Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

Welcome back to our multi-part series on Bach’s two part Inventions. In Part 1 of our lesson we talked about how to understand these pieces as well as the importance of understanding counterpoint when approaching the inventions. In Part 2 of our lesson we discussed some techniques for Invention #8 – The F major invention.

Today we are going to discuss Invention #4 – the D minor invention. Again, we are going to discuss the importance of delineating the subject and countersubject in these pieces. I will take the subject and countersubject at the beginning of the piece to demonstrate how phrasing can help bring out the most in this work:

Here is the subject

And here is the countersubject

By delineating the phrasing in this section you will be able to make the structure of this piece clear. How do you achieve this? You will want to play the 16th note subject legato and the 8th note countersubject staccato. By doing this you will be able to hear every note clearly, yet they combine beautifully together.

As you continue to advance through the inventions you will be able to experiment with your own phrasing. The key to getting these pieces to make musical sense is to delineate the lines to create clear counterpoint. You will bring out the individual lines and allow them to bounce off one another creating a wonderful sound!

I recommend these pieces if you are starting out with playing Baroque music or want to expose yourself to brilliant counterpoint. After you learn these pieces and go on to learn more pieces of Bach or other Baroque composers, you will encounter four or even five voice fugues. Learning to delineate two voices will bring you a long way towards learning how to handle even more complex scores.

Thanks again for joining us at Living Pianos. If you have any questions about this subject or any other subjects please contact us directly: info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

How to approach Bach’s Two Part Inventions – Part 3

Welcome back to our multi-part series on Bach’s two part Inventions. In Part 1 of our lesson we talked about how to understand these pieces as well as the importance of understanding counterpoint when approaching the inventions. In Part 2 of our le

Welcome back to our second part in our series on how to approach the Bach Two Part Inventions. In Part 1 of our lesson we talked about how to understand these pieces as well as the importance of understanding counterpoint when approaching the inventions.

Today we are going to explore Invention #8 – The F major invention. Again, this piece really relies on subject and countersubject for its structure so if you missed the last lesson or you aren’t familiar with the concept of Counterpoint you might want to catch up before you proceed with this lesson.

Let’s start with the first phrase in the piece and separate the subject from the countersubject.

Here is the subject:

And here is the countersubject:

Right away you will be able to spot a difference between the two. You will want to accentuate these differences with the phrasing. To accomplish this I recommend playing the subject staccato and the countersubject legato. This is a great way to delineate the subject from the countersubject and allow them to stand on their own so they don’t meld together.

You should always understand the context in which the piece you are playing was written. In this piece Bach was not writing for the piano. The keyboard instruments during his time didn’t contain sensitivities for dynamics. So, phrasing the parts differently from one-another was an essential component of the performance.

You should play this way through the entire piece and you will separate both the lines clearly and let them stand on their own. When performed correctly it’s truly amazing what type of sound this achieves and it’s even more amazing to think that Bach was developing this effect without the aid of the modern piano. If you were to play everything with the same phrasing the piece would sound fine but it would sound flat and lacking the life that Bach intended.

As you play further into the piece you can utilize dynamics (such as playing piano or forte in different sections). But the phrasing is what’s going to separate the two lines and bring life to the piece and highlight the brilliant counterpoint within.

What makes these pieces great is that you are free to develop phrasing and dynamics on your own and bring unique expression to these pieces. Bach didn’t write dynamic or phrasing markings and it’s not because he didn’t want them. It’s because it’s up to the performer to bring their own unique voice to these works. Have fun with these inventions and experiment; don’t be afraid to try something new!

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

How to approach Bach’s Two Part Inventions – Part 2

Welcome back to our second part in our series on how to approach the Bach Two Part Inventions. In Part 1 of our lesson we talked about how to understand these pieces as well as the importance of understanding counterpoint when approaching the inventi

Let’s start by breaking down exactly what is meant by “two part invention”. This phrase simply means it is a type of 2-voice counterpoint (for more information on this subject please watch our video on What is Counterpoint?) To put this simply, there are two different lines of music and at no point are there more than two different notes playing at the same time in just about the whole piece. Even with these limitations this is an amazing composition that’s built with a subject and a countersubject. Being able to delineate these two phrases is what makes counterpoint so special.

