ecarroll

TMers,

Many of you have are facing new projects and recitals in 2007. Others might only be practicing etudes in an effort to stay in shape. Whatever it is that you’re working on I hope that you’re plowing new musical ground and that 2007 will be an enjoyable year. . .

Each of you has a method of attack when learning a new piece. The below is mine.

I believe that there are six levels of listening when preparing new repertoire and recommend that you tackle them in this order (please note that levels 1 – 4 are objective – subject to the standards of your ear-- and levels 5 & 6 are subjective – subject to the performer’s imagination):


1) Decipher the rhythms
This work should be done off the horn. Take whatever time is necessary to wrap your brain and ear completely around every rhythm – even the simple ones. I expect my students to take days staring at the score of Sequenza X to completely understand each cell before tackling the next step. This goes for a Charlier etude as well (days might become a single hour, but you get my drift).

2) Add the notes
Make sure that each interval is properly heard before playing it. Slow and patient intervallic practice will mean fewer missed notes later on.

3) Add the dynamics
Don’t be afraid to play really soft in piano and really loud in forte. You’re imprinting the music every time you play it and if you play everything at mezzo piano your performance will be mezzo unlistenable.

4) Add the editorial
Carefully add details such as accents, articulations, crescendi/diminuendi, etc. The composer took the time to attempt to notate what (s)he heard while composing the piece. It’s vital to respect every bit of notation. Please take a moment to translate verbal instructions. They’re from the source!

5) Add yourself
This is where your own imagination joins the fray and the fun begins. What sort of color will you add to a particular line or phrase? Are you making a statement or asking a question? Will you play with a straight tone or add vibrato? How wide is your personal dynamic range? How clear are your articulations? How long will a fermata be held, etc. Your choices cannot be questioned if you’re fully committed to them.

6) Listen to where you are in the piece
Every composition, even a short etude, has shape. Be aware of the armature that the notes are hanging from and convey the shape of that line (or where you are compositionally) to the audience.

I'm anxious to hear your methods of preparation as well. Comments?

Best wishes and happy new year!
EC

Qman

EC,

Thanks for your help I really dig your insights into preparation. i These are some of the things my teachers is talking me about--I am preparing for grad school auditions. Although this is infered in #1 but I would add harmony. Know harmony-I have found that being able to solfege the whole piece is the first step in not cacking notes. Harmony will help with solfege and understanding pitch relationships via harmonic and melodic
intonation etc.

Thanks for the very wise advise.

Be Well,

Quincy Ream

ecarroll

Quincy,

Are you the Quincy that's studying with Rich Stoelzel at GVSU?

If so, hello again and welcome to TM!

Best,
EC

TrentAustin

Very cool post, Ed!

Do you practice new pieces in tempo but slowly or one-note-at-a-time when you're practicing it for the first time?

Does this make sense?

-T

ecarroll

Trent,

In my opinion the slower the better, amigo. Hakan does the same, even before playing something as common as the Haydn Concerto. It gives the ears and brain a chance to synchronize with the blow and time for a fresh plan to formulate.

Then. . . you just play it.

Best,
EC

Qman

EC,

Yup I am the Quincy that studied with Stoelzel. I finished my BM last April. Now, if he will let me say it, I am studying with Stephen Burns. Thanks for the welcome-I have been a big fan of this website and your column for along time. It is really really truly great convsersing with people(experts) that are on the forefront of new music. I DIG IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Half tempo is awesome- think that is the way to learn pieces! One can observe so many things. For instance, bad breathing habits-lazy fingers-gives you a chance to solidify pitch in your head and what is coming out the bell...etc.

Long live free communication!!!

Best,

Quincy

trumpetmike

Ed, many thanks for this - do you mind if I print it out for each of my students?

It certainly rings true as the way I approach the more contemporary pieces.

Whilst at university my teacher had an evil way of working with us - if a piece (or study or even a scale) went wrong - he would make us play it slower. If it still went wrong, it would go slower again.
His phrasing was that you should go "so slow, you can't go wrong."
It was one of those phrases that you prayed not to hear in any lesson, it was usually followed by a period of time where your playing would go from bad to worse and what was once a semiquaver would now be being played at the tempo of a minim!
(16th notes becoming half notes, for our US readers)

I know use the same phrase with my students (especially the more advanced ones) and they have learnt to loathe it as much as I did

ecarroll

TMike,

Print away. You're more than welcome to reproduce any of the drivel that I post here...

As for loathing preparation with slow tempi, I think that I understand. We live in societies with increasingly short attention spans and "want it all NOW". I do believe, however, in the old adage of the tortoise and the hare when it comes to musical preparation. My students have come to understand that they learn music more quickly when they work in this fashion -- and it stays with them far longer. Two pluspoints in my book.

Best wishes for 2007 and hoist a few for me,
EC

Alex Yates

I also want to thank you for posting this Ed. GREAT stuff. I will be printing it out as well.

Yes, slower is better. When you are not comfortable with a phrase or tricky section in a piece, always strip it down the gradient scale to something you can do and then build up to what is actually written. That has been a rule of thumb for me (and my students) for years. They always roll their eyes or get flustered just when I ask them to slow things down because they realize dissection is coming! LOL. Patience with the process and with ourselves is something we never stop learning it seems.

Tootsall

As my grade 11 typing teacher often said "Speed comes with accuracy, accuracy NEVER comes with speed".