suhre@trwrba.UUCP (Maurice E. Suhre) (12/15/84)
What I usually do is sit down at my piano, do a few exercises
from Dohnanyi (Essential Finger Exercises), and then pick up
a piece and play it. It usually doesn't sound too hot, so I
play it again. Naturally, it isn't any better, and then I tell
myself that I'm tired of it.
*What works* is for me to play it once, and then go back to the
bad passages and work on them one hand at a time, and measure by
measure. Carefully work out the fingering, changing what is
marked as necessary. (BTW, the fingering is not very good lots
of times, and downright awful some of the time. I had always thought
that fingering was just slightly under divine revelation, but my
teacher taught me otherwise).
Alternate rhythms are helpful. Using the Chopin double note Etude
as an example, rather than play de-de-de-de-de-de (slowly), play
deeeeeeeee-de-de-de-deeeeeeeeee-de-de-de-deeeeeeeeeee-etc. That is,
the first chord of the four is held longer.
Alternate accents are also helpful. My teacher is frightfully good
at this. Using the Shubert Op 90 Impromptu No. 1 (in G Sharp minor)
as an example, you practice DAH-dah-dah-dah DAH-dah-dah-dah DAH-dah-dah-dah,
then dah-DAH-dah-dah dah-DAH-dah-dah dah-DAH-dah-dah, then dah-dah-DAH-dah,
etc. This develops uniform finger action, and helps keep from missing
just one note now and then.
I also spent some time learning to hold my wrists lower. I had learned to
hold my wrists up, which seems to cause a slight tension. As the wrists
are lowered, I seem to get a better "feel" for the keys. I can't really
explain it, but my grip on the piano is better. What my teacher told
me to do was to practice seated on a folding chair rather than the bench.
The first time I tried this I felt like I was sitting on the floor.
I measured, and I was about 2-3 inches lower. But it sure seemed like a
lot!
As far as interpretation goes, I try to follow the composer's markings
(or the editor's) and listen to my teacher. His general exhoration of
plenty of melody, and not too much oom-pah-pah with the left hand
(Chopin Waltzes in particular) had stood me well. Also, it takes
time to find the emotion in the music, sometimes quite a while. I
practiced the second movement of the Prokofieff Piano Sonata No. 7
for quite a while and just couldn't seem to find the music. My teacher
would exasperatedly (I think) say "Slower. Broader." Finally, one day
at home I suddenly hear/say/knew where the music was. When I went
for my lesson, I played again and he said "You've finally got it".
I knew I had found the turmoil and passion that Prokofieff had
placed in that composition.
When trying pieces for the first time, I usually just sight read and
stumble along, trying to get a feel of what the piece is like and
how it will sound. I'm not sure if I'm ingraining bad habits, but
I can't know if I'm interested in learning to play it until I try
it a little.
This seems like an awful long posting to me, but I hope I haven't
bored anybody.....
Maurice
{decvax,sdcrdcf,hplabs,ucbvax}!trwrb!suhre