing sonority and containing elements of Spanish and Catalan folk music. It is a short work in ternary form with few technical difficulties. The sparse, transparent texture is often monophonic. The pianist’s main concerns are voicing, pedaling, and smoothness of lateral movement, along with creating a dark, pensive, and improvisatory character. JULY/AUGUST 2011
This work holds special significance for me because I played it for Mompou himself in 1976 at a master class in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It was fascinating to meet this man who had been friends with Granados, de Falla, Poulenc, Satie, and the painter Joan Miro. My most vivid memories of this master class are of Mompou playing his own music. I was extremely impressed with the lyrical freedom, attention to sonority, and exquisite voicing of his playing. Alicia de Larrocha has recorded this prelude beautifully: Mompou: Spanish Songs and Dances (RCA).
Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9, by Alexander Scriabin (Alfred, Belaieff, Peters) These may be the most widely played original works for the left hand. Late Romantic in style, they are tinged with Slavic melancholy. Ideally, they should be performed together because of their harmonic relationship. The tonality of the Prelude is vague before concluding in C-sharp major. This leads to the Nocturne, which is CLAVIER COMPANION
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in the enharmonic key of D-flat major. In these works, Scriabin demonstrates his mastery of piano writing by creating a texture that is as full and diverse as music for two hands. The Nocturne clearly emulates Chopin’s lyrical piano style, but the innovative texture of these pieces present subtle pianistic problems. Voicing is the key issue in the poignant Prelude. The melody must be prominent in the upper voice while executing smooth movements to and from the bass register (see Excerpt 4). Excerpt 4: Prelude from Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9, by Alexander Scriabin, mm. 1-4.
The Nocturne requires pianists to be creative in pedaling, fingering, and the positioning of the body. For example, the Belaieff edition of Scriabin’s Nocturne indicates several pedal changes in mm. 1 and 2. I recommend playing these two measures in one pedal in order to achieve smoothness and maintain the tonic sonority. An inventive fingering can solve a voicing problem in m. 1. On the fourth beat, it is vital that the G4 in the top voice be more prominent than the F4 in the accompaniment. The use of the second finger for both the F4 and the following D-flat 4 allows the F4 to be played very lightly (see Excerpt 5). Excerpt 5: Nocturne from Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9, by Alexander Scriabin, mm. 1-2.
The cadenza of the Nocturne can be played with greater ease by paying close attention to the position of the body. To play in the extreme high register, the pianist should center the body at about C6 before the cadenza so that the highest point of the cadenza is almost directly in front of the torso. To maintain balance, I suggest using the left foot on the damper pedal. Lateral movement and voicing are important in the Nocturne, especially when the melody is found in the middle voice. Measures 5 and 6 demand particular control because the melodic line in the tenor voice alternates between the thumb and fifth finger. The thumb slide at the end of mm. 5 and 6 enables the hand to play the D-flat and B-flat octaves with relative ease (see Excerpt 6). Excerpt 6: Nocturne from Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9 by Alexander Scriabin, mm. 5-6.
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Sonata in C Minor, Op. 179, by Carl Reinecke (may be downloaded from ISMLP/Petrucci Library) Carl Reinecke (1824-1910) enjoyed a stellar musical career as conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Director of the Leipzig Conservatory, and prolific composer. His music is reminiscent of, though not as inspired as, the works of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Today he is best known for his Sonata “Undine” for flute and piano, Op. 167, and his music for student pianists. As one of the few multi-movement works for the left hand, Reinecke’s Sonata in C Minor, Op. 179, is especially significant. The Peters edition of this work is out of print, but can be found in many university libraries or the music can be downloaded from the internet. It is an attractive work written in a conservative, late Romantic style. The first three movements are similar in difficulty, while the fourth movement is more difficult due to its fast tempo and virtuosic demands. It should be noted that Reinecke’s piano writing favors a large hand. The Sonata is in a conventional four-movement form—fast, slow, minuetto and trio, fast. The first movement is in standard sonata form, beginning with a dark, brooding opening theme, and a contrasting second theme in the relative major. Reinecke often places thematic material in the middle register and the bass line in the lower register, making the required shifting the main technical concern of this movement. When practicing shifts, work on developing a free, relaxed arm by practicing arm motions on the closed lid of the piano, and practice these movements slowly on the keyboard while consciously maintaining a relaxed arm. Accuracy can be improved by concentrating on the thumb; if the thumb plays the correct notes, other things should fall into place. The second movement, a poetic Andante lento, is based on the Hungarian folksong, “Don’t go, my sweetheart.” This theme is followed by five variations in which arpeggiated figures dominate. The third movement is a jovial menuetto with a lyrical Trio reminiscent of Schumann’s “inward” style. Its key of B major, the enharmonically lowered submediant of the Menuetto’s E-flat major, creates a striking harmonic relationship to the Menuetto. The Finale is by far the most demanding movement of the Sonata, requiring a virtuoso technique and endurance. The opening of the movement can be used to examine how one may acquire the speed and stamina required for this music (see Excerpt 7). Excerpt 7: Finale from Sonata in C Minor, Op. 179, by Carl Reinecke, mm. 1-4.
The correct use of arm weight is essential in these passages. The arm should drop on all bass and double-stemmed notes and lift in between. These motions propel the hand and fingers through the arpeggios and passagework and, at the same time, ensure that the bass line and melody notes are prominent. The wrist and fingers must remain as loose as possible and allow the arm to do most of the work. The less the fingers have to work, the faster and longer the left hand is able to play. An article on music for the left hand would be incomplete without mentioning the outstanding collection, Piano Music for One Hand (Schirmer), edited by Raymond Lewenthal. This volume contains a superb preface and includes the Scriabin Op. 9, the “Finale” of the Reinecke Sonata, and many other fine pieces. Also, JULY/AUGUST 2011
Leon Fleisher’s superb recording Leon Fleisher Recital (Sony) of solo music for the left hand is a must for anyone interested in this music. The piano has the most solo repertoire of any instrument. It is reassuring to know that one can injure the right hand and still have many fine works for the left hand to study and perform. Pianists should explore this repertoire even without injury to the right hand. It is a wonderful way to develop accuracy, dexterity, strength, and velocity in the left hand while working on good music. This repertoire can also add spice to a recital program or serve as a crowd-pleasing encore. p
Help! my student broke an arm by Joyce Grill In a piano studio somewhere in the country, almost daily the phone rings and a parent explains their child cannot come to lessons for several weeks because they have broken a finger, wrist, or arm. When the teacher says lessons should continue because the technical control of the available limb can be developed and strengthened, the parent is usually amazed. Indeed, this can be a wonderful opportunity to work on weaker areas of technique.
Repertoire for one hand There is a rich amount of music written for one hand, right or left, at all levels, even elementary and intermediate. One of the earliest keyboard works for one hand is “Klavierstucke” by Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, which can be found in Piano Music for One Hand by Raymond Lewenthal (G. Schirmer). Also in this book are exercises and transcriptions of well-known compositions such as the C.P.E. Bach “Solfeggietto,” arranged by A.R. Parsons for left hand alone. More familiar to piano teachers are works for left hand alone by Scriabin and Ravel that are sometimes played in concerts by professional pianists. However, the difficulty level of these works is well above the level of most young students. In the book One Handed: A Guide to Piano Music for One Hand, David Patterson lists music for either right or left hand by both master and pedagogical composers. The National Federation of Music Clubs Junior Festival and several states even have a category for judging “One Hand Piano Music,” again at different levels. Keeping a selection of music for left and right hand alone is a good addition to any studio library. When an injury does occur, music at the student’s current repertoire level is readily available to strengthen, correct, or reinforce skills at their playing ability.
General planning When a student injures a limb, decide what skills or technique the student most needs. Pick two or three at most, with one that will require less work and perhaps one that could use more. Several easy pieces could be selected, depending on the length of time needed for recovery. The same skill could be reinforced through a second piece, and some pieces could just be for pleasure, which “teaches” the student to enjoy music! Make a lesson plan just as you would for two hands. The student still needs warm-up exercises: perhaps five-finger patterns, scales, or arpeggios—whatever is at the student’s level. Since at least two new pieces will probably be introduced, one easy piece along with a harder one will give the student confidence in this literature that requires new skills and new ways of thinking. JULY/AUGUST 2011
Poetry Corner Richard Zimdars, Editor Piano Practice Your small fingers seek the keys, your small fingers feeling all over for the chords, stumbling back over “Go Tell Aunt Rhodie” again and again, your small fingers worry the flat tongues, ordering them to go tell her, to go tell her over and over, they stammer, they cannot tell what. While I in the kitchen with my hands among the dishes feel the back of my neck go hard with the hearing of it. And still your fingers tense and stiffen, groping for the gray goose, the old gray goose . . . the old . . . the old gray goose is . . . the old gray goose . . . the old. . . . Your hands smack the keyboard, hard, and I charge in with my dishrag and my tongue, so sharp you snap, a long thin wire wound too tight, now curling into yourself. Your small shoulders begin to labor now in perfect time, more measured than a metronome, more true. I hold you with damp hands. My heavy head rests on your bent head, and I drink in the smell of your hair, the smell of boy. And I long to hear the old gray goose honking unevenly, strutting and backtracking on the keys that open nothing, really, but are only the place of change, where, for a moment, something that moves, a pressure, becomes a kind of music. —Jeanne Emmons “Piano Practice” from Rootbound by Jeanne Emmons. © 1998 by Jeanne Emmons. Reprinted with permission of The Permissions Company, Inc. on behalf of New Rivers Press, www.newriverspress.com. Jeanne Emmons has three published collections of poetry. Over the past two decades she has received numerous awards for her poems. She teaches English at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, IA.
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Although fingering is often given, it may not fit all hands. Do not hesitate to change it, and write it in! There may also need to be adjustments in seating on the bench. Some students feel the need to sit more to the right than normal when playing left-hand-alone pieces, since they are playing higher than normal in the treble staff. The same is true for right-hand pieces. It is important to sit so the arm can easily and smoothly cross the body and comfortably play the required range of the keyboard.
Development of skills Working on early level music for one hand can help develop many skills necessary to play more difficult piano literature. Since most people are right handed, the left hand is usually not as flexible or agile. And because it is used more, it is the right limb that gets broken the most frequently. Music for one hand actually sounds like traditional piano music written for two hands because different fingers of the same hand play both the melody and accompaniment. “I Wish I Knew” for right hand, by Joyce Grill, is an example of the outer fingers (4 and 5) playing the melody, while the lower fingers (1 and 2) play the harmony. Since fingers 4 and 5 are often weaker, they need to develop the ability to play a melody in balance with the harmony played by “stronger” fingers—playing different dynamics within the same hand (see Excerpt 8). Excerpt 8: “I Wish I Knew” from More Left Alone—Right On! by Joyce Grill, mm. 1-4.
Excerpt 10: “Twilight” from Left Alone—Right On! by Joyce Grill, mm. 1-4.
TWILIGHT (FROM “LEFT ALONE—RIGHT ON!”) By Joyce Grill Copyright © 1995 BELWIN-MILLS PUBLISHING CORP. (ASCAP). This Edition © 2003 BELWIN-MILLS PUBLISHING CORP. (ASCAP). All Rights Administered by Warner Bros. Publications U.S. INC. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission
Sight-reading skills are strengthened because the hand usually has to read in both bass and treble staves. (It might be helpful to choose music at a lower level than the student usually plays.) In Either/Or by Joyce Grill, although each piece is written in one staff, asking a student to play treble-staff pieces with the left hand and bass-staff pieces with the right hand gives insight into true reading ability. (This is also an excellent way to evaluate a transfer student’s reading skill.) On the second page of “Twilight,” a melody occurs in the treble staff, requiring a large leap back to the left hand part as in the beginning. Careful pedaling, as indicated, will help to sustain the melody note. This also illustrates how a slight adjustment on the bench will make reaching the high melody notes easier (see Excerpt 11). Excerpt 11: “Twilight” from Left Alone—Right On! by Joyce Grill, mm. 17-20.
