Monday, September 15, 2014

Angela Hewitt

Angela Hewitt, a Canadian born pianist is one of my favorites.  Here is a youtube.com link to her comments about slow practice.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPv_5VHlHUs

Interestingly, slow practice goes hand and hand with patience.  That basically means that I don't like to do much of it.  When I was younger slow practice, to me, meant that something was wrong with me and wrong with my playing.  That was somewhat short sighted on my part.  Ms. Hewitt does comment that you should play a very fast piece slowly and also play a very slow piece quickly.  You can think of it as sort of being and exercise for your mind.

I guess (and I am no expert) but slow practice points out the flaws in the piece.  Going at a slower speed allows you to hear what you are doing wrong and to correct it.   AAAAARGH as Charlie Brown would say when Lucy pulled the football away from him.  I guess that gigantic sigh of relief also applies to slow practice.

Even though we have all heard of the benefits of slow practice, it always bears repeating.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

The fermata!
 - A hold or pause sign that indicates a note should be held longer than its normal duration.

Why have I been thinking about the fermata today?  Well quite simply I am working on Chopin's Etude in E Major which he composed for his friend Franz Liszt.  On page 4 of the etude there is a passage described with con bravura in the measure.  The notes are crazy sevenths that test one's patience beyond any reasonable level of understanding.

When I dream about playing this etude in a drawing room with a fire place, I think that when I reach the end of the etude on page 5, that I should hold the final e g and e g for ever.  In other words I should hold those final notes as if there were a fermata on top, so I will have the time to realize what I accomplished in getting to the end of this wonderful piece.

Which leads me to one additional thought about fermatas.  Every year from 7 to 18 I participated in a yearly piano recital.  Each year, I seemed to play with more polish than in years past.  However when I got to the end of the piece, I often seemed to play the last note and jump off the piano in sheer relief.  Relief that I got through the blasted sonata, invention or nocturne.  Or relief,that I could finally take a couple of weeks off and play music from my various "Beatles" books.

Some times when I think about the fermata, I think about it in terms of work.  Perhaps when I am doing a presentation I should pause, sort of holding that thought, and give the people I am speaking to the time to digest what I have said, before I jump to the next topic.

I remember hearing Jean Yves Thibaudet at the Ohio Theatre one time.  He had the ability to play and linger on the last note, which gave you time to think about all he had accomplished, and of course to look at his red socks.  He has a wonderful Debussy CD which is life changing actually, so I would suggest buying it very soon.

My daughter Sarah while in the Bishop Watterson High School, had a button that said "hold me I'm a fermata"  Good advice I think!

Madeline Karn

"No excellence can be acquired without constant practice."  These were the words of actress Judi Dench in Pride and Prejudice (the Kiera Knightley version)  as Ms. Knighley played the piano.  Truer words were never spoken!.  Which brings me to my thoughts about my current piano teacher.

Madeline Karn first and fore most is a fine pianist.  She is also an Oberlin graduate, which speaks volume about her ability as a pianist and musician.  Madeline was also my daughter Sarah's only piano teacher, and Sarah is not rhythmically challenged today because of Madeline.

Madeline was also a friend of Earl Wild, one of the finest American pianists.  His influence on the world of piano is still strong today, as many budding artists and amateur pianists play his wonderful transcriptions.  There will be more about Mr. Wild in a future blog post, but take a look at the story of his life in A Walk on the Wild Side.  Also his recordings are available through Ivory Classics.

However, back to Madeline.  I think when someone is truly in love with the piano, it just shows.  For instance, when you enter Madeline's house, she literally has all of her music in book shelves.  It reminds me of a professor at Oxford, who cannot part with any classic literature.  One of the things I have learned about playing the piano, is when your teacher marks your music, and/or makes suggestions, you have those suggestions for ever.  So, you can refer back to those markings as reminders about how you can play a piece better.

Madeline also has her originally theory/rhythm books, which she uses with you to figure out rhythmic patterns.  Usually the approach to figure out a rhythmic pattern is to clap out the beat.  It seems and sounds elementary but it truly works.  It also can make you crazy!

Madeline can also play very well!  I had the opportunity to hear her play several years ago at a Women in Music concert and it was very affirming to know that her technique and musicality were actually quite amazing!.

Madeline has never given up on her students.  I guess she could retire and sit around listening to Horowitz CDs but instead she keeps focused on her students.  There is a certain amount of sheer discipline that is required to teach the fundamentals of piano to others.  Madeline has that discipline!!!  She also loves teaching adults, which is somewhat comforting when you are coming back to the instrument after many years or starting for the very first. time.

You have a very personal relationship with a piano teacher, which is actually very rewarding.  Madeline has been a great confidant and friend, and I enjoy my time learning new things about the piano with her.  She also didn't talk me out of working on Rhapsody in Blue.  I bought the piece when I was 12 and now I am actually learning it.  It will never be at concertizing stage, but I can dream.

Who knows 10,000 hours for Gershwin's number one may be all I need!