A week without piano (Sort of)

Many of my students I missed last week. Well, we had an awesome vacation! Swimming in the Columbia river, playing Glow-in-the-dark tag and a 100 ft. long slip'n'slide, cabins, firelight sings, encouragement in the Holy Scriptures, bike jumps and loads of friends, unlimited Slurpees and great food... There was a horrendous piano at the lodge that had real ivory keys of all dirty shades of brown, several of which were either broken or completely missing, and original hammers that had to be at least 100 years old. (Probably the original tuning too!) We didn't practice much even if we had the time, inclination and the books! There is some point at which making your kids practice on something like that is a bit much. But one girl at camp spent five hours over two days playing the first three measures of Fur Elise over and over that another girl at camp had taught her. Wish I were kidding...

...Actually, I wish I were her teacher! :) With patience motivation and determination like that, she'd go really far!

Listening I enjoyed this week (on the road trip!): Pletnev Plays Bach-Busoni Chaconne

and here is where that Chaconne come from: it is a very famous Violin Solo piece from Bach's Violin Sonata in D minor, and Maxim Vengerov plays it- this is more a memorial than a concert.

Then after we came home late Friday, I taught six piano lessons yesterday, then we climbed to the top of Mount Si.

OK, I'll admit it: I never have any week without piano!

Music Insider Jokes: Famous Cell Phone Ringtone

This is the Nokia Ring Tone set in Fugal Counterpoint.

Marc Andre Hamelin's take on the same ring tone

This ringtone was ripped off from this wonderful waltz by Tarrega.

So What's A Conductor For?

Conducting music is fascinating to do and fascinating to watch. When you feel the baton come down and an orchestra beautifully wakes up the air according to the point in time that you chose, there is a thrill about that! Watching it almost seems like there is something magic about the little stick that makes it all come together.

There are many beautiful examples of fine conducting.

Kimbo Ishiieto (but you know there is another person here I love to watch and hear!)

I enjoy how this conductor brought to life to the orchestral music in this concerto. Normally Chopin concerto orchestra music tends to just get swept along by the piano without that much to say, but here they support the soloist musically like they really mean it.

The other two movies that go with this are here and here

This is Barenboim conducting- and is so powerful and unique.

There are many examples of conducting that are funny.

Sebastian the Cyber Conductor

Jonathan the three year old conductor (I LOVE him right about minute 2:03!)

The remarkable thing about this child is more than his timing, knowledge of the music and appreciation and understanding: He actually treats the baton beautifully- he has absorbed through observation some manner of handling the thing like a real conductor- I hope when he goes for conducting lessons as he inevitably will someday, that the though of right ways and wrong ways to do things won't knock the spontaneity out of him. A little research proves he'll be fine!

Goodness, yes. More

Now we're just getting silly:

Beethoven's 5th-Atkinson style

More along that same vein

And even a lighter example of conducting- Tom and Jerry!

But what is a conductor for?

The conductor makes a lot of business and musical decisions before that concert ever begins, months before, in preparation for each concert. The conductor's responsibility is to make one musician out of an orchestra by knowing all parts to the music, not just the part of one instrument. The conductor can also act as a type of musical ambassador to the public and a kind of guide of the group as a whole, to make decisions on performances and choosing repertory. Conductors really have to be complete and thorough musicians, having strong leadership qualities to be able to conduct rehearsals effectively and to be able to convincingly direct the speed, the volume and the emotional message that the musicians need to cohesively deliver.

In a concert and in rehearsal, musicians depend on cues from the conductor for dynamics and tempo. The baton patterns show meter and also show just the right moment for the orchestra to begin chords all together and when to close off long notes so the orchestra does not sound like a bunch of confused people with no plan or direction. Most professional orchestras can do just fine without the conductor in most works actually, but with strong leadership, they themselves can really feel a difference in the energy, accuracy and emotional output of the performance. The movements of the baton are just a little piece of the whole picture, just like the moment on the stage is just a part of being a musician. Sometimes it's easy to miss the importance of a conductors since they don't play an instrument in the orchestra- well- actually sometimes the soloist does conduct a concerto. But maybe this post helps explain parts of the huge leadership role the conductor has.

Student Performance - 6 years old

Here is a six year old student of mine who was recently honored at an EMTA recital in Bellevue WA. He has studied with me from the beginning and this recital happened after 6 months of study. The repertory is an Early English Sonatina by William Duncombe and the ever-popular Clowns by Dmitri Kabalevsky.

I hope to post more student performances soon- Stay tuned!

