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Piano Audition Essentials

This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com. The question today is, “What are the audition requirements to become accepted at a music conservatory on the piano?” It is pretty standard. You’ll have to look in the catalog online to find for sure exactly their variations on a theme. Most conservatories for undergraduate studies require the following:

A Bach Prelude and Fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One or Book Two

Often times they will state the exception of the very first Prelude in C major and some may even have other exceptions. For example, Book One the C minor Prelude and Fugue might not be accepted either because they think it is too easy, even though there is nothing easy about any of the Preludes and Fugues of Bach. Regardless, many say you cannot use those compositions. These are kind of the staples. Some schools may allow you to substitute another piece of Bach or Handel. But, for the most part, a Prelude and Fugue of Bach from Book One or Book Two is a standard audition requirement for conservatories. Most conservatories will require you to play your audition from memory. It is important to be able to memorize music on the piano because with some pieces it’s extremely difficult to play from the score. So, memorization is considered to be an essential technique in solo piano playing.

A Classical-Era Sonata by Mozart, Haydn, or Beethoven

Most conservatories will require something from these seminal composers. Again, there are a couple of exceptions. They generally do not accept the famous C Major Mozart Sonata K 545. The idea is that it is too easy, when really to play it well is not easy. But it is usually the first Mozart sonata students learn. They want to hear pianists who are above that level. They also usually say you can’t play either of the Opus 49 Sonatas of Beethoven, Number 1 and Number 2. Any other Beethoven or Haydn sonata is usually permitted for auditions.

One or Two Contrasting Works of the Romantic-Era or Twentieth Century

Sometimes the requirements will be more specific. But usually, you can play any work of Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Bartók as well as many other composers. You have a lot of freedom in this choice. There is a big difference between playing Stravinsky’s Petrushka or playing one of Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words. This is where you can really show what you can do. You might have a piece to present that is much more difficult than anyone else can play. Sometimes an etude will be specified. In the Classical sonatas, there are some late Beethoven sonatas that are massively difficult as well. Even some Mozart sonatas, such as his last sonata in D major K576, are a handful. So, there is a wide range of difficulty among different classical sonatas as well as Romantic and twentieth century piano works.

All Major and Minor Scales and Arpeggios.

This should be at a fast clip like 144, four notes to the beat for scales, and 120, four notes to the beat for arpeggios playing four octaves up and down the keyboard. Both major as well as harmonic and melodic minor scales are expected. These are staples. This is a way to weed out people who have not had good training. Anyone who is properly trained should have all scales and arpeggios in their back pocket. It doesn’t make sense not to learn them because you depend upon mastering them for developing a solid technique on the piano (or any instrument).

Check catalogs

Fortunately, it is very easy these days to check online for audition requirements. There are always exceptions and slight deviations from what I’ve articulated above. This should still give you a pretty good overview of what it is required in a piano audition for undergraduate studies. As far as getting accepted, that is a completely different discussion. There are so many factors beyond your control that you should never feel bad if you don’t get into a school you auditioned for. Sometimes they don’t even have openings! Sometimes teachers at the school have private students they are trying to get in. If you auditioned and you thought you played great but still didn’t get in, don’t give up! That is not necessarily an affront to your abilities. You can never predict auditions no matter how good you are.

Thanks so much for joining me. Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Store.

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949-244-3729

Can Playing the Piano Cause Hearing Loss?

This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com with a viewer question. “Can playing the piano cause hearing damage?” You may be concerned about this. You’ve got one pair of ears for your whole life and you don’t want to blow it, right? We all know that rock and roll musicians often suffer from ear damage. You might not know that symphony orchestra players suffer from ear damage as well. It’s a hazard of the trade. Just think what it’s like when you have sixty or so musicians on stage. You might have timpani behind you, or a trumpet section blaring in your ears. It’s a real problem. To mitigate this, there are acoustic baffles made of plexiglass to help with sound while maintaining visibility to the conductor. What about the piano?

Is playing the piano safe for your ears?