I WISH I KNEW (FROM “MORE LEFT ALONE—RIGHT ON!”) By Joyce Grill Copyright © 1996 WARNER BROS. PUBLICATIONS INC. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission
In piano literature for two hands, the left hand needs to quickly and effortlessly move and leap throughout the keyboard, playing chords and scale passages fluently. Practicing music for left hand alone can help develop these skills. “Adagio for the Left Hand” by Eugénie R. Rocherolle illustrates this. Here, the strong fingers 1, 2, and 3 are playing the melody while the generally weaker fingers 4 and 5 play the harmony. Balance is usually easier in this case than vice versa (see Excerpt 9). Excerpt 9: “Adagio for the Left Hand” from Hands Separately by Eugénie Rocherolle, mm. 1-3.
TWILIGHT (FROM “LEFT ALONE—RIGHT ON!”) By Joyce Grill Copyright © 1995 BELWIN-MILLS PUBLISHING CORP. (ASCAP). This Edition © 2003 BELWIN-MILLS PUBLISHING CORP. (ASCAP). All Rights Administered by Warner Bros. Publications U.S. INC. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission
“Elegy” by Dennis Alexander requires sustaining a treble-staff melody while moving to play the harmonies in the bass staff. The composer wrote that “[t]he pedaling should be strictly observed.” The composer also suggests that the piece could be played by the right hand alone, which would require a change in the fingerings (see Excerpt 12). Excerpt 12: “Elegy” by Dennis Alexander, mm. 3-6.
ADAGIO FOR THE LEFT HAND from HANDS SEPARATELY By Eugénie Rocherolle © 1989 Neil A. Kjos Music Company. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission 2011.
In “Twilight” by Joyce Grill, the left hand must move smoothly and effortlessly back and forth to a succession of intervals, fifths and sixths, which become the basis of playing chords later. Theory can be incorporated with this and expanded to chord progressions (see Excerpt 10). 44
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ELEGY By Dennis Alexander Copyright © MCMXCIV by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission
In both “Twilight” and “Elegy,” the pedal is necessary to sustain the melody. The damper pedal sustains lower tones while the hand moves to higher notes. This helps highlight melody and accompaniment, along with the hand playing different dynamics. JULY/AUGUST 2011
In “Wishing” by Joyce Grill, the melody is in the bass staff and the left hand must reach up to play chords in the treble staff. The student is learning to sustain and shape a melodic line and play the accompanying chords more softly to balance with the melody, while simultaneously using the damper pedal to sustain the melody and connect the harmonies. Since the strong fingers are playing treble staff chords in a sonorous range of the piano, care must be taken not to overwhelm the bass notes (see Excerpt 13). Excerpt 13: “Wishing” from More Left Alone—Right On! by Joyce Grill, mm. 1-3.
WISHING (FROM “MORE LEFT ALONE—RIGHT ON!”) By Joyce Grill Copyright ©1996 WARNER BROS. PUBLICATIONS INC. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission
“Between Two Lands” by Sharon Aaronson, is an example of a piece for right hand. The melody must be sustained by outer fingers while the thumb mostly adds harmony. The pedal (indicated) again helps sustain the melody (see Excerpt 14).
Having only one hand to play the piano can be an interesting, beneficial, and rewarding opportunity for student and teacher alike! p
Music for One Hand: Aaronson, Sharon. Between Two Lands (Alfred) Alexander, Dennis. Elegy (Alfred) Grill, Joyce. Either/Or (Warner/Alfred) Grill, Joyce. Left Alone—Right On! (Warner/Alfred) Grill, Joyce. More Left Alone—Right On! (Warner/Alfred) Lewenthal, Raymond, Ed. Piano Music for One Hand (G. Schirmer) Poe, John Robert. Look Ma, One Hand (Kjos) Poe, John Robert. On the Other Hand (Kjos) Rocherolle, Eugénie. Hands Separately (Kjos) Sheftel, Paul. One Piano One Hand, (Four Pieces for Piano, One Hand) (Carl Fischer) Various authors, For Left Hand Alone, Book 1 (Willis/Hal Leonard)
General Sources: Edel, Theodore (1994). Piano Music for One Hand. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. National Federation of Music Clubs. Many publishers list the one-handed works from the NFMC list on their websites. Patterson, Donald L., Ed., (1999). One Handed: A Guide to Piano Music for One Hand. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Excerpt 14: “Between Two Lands” by Sharon Aaronson, mm. 1-4.
BETWEEN TWO LANDS By Sharon Aaronson Copyright © MCMXCIX by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission
Teachers usually have certain pieces by major composers that they want their students to study. In planning future repertoire for a particular student, think of what skills will be needed in that music, and be certain these skills are studied during the early level of study, even when there are no broken limbs. The piece “I Wish I Knew” (see Excerpt 8) requires the weaker fingers 4 and 5 to play the melody while the stronger fingers 1 and 2 play the harmony. This is similar to the right hand of the “E Major Etude, Op. 10, No. 3” by Chopin. “Twilight” (see Excerpts 10 and 11) teaches the left hand to move smoothly in a similar manner to the left hand of Chopin waltzes. When the broken limb has healed, do not immediately stop working on pieces for one hand. The affected limb will not be at full strength immediately, and an easy one-hand piece could help regain full mobility and power. Having several students in your studio working on music for one hand could lead to a “One-Hand Recital,” which could be very interesting for performers and audience. Additionally, it is possible to have one student play the left hand and another student play the right hand of a piece. A Bach Two-Part Invention is ideal for this. Decisions have to be made about who should pedal and what would be appropriate pedaling for Bach. If using music, who would turn pages? As teachers, it is important to remember the “Rs” of piano pedagogy: review, reinforce and in the case of the broken limb, recover! JULY/AUGUST 2011
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Harmony
The marriage of color and structure:
Harmony Bruce Berr, Editor
Bruce Berr has been an independent teacher and university professor of piano and pedagogy for a long time. He is known nationally as a clinician, educational composer and arranger, and author on a wide variety of topics related to teaching, music, and piano. His column on personal observations, “ad lib,” appears regularly in American Music Teacher magazine, and he has been editor of the Rhythm department since 1997. Please go to BruceBerr.com for more information.
This issue’s contributor:
Photo by Lloyd Schultz
As a pianist, fortepianist, and harpsichordist, Trevor Stephenson gives performances and lectures throughout the United States. He received a DMA in Historical Performance of eighteenth-century Music from Cornell University where he studied fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson. Since 1990, with his colleague Norman Sheppard, he has rebuilt and customized a series of historical keyboard instruments ranging from Italian Renaissance harpsichords to Victorian pianos. These instruments are featured in a series of twelve recordings on the Light & Shadow label (trevorstephenson.com). In 2004 he founded the Madison Bach Musicians and currently serves as artistic director (madisonbachmusicians.org).
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Why should I consider having my piano tuned in anything but equal temperament? hree years ago my piano technician, Robert Guenther, asked me if I wanted to try out a well-tempered tuning on my 1913 Steinway Model O. We have known each other for decades so he was aware of my interest in the science of music, including different tuning systems. He mentioned that several of his clients had been using well temperament (WT) for the past few years and were so happy with it that they had no intention of ever returning to equal temperament (ET). Feeling adventurous, I gave him the okay. After he left, I started to play through some favorite literature and thought, “What the heck did I just do?!?” Virtually everything sounded out of tune to some degree, and passages in C major had an unusual quality. I hoped I would get used to it over the next few days, but I didn’t. It wasn’t as if I’d gotten a root canal treatment—it could be undone. Within the month, I had Robert return to bring my world back to ET and beautiful sounds again. I wrote off WT as some kind of historical oddity, like thinking the earth is flat. Then last summer, Robert told me that the Chicago School for Piano Technology (he is a faculty member there) was bringing in an excellent musician and expert on historical tunings, Dr. Trevor Stephenson, who was going to work with the school’s apprentices. In addition, they were going to open the doors to all Chicagoland keyboard players and have Trevor offer a halfday workshop of lectures and demonstrations on historical tunings. Some pianos and harpsichords would be pre-tuned to different temperaments—ET, WT, and even meantone—so that pieces could be compared with different tunings. It sounded like it would be fun, so I attended the event. Right from the begin-
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ning I found Trevor to be a compelling lecturer and player. He explained the history and theory behind the various tuning systems in the most clear and enthusiastic way imaginable, but it was his demonstrations at the variously-tuned keyboards that made a crucial difference. The cliché is true: hearing is believing. In the midst of the workshop, I stopped listening and taking notes in order to examine an “aha moment” I was having. I had thought I understood WT because I knew all the mathematics behind it—the comma of Pythagoras, the frequency ratios, etc. But as a musician, my ears had been unwittingly closed to it, and that was apparently why I disliked it the first time around. After Trevor’s demonstrations and comparisons, I was able to shed my ET-ear prejudices—I was listening in a new way. I could now hear and appreciate that C major is tuned very pure (like à cappella voices), and the further the music gets away from that in the circle of fifths, the more grumbly the tonalities become, particularly their thirds. Why is this such a good thing? Because then the different tonalities actually have perceivably different qualities, even if you don’t have perfect pitch (which I don’t). Key changes hit you with full force. The clincher was the preponderance of historical evidence Trevor presented that proved most of the beloved music we play was composed by people whose pianos were tuned in this way, not in ET! Due to these two revelations (for me), I soon had Robert once again tune my piano to WT. As it turns out, there is not one WT tuning but many—it’s a spectrum so you can decide how much “spiciness” you want the lower part of the circle of fifths to have. To ease back into WT, Robert used a mild tuning called “Broadwood’s Best.” JULY/AUGUST 2011
Now that I was listening differently, I actually was displeased with the results because it was too close to ET! A few months later, I had him return and do a slightly more daring one called “Broadwood’s Usual.” Now we were cooking—when pieces changed keys, you could feel it in your bones! Literature took on a different, more three-dimensional quality; ET suddenly seemed bland in comparison. It still took a little getting used to, especially in the lower half of the circle. Also, most jazz doesn’t sound quite right in it— tritone substitutions have an unwanted jarring effect since such gestures evolved in an ET environment. Additionally, some of
my students with good ears stopped in the midst of accurate playing and wondered aloud, “Is that right?” (I proactively had sent out an announcement to my studio before switching to WT, but as I said above, intellectual understanding is one thing and hearing is another.) Despite these small minor shortcomings (pun intended), I am excited to be re-exploring standard repertoire, hearing the music more in the way its creators did. It is impossible to not get new insights into what the music is about. Surprisingly, even this second “Broadwood” tuning is relatively mild compared to earlier WT tunings (it is from
the transitional Victorian tunings—more about that in Trevor’s article), so if I want to try an even higher octane mix in my Steinway sometime in the future, that’s a possibility, too. Because Dr. Stephenson’s presentation was so inspiring to me, I wanted to share it with you as much as that is possible in a magazine. He has not only written an article that will illuminate and make you chuckle at times, but has also provided video clips you can experience in our digital edition. These are a must—then you can truly hear the answer to the article’s question, as well as read it. p
Temperaments ( WT)—were themselves tonal constructs that provided order and direction for the rich variety of key colors contained in the circle of fifths. Although ET had been proposed during the eighteenth century, theorists and keyboard performers (who in those days all tuned their own instruments) generally rejected it since they were well aware that the variegated structure of WT gave it greater emotional depth. The German theorist, Johann Georg Neidhardt (whom Bach knew) wrote in 1732: “Most people do not find in this tuning [ET] that which they seek. It [ET] lacks, they say, variety in the beating of its major thirds and, consequently, a heightening of emotion.”1 The Italian writer Valotti put it this way in 1781: “Give to the notes of the long keys, which are most used, all their native perfection; and . . . throw the imperfection upon the short keys, which are most remote from the diatonic scale; that the contrast of different modulations into remote keys may have the best effect.”2 At the end of the eighteenth century, in 1799, the English tuner and scientist Thomas Young argued for WT over ET because of its “considerable advantage in the general effect of modulation” and because WT gave a natural beauty to the keys most commonly used; Young also stated that “this method [WT], under different modifications, has been almost universal.”3 WT was an intonational ecosystem, understood and utilized on a daily basis by composers dating from Brahms, back to Chopin, to Beethoven, to Mozart, and to Bach, who created the most enduring investigation of the system in his monu-
mental The Well-Tempered Clavier of 1720 (WTC-I). The basis of WT’s structure was the role of C major as home key, a sort of tonic tonality to the other keys. C major was tuned for the greatest clarity and harmoniousness. Moving away from C, down either side of the circle of fifths, each new tonality showed a progressive loss of acoustic transparency which was offset by a corresponding gain in expressive opacity, what we might call an increasing thickness of timbre. WT’s richly varied musical palette was, is, the result of fine, but easily heard gradations of tempering among intervals; the divergences of these interval sizes from those found in ET are generally no more than a few cents—that is, a couple hundredths of a half step!