Favorite Music #2

I don't know if this should actually go under the heading of Favorite Music: This is the Scariest Piece I have ever heard: Right Here. Prokofiev's Toccata Op. 11, played by Vladimir Horowitz. (Also Martha Argerich, I believe, but Horowitz really does it for me.) Prokofiev liked Horowitz's rendition. Prokofiev is one of those rare composers whose music actually has made me cry. I don't really like or expect to be affected that much, and I admire the work of someone whose music can elicit such a strong reaction.

Here is another take on it. Silly Dog Plays Toccata... (OK, that's Just For Fun!) To me the piece sounds like a Black Hawk Helicopter coming over the horizon to serve up some destruction, not a hyper cocker spaniel in a tuxedo pawing at a keyboard- but maybe that's what makes it so funny.

Hilarious Introduction to the Metronome

The metronome is a very handy tool for measuring a regular beat, guiding practice, giving yourself very strict standards for your pulse and also scaring the living daylights out of your cat. A friend forwarded me this funny video. I have never listened to it with the sound on, but just watching it made me laugh.

Metronome use does help your practice! A student of mine recently had two lessons on two consecutive days. He plays Abram Chasin's Rush Hour in Hong Kong from Three Chinese Pieces and on Monday it sounded okay- he got through it with some minor hesitations. We had a lesson on it, and the next day he came back with a completely different Rush Hour. He was playing energetically with flashy dynamics and had rock solid pulse. "Please tell the rest of the world your secret to such success!" I exclaimed, " To make that much progress in 24 hours is really something!" "I practiced with the metronome," he replied. Then five days later he performed it beautifully in recital.

I shouldn't guarantee that same success, I suppose, but wow, I know it sure has helped me control and organize my practice. I can set a goal for myself and strive to make it, gradually bringing up my tempo in an orderly way. And all of my students who have practiced with the metronome have certainly reaped the benefits. Too much metronome practice can take away the natural breath of the piece, so an understanding of the natural flow of the piece is also important.

Need to buy a metronome? I recommend a quartz metronome and not an annoying beepy digital one. I like a metronome that has all the original numbers series like 6o, 63, 66 through 208, etc. (and not every number there is from 30-300. )

The pendulum kind that the cat attacked in the video above is fun but they tend to break and are not as reliable. Maybe I begin to see why.

Up and Coming Pianists #2 Benjamin Grosvenor

Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor is 18 and lives in the U. K. and is well on his way to becoming an international artist. You can look up his bio on his website http://www.benjamingrosvenor.co.uk/

What I really admire about this young artist is that he is already like the older masters who are established at the international concert stage in so many ways, not only his beautiful playing, but his serious approach to the job. Listen to him at 16 and Watch him play at 11!

Music as Sales Rep.

Have you ever thought about how manipulative and commercial music can be? Advertisers use it to try to get you to buy it, It gets piped into hospital elevators to try to make you relax and not think about your gown, just trying to make you think your hospital is a ritzy hotel, it gets piped into ritzy hotels to make you think you're in a ... ritzy hotel... Movie makers use it to cue you as to the moment of the leading lady's first glimmer of understanding that the new acquaintance she's dealing with is a blackguard. It is blasted through the loudspeakers of all the mall shops to go with the tone of the line of clothing they sell-- nothing is as simple as buying a shirt- it's not just an outfit you buy, it's a whole package, a way of life.

People use music to market themselves: convertible owners and souped-up "can't afford to buy a real engine so I amplified my muffler" car owners turn up the woofers on their gigantic speakers and vibrate their way down the boulevards in hopes that the rest of the world will think the whole party is in their car 24/7... "look at me... I'm just a fuzzy outline because I'm vibrating so much, but I want you to look at me anyway (if you can track me) because I'm so cool..."

Throughout history royalty has been quick to support the arts because of the advantage of dazzling your guests with the incredible sounds of your own personal orchestra. And young ladies were ever so much more eligible to suitors as accomplished singers or harpsichord or pianoforte players (but not so much violin players- that was too immodest- with all those arms lifting and playing about, and the cello- for a young lady- never!! Let us not speak of that!!)

Yes, music is a manipulator, an enhancer. Aaron Copland wrote the score to a movie and when it was reviewed for the first time, a moment that was supposed to be dark and gripping got a laughter response. The makers were horrified. This was not supposed to be funny! Copland quickly rewrote the music with severe dissonance instead. A second review of the film brought no laughter, instead, everyone felt the tension. Copland himself said he wishes the audience could see each film three times, once normally, with the music, once without the music, then once with the music turned back on. Then people would pay attention to the importance of the music.

Here is a tiny example: Music is what made this funny baby movie so successful. It's pretty cute already, but the clever musical accompaniment makes it irresistibly funny. Enjoy!

Interpreting Beethoven the Silly Way

Pianism is technical artistry or skill at the piano.

Interpretation is bringing out the meaning of the composition.

