You have undoubtedly heard atonality in spooky movies and other places where notes clash and you hear strange dissonances. Unlike most melodic music which you can sing along, atonal music can be much more challenging to comprehend.
Western music is based upon major and minor scales that form tonal music which is relatively easy to comprehend. Atonal music is based upon tone rows, where all twelve chromatic notes available are arranged in a random pattern, and the entire piece is built upon that.
If you explore this, you will discover all sorts of unusual sounds and clashing harmonies. We will go into more depth on atonality in future videos and I certainly welcome your comments and suggestions on this subject.
The metronome is much maligned by many musicians for its incessant ticking which can be like a form of Chinese water torture! Many teachers are insistent upon using the metronome and students have questioned whether or not they need this ticking box.
The metronome really is one of the two most important tools at your disposal (the other being an audio recorder) and you should be practicing with it regularly – whatever your skill level. Today we are going to discuss three reasons why the metronome is so important as well as some great applications on how to use it.
The first reason why you need the metronome is that nobody has a perfect clock in their brain. When you start to learn a piece of music and you encounter tough sections, you will naturally slow down a bit to compensate for the difficulty. You might think that once you work them out and get things up to speed, there should be no problem. But you may overcompensate and actually play these sections even faster! The only way to be sure is to play with the metronome.
Don’t make the mistake my mother used to make by putting the metronome too fast and trying to keep up with it. She would drive herself crazy with frustration trying to match an impossibly fast speed of the metronome. Find a speed you are comfortable with and work your way up to an appropriate tempo.
The second reason you want to use a metronome is that it provides an essential practice tool for difficult sections of music. Start by playing at a slow speed accurately with comfort. Then, incrementally increase the speed notch by notch gaining confidence at each new tempo until you get the passage mastered up to tempo. This is an indispensable tool for developing a refined technique on your instrument.
The key is to use this technique by zeroing in on specific sections of your music – not the whole piece. It will not take as much time as you think and you will master tough sections of your music much more quickly.
The third reason you want to use a metronome is because it will help you improve as a musician. The pulse is one of the most important aspects of music and developing a consistent beat will make you a better musician. This aids in playing with other musicians with a tight ensemble.
These are three great reasons to use the metronome and I’m sure many of you have more suggestions as well. Please leave us some comments or email me directly Robert@LivingPianos.com
You might be familiar with The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach. It really is an amazing body of work. These works are definitely worth exploring.
To understand The Well-Tempered Clavier we must understand what Bach means by “Well-Tempered”. A long time ago keyboard instruments were actually tuned to sound pure in different keys depending upon the key of the piece you played. If you were playing a piece in G major, the instrument would be tuned to sound in tune in G major. The piece would sound great but if you tried to play in some other keys it could sound horrendous! As time went on tuning became more flexible so that it was possible to play in a great variety of keys with the same tuning. While the system of tuning available at Bach’s time favored some keys more than others, it was a vast improvement in offering the flexibility to play in all keys without the need for returning.
Today we have what is referred to as “Equal Tempered Tuning”. All keys are equally in tune, or more accurately equally out of tune. I have another blog; Why a Piano is Never in Tune that deals with this subject in more depth.
The Well-Tempered Clavier is a series of Preludes and Fugues in all the major and minor keys, 12 major keys, and 12 minor keys for a total of 24 Prelude and Fugues. However, there is not just one book but two books of Preludes and Fugues for a grand total of 48 Preludes and Fugues! These are incredible works worth getting to know.
Welcome to Part 1 in our ongoing series of the Psychology of Musical Performance. This is a very important and in-depth subject so today we are only going to scratch the surface. Today we’re going to discuss the mental stability necessary for performing and how to create a balanced state of mind for yourself.
Performing music is something that utilizes both sides of your brain. Before a performance you spend so much time practicing and making sure you’re playing technically correct. At the same time, you must let yourself go and be able to be creative with each performance. The trick is finding the right balance so that your performance is not too dry yet not self indulgent in your expression.
Sometimes emotions can completely control your performance in unexpected ways. Allowing yourself to delve into free expression can make you lose sight of where you’re going. For example, if you’re not careful you might take a tempo to a speed you can’t possibly handle! You have to be able to control your performance and reign yourself in.
While you definitely have to control your expressive side, you can’t let the technical side of you overwhelm your performance either. The last thing you want to present is a sterile performance. Musical expression is a completely different form of art from painting or photography in that it involves performance and there is a random element to that. No matter how hard you try, you can never replicate a performance again; each one is inherently unique.
We all have these conflicting aspects of our personalities and they collide with each other when it comes to musical performances. Finding this balance isn’t something you can teach easily; it’s something you must find within yourself through the experience of many performances finding the balance of emotion and reason.
Singing might often be overlooked by most musicians but it’s an essential component in musical development and education. When it comes to piano, you can produce a tone without hearing it first. Singing is the absolute opposite of this – you must hear the notes first or you can’t possibly sing them.
Singing lends more to music than you might think. Like we talked about in our video this week, the breath and the cyclical nature of things weave its way into music. Understanding this relationship is extremely beneficial to a pianist and that’s why if you are a piano major at a music conservatory, you will have to either play an instrument in the orchestra or sing in the choir. Adversely, if you play an instrument or sing in the choir, you will need to learn to play the piano!
The tone the piano produces is a sharp attack, a quick decay, and a slow descending sustain. Music, on the other hand, is produced in round phrases – much like singing or breathing. That’s why it’s always a good idea to sing along with your music while you are learning it. It might sound silly but it’s an extremely helpful tool to get you to understand how the music should be played and heard.
In the video accompanying this article, I play the Chopin Prelude in E minor. I demonstrate the benefits of singing the melody while playing the chords. By singing your parts you will start to understand the structure of the music like you never have before; it’s enlightening.
I really can’t recommend this technique enough. It’s something that every pianist must do as it helps enhance your understanding of music and will greatly benefit your playing. There is no substitute for this technique so even if you cringe at the sound of your own voice you should do yourself a favor and sing along – I guarantee it will help!
You might not have heard of the band-aid approach to practicing music and that’s OK. It is an effective practice technique I came up with years ago and continue utilizing. It increases effectiveness to practicing and I share it with all my students.
When it comes to practicing, I strive for efficiency. I want to get as much done as I possibly can within the time I have. I wish I could practice all day long but my schedule rarely permits it – instead I have to find times to practice and make sure that I get as much benefit from it as I can in the time that I have.
There are many practice techniques available and there are dozens of problems musicians face in their playing and development. This technique is really designed to help you zero in on a specific problem you are having. As a musician, you will encounter specific problems in some areas of your music. This is where you will want to focus most of your energy.
So how do you use this technique? Start with a piece of music and play it through until you have a problem. Let’s say you missed a note. Now instead of starting from the begging of the piece and playing it over again, jump to right where the problem is. Keep working on your trouble section until you iron out the correction. Play it many times over and over again until you can play it effortlessly. Then go a measure or two before your trouble phrase and play it from there many times until it comes together nicely. Then, play the entire section or piece again. Basically, you are putting a bandage on the problem area and making sure it sticks!
I have found this technique incredibly helpful over the years. Please try it out and let me know if it works for you. Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729