Tuning and tonality by Trevor Stephenson Why should I consider having my piano tuned in anything but equal temperament? The short answer is because historical tunings, among many other things: • Unlock the secret of Chopin’s key choices and his enigmatic pedal indications • Help map the odyssey of affective states in Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier • Show why Mozart’s optimism kept him near the top of the circle of fifths
The rest of the story If you love playing the piano, you know how rewarding it is to try different ways of playing something in order to bring out the music’s inner character. We change phrasings, tempos, fingerings, articulations, pedalings, dynamics, chord voicings, balance between the hands . . . looking for that magic that will make the music speak more directly to the heart. But did you ever try changing the tuning? From the time of Bach until the early twentieth century, keyboard instruments were tuned in a variety of ways, or temperaments, and the historical evidence suggests that most of these were not the standardized equal temperament (ET) to which we became accustomed during the twentieth century. Although eighteenth- and nineteenth-century keyboard tunings were somewhat similar to ET in that they were very practical—designed so that you could play in all keys—they differed from ET in subtle though significant ways that intentionally gave each tonality a unique harmonic and melodic timbre, or key color. Moreover, as creations of an overwhelmingly tonal musical culture, these versatile and unequal tunings—often called Well JULY/AUGUST 2011
What happened to Well Temperament? During the late nineteenth century, WT began to draw fire as taste and beliefs about the intent of music changed. Composers and players felt an increasing attraction to the tonalities in the lower half of the circle of fifths; as the velvety diffuseness of the deep-flat keys and the transcendental sparkles of the deep-sharp keys began to dominate the musical imagination, the clearer keys near the top of the circle became increasingly marginalized. At the same time, chromaticism and free modulation grew so prominent that any sense of buoyancy within the circle of fifths—looking toward C major—seemed out-of-date and began to chafe the new aesthetic of relativism. WT was teetering, and was constantly being modified toward a more equally tempered system; these CLAVIER COMPANION
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transitional tunings are sometimes called the Victorian temperaments. By the time of World War I, the pendulum had swung far enough that tonality itself was called into question. Within the spirit of the age, it made sense for intonation at the keyboard to embrace the most tonally-ambivalent tuning at its disposal, precise ET. By dividing the octave into twelve exact, clinically-equal half steps, ET guaranteed that tones of the chromatic scale were effectively isolated from each other—a godsend for the atonal movement. Moreover, ET ensured that in the playing of tonal music all tonalities would display the same acoustic hue, thus removing the visceral foundation of key color. Note also that during this period there was a corresponding move toward pervasive vibrato in instrumental and vocal performance. Of course, tonal music survived, but so did ET. Together they formed a most unusual sonic marriage throughout the twentieth century: tonal music played in ET, or tonality uttered through the mask of a-tonality. At the same time, music schools curtailed instruction in the principles of intervals, proportion, and temperament—a dull and dusty business considering there were Chopin Etudes to be learned—and the relationship between temperament and expression fell by the wayside for several generations.
Example 1:
Exploring WT through thirds So, what does tonal music sound like in tonal temperament, in its own intonational dialect? Let’s explore! Imagine that we have two pianos before us, one tuned in ET and the other in WT. If you actually have two pianos in the same room, it is fairly easy these days to run this experiment, since many piano tuners trained in the past fifteen years or so are once again acquainted with temperaments other than ET (see instructions for tuning historical temperaments at www.rollingball.com). In the octave just below middle C, play the major third C-E. On the ET piano, this third will produce a type of beating sensation that pulses about five times per second (5/sec.). On the WT piano, the C-E third will beat much more slowly, anywhere from 0/sec. (a just third) to around 3/sec.; remember that just or pure thirds, where the two notes are very in synch and harmonious, are a hallmark of all good à cappella singing, string quartet playing, and more! Now play the major third just a half-step higher, Db-F. In ET this Db-F third will beat just a little bit faster than the ET C-E third, around 5.5/sec. In WT, the Db-F third will beat noticeably faster than anything you have encountered so far—generally anywhere from 8-10/sec. The characteristics of the two systems then begin to show themselves. If we keep ascending chromatically by major thirds, ET shows a steady increase in beat speeds, each chromatically higher third beating just slightly faster than its neighbor to the south. In WT the ascending thirds beat at various speeds, some slow like CE, some fast like Db-F, and every variety in between. Moving chromatically, the WT system seems almost random, but heard in relationship to the circle of fifths, it is astonishingly consistent and finely shaded. In most well temperaments, there is a progression of increasing beat speeds as you move away from C major (pure, or at least very slow) in either direction around the circle of fifths down to the bottom (F# major, fast). (See Example 1.)
The peacefulness of C Major Remarkable, but what does this have to do with music? Let’s start at one of the great beginnings of all time, the first prelude from the WTC-I (see Excerpt 2).
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From top to bottom: Well Temperament, Equal Temperament, Meantone Temperament. The temperament charts present the circle of fifths as a structure of tonalities, and not individual pitches, thus C major, G major, etc. Lightly shaded areas represent acoustic clarity, transparency, harmoniousness (slower beating intervals); darker areas represent acoustic opacity or areas of faster beating intervals. In the MT chart, for instance, the tonalities in the upper half of the circle are all very clear and harmonious; in the lower half of the circle the preponderance of wolf intervals renders the harmony generally unusable.
Excerpt 2: Prelude in C Major, BWV 846, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume 1, by J. S. Bach, mm. 12-14.
It is in C major because C major was the understood progenitor of all major keys. The prelude’s undulating, repeating arpeggios portray a calm centeredness that the poet Goethe described as “The stillness in the breast of God before he created the world.” When played in ET, the built-in buzzing vibrato of C major creates a sort of unrest that plays against the music’s inherent nature, and is difficult to hide (pianists playing the piece in ET instinctively de-emphasize the high E whenever it comes around just to keep order in the court). By contrast, the C-major tonality in WT is almost beat-less and is very harmonious; the high E simply snug-
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gles into the harmony, and the piece floats along easily in its meditation on grace. When the first hints of trouble come along in the twelfth and fourteenth measures—as flats and diminished chords arrive—Bach reaches into the lower part of the circle—more beats—to elicit doubt and angst. On the prelude’s final C-major chord the vibrato of ET precludes a sense of absolute stillness, while WT harmoniousness here allows a closing with elegant inner resolve.
The half step is a huge harmonic distance in WT
But what about Db (C#) major? What do we do with a key in WT that beats more quickly than anything we’ve heard in ET? It depends upon what the composer was trying to convey. For example, at the stunning Picardy-third closing of the gnarled C#-minor fugue (WTC I), Bach utilizes the sudden C#-major chord as a blazing and unadorned directive or a vow of hope (see Excerpt 3). Excerpt 3: Fugue in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849, from The WellTempered Clavier, Volume 1, by J. S. Bach, mm. 111-115.
But in the rapid, light-footed C#-major prelude (WTC-I), Bach uses the same searing buzz of WT’s C#-E# third (enharmonic DbF) to capture the greatest effervescence (see Excerpt 4). Excerpt 4: Prelude in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848, from The WellTempered Clavier, Volume 1, by J. S. Bach, mm. 1-5.
In WT, the effect of this piece is like water sprinkled on a hot stove, or, in true Bach family style, the glorious chaos of getting all the kids ready for church. In ET, though, the contribution of the tuning toward interpretation is exactly, and inappropriately, the same in the C#-major prelude as it is for the C-major prelude. We’ll stay in C# for a while and look at a piece by Beethoven, the first movement of the “Moonlight” Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2, in C-Sharp Minor (see Excerpt 5). Excerpt 5: Sonata in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2, Mvt. 1, by Ludwig van Beethoven, mm. 1-4.
Try it first in ET and then in WT. Notice how in WT it seems to just float out of the piano, the dropping bass seems deeper and more of a psychological undertow, the tolling bell of the melodic G-sharps seem more forlorn, distant, and disembodied. Next, on the WT piano play the opening measures in C minor (instead of in the original C# minor); notice how the piece loses its quality of transcendent meditation and becomes a rather heavy dumpling since C minor has a great deal of earthly gravity built right into its key color. Now try it in D minor, suddenly it sounds wiry, overly caffeinated, because D minor in WT has a kind of a sinewy springiness to its sound. Beethoven understood the temperament practices of his time thoroughly, and he chose precisely the right key for the mood he was looking for in this sonata.
Chopin’s pedaling and WT Chopin as well, who, according to his pupils, could play much of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier from memory, was cognizant of
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WT’s expressive power in the keys of D-flat major and C-sharp minor. In the “Raindrop Prelude” Op. 28, No. 15, Chopin daringly lays out the root and third on the very first note (see Excerpt 6). Excerpt 6: Prelude in D-Flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15, by Frédéric Chopin, mm. 1-3.
In WT, the rapid beat speed gives a flutter to the melodic line, and there is a haunting, lifting sensation that a more harmonious (slower beating) key cannot provide. Chopin uses the diffuseness of D-flat major here, joined with a light touch, to create a sense of removal and longing. For a laugh, play this passage in the harmonious key of C major in WT; everything is so in-tune and hunkydory that there really isn’t much to sing about. Try the piece in ET, it generally sounds fine, but the emotional stakes are just not as high as in the WT version. Explore in this piece how WT and ET suggest different rubatos, voicings, even tempos. Notice also Chopin’s remarkably idiomatic pedal indications, such as: no pedal in measure 16 (beats 3-4) and for all of measure 17; pedal releases at the half measure in measures 19 and 20; holding the pedal over the bar in 72-75. Try them and see if they are more viable in WT or ET (see Excerpts 7 and 8). Excerpt 7: Prelude in D-Flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15, by Frédéric Chopin, mm. 16-19.
Excerpt 8: Prelude in D-Flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15, by Frédéric Chopin, mm. 72-75.
Historical temperament may unlock the secret of Chopin’s enigmatic pedaling in the E-minor Prelude (see Excerpt 9).
Chopin’s autograph indicates pedaling in this piece only for brief moments in measures 17 and 18. Yet, most pianists playing this piece in ET use legato pedal throughout. Though for good reason, since in ET the chords in E minor are very active and it is almost impossible to settle them down enough to play without pedal, no matter how light your left hand is. In WT, however, many of the harmonies in E minor are calmer, high in the circle of fifths, so the intervals beat a lot less. When you try the piece in WT without pedal, as Chopin is probably asking, the chords are generally more willing to shut down when the damper lands after every eighth note, and the effect is of paleness, even worry, of time moving along softly and inexorably. Above this gentle pulsation, the melody moves in a much slower rhythmic realm, and here the temperament comes into play in another way, melodically. In WT, the half step from B to C (measures 1-3) is a large half step, whereas the ensuing half step from B to Bb in measure 4 is a narrower one. The large repeated half step B-C conveys a series of sorrowful sighs, whereas the smaller half step represents a subtle transformation of the mood, perhaps to the not-quite-so-pained, somewhat resigned, whole-step sighs between A and B in measures 5-7. Whatever one’s reading of the emotional course of the piece, WT allows the player to shape the melody as great singers do, by artfully adjusting the intervals.