You sometimes unfortunately see Pianism without Interpretation. I mean, people have the fingers flying and a great piano but the music doesn't say a lot. That's not good, especially when it is great music that could have had a lot to say. Sure, the player has technique, but the music isn't meaning anything to him, and consequently nothing of beauty or import gets across to the listener.

You sometimes see Interpretation without a lot of Pianism, too- People who really do have something to say with their music, but something is preventing them from pulling it off, usually slips in their accuracy or technique or nerves, or unfamiliarity with the piano, or whatever.

It is important to practice for accuracy and skill so your fingers convey the message instead of cloud the message of the music.

It is also important to know to get know your music away from just the keys, too: knowing that the music has something to say. It is good to listen to it in your head, hearing how interesting/beautiful/exciting it can be apart from however you are currently playing it. But I haven't thought of Interpretation without Pianism in quite the same way since I saw this:

The Piano Player

Rowan Atkinson studied very carefully to pull off this comedy stunt: he mimes parts of two Beethoven Sonatas- starting with the Grave (pronounce that "Gra'-vay") section of the Pathetique Sonata in C minor Opus 13 and interrupting it (after looking at his watch!) with the third movement of the "Moonlight Sonata" (Op. 27 No. 2 in C sharp minor). He is utterly silly, but you also see that he gets the music! He understands the "conversations" in music and the times where the music feels exhausted, or heats up into a frenzy.

Doesn't that make you think more about what music can say? It's fun to pull up other Beethoven Sonatas and listen for the dramas to unfold... without the mime- just: Beethoven.

Music to Relax by #2

Venetian Gondola Song

This Song Without Words by Felix Mendelssohn is one of the most haunting, romantic pieces for piano! ...You can hear the dark shiny water reflected in the bass, and the lights flickering all around its gently rippled surface. Then the song begins, wistful and soft, as calm and romantic as the handsome boatman poling you along. There are candles along the waterway glowing like starts in the night, and flowers on the gondola. The night is warm...

The funny thing is, this fine and gentle performance is done by a guy who looks awfully sweaty- he must have been performing for a long time previously in that concert, or maybe it was a hot summer night. Or maybe he just sweats when he performs. It's hard to perform! My big problem is my nose runs. Let's say I've got my piece well under control, well no matter; I get adrenaline anyway and it all comes out my nose. You can't stop in the middle of a long fugue to blow it all out. That puts a big, undignified break in the work of art. Even if I do memorize all my music I still ought to have a page turner even if only for intermittently holding a hanky to my nose. Still I am thankful: I don't get sweaty hands. I'd rather suffer a wet upper lip than to have to play Fugues on a Slip'n'slide.

Listening to the Repertory: What the Piano Can Say in the Hands of Gilels

This famous Prelude (G minor, Op. 23, No. 5) by Sergei Rachmaninov is played by the Russian Pianist Emil Gilels. This performance is remarkable for his human, his personal sound. The texture is incredible in this; the melodies and the inner voices getting special treatment in so many ways, his amazing, unflagging energy and sense of timing.

The most incredible clip of Gilels can be found linked here (along with other war footage) of him playing this Prelude as a young man for Russian Soldiers about to enter combat. Please look this up- you won't regret seeing him (beginning at minute 1 hour 10 minutes.) Shortly after that you will see Sviatoslav Richter, (Hey, anybody heard of the Revolutionary Etude in C sharp minor? That record player is a bit fast!) and then followed by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli! Emil Gilels was allowed by Soviet Russia to make tours accompanied by government officials. Once when Franz Mohr, (one of the greatest piano technicians ever) had a rare moment with him alone, he said, not knowing what the response would be; "I'd like to give you this," and gave him a Bible. Gilels snatched it out of his surprised hands and in a second it had disappeared into his coat. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, "You don't know what this means to me!" He did not know what happened afterwards. It was perhaps the only time they were together like that. Franz Mohr tells this story in his book My Life With the Great Pianists.

Musicians are Peculiar #2

Here is a link to a little video of Victor Borge and a friend- and after watching it, do you start to wonder if maybe that's what the music really means? This is always funnier if you watch it after 11 PM.

Prolific Scarlatti

Domenico Scarlatti was a famous Baroque harpsichordist (born in 1685: the same year as J.S. Bach and Handel!) who is famous for his five hundred fifty-five keyboard Sonatas. They are knows for their virtuosity and their sparkling energy. One of their particular technical demands is frequent hand crossovers which he employed liberally (…until his increasingly ample girth prevented him in old age.) Scarlatti is so distinctive. He was an Italian living in Spain and Portugal, working for the nobility there. That’s a lot of energetic musical culture wrapped up into one guy! I have found that his music doesn’t play too well on a lot of upright pianos because of brilliant repeating notes. Grand pianos have gravity to help get that hammer back down in position to spring back fast enough, not like uprights, whose hammers travel horizontally. Scarlatti’s repeated notes are always obvious, as in his Sonata in D minor, K. 141 (see this unbelievable version by Martha Argerich) Other things that happen often in Scarlatti’s music are sudden key changes to the parallel major or minor (like jumping from D major to D minor without a modulation) and those famous trills that often happen at the end notes of the two halves of the Sonatas.

