Welcome to LivingPianos.com—I’m Robert Estrin. Music, like life itself, must constantly change. You might be thinking that your music is perfectly fine just the way it is, but today I want to share a profound idea with you—one that has deep
Welcome to LivingPianos.com—I’m Robert Estrin. Achieving a lyrical, singing quality at the piano is a goal many pianists strive for. Whether you’re playing a beautiful melody or trying to add more expression to your performance, understanding how to create a smooth, flowing sound is key. Today, I’m going to share some techniques that will help you make your music sing—techniques that go beyond just hitting the right notes at the right time. Let’s explore how you can bring your melodies to life with the piano.
The Technique of Fluidity in Melodic Music
When playing a piece with a beautiful melody, like in many movements of Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood, there’s a natural inclination to focus on the notes themselves. However, simply playing the notes without considering their connection to each other can make the music sound mechanical and stiff. To truly make your melody “sing,” it’s important to approach it with the same attention to phrasing that a singer would.
Imagine a singer performing a melody. A singer doesn’t just hit each note precisely; they allow larger intervals or leaps between notes to flow together smoothly. Did you know that a true slur has all the notes between the slur? This technique of slurring, is what makes the music sound continuous and organic. While the piano lacks the ability to physically slur notes the way a wind instrument or the human voice can, you can still achieve a similar effect through careful control of your playing.
Understanding Slurring
In musical terms, a “slur” means connecting two or more notes in a smooth, uninterrupted manner, without a break in between. This is a natural technique on wind instruments or for singers, who can transition between notes seamlessly. On the piano, however, each note is played distinctly, with no natural connection between them.
To simulate this effect, the secret is taking more time with the larger intervals in your phrases. For example, when you have a leap from one note to another, try to make the transition feel fluid, as if the notes are gliding into each other, instead of playing them like separate, isolated events. This extra time isn’t about stretching the rhythm, but allowing the interval to “slur” just enough to give the music a sense of fluidity.
How Mechanical Playing Can Sound Lifeless
If you play a melody with no consideration for the slurs, and instead treat each note as isolated events, the music can sound stiff and lifeless. You might find yourself hitting each note like you’re pressing a button on a machine, without any connection between them. When you play mechanically, it removes the natural flow, making the music sound more like a series of disconnected notes rather than a continuous line.
To avoid this, think of the intervals in your melody as opportunities to let the music breathe. When you reach a larger leap, think of it like a singer would—allow the notes to blend together, and give them a little extra time. This subtle adjustment will make the music feel more alive and engaging.
Bringing Your Music to Life
Once you start adding more time to the larger intervals, you’ll notice a dramatic difference. The phrase will feel more like a flowing conversation or like a singer gracefully moving from one note to the next. This is what gives the piano the illusion of a “singing” line, even though the instrument itself lacks the ability to physically blend notes together like a voice or wind instrument.
By connecting notes in a more natural, flowing way, you’ll start to hear the music in a new light. The transition from one note to another will sound less mechanical and more expressive. You’ll be creating the illusion of a continuous, singing line, which is the ultimate goal when making your music sound more lyrical.
Subtlety is Key
While the idea of adding time to the larger intervals is essential, it’s crucial to do so with subtlety. If you overemphasize this technique, it can start to sound unnatural or overly mannered. The key is to enhance the fluidity of the music without drawing attention to the technique itself. If the listener notices that you’re doing something special, it can detract from the overall effect. The goal is to make the music feel as if it’s singing, without making the technique too obvious.
Using the Pedal for Support
In addition to controlling the length of your notes, you can also use the pedal to support your slurs. Using the sustain pedal can help create a sense of connectedness between the notes, adding resonance and fluidity to your melody. Just be careful not to overuse the pedal, as too much sustain can make the sound muddy. Instead, use it selectively to enhance the swelling effect of your slurs and create a more natural, organic sound.
I hope you find this approach helpful! Feel free to share your experiences and let me know how it works for you in the comments. If you’re interested in learning more, consider joining my Living Piano Mastermind Club. Click the link to get a free consultation. I look forward to helping you deepen your musical understanding!