Give it a try! Pianists who work with WT on a regular basis find that tonal music falls into a more natural curve. They also exclaim repeatedly that nuances of melodic line, harmonic color, and rhetorical pacing that in ET they only suspected were there, do indeed emerge readily in WT. If you want to start slowly with tonal tuning, perhaps just to hear how even the subtlest adjustments can heighten the sense of sublime mystery in Debussy’s Clair de lune, try a Victorian temperament. Or explore the keener colors of WT and see how Mozart makes a jolly theme chortle in six different ways (keys) in the D-major Rondo—how Bach explores the metaphysical heart of every key in The Well Tempered Clavier. You can even go way back to the crystalline harmonies of Baroque mean-tone tuning; the amazing Frescobaldi awaits! It is all fascinating and moving beyond compare. In the videos accompanying this article, I demonstrate how WT and Victorian Temperament are tuned. I also play and discuss the repertoire selections contained in the article, as well as some other pieces. Also included is a video demonstrating how to tune Renaissance and early Baroque mean-tone temperament which flourished during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries; the video also contains an explanation of how mean-tone tuning was gradually modified during the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries to form the basis of the key color system found in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century masterworks composed for WT. p 1
Excerpt 9: Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28, No. 4, by Frédéric Chopin, mm. 1-8.
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Duffin, R. (2007). How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care). New York: W. W. Norton & Co., p. 43. 2 Jorgensen, O. (1991). Tuning: Containing the Perfection of Eighteenth-Century Temperament, the Lost Art of Nineteenth-Century Temperament, and the Science of Equal Temperament. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, p. 176. 3 Ibid., p. 251-252.
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Technology
Tomorrow Today:
Technology George Litterst, Editor
George Litterst is a nationally known music educator, clinician, author, performer, and music software developer. A classically trained pianist, he is co-author of the intelligent accompaniment software program, Home Concert Xtreme, and the electronic music blackboard program, Classroom Maestro, from TimeWarp Technologies (www.timewarptech.com).
This issue’s contributor:
Lori Frazer is a Yamaha consultant who shares the marvels of modern music technology with everyone. She brings the amazement and wellness benefits of music making to people who never thought they could participate! Lori’s activities have included the building of Yamaha’s Clavinova Festival, training teachers and facilitators for the Clavinova Connection RMM program, and working with diverse organizations such as Wounded Warriors and Daniel’s Music Foundation.
RMM really is for everyone! with Lori Frazer he Recreational Music Making movement is all about inclusiveness and creative self-expression. Embedded in the RMM philosophy is this statement: No matter what music background you may or may not have, no matter what physical or mental limitations present themselves, you can participate in the joy of music making and express yourself creatively! The statement above comes from Lori Frazer, one of the tireless pioneers of the RMM movement. She is a well known music clinician who specializes in creating learning and performance opportunities for the young, the old, and even individuals with severe physical or mental challenges. If you have ever attended a national conference for piano teachers—such as MTNA or NCKP—you have probably seen her. If your students have ever participated in a Clavinova Festival (www.clavinovafestival.com), you may have encountered her in your own community. I never know for sure where I might find Lori on any given day. She could be just about anywhere in the country giving a technology workshop to music teachers, assisting with the establishment of a new recreational music making class, teaching a group of children or adults with special needs, working with a group of soldiers recovering from battle trauma, or even teaching her own piano class at a music dealership in Tucson, AZ. The one place where I rarely find Lori is at home.
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The many faces of RMM RMM means different things to different people. For some, it can be an extra, fun dimension to traditional, disciplined piano study. For others, RMM means a group piano class for seniors that focuses equally on both the musical and social aspects of the experience. Amazingly, RMM can mean any or all of the above, with special emphasis on the health-promoting and even healing outcomes that can be associated with musical self-expression. 52
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In many or most cases, RMM has one or more technology components that provide a gateway for creative self-expression. For example, imagine a student who has had no formal music background and who may even have limited ability to move the fingers, hand, or arm. With a technologyassisted keyboard instrument, that student may be able to participate in and enjoy a meaningful music making experience with literally no advance preparation. And, that music making experience may be the first step in a long-term experience that promotes health and even physical or mental healing. According to Lori, “When I first saw the testimonial videos from the test pilot of Clavinova Connection RMM program (www.clavinovaconnection.com) in 2003, the way that I thought about music making changed profoundly. I had always been interested in music therapy, but this was a new angle. The idea that you could use music for non-musical outcomes had been around for centuries, but now there was empirical data to back up this concept. I remember commenting to a colleague that this could really change everything, and for me it has.”
From home organs to digital pianos to RMM Lori has a background in pop piano and both jazz and classical organ. Not surprisingly, this has meant that her teaching has blended both traditional and pop approaches to keyboard pedagogy. And, she has been quite successful. “Early in my teaching career, I had a studio in my home in California as well as rented studio space in a music store. At the busiest time of my teaching career, I had fifty-two private students and nine classes a week.” Over time, as the home organ market disappeared in the United States and sophisticated digital pianos replaced them, Lori became interested in the many ways that embedded technology in a keyboard instrument can facilitate and enhance JULY/AUGUST 2011
musical expression. Ultimately, this interest help bring music to all— led her to Yamaha and the Clavinova regardless of the physical, Festival program. emotional, and mental chal“The Clavinova Festival was started lenges that any individual twenty-one years ago by Jim Foster in may face. Bettendorf, Iowa. In 1997, Yamaha asked “Things changed for me in me to investigate the festival concept and January 2004 when I started to grow it for the benefit of dealers and to work with the late Karl students nationwide. I did just that. At its Bruhn (the “Father of Recpeak, there were ninety festivals per year in reational Music Making”) forty-one states. In a typical year we would and Dr. Barry Bittman, a see between 17,000 and 20,000 particineurologist. The project that pants.” brought us together was The Clavinova Festival is an annual Yamaha’s new RMM proevent that takes place at many Yamaha gram called Clavinova dealerships around the country. The focus Connection. This program Daniel Trush of danielsmusic.org shows us how it’s done in of the festival is on student performance was originally written for New York. and the many creative ways that you can active, older adults, and I was use the features of a Clavinova CVP digital teenth birthday while playing basketball. honored and thrilled to bring music makpiano. For example, some Daniel was not expected to live, much less ing to those who never students will perform their have any type of a normal life if he did. thought that they could parown compositions that use After thirty-one days in a coma, Daniel ticipate. However, the furthe orchestral voices of the had survived. ther I got involved with the instrument. Others will play “Today, after years of therapy and deterprogram, the more I realized pieces that use the automatic mination, Daniel is now twenty-six. Most that the concepts behind it accompaniment features, as importantly, he became the founder of could be much more farwell as pre-recorded MIDI Daniel’s Music Foundation in New York reaching. files. City (www.danielsmusic.org). The “One day, after giving a “After spending time on Foundation has a purpose that is stated Clavinova Connection presother projects in recent years, simply: Our mission is to provide a comfortentation at a cancer center, I I am currently in the process was approached by a nurse of rebuilding the Clavinova who asked if we had ever Festival. Yamaha provides considered using the proteacher-training seminars for gram for children. I exthis event, as well as planplained to her that the proSeniors enjoying ning assistance for the dealer. tocol, as it stood, would Clavinova Connection I conduct these teacher semiprobably not be appropriate for at Colerain Township nars and assist the dealers children. However, she continCenter, OH. with planning if they need ued to press and suggested that it.” we develop a pilot program and test it with children with special needs. Taking RMM in new and This pilot test was a great success, and we profound directions all learned a great deal. The experience With such a rich and varied professional really opened up my eyes to the potential background, Lori was poised to take the of this program.” RMM concept forward in profound ways, Startling results working with other pioneers in the field. “Several years ago while working the “I have always been fascinated with keyYamaha display at an AARP show in board instruments that employ new techWashington, D.C., I had nologies, starting from my the great fortune to meet early years as a Yamaha an amazing young man, Electone [Organ] Festival named Daniel Trush, and participant in the 1970s. I his family. As it turns out, enjoy the challenges of using they had planned to tour technology to surmount barD.C., but it was raining riers. As technology continthat day, so they came to ues to improve, so does our the AARP show inability to increase general stead—no accident about participation in the joy of our meeting! music making. I spend many “I learned that Daniel hours researching not only had suffered a massive what Yamaha instruments Colerain seniors making cerebral hemorrhage one can do, but also other techbeautiful music together. month before his thirnologies that are available to JULY/AUGUST 2010
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able, educational, and social environment in which our members can enjoy, learn, and practice the joys of music together. With constant love and support from his family, Daniel’s dream flourishes and is currently serving more than 150 members weekly. “After meeting Daniel and his family, I immediately called Karl and Dr. Bittman, explaining that we needed to help these people grow their amazing program. Dr. Bittman and I flew to New York, met with the organization, and now we both sit on the Board of Directors for Daniel’s Music. We have helped introduce the organization to new programs and products that continue to enhance the music making of those they serve. “When Daniel’s Music first started less than five years ago, they had five portable keyboards and four members. Today they have fifteen keyboards, three Clavinovas, guitar programs, a Health Rhythms program, song writing classes, and even children’s classes. In all, there are now twentysix classes offered each week, at no cost to the participants.” It is difficult to describe in words the nature of the music making that takes place at Daniel’s Music. To see what I
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Relay for Life team from Samuel Music, Effingham, IL, prepares for an all-night cancer benefit walk.
mean, check out the videos on the organicollaborate with Daniel and the curriculum zation’s website. In one case, a student may designer. play the strings of a smart guitar that auto“It has been an amazing experience to matically changes the chords. In another see this young man come so far. And case, a student may successfully and perwatching him serve so many others is more fectly play a melody on a Clavinova no rewarding than words can express. The matter which keys are struck. In other opportunity to work with Daniel and his words, appropriate technologies are provided for each individual, and no one is left out of the experience. “In order to work with Daniel from either my home in Tucson or from any other location, Daniel and I meet from time to time on Skype (www.skype.com) and connect our Clavinova keyboards together using Internet MIDI New Clavinova Connection for Wounded Warriors at Soldiers’ (www.zenph.com). In Angels, San Antonio, TX. this way, I am able to
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foundation’s diverse clientele helps me to be able to try out ideas and concepts that may be applicable elsewhere.”
Expect the unexpected “A little over a year ago, I got a call from a salesperson working with a music dealer in San Antonio, Texas. He had been in a motorcycle accident in 1997, resulting in a traumatic amputation of his left leg. During his recovery, he found that playing the piano was his only solace to deal with the phantom pain, and that the activity had helped him to overcome an addiction to pain medication. The purpose of his call was to find out if we had a music making and wellness program, as he wanted to bring the relief he found in music to our wounded soldiers. “ Together we spent several months researching and planning different aspects of such a program. Later we had the good fortune to meet people from Soldiers’ Angels in San Antonio (www.soldiersangels.org). Soldiers’ Angels is a volunteerbased, non-profit organization dedicated to ‘providing aid and comfort to United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard veterans and their families.’ “The outgrowth of this meeting was the development of RMM classes specifically tailored to these soldiers and their families. Today, Soldiers’ Angels offers an RMM guitar program, an RMM harmonica program, a Clavinova Connection course, and other adaptive keyboard programs. “Many of the men and women served by this organization suffer from severe physical and emotional injuries. My role is to assist the organization in finding ways to help these wounded warriors express themselves through the joy of music making, employing adaptive devices and musical instruments with assistive technologies. I look forward to being involved in building this movement for a very long time!” As you might imagine, the work of an organization like this is never ending: “Working with this group of men and women and their families has been a truly amazing experience for me. Currently, Soldiers’ Angels is involved in a capital campaign to raise funds to build and run The Karl T. Bruhn Center for Music and Wellness. I am now working with the Yamaha Music and Wellness Institute (www.yamahainstitute.org) to support these efforts with a national ad campaign and general program support. As I do with Daniel’s Music, I am working to set up long distance programs using Skype and Internet MIDI.”
