From the Practice Files, episode 8
- Jacqueline Whittemore
Welcome back! Last month, I explored the benefits of group classes and music camps. Today, instead of diving into a new topic of my own, I decided to share my favorite pearls I collected from the stand-out faculty at this year’s Tennessee Cello Workshop. Budding pianists, do not despair – I have focused on pearls that equally apply to piano!
Much like proverbs, these observations (hopefully) will provide you value individually, as opposed to generating a single arching theme. As such, they are grouped by the faculty from whom I gleaned them instead of my attempting to force them into a single narrative structure. Enjoy!
Mr. Kouzov seemed particularly adept at quickly reading the student’s personality and adapting his communication style, such that he was tender and quiet with the intimidated yet more bracing and directly intellectually challenging with the confident or assertive student. He also gave me my favorite quote while challenging a student to pursue greater structure in a piece, “What’s so dramatic about C major?” I did not laugh out loud but I almost pulled a muscle holding it in!
- For the most effective performance, it is essential to know the whole If you do not know the other instruments’ parts, you cannot understand who ‘owns’ the main voice at any time and acquit it well. For example, when the piano develops the 16th notes in the Beethoven Sonata #3, it is the cellist’s responsibility to reflect those notes in the vibrato of her sustained notes. Harmonies should be played with the same love and care as solo phrases. In short, each instrumentalist must have the situational awareness to support the composer’s vision of the tone/vibe/narrative flow of the piece and allow the acoustic focus to shift from instrument to instrument to support it.
- Breathe into the tempo as you play. Doing so will loosen the bowhold of the stringed performer, causing relaxation in to sink into the string and opening the vibrancy and color of the sound. It similarly will impact the way the pianist’s fingers interact with the keys, allowing for more nuance and variety in notes evoked.
- Feel the pulsing of the rhythm under individual notes, more akin to a heartbeat than a simple metronome. There are no ‘static’ notes in a piece – they are always imbued with energy and moving with intent and direction.
- Practice phrasing without scored ornamentation to understand the flow/resolve. Once this is truly known and embraced, ornaments can be slipped into place, like candied violets on a cake.
- Notice when you get tense during a piece, then break the section down to see what is triggering it. Is it uncertainty about the notes, phrasing gone awry, awkward fingering, or something else?
- Once you know a piece well and have been practicing a bit without music, revisit the score to refresh your understand of markings. They create the musical story. Take time to compare practice recordings to the score to see where you are not honoring the composer’s intentions in phrasing, pacing, etc.
Of the faculty, Dr. Loewenheim reminded me most of Abraham Sutzkever’s quote, “If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.” He worked effortlessly with small children to unearth sophisticated play. He was unflinching about teaching healthy ergonomics, instead of tolerating contortionist postures, and he was a fount of direct quotes.
- “We are still human beings. Making mistakes is okay.”
- Good posture for good sound! Music is for a lifetime – take care with ergonomics so you can go the distance.
- If a piece doesn’t sound right after a few days (which is different from playing it perfectly), stop to see if it is a fingering problem. Think in positions – not notes. All pieces have the same positions, just different patterns of notes.
- “Practicing isn’t sitting and doing the same thing over and over. Practicing is solving problems.” Think and then apply so you spend less time and accomplish more.
- Be thoughtful about shifts so you avoid them on fast notes. You can be intestinal and passionate!
- Learning to be a good cellist (pianist, etc) provides a frame to apply to life. “Cello is a model for life. Orchestra is a model for society.”
We did not have as many opportunities to observe Ms. Greer’s classes, which was a shame. She has remarkable skill in devoting her full attention to the student, drinking in their performances, and then sharing suggestions with a sneaky mixture of simple analogies (‘clock tower bell’ sound, big gray blob, etc.) and highly technical terms (appoggiatura, etc.). I look forward to sharing more pearls from her in the future!
- Sing the song, whether aloud or in your head, as you play. This will help you truly integrate phrasing and mood.
- Take time to listen for ‘punctuation’ in pieces. In the picture, Ms. Grier is teaching the students to lean back when encountering commas, lest the piece become a dizzying run-on sentence.
- Take time to check the tempo on the score – not just what you hear in others’ recordings. Then work to align your playing to the composer’s tempo so you truly understand the mood and structure of the piece.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not note how well Dr. Wesley Baldwin and Dan Alcott acquitted themselves. However, my favorite pearls do not translate well to non-string instruments. To ensure this column’s tips are translational across instruments, I have elected to hold the majority of them back aside. I leave you with this tasty quote from Dr. Baldwin (which did trigger my undignified chortling), “It’s chaotic… and dangerous!” regarding placing fingers on the strings at the time the note is played, instead of in the gap just beforehand.