Achieving a lyrical, singing quality at the piano is a goal many pianists strive for. Whether you’re playing a beautiful melody or trying to add more expression to your performance, understanding how to create a smooth, flowing sound is key. Today,
Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Opus 27 no 2, is one of the most famous piano pieces of all time. While many people are intimately familiar with the first movement, which is slow and contemplative, the three movements as a set offer a wide range of expression, creating a true musical journey!
This performance was done at Treelawn Music Hall in the Waterloo Arts District in Cleveland, just up the street from Living Pianos showrooms. It was performed on a rebuilt 1951 Steinway model D 9-foot concert grand, which was acquired from Living Pianos and has been featured in concerts by world-class jazz artists such as Fred Hersch and Bill Charlap.
Set up a free consultation about how to elevate your piano playing!
Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Opus 27 no 2, is one of the most famous piano pieces of all time. While many people are intimately familiar with the first movement, which is slow and contemplative, the three movements as a set offer a wide range
Welcome to LivingPianos.com—I’m Robert Estrin. Have you ever wondered why certain intervals in music are called “perfect”? What makes them perfect, and why do they hold such a special place in music theory? The answers lie in the unique characteristics of perfect intervals and how they relate to other types of intervals. Let’s break it down in a simple and digestable way.
Two Categories of Intervals
First, it’s important to understand that there are two main categories of intervals in music: perfect intervals and major intervals. While there are more types of intervals, these two categories help you understand the foundation of music theory. Perfect intervals include the prime (unison), fourth, fifth, and octave. Major intervals include the second, third, sixth, and seventh.
What Makes Intervals “Perfect”?
The term “perfect” in perfect intervals comes from their unique ability to maintain their quality even when inverted. For example, the prime (also known as a unison) occurs when two notes are the same, like two middle Cs. It doesn’t matter if one of them is altered slightly with an accidental (a sharp or flat), the relationship between the two notes is still a prime.
Perfect intervals—prime, fourth, fifth, and octave—have a special property: when inverted, they remain perfect. For example, if you take a fifth and invert it, you get a fourth, and it’s still perfect. This is a fundamental difference between perfect intervals and other intervals, which I’ll explain shortly.
Major Intervals and Their Inversion
Now, let’s move on to major intervals. When you take a major third (for example, from C to E in C major) and invert it, you end up with a minor sixth (from E to C in this case). This is a crucial point: major intervals become minor when inverted, and vice versa.
What makes a major interval distinct is that it’s built on the notes of a major scale. So, in the C major scale, the second, third, sixth, and seventh notes of the scale are are all major intervals.
Inversion and the Change in Interval Quality
Inversion plays a big role in how intervals are perceived. As I mentioned earlier, when you invert a major interval, it turns into a minor interval. But what happens when you invert other types of intervals?
Augmented intervals (which are made by enlaring a perfect or major interval by a half step) become diminished intervals when inverted.
Diminished intervals (which are made by decreasing a perfect or minor interval by a half step) become augmented intervals when inverted.
It’s this inversion rule that sets the behavior of intervals apart and gives us a structured way to think about intervals in music.
Why Does This Matter?
Understanding these interval relationships can truly open up a deeper understanding of music. When you start to grasp how intervals change through inversion and how perfect intervals maintain their quality, it brings a sense of clarity and even enlightenment to your music.
A Quick Recap
Perfect intervals (prime, fourth, fifth, octave) remain perfect when inverted.
Major intervals (second, third, sixth, seventh) become minor when inverted.
Augmented intervals become diminished when inverted and vice versa.
It’s a lot to take in at first, but when you explore these concepts yourself, you’ll start to see how they impact the way music is structured.
Want to Learn More?
If you’re interested in learning more about music theory, technique, performance, and memorization, consider joining my Living Piano Mastermind Club. Click the link to get a free consultation. I look forward to helping you deepen your musical understanding!