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And the beat goes on! RMM, as a specialized area of music pedagogy, is a field that is still in its infancy and one that provides music educators with many opportunities for creativity and innovation. The rewards for both teacher and student are substantial. “I have been given the great honor of working with some extraordinary people along the way, and continue to learn more about the possibilities each day. As I continue to travel throughout the U.S. offering technology seminars for music teachers, I am inspired by the creative educators
whom I meet. Each way that I turn, I encounter individuals who are doing amazing things with all levels of music makers. I am thrilled to be working with the Yamaha Music and Wellness Institute, an organization that enables me to create new opportunities for those we serve.” p
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Tomorrow Today:
Tech Tips
George Litterst, Editor Submit your questions to this column by sending them to
[email protected].
What kind of equipment do I need for working with students who have special needs? When responding to questions posed to this column, I am accustomed to providing specific information about the issue at hand, including recommended products and techniques for using software programs, ways to integrate specific technologies into curricular objectives, and so forth. In this case, I need to step back from talking about products and technologies in a specific way and address the underlying issues. When working with students who have special needs, the most important thing to do is to start with the student. What are the student’s aspirations? What musical abilities does the student already possess? What are the physical, emotional, and mental challenges? During the 1980s and 1990s, I taught in the Preparatory School and Extension Division of the New England Conservatory. During most of those years, I worked with a blind adult student who was also a piano tuner. By the time he came to me, he already had years of lessons and a very acute sense of hearing. I could play any combination of dissonant notes at one time and he could pick them out! He knew how to read braille music and hated it. Based on the foregoing circumstances, I did my best to assess his strengths and leverage them in lessons, all the while being cognizant of his goals and interests. For example, he much preferred to learn by ear, and it became my practice to record new pieces for him at a slow speed. I also chose repertoire carefully, basing my choices largely on his interests, yet always looking for opportunities to broaden his horizons.
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During our time together, we found a number of technologies that were particularly useful. For starters, he had a special cassette recorder that was designed for the blind. It had speed control. This meant that he could record my playing during the lesson and take the recording home to study. If necessary, he could slow down my already slow performance. As you might expect, slowing down the recording also resulted in the pitch being changed, but he had no trouble transposing what he heard back into the correct key. In this case, a technical feature that would have been impossible for many students to use was quite convenient for my student. Toward the end of my experience with this blind student, I was able to bring him to my home for an occasional lesson. This gave me the opportunity to work with him using my Disklavier piano, which is a piano with a record and playback system. During the lesson I seated myself at an adjacent MIDI controller keyboard that I connected to the Disklavier with a MIDI cable. When I needed to demonstrate something, this gave me the opportunity to play notes on the controller keyboard and cause the keys of the Disklavier to move under the fingers of my student. I found that to be a very useful capability. Nowadays times are different as we have moved beyond the era of the cassette recorder. If I were to start working with a blind student today, I would recommend that the student get an instrument that has MIDI record and playback features. You can easily slow down or speed up a MIDI recording and not suffer with a change in pitch. And, we now have all of those fun MIDI accompaniments with which we can work. Getting back to the original question, I would like to respond by recommending that any teacher: • take an asset inventory of each individual student, • leverage those assets, • set goals based on the student rather than on any preconceived curriculum, • avoid focusing on limitations and instead explore opportunties, • and be on the lookout for useful technologies and deploy them creatively. p
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First Looks
Susan Geffen is a Managing Editor of Clavier Companion. She is active as an educator, adjudicator, presenter, panelist, and writer. She is a specialist in Recreational Music Making and has also worked as a composer’s assistant and orchestral score proofreader.
This issue’s contributors:
Myra Brooks-Turner entered Juilliard at age 12 and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Methodist University. Her piano solos and duos are published by FJH Music Company, Schaum Publications, and her own MBT Productions publishing venture. She lives in Knoxville. Vanessa Cornett-Murtada is the Director of Keyboard Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, where she teaches courses in piano and piano pedagogy. She is an international clinician and performing artist and works as a performance coach and certified hypnotherapist for musicians struggling with performance anxiety.
Carmen Doubrava is an active adjudicator, accompanist, teacher, and performer who has performed in Texas, Michigan, New York, Colorado, Wisconsin, and at the U. S. Department of State. She lives in Carrollton, Texas, and has been featured in articles in Keyboard Companion, Clavier, and The Dallas Morning News. Sue Collier Lewis currently serves as a preschool workshop clinician for Alfred Publications and as a preschool music education consultant for the NAMM Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California. She is a former music education consultant for Yamaha Music Education and owned two music schools in the Dallas area. Jeremy Siskind has performed at many of the world’s foremost venues, including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. As a composer, Siskind has been honored by ASCAP and Downbeat. Siskind received his bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music and just completed his master’s degree in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Additional contributors listed on the next page
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First Looks Susan Geffen, Editor New Music, CDs & DVDs, Pupil Savers, News & Notes
Closer look ✔(S5) The Indian Character Piece: Native American-Influenced Piano Works from the Early Twentieth Century, edited by Stephanie Bruning. One of the joys of a life in music is the knowledge that there is always new music to learn. Stephanie Bruning’s collection, The Indian Character Piece, reminds us of that fact and offers an entirely new musical world to many pianists. Bruning has coupled her meticulous editing of sixteen piano solos with an extensive, scholarly preface, thus providing a fascinating and comprehensive examination of her chosen subject, the Indianist Movement in American music. Indianist music was not composed by Native Americans. Instead, Bruning relates that this form of American art music “incorporated various aspects of Indian folklore and music” and flourished between about 1890 and 1920. The edition spotlights Indianist compositions by three prominent composers, all non-Native Americans: Edward MacDowell, Arthur Farwell, and Charles Wakefield Cadman. The book does more than simply publish hitherto relatively unknown piano compositions, however. Before launching into the music, the pianist would do well to read Bruning’s introductory material: it will acquaint the reader-pianist with a movement which, in many ways, correlated with other progressive, intellectual, aesthetic, and ethnomusicological currents of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In fact, when I read Bruning’s preface, I immediately thought of Béla Bartók: after all, the Hungarian composer was beginning his musicological research at the same time the Indianist composers were active. Just as Bartók traveled through Eastern Europe collecting the folk melodies that he would later use in his own compositions, American ethnologists such as Alice Cunningham Fletcher (1838-1923) collected the Native American melodies and folklore that would later be used by Indianist composers.
So what do these pieces sound like? For the most part, they are programmatic literature with a multitude of tremolos, complicated rhythm patterns, huge leaps, abrupt tempo changes, extensive embellishment, and vividly wrought dynamics. In addition, the pieces are full of large harmonic intervals; players with small hands will need to redistribute fingering and voicing. The best-known of the three represented composers is of course MacDowell (18601908). MacDowell’s 1896 collection Ten Woodland Sketches, Op. 51 contains “To a Wild Rose” and “Will-o’-the Wisp,” but it also includes “From an Indian Lodge,” MacDowell’s first Indianist piece and, according to Bruning, “the earliest known Indian character piece.” Like other compositions in the book, the piece is filled with special effects and drama; it is a waltz, but of a dark, C-minor variety based on two melodic themes from Wisconsin’s Brotherton Indians. MacDowell’s other contribution, “Indian Idyl,” is from his New England Idyls, Op. 62 (1902). This later composition, which brings to mind both “To a Wild Rose” and the harmonies of Debussy, calls for both damper pedal and una corda, and Bruning further suggests brief use of the sostenuto pedal for a “crisp and curious staccato effect.” Although MacDowell is better known today, composer and educator Arthur Farwell (1872-1952) was a highly influential figure in the Indianist Movement. A graduate of M.I.T. and former student of Engelbert Humperdinck, in 1901 Farwell founded the Wa-Wan Press in Newton Center, Massachusetts. The press, which was acquired by Schirmer in 1912, specialized in the publication of piano and vocal compositions based on American indigenous music, and many of Farwell’s own compositions, represented here by the ten American Indian Melodies, Op. 11 (1901), were exact harmonizations of NativeAmerican tunes. The titles are arresting— ”Approach of the Thunder God,” “Song of the Deathless Voice,” and “Song of the Ghost Dance” to name three—and, for each piece, Farwell wrote an introductory poetic motto based on his research on the work of Alice Cunningham Fletcher. Score notation instructs the pianist to play “ominously, like thunder” and “swiftly, like a JULY/AUGUST 2011
Guide to new music reviews Grade levels
blinding flash” (“Inketunga’s Thunder Song”) or to produce a “Double drum beat” (“Approach of the Thunder God”). The tenth piece of the set, a chorale, contains a melody reminiscent of “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” The left-hand accented octaves, however, lend the piece a character quite different from the standard Protestant hymn. Nevertheless, comparing Farwell’s chorale to the chorales of Bach would make an interesting repertoire study (and comparison with the Chorale from the first volume of Bartók’s Mikrokosmos would provide further perspective). The title of the collection’s last set of pieces, Charles Wakefield Cadman’s Idealized Indian Themes, Op. 54, is significant. Cadman (1881-1946) most certainly did idealize the Native-American melodies that he borrowed, and Bruning describes his musical style as “sentimental.” Although Op. 54 is often reminiscent of salon music, the composer’s interest in Native-American music was sincere. In fact, Cadman and mezzo-soprano Tsianina Redfeather, who was of Cherokee and Creek descent, presented numerous lecture-recitals of Cadman’s Indianist compositions. The first piece in Op. 54, “The Pleasant Moon of Strawberries,” is filled with characteristic Indianist arpeggiated chords, large inter vals, tremolos, and tempo changes. The left-hand broken chords often span a twelfth; this is not music for beginning students. Advanced students might enjoy programming Cadman with Chopin, or—perhaps even better—with Debussy. The second piece of the set, “From the Land of the Sky-blue Water,” is notated in three staves, and the rippling introduction reminds the listener that the Indianist composers were contemporaries of—albeit quite different in style from— their European Impressionist cousins. The third Cadman composition, “The Sadness of the Lodge,” once again contains lefthand broken chords, and notation on the score instructs the player (in best salon style) to execute passages “with feeling,” “with passion,” and “with longing.” The last composition in Op. 54, “The Return of the Braves: March Fantastique,” is a showpiece. In the first section, grace notes and anticipatory sixteenths in the right hand are set against a left-hand stride JULY/AUGUST 2011
composed of dissonances that could have been written by Thelonius Monk. As the piece unfolds, interval size and keyboard range increase, and the piece becomes almost Wagnerian in its dramatic chromaticism. This music is not shy: the final section, to be played “with increasing time and tone,” is full of large leaps, consecutive octaves, clusters, and tremolos. Cadman composed operas, cantatas, and even a radio play, and his dramatic streak is evident in this fourth piece of the set. At times, the pianist might be uncertain about performing this newly discovered style: how much is over the top? No need to worry. Bruning’s careful footnotes and editing clarify questions of articulation, fingering redistribution, interpretation, voicing, pedaling, phrasing, and—for want of a better term—special effects. Further, the creative pedagogue would have many opportunities to teach interdisciplinarily, and a lecture-recital would work beautifully. The student could combine investigations of Native-American history and art with a performance of these pieces, or perhaps a study of similarities between folk melodies of disparate cultures would provide both musical and anthropological insights to the performer. Bruning has done us a double favor. She has cast light on a genre that has long been out of fashion, and, in addition, she has given us a view into a fascinating era of American history. Indianist music may not be what twenty-first century ethnologists would consider authentic, but this music offers an intriguing view of a country that was at long last beginning to recognize the humanity of its aboriginal citizens. (Ludwig Masters Publications, $19.95) —Susan Geffen
1 Beginning: five-finger patterns and simple rhythms 2 Easy: scales and simple syncopation 3 Intermediate: beginning counterpoint and complex rhythms (Bach notebooks, Bartók Mikrokosmos I-II) 4 Late intermediate: technical and rhythmic sophistication (Bach inventions, Bartók Romanian Folk Dances) 5 Difficult: for competent pianists (Mozart sonatas, Brahms Rhapsody, Op. 79, No. 2) 6 Very difficult: for advanced pianists (Chopin etudes, Beethoven Sonata, Op. 57)
Categories S-Solo, E-Ensemble
Quality rating Reviewer’s Choice: music that may become part of the standard repertoire Check-rated ✔: repertoire that is highly recommended
Krista Wallace-Boaz holds a D.M. in piano performance and pedagogy from Northwestern University and teaches class piano and pedagogy at the University of Louisville. Lynette Zelis is the owner of Noteable Notes Piano Studio in Wheaton, Illinois, where she teaches private and group piano lessons and maintains studios for nine other teachers. She was one of only five teachers in the country to win the 2001 Group Piano Teachers Award from the MTNA and the National Piano Foundation.