A great way to separate the subject from the countersubject is to phrase them differently from one-another.

For example, in the first phrase you have this as your subject:

And this as your countersubject:

In this particular piece the subject and countersubject are incredibly similar. So how should you make each one stand out? Well you might notice that a few bars into the piece the countersubject has elongated eighth notes.

A great way to delineate these notes is to play them legato and in groups; with the last note being short. This is a great way to separate the countersubject from the subject.

The beauty of Bach is that there is really no right or wrong. A lot of his music is open for interpretation so if you wanted to play the phrasing completely differently it can work just as well. Why is this? Because Bach rarely wrote phrasing into his music. It is up to you come up with the phrasing.

Unlike later music that has melody and harmony and obvious distinctions between the two, these Bach Inventions have intertwining melodies instead. So for now have fun and experiment with these pieces. When we return we will have more videos for you on these inventions that show even more extreme examples of delineation between subject and countersubject.

Thanks so much for joining me here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us directly: info@livingpianos.com (949) 244-3729.

How to Play Bach’s Two Part Inventions – Part 1

Welcome to the first part in our series on Bach’s Two Part Inventions. These are masterful works that are not very long but brilliantly conceived. If you’re looking for something short and challenging to practice these could be a great choice for

The short answer is constantly. Pianos go out of tune as soon as you start playing them and if you are practicing every day it will require regular maintenance. I touch up my concert grand nearly every day and I carry around my tuning tools no matter where I go. My father Morton Estrin always insists upon having a piano tuner at his recording sessions touching up the piano between takes! There really is no end to how much you can tune your piano – pianos benefit from regular maintenance.

But let’s be realistic, most people are not going to be able to tune their pianos every day. While you can buy a tuning hammer and a couple wedges to touch up the piano, tuning is something you generally will want to leave to the professionals. The good news is most people won’t have to tune their piano every day – or even every week.

There is an old saying among piano tuners, “You can’t tune an out of tune piano,” and as strange as it sounds, there is some truth to it! If a piano hasn’t been tuned in a very long time it can be much harder to get it back in tune. For example, if the piano has dropped in pitch, as you tune different sections of the piano, previously tuned sections go out. So the general rule is that you should keep your piano in tune as much as you can. If you tune your piano often enough you can get ahead of the curve and the instrument tuning becomes very stable. So you never save by putting off a tuning.

How much should you tune your piano really depends on how much you play it. If you play occasionally you should think about tuning your piano at least twice a year because of seasonal weather changes (heat to air conditioning and air condition back to heat). If you play a bit more you might want to get at least 4 piano tunings a year. If you practice a great deal you will want to get your piano tuned at least every month. If the piano is used for performance or recording, it should be tuned for each performance or recording session.

Keep in mind, tuning a piano is not like tuning other instruments – like a guitar for example. Sure, everyone has the ability to do it themselves but it is truly a job better left to professionals. I have been around pianos my entire life and while I do perform touch up work on my pianos constantly, a great tuner will get a piano to hold longer and knows how to refine the tone and touch which takes years to master. Tuning a piano is really a highly developed skill and the better technician you hire the better your instrument will sound.

Thanks again for joining me, Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

How Often Should You Tune a Piano?

The short answer is constantly. Pianos go out of tune as soon as you start playing them and if you are practicing every day it will require regular maintenance. I touch up my concert grand nearly every day and I carry around my tuning tools no matter

This video deals with the correct fingering in scales and arpeggios on the piano as found in Charles Louis Hanon’s The Virtuoso Pianist. Last week we covered the basics and a good routine for the first lessons of his text: Learning Hanon Part 1 – The First Lessons.