Welcome to LivingPianos.com—I’m Robert Estrin. Have you ever wondered why certain intervals in music are called “perfect”? What makes them perfect, and why do they hold such a special place in music theory? The answers lie in the
Welcome to LivingPianos.com—I’m Robert Estrin. If you’re like most pianists, you’re always looking for ways to improve your practice time. The truth is, you can save a lot of time by practicing smarter, not harder. And while this may sound simple, the approach is incredibly effective and can make a huge difference in how quickly you progress on the piano.
Maximize the Effectiveness of Your Practice Time
As a teacher, one of the main goals of my method is to help students maximize the effectiveness of the time they spend at the piano. In fact, it’s something I’ve spent my entire career perfecting. Even for professional musicians and touring artists, finding time to practice can be challenging, but with the right approach, you can make the most of the time you do have.
The secret to saving time in your practice sessions is to avoid learning anything wrong. This sounds simple, but it’s often overlooked. Let me explain.
When you sit down to learn a new piece, the typical approach is to read through it, maybe many times, to familiarize yourself with the notes. But what often happens is that you miss certain things, and then you start trying to correct those mistakes as you go. This is time-consuming, and it often leads to frustration.
The Checklist Approach
Instead of jumping straight into playing the piece, think of it like a pilot preparing for takeoff. Before a flight, pilots go through a checklist to ensure everything is in order—even if the plane has already been inspected. Why? Because the stakes are high. In the same way, your practice time is precious, and if you’re not practicing efficiently, you’re wasting valuable time.
To avoid learning anything incorrectly, start by breaking the piece down systematically after reading it through no more than two or three times, the first day only!
Break It Down: Start Small<\b>
After reading through the piece a couple of times, focus on a small phrase—just a measure or two. It’s crucial to start small, as this allows you to master each aspect of the music before moving on. This is where you can apply the checklist approach to practicing.
1. Study the Notes
Before playing, make sure you know every single note. Understand the key signature, the time signature, and the layout of the music. This is your foundation.
2. Focus on Rhythm
Don’t start playing just yet. Next, count out the rhythm or tap it out. This is essential for internalizing the timing before you actually start playing.
3. Work on Fingering
Next, look over the fingering carefully without playing the music. Finger it out in your lap, analyzing your hand movements.
4. Study the Phrasing
Then, take a close look at the phrasing, slurs, accents, and any other articulation markings in the score. These details are crucial for bringing the music to life, so don’t skip them.
5. Pay Attention to Expression
Finally, consider the dynamics and expression. You might be tempted to add dynamics later, but here’s the issue: you’re always playing with some level of dynamics, even if you’re unaware of it. If you don’t address the dynamics from the beginning, you risk developing bad habits that are very hard to undo.
Avoiding the Trap of Unlearning
It’s incredibly difficult to correct mistakes once you’ve gotten used to playing something incorrectly. Over time, your fingers get accustomed to the wrong movements, and your ears get used to hearing things a certain way, and it gets burned into your memory. Undoing this is not only challenging but also time-consuming.
By practicing the right way from the start, you’ll never face the excruciating task of unlearning bad habits.
Practice Hands Separately
Once you’ve worked through all the details for the right hand, do the same for the left hand. Take it step by step, focusing on notes, rhythm, fingering, phrasing, and expression. This will help you build solid foundations for both hands individually.
Once both hands are completely polished, you can begin putting them together—very slowly at first, checking your work as you go. Don’t rush this process; the goal is to ensure each hand is easy and comfortable before combining them.
The Reward: Faster Learning
You might think that this approach will take forever to learn a piece, but the opposite is true. By breaking everything down and avoiding mistakes from the start, you save significant time in the long run. You won’t have to go back and unlearn things, which takes far more effort. Additionally, by practicing with full awareness and attention to detail, you’ll understand the music on a deeper level, making it easier to connect phrases and build fluency.
Putting It to the Test
By following this method, you’ll be able to make the most of every practice session and truly maximize the time you spend at the piano. It’s all about being thorough, starting small, and building up each element of the music and connecting phrases as you learn them. The more intentional you are in your practice, the faster you’ll progress and the less time you’ll waste. If you’ve never tried this method before, I encourage you to experiment with a new piece of music. Choose a piece that’s slightly easier than you think you need, just to try out this approach. I’m confident you’ll see results. Let me know in the comments how it works for you!