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New music (S, E1) Piano Recital Showcase: Summer time Fun by Bill Boyd, Phillip Keveren, Carol Klose, and Jennifer Linn. In the springtime a young student ’s fancy does not necessarily turn to thoughts of studying piano in the good old summertime. These four composers thoughtfully remember this fact and offer a collection of twelve pieces—with titles such as “Gone Fishin’,” “Chill Out,” “ Teeter-Totter,” and “Down by the Lake”—that remind the student of fun summer activities. The selections, all of which were previously published in a variety of sources, are divided into three early elementary pieces and nine elementary pieces in C-major and are written in Cposition, Middle-C position, or C extended-hand position. Jennifer Linn and Philip Keveren provide the early elementary selections, one of which is written in 3/4, the other two in 4/4 (one with lyrics). These three compositions would be appropriate for five-to-sixyear-old beginners (probably not fouryear-olds). The remaining elementary pieces, all written in 4/4, are probably better suited for a child at least seven years
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old. Jennifer Linn contributes the only piece which contains eighth notes, and, in addition to the new note value, her “Pink Lemonade” has words and a da capo al fine notation. Bill Boyd contributes two unique pieces, “Rockin’ the Boat” and the aforementioned “Chill Out.” These compositions, with their boogie bass and suggested rock-style rhythms, will likely entice the student aspiring to be the next Justin Timberlake. If you are the owner of a digital piano, these two would be fun to orchestrate, allowing the student to choose one of the rock styles and split the keyboard into one imaginative voice for the treble and a different clean sound for the bass. Needless to say, teachers will need to guide the student’s selection of voices. “Gone Fishin’,” by Carol Klose, is a winning duet, which could be a delightful piece to perform for a summer recital. There are plenty of important teaching points covered in both primo and secondo parts, such as articulation, phrasing, playing in different registers, and hand crossings. Both parts are written for the same student keyboard accomplishment level. This piece would be the perfect summer project for two students who enjoy their piano. Phillip Keveren’s “Accidental Wizard” conjures up thoughts of a Harry Potter film, and has a truly mysterious feeling the
student is asked to convey to the listener. There are some nice challenges presented for the student, including hand shifts, staccato notes with accidentals, and a chord cluster topped with a fermata for a dramatic finale. The teacher accompaniment adds a wonderful contemporary sound. I would love to see the publisher include some imaginative illustrations to enliven the appearance of this collection. Otherwise, let your students enjoy this summertime musical experience. (Hal Leonard, $7.99) S.C.L.
✔(S2) Preludes in Patterns by Kevin Olson. I know a book is good when, as I’m playing through it, I can picture students who would enjoy playing the pieces. That ’s what happened ever y time I played through Olson’s collection. These preludes are easy-to-read, twopage compositions that would be perfect for recitals or supplementary performance pieces. All are written to fit smaller hands, using mostly five-finger patterns, triads, or one-octave scales. Because of the large number of eighthnotes, chords, and accidentals, the preludes look and sound difficult. Students at this level however, can easily master these care-
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fully written works. Each piece focuses on a different rhythm, harmony, or melodic pattern. For example, the first prelude, in C major, concentrates on repetitive eighthnote patterns juxtaposed with open-fifth harmonies. In the Prelude in F Major, the right hand plays constant chords in a quarter rhythm as the left hand plays a syncopated bass line, while the Prelude in D Major has a flowing ascending eighth-note motive reminiscent of constant gentle questions or short thoughts. There is a good balance of expressive and flowing pieces and rhythmic or staccato pieces. Pedagogically, these pieces will offer students a good chance to play in a variety of keys and key signatures—C, G, D, F, and B-flat majors and A, E, B, D, and G minors. The preludes are arranged in order of the Circle of Fifths, with relative minor keys following each major key. (FJH, $5.50) L.Z. (S3-5) Cool Songs for Cool Kids, Volumes I-II and The Music Motivation Goal Book by Jerald M. Simon. Jerald Simon states the philosophy of this series in the first volume of Cool Songs for Cool Kids: “[These books] are intended to inspire students of all ages to become motivated to learn more about various styles of music [and] to encourage and inspire students to learn how to create music of their own.” This passionate philosophy is indeed evident throughout these two—soon to be three—volumes, with each piece presenting a briefly described technical or theoretical skill. The book’s introductory exercises coach pentascale patterns and intervals, teaching a language that will not only help the student learn the music in the collection, but will also develop a foundation for improvisation and composition. In addition, most of the pieces include chord symbols that would further inspire improvisation. Simon sometimes pairs a piece with a “Music Motivation Challenge.” These challenges ask students to improvise a right-hand melody with a given walking bass, transpose, or write in chord symbols or dynamic markings. Each piece has a fun, catchy title such as “Beat-cha to it” or “Rocket Man,” and in lieu of tempo markings there are motivational phrases such as JULY/AUGUST 2011
“Shoot for the stars” and “This is your moment.” The pieces are based on easily understood intervals and rhythmic patterns, and, when new rhythms are introduced, Simon supplies written-in counts for several measures. The Music Motivation Goal Book is designed for all instruments and could be adapted to any program of study. This weekly lesson assignment book discusses goal setting and provides tools to develop plans and habits in seven “goal areas of life”: mental, physical, family, social, spiritual, career, and financial. Simon also includes an extensive rubric for achieving musical goals such as learning repertoire, key signatures, modes, and arpeggios (perhaps more useful to the instructor than to the student). Thorough checklists and journal pages are also available, as are daily practice goals. The pages challenge students with questions that encourage critical thinking, such as “ What have you learned this week?” or “What are your personal goals for next week?” This collection of assignment sheets would prove extremely effective for any student pursuing any method of study. (All available at www.musicmotivation.com. Cool Songs for
Cool Kids, $10.95 per volume; Music Motivation Goal Book, $9.95) K.W.B. (S5) Mancini: T he Songs of Henr y Mancini, arranged by Melody Bober. Many of Henry Mancini’s songs have become as emblematic of Hollywood film of the 60s and 70s as the elegant stars of the silver screen. In her new Mancini collection, Melody Bober takes fifteen of the composer’s best-loved songs, bathes them in subtle stage lighting, applies eyeliner and mascara, and makes them the stars. It’s hard to say if the composer or the arranger deserves more credit for the stylish success of each of the collection’s pieces. On the one hand, Mancini’s songs—ranging from “The Pink Panther” and “Baby Elephant Walk” to “Days of Wine and Roses” and “Moon River”—are such clear winners that they don’t require much treatment. On the other, just as a skilled director accentuates the talents of her actors, Melody Bober adroitly arranges these songs into lovely and pleasurably
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playable forms. In “Charade,” a nostalgic waltz with Johnny Mercer-penned lyrics (each piece includes the song’s words), the spartan arrangement recalls the tinkling of a music box. “Days of Wine and Roses” begins with a lonely melody lamenting above lightly pulsating chords that are reminiscent of a French horn. It then modulates into orchestral expanse. The arrangement of “The Pink Panther” doesn’t break new ground but captures the piece’s brassy essence in a way that will please its performers, young and old. The collection as a whole has a few too many syrupy waltzes but is otherwise well balanced and attractive. Throughout, Bober refers to the pieces’ orchestral origins while keeping them pianistically interesting. She’s not afraid to explore the different registers of the piano in order to recall the sound of soaring strings (“Sometimes,” “How Soon”) or to utilize staccato notes to recall pizzicato (“The Inspector Clouseau Theme,” “Baby Elephant Walk”). Bober does seem intent on raising the book’s difficulty level by including flourishes that occasionally lend an overly “loungy” flavor to the music, but she does an admirable job of capturing the various jazz styles in which Mancini writes, including stride piano for “Le Jazz
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Hot,” boogie-woogie for “Baby Elephant Walk,” and walking bass lines for “You and Me.” Give credit to both composer and arranger for creating an extremely enjoyable collection. With these new treatments, Mancini’s songs are—once again— ready for their close-ups. (Alfred, $12.99) J.S.
Romantic character pieces (S3) Album for the Young, Op. 39 by Pyotr Il ’yich Tchaikovsky, edited by Alexandre Dossin. Students do not frequently associate Tchaikovsky’s name with the solo piano repertoire. Yet the Romantic master composed several collections of short character pieces for solo piano, including Opp. 19, 21, and 51 (six pieces each); The Seasons, Op. 37b and Op. 40 (twelve pieces each); and Op. 72 (eighteen pieces). In fact, Album for the Young, Op. 39 was originally titled Children’s Album: Collection of Easy Pieces for Children in the Manner of Schumann, and Schumann’s influence is apparent in this set of twenty-four intermediate-level miniatures. This set contains various folk tunes, dances ( Waltz, Polka, Mazurka), and pieces based on children’s toys, including the well-known doll pieces (“The New Doll,” “The Doll’s Illness,” “The Doll’s Funeral”). These short works would be excellent as lesser-known recital gems, as supplementary lesson pieces for the intermediate student, or as good practice for sight-reading or analysis. Tchaikovsky’s textures tend to be orchestral at times, sparking the imagination of both student and teacher. The pieces in this edition have been edited and recorded on CD by Russiantrained performer Alexandre Dossin. The inclusion of incipits in the table of contents is a welcome addition. W hile Tchaikovsky’s original dynamics and articulation markings have been retained, Dossin has added fingerings (which would generally, but not always, be comfortable for a smallto-medium-sized hand), metronome markings, and some good suggestions for redistribution of notes between the hands. Unfortunately for most students and teachers, the editor almost completely avoids adding any pedaling suggestions. Dossin’s helpful performance notes are
descriptive, containing interesting historical background or comparisons to the composer’s great orchestral works. (Schirmer/Hal Leonard, $12.99 book with CD) V.C.M. (S4) 18 Characteristic Studies, Op. 109 by Johann Friedrich Burgmüller, edited by William Westney. It is always a pleasure to discover good performance editions of excellent teaching pieces. This attractive edition of Burgmüller’s Op. 109 is edited by veteran educator and performer William Westney, who also performs the pieces on the included CD. An outstanding German performer and teacher, Burgmüller published several sets of studies for the piano. Opp. 68, 76, 100, 105, and 109 are student-friendly etudes which also function as audience-pleasing character pieces. The 18 Characteristic Studies of Op. 109 are more difficult than the 25 Progressive Studies, Op. 100 (a collection which includes the popular Arabesque and Ballade), but are not as difficult as the compositions in Op. 105. Op. 109 contains popular miniatures such as “L es perles” (“Pearls”) and “L’orage” (“The Storm”) as well as charming recital pieces such as “Les bohémiens,” “La cloche des matines,” and “Les sylphes.” Although often written in a light, French salon style, some of the pieces in this collection are reminiscent of Schumann (“Confidence,” “Berceuse”) or Mendelssohn (“La sérénade,” “Le réveil dans les bois,” “Refrain du gondolier”). The compositions address technical skills such as passagework, rotation, voicing, and staccato touch in a style that is gratifying to both student and teacher. In this edition, the original French descriptive titles for each piece are retained. Westney’s thoughtful performance notes for each work contain helpful practice tips and excellent technical suggestions. His added fingerings are astute, metronome markings are appropriate, and pedaling suggestions are subjective at times but always effective. Further, Westney’s artistic and flexible performances elevate these works to a level beyond that of student etudes. This well-edited collection, particularly combined with the CD, makes an excellent addition to any teaching library. (Schirmer/Hal Leonard, book and CD $12.99) V.C.M. p
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CD & DVD Reviews Steven Hall, Editor
Steven Hall has a wide range of performing experience as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, and Taiwan. A German reviewer wrote, “He proved that he need not fear comparison with the greatest in his field.” He has released two compact discs featuring the Ibach piano on the ACA label. Hall completed his D.M.A. in Piano Performance as John Perry’s teaching assistant at the University of Southern California and is a founder and faculty member of the Brandeis Piano Conservatory in Dallas, Texas. He is the president of BPC Recording Company and serves on the boards of the Lennox International Young Artist Competition and the Dallas Music Teachers Association.