When it comes to playing other instruments, fingering for scales can differ greatly. For the violin or the French horn (which I also play) or other woodwind instruments, there are a number of different fingerings for scales and everyone’s approach can be quite different. Fortunately for the piano there is a resource that everyone pretty much adheres to – which is Hanon.

Hanon is a great resource for fingerings for scales and arpeggios. The problem of fingering on the pianos is that we have 10 fingers and two hands yet there are 88 keys that will require you to jump up and down the keyboard. Finger crossings are inevitable and can be effortless with the right fingering!

For each scale there are a total of eight fingerings which you must memorize. You can see examples in the accompanying video.

This might sound formidable. After all, how can you memorize eight finger patterns for each of your major and minor scales and arpeggios? While it might seem impossible it’s really not as difficult as you may think. A lot of the scales and arpeggios have the same basic patterns so you will be repeating what you already know. There are some unique scales but it’s not an insurmountable task.

There is one other method of fingering beyond Hanon that I thought I would mention. It’s called mirror fingering. I personally don’t know anybody who uses this technique – The idea of mirror fingering is to have the thumbs play on the same notes in both hands on all scales and arpeggios. If anyone out there uses this techniquewood I would love to hear more about it.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin: Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Learning Hanon Part 2 – Scales and Arpeggios

This video deals with the correct fingering in scales and arpeggios on the piano as found in Charles Louis Hanon’s The Virtuoso Pianist. Last week we covered the basics and a good routine for the first lessons of his text: Learning Hanon Part 1 –

If you play Classical Piano you have undoubtedly run into Charles Louis Hanon’s The Virtuoso Pianist. It contains valuable exercises as well as the standard fingering for all major and minor scales and arpeggios. My father Mortin Estrin www.MortonEstrin.com taught these to me and now I am sharing them with you.

While the full text for Hanon is quite large, he includes numerous exercises, all the major scales and arpeggios as well as scales in different intervals. In this video we will be covering some of the early lessons which can be very helpful if you continue practicing them a little bit every day.

It is essential to practice Hanon exercises as well as scales and arpeggios with the metronome. Why? Because the whole idea is to develop precision and evenness in your playing – for both timing and volume of each note. The metronome is an essential tool for the musician as the tape measure is for the carpenter.

For the first exercises, set the metronome at 60 beats to the minute and practice one note to the beat playing definitely. The video above provides a good example of this. Notice that when playing the exercise only the fingers are working. Utilizing raised fingers trains your hands to delineate each note. You must avoid any arm motion in these exercises. Play the entire exercise about 4 times through at one note to the beat playing at a fairly strong volume. Once you feel comfortable, try to play two notes for every beat. Make sure you continue to use only the fingers and not resort to arm motion. Why no arms? The whole idea of Hanon is to develop strength to play fast and the arms are too large to move quickly. Developing a strong finger technique is essential for fast scales and arpeggios.

Once you work your way up to 4 notes to the beat on these exercises, you will find it’s nearly impossible to lift the fingers and play fast.

The faster you play, the closer the fingers must be to the keys. Simply put, Faster = Lighter

There is no way to play with great strength or extreme movement in fast passages. Be sure to keep the fingers naturally rounded. This is necessary since your fingers are not the same length; by rounding them it makes all the fingers align at the same point on the keys.

The whole routine should take about ten minutes. If you continue to practice this every day you will find yourself developing more finger strength. It also provides a great warm up.

I would recommend doing one Hanon exercise per week. Once you have mastered 10 exercises, you should have enough strength to graduate to scales. If you master one scale or arpeggio each week, after a year you will have learned all of you major and minor (harmonic and melodic) scales and arpeggios, all with just 10 minutes per day! As your technique grows, you can adjust the metronome speed faster and faster over time.

Next week I will discuss scales and arpeggios in Hanon. Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Learning Hanon Part 1 – The First Exercises – The Virtuoso Pianist

If you play Classical Piano you have undoubtedly run into Charles Louis Hanon’s The Virtuoso Pianist. It contains valuable exercises as well as the standard fingering for all major and minor scales and arpeggios. My father Mortin Estrin www.MortonE