If you want to take your piano playing to the next level, check out the Living Piano Mastermind Club.
Welcome to LivingPianos.com—I’m Robert Estrin. If you’re like most pianists, you’re always looking for ways to improve your practice time. The truth is, you can save a lot of time by practicing smarter, not harder. And while this
Welcome to LivingPianos.com—I’m Robert Estrin. If you’ve ever heard a Neapolitan sixth chord and thought, “Wow, that sounds unique and interesting!”—you’re not alone. This particular chord has a rich, striking sound that adds a beautiful touch to many pieces of music. Let’s break down what a Neapolitan sixth chord is, and how it’s used in different musical contexts.
What is the Neapolitan Sixth?
The Neapolitan sixth chord is a major triad built on the flattened second degree of a scale, in its first inversion. To explain it more clearly, let’s break it down:
Start with a major scale—let’s use C major for simplicity.
The second note of the C major scale is D. If we flatten this note, it becomes D-flat.
Build a major triad using the D-flat as the root. The notes of the triad would be D-flat, F, and A-flat.
Now, place the third of this triad (F) in the bass, which puts the chord in its first inversion.
And there you have it: the Neapolitan sixth chord. It’s a major chord built on the flatted second degree of the scale, with the third of the chord in the bass.
How Does the Neapolitan Sixth Work in C Major?
You might be wondering, “Why is this D-flat major chord showing up in the key of C major?” It may seem out of place at first, but that’s the beauty of the Neapolitan sixth—it adds an unexpected color to the harmony. In classical music, the Neapolitan sixth is often used to create tension before resolving to more familiar chords like the dominant or tonic.
Using the Neapolitan Sixth in a Chord Progression
Let’s take a classic chord progression in C major to demonstrate how the Neapolitan sixth works in context. Consider the following:
I chord (C major)
IV chord (F major)
I6/4 chord (C major in second inversion with G on the bottom)
V7 chord (G7)
I chord (C major)
In many cases, you can substitute the IV chord with the Neapolitan sixth. This adds an extra layer of richness to the progression, as the Neapolitan sixth brings in an unexpected harmonic twist. Here’s how it works:
Start with the C major chord.
Next, instead of going to the F major (IV chord), move to the Neapolitan sixth.
Move to the V7 chord (G7)
Finally, resolve to I, the C major chord
A Different Sound from the Typical Progression
Take a moment to compare how the Neapolitan sixth sounds next to the more common IV chord or even the ii6 chord (the second inversion of the ii chord). You’ll notice the Neapolitan sixth adds a unique flavor, a richer and more dramatic shift in color. It’s like a special spice in your musical stew, enhancing the harmonic complexity.
Finding the Neapolitan Sixth in Your Music
If you come across a chord that sounds unusual or unexpected, it could very well be a Neapolitan sixth. Here’s how to identify it:
Find the key of the piece you’re playing.
Identify the second note of the scale.
Flatten that second note (go a half-step down).
Build a major triad on the flattened note.
Put the third of the triad in the bass, which will put the chord in first inversion.
You can do this in any key! If you’re in E major, for instance, the Neapolitan sixth would be built on F (the flatted second note), and would contain the notes F, A, and C. Put the A on the bottom (1st inversion), and you have the Neapolitan sixth chord in E major.
A Powerful Tool
The Neapolitan sixth is a powerful tool in music that you’ll encounter more often than you might realize once you start listening for it. It’s a chord that brings richness and unexpected beauty to music. Try it out in your own playing and see how it transforms the color of your music.
Have you ever used the Neapolitan sixth in your own work? Let me know in the comments! If you want to take your piano playing to the next level, check out the Living Piano Mastermind Club. Thanks for joining me!
Welcome to LivingPianos.com—I’m Robert Estrin. If you’ve ever heard a Neapolitan sixth chord and thought, “Wow, that sounds unique and interesting!”—you’re not alone. This particular chord has a rich, striking sound