Uplifting Haydn

Click on this Lesson on Haydn (and Faure) by Lang Lang to a Japanese student Shion Ota- to see a perfect example of how when you are wondering how things could possibly improve, they do.

All Stories have Morals:

Franz Josef Haydn wanted to marry a lovely girl whose parents had destined for a nunnery. He made his proposal, and she was sent packing… to the nunnery. Her fine sister was still single and readily available, so he married her instead. She wasn’t very sympathetic toward his musical tendencies: She used his manuscripts to line her muffin tins and hair curlers. She was contumacious and sullen, and he was outgoing and lighthearted except regarding his relationship with her. They agreed to separate. He supported her financially. While in England, a rich and handsome widow became his student and was obviously attracted to him. “If I were a free man, this would have been a lovely thing,” he told a friend, “but I am not…” That is what I call being faithful in the face of adversity and temptation. I guess the moral of that story is, if you’re a really nice guy like Haydn, make sure to get what you really wanted in the first place... maybe even if it means breaking into the convent...

Music to relax by #1

Warning: only watch this just before you want to sleep: Perfect Baroque Orchestra.

And a little something Enjoyable and different!

Music Education #1: Environment

Many parents ask me "What can I do to give my own child a good education in music?" I can not give a comprehensive list that will guarantee success, but maybe I can give some tips, little by little on different posts, as I go through this blog that you may find helpful.

Children are products of their environments, and though they have innate capabilities, your first question need not be "is my child talented?" because that has little bearing on the initial basis of his musicality: How many vastly talented children have there been who have never even seen a piano before? Their environment gave them no chance! So give your child the best advantage of a musically rich environment from the beginning by the following:

1. Play regularly yourself (If you don't know how, learn some basics!)
2. Keep a tuned piano the house, as well as any other instruments you like
3. Take your kids to recitals and musical events
4. Listen to recorded music to your child throughout the day long
5. Sing

(For listening, I recommend Bach especially among classical composers because of his perfect logic and polyphony. His musical language is the most complex and beautiful of all composers. Why not Mozart, as in "Baby Einstein and the Mozart effect"? Yes Mozart was a genius too, and well worth listening to, but if you want to produce a bit of a Mozart yourself, why listen to Mozart's output? Listen to his INPUT! He listened to Baroque Music! And the greatest exponent of Baroque music is Bach.)

Recommended Reading: "Nurtured by Love" by Shinichi Suzuki. This is the "mother-tongue" method, which, if you do Suzuki method or not, can really affect your child's beginning. We don't actually use Suzuki repertory at home, currently, nor do we play the violin much, but I do like the philsophy of Shinichi Suzuki, and having the general atmosphere of music, each of my children has an interest in music that I can build on.

Some of our all-time favorite listening:

The Well-Tempered Clavier (I & II) by J.S. Bach (performed by Andras Schiff)

Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies

The Irish Tenors

Beethoven Piano Sonatas and Concertos

The Best of LAGQ (I think we have listened to that CD more than 70 times!)

Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3

Joaquin Rodrigo Guitar Concertos (awesome Spanish music!)

J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos

Handel: Water Music

Dvorak: New World Symphony

Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor

Playing music is not absolutely necessary to life, but it enhances it tremendously. If you want to go with me on this journey of teaching your children to enjoy and to play music, come along: it gives your child a rich, natural heritage to enjoy.

Next Music Education Post: Finding a Teacher

Servant Offends Nobility

J. S. Bach offended his employer the Duke by making noises about changing jobs. The Duke responded by parking Bach in jail for a month. This paragon of virtue sat his "offense" out behind bars, writing music. (Some people think that’s where he was when he began his work on The Well-Tempered Clavier. The first three Preludes are repetitive, I admit!)

After a certain time in J.S. Bach’s life, he wrote over each composition “To the Glory of God.”

Have you had a moment in your life yet, when you realized you are a sinner before God and recognized that you need to turn yourself in to Him, allowing Him to cleanse you with the blood of His Son Jesus Christ? Have your sins been washed away and have you been made fit to be a vessel to His honor? Can it be written over your life, “To the Glory of God?”

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” 1 John 1:7
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Acts. 16:31
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

Click on: Jesus, bleibet meine freude!