This issue’s contributors: Charles Asche is Senior Lecturer in Piano at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has performed as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician in the United States, Taiwan, South America, and Russia. Sarkis Baltaian has gained an international reputation as a concert pianist, chamber musician, recording artist, and pedagogue. Currently, he is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Pianist Minyoung Lee has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as a soloist and collaborative artist. She is currently Assistant Professor of Piano in Residence at the University of Connecticut. Denise Parr-Scanlin is an Assistant Professor of Piano at West Texas A&M University and teaches piano and chamber music at the Lutheran Summer Music Festival. She has performed and adjudicated in the U.S., Europe, and Asia and appears on the Naxos recording of the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Sam Jones. Roberta Rust is an American musician who enjoys a global career as classical pianist and pedagogue. She serves as piano department head at the Conservatory of Music at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Sin-Hsing Tsai is U.C. Foundation Associate Professor of Music at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She has performed and taught in Taiwan, China, Korea, Germany, Argentina, and the U.S., and her playing can be heard on the AUR label.
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To link directly to the respective websites of these recordings, please click anywhere on the text of the review CLAVIER COMPANION
COLLECTION Touch: The Toccata Project, Vol. 1 Philip Amalong, piano Albany Records Troy 1142 [Total Time 57:00] This CD showcases the infinite character and color palettes of nineteen American toccatas written after 1900. Amalong displays total command of the keyboard, exhibiting both effortless bravura and subtlety of expression. The glittering miniatures by Rorem, Fine, and Liebermann prove to be a stark contrast to the relentless toccatas by Hoiby, Lees, and Bastien. Cleverness and wit abound in Lewenthal’s paraphrase, Toccata alla Scarlatti. Along with the frequently recorded mainstream toccatas of Menotti and Muczynski, those of Antheil, Sowerby, and Lehman receive their premiere recording here. The Diemer and Harris represent performances exhibiting assurance and exquisite flexibility, while Amalong superbly choreographs the interplay between action and pauses in Persichetti’s three Toccatinas. Riegger’s Toccata, although the shortest piece, deserves the longest applause for its propelling force and satisfying power. This is an inspiring project, enticing listeners to join Amalong in the exploration of this uniquely varied repertoire. S.H.T.
COMPOSER
COMPOSER Brahms Murray Perahia, piano Sony Classical 88697794692 [Total Time 1:18:44]
Murray Perahia makes an authoritative statement with this all-Brahms CD featuring the Handel Variations, both Op. 79 Rhapsodies, and the late Piano Pieces, Opp. 118 and 119. Perahia delivers performances fueled by technical prowess, yet combined with a sensitivity of touch and a remarkably engaging musical vision. Although the instrument’s sound is recorded toward the transparent side, Perahia demonstrates ultimate pianistic control, his textures in the Handel Variations ranging from the clean Baroque style of playing in the Aria to the darker, richer sound in Variation Thirteen and the culminating organ approach in the closing fugue. His symphonic handling of the Op. 79 Rhapsodies is robust, managing to create an utterly different world in each contrasting section, and Perahia’s rendition of the lyrical Intermezzi in Opp. 118 and 119 is magical and completely in touch with the humanity of Brahms’s music. S.B.
COMPOSER
Piano Music by Manuel de Falla Jason Cutmore, piano Centaur Records CRC 2952 [Total Time 68:10]
Franz Schubert: The Last Three Sonatas Craig Sheppard, piano Roméo Records 7283-4 [Total Time 1:58:18]
Mr. Cutmore performs a great service in restoring to prominence this somewhat neglected music while showcasing his own colorful and refined artistry. Throughout these works, the wide spectrum of nuanced dynamics and colors is impressive. The warhorse “Danza ritual del fuego,” unfortunately, almost always eclipses the other movements of El amor brujo. Yet the enticing moment at the transition from “The Magic Circle” into “Ritual Fire Dance” is particularly effective. Cutmore is a pianist capable of evoking atmospheric and sonorous worlds in conjunction with the energetic dance rhythms inherent in this music, and these elements culminate in his definitive performance of Cuatro Piezas Españolas. Although an impressive collection overall, one might wish for a deeper understanding of the elusive and ineffable Andalusian-style recitatives of cante jondo; the declamatory and improvisatory aspects of these soulful and dramatic utterances seem a bit understated. C.A.
Sheppard leads us on a breathtaking journey through Schubert’s great-sonatas trilogy. Rather than overstate emotion with deep despair or understate it with lighthearted merriment, Sheppard truly captures Schubert’s innocent spontaneity and melancholy through impeccable pianism and musicianship. From the music’s propelling rhythmic thrusts to the most sensitive and delicate rubato, Sheppard’s rhythmic maneuvers reveal the infinite possibilities without any hint of mannerism. His subtle yet intriguing changes in articulation and pedaling keep listeners constantly engaged, even in the extended last movements of these sonatas. The shifts in mode and subsequent character changes are so clear that the music unfolds like a kaleidoscope. The B-flat major sonata in particular is filled with truly transcendent moments. As an experienced guide, Sheppard carefully selects tempos for each movement, and masterfully executes his organic transitions to make these drawn-out sonatas structurally tight, with the A-major sonata especially convincing. M.L. JULY/AUGUST 2011
COLLECTION
COMPOSER
COMPOSER
Twelve Nocturnes and a Waltz Robert Henry, piano Muuz Records B003HQ47SA [Total Time 74:24]
Haydn Piano Sonatas Andrew Rangell, piano Bridge Records Bridge 9313 [Total Time 68:17]
Got Gottschalk? Solo Piano Music of Moreau Gottschalk Anthony Olson, pianist Hestia Classical Records HCR 1452 [Total Time 74:37]
Robert Henry’s debut CD presents a collection of some of the best-known and beloved nocturnes as well as a few less familiar compositions. This recital of twelve nocturnes includes three by Chopin and a sampling of the genre by Field, Liszt, Respighi, Fauré, Grieg, Barber, and Liebermann. The CD notes state that the disc contains two world-premiere recordings: an overlooked beauty from the early-twentieth century, Alexei Stanchinsky’s Nocturne and the surprising thirteenth track, a transcription by Mr. Henry of Waltz for the Lonely by renowned guitarist Chet Atkins. While the CD title and context may more likely prepare the listener for a closing waltz by, say, Chopin or Schubert, the inclusion of this tune by a country-music icon is a fresh turn and a fitting close to the program. Mr. Henry’s performances are finely nuanced and paced, and the Fauré is especially appealing. D.P.S.
In this assortment of Haydn’s cherished sonatas, Rangell’s laudable performance of the Sonata in C Minor, No. 33 projects both an intimate and overt drama present in the work—both clothed within a crystalline shell. This CD was recorded in two sessions, and there is a remarkable difference in the sound quality of the Hamburg Steinway and the recording techniques utilized for No. 33 compared to the 2008 recorded sound quality of Sonatas 32, 50, and 56. Throughout, Rangell strays from a purist approach, evidenced by his abundant use of pedal and unusual accents. Sturm und Drang-related and artistic liberties occasionally lead to some rather indecipherable metric moments. Additionally, there are some fascinating personal interpolations and alterations to the score in the other sonatas; most notably in the second movement of Sonata No. 56, where Rangell integrates a reverse parody of themes from Beethoven’s Op. 10, No. 3. C.A.
Gottschalk’s music ranges from tediously repetitive banality to wonderful entertainment. On this disc, Olson has organized the works into four chapters, beginning with Influences of New Orleans African-American Rhythms. The West Indian pieces from Syncopations of the Caribbean Sea are convincing. Standout works in Music of the American Frontier are The Banjo and The Union, a paraphrase of patriotic panache in which Olson sensitively renders the national anthem. Performances of note from Concert and Salon Music include the polka Rayons d’Azur and nuanced lyrical sections in The Carnival of Venice. Overall however, Olson frequently lacks the spontaneity and vigor necessary for this repertoire to fully take flight, and his literal approach to the score does little to dispel the predictability of this music. The ill-tuned piano, with its weak upper register, creates an aural ambience that Gottschalk’s audiences may have experienced at his concerts in nineteenth-century America. R.R.p
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News & Notes MTNA award goes to 3-D Piano The DVD Series 3-D Piano: The Three-Dimensional Pianist is the 2011 recipient of the MTNA Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award. Created by filmmaker Richard Breyer and artistteacher Fred Karpoff, the six-disc series in documentary style presents Karpoff instructing twelve piano students in “interdependent technique.” According to the program’s website, “3-D Piano describes the graceful, efficient usage of the whole body to play the piano in three-dimensions” and presents concepts including the Quiet Hand, Rotational Mobility of the Hips, Continuous Alignment Adjustments, and Three-Dimensional Shaping. For more about the program, visit the program’s website at http://3-dpiano.com/.
The Achievement Program debuts Carnegie Hall and The Royal Conservatory of Music have jointly announced the Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory Achievement Program (The Achievement Program). The program is based on the curriculum and assessment system of The Royal Conservatory and offers instruction in repertoire, technique, musical literacy, and musicianship as well as pedagogical resources. Teachers and students can participate in The Achievement Program anywhere in the United States. Assessments for students of all ages are currently available in ninety American locations, with the number of locations expected to grow as the program develops. For registration information, including details of fees, materials, and locations, visit www.theachievementprogram.org.
Summer is here Traveling? Looking for concert, opera, or ballet tickets? The website music-opera.com provides a database of over 48,000 upcoming performances. At the site, the busy traveler can book tickets, learn about 800 venues in forty countries, receive personalized booking advice, read about composers and artists, and more. Fo r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e s e r v i c e , g o t o www.music-opera.com.
Going to New York? If you’re traveling to the Big Apple this summer, be on the lookout for free concerts. Multiple venues offer chamber music, opera, symphonic music, and jazz at no cost. For more information, visit www.newyorkled.com/nyc_events_Free_Concerts.htm. p
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Pupil Savers Music that will stick with your students Peanut Butter Rag (Alfred) by Catherine Rollin is an addictive intermediate-level solo. Students are immediately intrigued by the tasty title, and once they hear this easygoing rag in C major they are hooked. Rollin packs gobs of lighthearted fun into only two pages. The opening pattern of straight eighth notes in melodic sixths prepares the hand and the ear for the main theme. A poco ritard and fermata set off the introduction, measures 1-4.
The left hand never spans more than an octave, so there are none of the worries of missing the large jumps often associated with ragtime music. The right-hand syncopation is repetitive, but never boring: it easily fits the hand and is a snap to memorize.
Notice the clever use of a descending C-major scale in the top voice of the right hand, as seen in measures 5-8.
The eight-measure B section beginning at measure 21 uses the same material as the A section, but centers on F. Busy students appreciate having the da capo with a short coda instead of a third or fourth page of music to learn.
This spirited rag is a delight. Students truly find this piece hard to put down, and I enjoy playing it as much as they do. p —Carmen Doubrava
The Piano as Orchestra W hen I first listened to pianist Tina Faigen’s CD performance of “Soave sia il vento,” I thought the Mozart transcription was played by two pianists. When I asked arranger Robert Schultz about this phenomenon, he said, “Look at the music.” The Così fan tutte aria is found in the second edition of 24 Piano Transcriptions of Classical Masterpieces (Alfred). Providing advanced students and concert-level pianists both recital repertoire and an opportunity to develop strength of technique, expression, and musicality, Schultz has succeeded in his aim of producing an orchestral sound from the piano. Swirling, soaring thirds set the scene in the first three measures of the Mozart:
The pianist must use the right hand as two dynamic entities to delineate an undertone of churning sounds that depict strings while bringing a deep tonal presence to the melody in single notes and then in sixths. Schultz briefly switches the undertone to the left hand, then moves into a filled-octave melody in the right. At measure 22, the steady background movement divides itself between the lower fingers of the right hand and the upper fingers of the left hand. JULY/AUGUST 2011
Masterful, technical, and demanding, this Mozart piano transcription, well done, will be a delight to all who are fortunate enough to hear it. Each transcription in this collection is tasteful, as is Faigen’s accompanying CD. Hats off to Alfred Music Publishing for giving advanced pianists and audiences the opportunity to have this collection in their music libraries and their performance repertoires! p —Myra Brooks-Turner
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Keyboard Kids’ Companion Created by Teachers
Approved by Kids
Crossword Puzzle—Summery Summary
R
eview the past school year’s issues of Keyboard Kids’ Companion to solve this puzzle. See the solution on page 69.
1.
2.
3.
J. S. Bach
4.
7.
5.
6.
8. 10.
Antonio Vivaldi
12.
ACROSS 3. Theodor Leschetizky was impressed by Julius Schulhoff’s smooth ____ sound. (May/June 2011) 4. In 1768, J.C. ______ gave the first solo piano performance in public. (Sept/Oct 2010) 6. Winner of the first International Tchaikovsky Competition. (July/August 2011) 7. “Father of the Modern Symphony.” (Nov/Dec 2010) 8. Researchers at Northwestern University report playing a musical instrument can help kids stay on _______ in school. (Jan/Feb 2011) 11. Best way to review pieces: as though they are _______. (March/April 2011) 12. Inventor of a recording machine; invited 4-Down to make first piano recording. (Sept/Oct 2010) 68
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Leschetizky
9. 11. Carl Czerny
DOWN 1. ________ of crickets chirping changes with temperature. (July/August 2011) 2. Baroque composer of The Four Seasons. (Nov/Dec 2010) 4. Invited by inventor in 7-Across to make first piano recording. (Sept/Oct 2010) 5. Tel Aviv Medical Center says premature babies who hear music can ____ faster. (March/April 2011) 6. Leschetizky worked to copy this sound from Julius Schulhoff. (May/June 2011) 9. Austrian composer who studied with Beethoven. He also taught Liszt and Beethoven’s nephew. (Jan/Feb 2011) 10. Eighty-three percent of adults who earn $150,000+ had some _______education. (Sept/Oct 2010) JULY/AUGUST 2011
Did you know...
T
that the music of crickets can tell us about the weather?
lower or higher?
6: CLIBURN 12: EDISON
● When crickets slow down, is the pitch of their chirp
CROSSWORD ANSWERS
4: BACH 11: NEW
perature drops?
Presto, tell a friend how fast the crickets chirp at each temperature!
ACROSS: 3. LEGATO 7: HAYDN 8: TASK
● Are the cricket chirps slower or faster when the tem-
● Using the music tempo indications Largo, Allegro, and
DOWN: 1. SPEED 2: VIVALDI 4: BRAHMS 9: CZERNY 10: MUSIC 6: CANTABILE
his phenomenon, called Dolbear’s Law, was discovered by American physicist and inventor Amos Dolbear in 1897. The Snowy Tree Cricket (Oecanthus fultoni) is the most accurate weather predictor, but any cricket will help you do the job. Here are the tools you need for this summertime weather experiment using music in nature: stopwatch or wrist watch with a second hand, pencil and paper, a chirping cricket. 1. Listen for a chirping cricket. Count how many chirps you hear in 15 seconds. 2. Add that number of chirps to 37. This number will be very close to the temperature in Farenheit. Bonus Experiment: Listen to the crickets chirping several different times during the day and night. Each time after you calculate the temperature, make a sound or video recording of the chirping, and announce on the recording the time and temperature. When you play back your recording, think about the following:
Happy Birthday!
Vladimir Ashkenazy . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 6, 1937 . . . . .Russian pianist and conductor
Gustav Mahler . . . . . . . . . . .July 7, 1860 . . . . .Austrian composer and conductor
Harvey Lavan “Van” Cliburn . . . .July 12, 1934 . . . .American pianist who won first Tchaikovsky Claude Debussy
International Piano Competition
. . . . . . . . . .August 22, 1862 . .French composer
Leonard Bernstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .August 25, 1918 . .American composer, pianist, and conductor Itzhak Perlman . . . . . . . . . . .August 31, 1945 . .American violinist born in Israel
Keyboard Kids’ Companion ©Clavier Companion 2011 JULY/AUGUST 2011
Helen Smith Tarchalski, Editor
Reprint permission granted exclusively for Clavier Companion subscribers and their students
July/August 2011
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Advertiser Index 3-D Piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 www.3-dpiano.com Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 www.alfred.com American School of Piano Tuning . . . . . . . 70 www.piano-tuning.com Burt & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 www.burtnco.com FJH Music Publishing. . inside front cover, 39 www.fjhmusic.com Faber Music Piano Adventures. . . . . . . . . . 13 www.alfred.com/fabermusic The Frederick Harris Music Co., Ltd. . . . . 51 www.frederickharrismusic.com G. Henle Verlag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 www.halleonard.com G. Schirmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 www.halleonard.com Gina Bachauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 www.bachauer.com Harmony Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 www.harmonyroadmusic.com Hutchins & Rea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 www.hutchinsandrea.com Kawai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside back cover www.kawai.com
Keys To Imagination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 www.keystoimagination.com KITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 www.keynotetheory.com MTNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 www.mtna.org
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www.pianostepstosuccess.com Piano Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 www.pianostreet.com Piano Wellness Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 www.pianowellnessseminar.com
Music Bag Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 www.musicbagpress.com Music Educator’s Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . 72 www.musicedmarket.com Music for Young Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 www.myc.com
PianoArts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 www.pianoarts.org Pianofonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 www.pianofonics.com The Royal Conservatory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 www.theachievementprogram.org
Music Perceptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 www.musicperceptions.com MusicLearningCommunity.com. . . . . . . . . 38 www.MusicLearningCommunity.com Nat’l Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. . 71 www.FrancesClarkCenter.org Nazareth College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 www.naz.edu/music The Novus Music Group . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25 www.NVmusicgroup.com Piano Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 www.pianoexplorer.net
Steinway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . back cover www.steinway.com Teaching Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 800-873-3043 Well-Balanced Pianist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 www.WellBalancedPianist.com WholeMusicLessons.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 www.WholeMusicLessons.com Yellow Cat Publishing, LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . 54 www.yellowcatpublishing.com Zenph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 www.zenph.com
Piano Life Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 www.pianolifesaver.com
PIANO TUNING PAYS: Train at home to become a qualified piano technician with American School of Piano Tuning complete homestudy course. Tools included. 800-497-9793.
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Piano Steps to Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
TEACHING SKILLS: A complete guide for piano teachers. Topics for teaching beginners through preparing an advanced student to present a solo recital. “How to” strategies. Major authorities of piano pedagogy cited. Forward by Dr. Paul Pollei, founder of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. $15.95 Intellectual Pub. Co. 800873-3043 Fax: 936-271-4560 JULY/AUGUST 2011
Questions & Answers Louise L. Goss Q. I understand that you believe in swinging, clapping, and tapping as methods for developing rhythmic security in young students. Please suggest the ways in which you use each modality in your own teaching. A. All three methods are invaluable ways in which to develop rhythmic security in young students. All are equally important, but each has its own special value and purpose. Swinging is a sure-fire way to develop students’ awareness of steady pulse. When students allow their arms to become pendulums, swinging with what we call a “free-arm swing” from as high as they can reach on the right side of the body to as far as they can reach on the left side of the body, they are experiencing pulse with their entire bodies. As this arm-pendulum becomes free and steady, you will notice that students unconsciously begin to move with their whole bodies, shifting weight from foot to foot as they swing. Later we change to “swing and count,” swinging the pulse while counting the rhythm. Aside from walking, running or dancing to rhythm, swinging is the largest physical activity students can have, and we always go back to it when a new note value or rhythmic pattern is introduced. In all swinging, the arm keeps track of the metric pulse, not of note values or rhythm patterns. In clapping, the pulse is felt while the note values or rhythmic patterns are clapped. Clapping, therefore, is the next step in rhythmic refinement; because students feel the rhythmic patterns with their hands, it is muscularly one step closer to playing. Clapping is always done while standing up, so the pulse can be felt in the whole body—arms hanging loosely, elbows free, motions large. When clapping a rest, students separate their hands with a rhythm gesture of opening, while they whisper the counts. Tapping is very much like clapping but is yet another step closer to actually playing. Again the pulse is felt, while the notes or rhythmic patterns are tapped. Tapping can be done on a table, keyboard cover, or piano bench. The hand and arm should be free, and the tapping is done with a light bounce of the fingertips. Right-hand notes are tapped with the right hand, left-hand notes with the left hand; staccato notes are tapped as short as
possible, legato notes as smoothly as possible; accents are tapped with extra stress; moves up or down the keyboard are actually tapped on a higher or lower part of the table or keyboard cover; and dynamic levels are expressed with greater or lesser pressure. Whereas clapping is an important preparatory step in learning new rhythms, tapping is a basic practice tool in working out new music. Tapping is one of the best aids I know for developing coordination between the hands, and I consider it one of the most essential rhythm practice steps.
Q. One of my students is an intelligent boy who understands rhythmic notation, yet he seems unable to play his music with real rhythmic security. I never assign a piece until he has proved he can point and count the rhythm, both accurately and with a feeling of strong rhythmic pulse. Can you tell me what step I am missing? A. Without knowing your student, it is impossible to speak with real certainty about this difficulty. But here are four ideas, which may help you find the answer to his problem. 1. Understanding an element doesn’t necessarily mean being able to perform it. 2. The first playing of a new piece is the most important step in the learning process. 3. It is easier to feel the rhythm of a piece at a moderately fast tempo than at the slow, secure tempo required for a first reading. 4. Rhythmic control is closely related both to reading and to technique. To apply these four ideas to your student’s problem, I suggest that when you assign new music, you not only hear him count the rhythm out loud, but also ask him to play and count (at least part of the piece) so slowly that there can’t be any errors. In this first very slow reading, you may make one or more very important discoveries about your student. He may be unable to feel the rhythmic relationships at a slow tempo. You may find that the music you have assigned is too difficult for him to read with real rhythmic security, even at a slow tempo. Or, you may learn that he can read the notes and rhythms, but he lacks the necessary technique to play the piece. In this case, what seem to be rhythmic problems may actually be technical problems. The only way to be sure which of these issues is your student’s problem is to work out new pieces with him at the lesson so that you can observe what goes wrong in the first reading. Perhaps the solution will lie in selecting easier music, or in emphasizing some skill you may have been neglecting. p
Louise L. Goss is a co-founder, along with Frances Clark, of The New School for Music Study in Princeton, NJ. She is an author and editor of the Music Tree series and the Frances Clark Library for Piano Students. She currently serves as the Chair of the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. 72
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