Not necessarily. Whenever we help people choosing pianos, one of the first things we ask is where the piano is going. It’s important to match the piano to the room. For example, think of a seven-foot semi-concert grand. It’s glorious to play in a large room with high ceilings. But what if you put a piano like this into a small bedroom? Would it be okay there? Possibly, if you have really thick carpeting, thick drapes, sofas, beds, and other materials that absorb sound. It might sound fine. But with all solid walls, hardwood floors, low ceiling, even a baby grand could be a problem. The voicing of your piano also makes a big difference. Pianos get brighter the more you play them, and some pianos naturally are brighter.

Asian pianos tend to be brighter than American pianos.

If you have a really bright Asian piano in a room where the acoustics are very live, you could indeed inflict ear damage. A lot of it comes down to common sense. One telltale sign that you’ve gone too far is if you ever get ringing in your ears after playing your piano. That is a very strong danger sign. You should back off for a few days because if you experience ringing in your ears repeatedly, you can develop tinnitus. You can have a constant ringing in your ears that never goes away. You also must be careful how you place your piano as well as what room it goes into.

The voicing of your piano by your piano technician can make it louder or softer.

Naturally, whether your piano is open or closed will also make a big difference in volume. Years ago I had the experience of practicing in little tiny cubicles at school. Playing in a room like that makes you feel really powerful because it is easy to generate huge amounts of sound. Then playing in the concert hall even on a nine-foot concert grand piano in such a huge space, you’d feel like you weren’t making much sound at all. It was unnerving because in the practice rooms you could bang out anything. You could overplay the piano because they were played so much they became overly bright on top of playing in a confined space. It was easy to play loud and fast without any trouble articulating everything in that situation. Practicing in a room where things are too loud is not only bad for your ears, but it doesn’t prepare you to play other pianos in better situations.

I hope this is helpful for you and we appreciate the questions coming in! Again, this is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com Your Online Piano Store. Thanks for joining me.

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949-244-3729

Secrets of Piano Voicing

This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com with a really interesting topic for you today: Secrets of Piano Voicing. Did you know that the voicing on the piano is intrinsically different depending upon what volume you are playing? The balance between the notes in your hands is different when playing loud compared to playing softly.

Here’s how it works. When you’re putting a lot of energy into playing loud on the piano, you can play everything strong and the melody will come right through for you. When you play softly though, you have to delineate the melody notes or they get lost. In the featured video, I demonstrate with the Chopin 20th prelude, which has fortissimo as well as pianissimo sections. When playing loudly, you can play with equal volume. Yet, you will easily be able to discern the top melody notes. On the accompanying video, I play everything equal volume of all the notes in the chords of both hands.

The next section is quiet. I play softly, but equal volume of all the notes as I did playing forte in the previous phrase. But at the softer volume, the melody gets lost.

While there is more than one way to bring out melodies in piano playing, typically they are found on the top line of music. If you reach with the top fingers, you can delineate the melody. For the sake of this presentation, I am bringing out the melody of the top line while playing quietly.

It creates a beautiful sound! On the next section which is even softer, you will hear the performance first playing all the notes with equal volume. Unlike when playing loud, the melody is lost when playing the notes equal volume at softer volumes. When playing softly and bringing out the top notes the balance is very pleasing.

Now, what’s great about this lesson is that you can try this with all your music and discover the more quietly you play, the more exaggerated the difference between melody and harmony must be because of the natural acoustics of the piano. When you play loud, you can hear everything clearly playing all notes at equal volume.

But the quieter you play, the more focus you must bring to the melody.

I hope this has been helpful to you. This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Store. Thanks so much for joining me.

info@LivingPianos.com
949-244-3729

Is Socialism Good for Music?

Hi, I’m Robert Estrin. This is LivingPianos.com. The question today is, “Is socialism good for music?” This is a very complex question and there’s a lot to think about. So, let’s start with the first thing that’s probably going to come to a lot of your minds, which is the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had quite a vibrant music scene and composers like Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, and others, were funded by the government and had illustrious careers and wrote great music. Shostakovich, in particular, suffered under authoritarian rule. It was great that the artists were funded. There were phenomenal performers such as cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, pianist Sviatoslav Richter as well as many orchestral musicians who could make a decent living. But at the same time,

Authoritarian rule was a heavy hand telling people what they could play and what they could compose.

The music had to glorify the state. So it was really a double-edged sword. What about today? Is there socialized music today? Socialism is essentially something that is publicly funded.

Germany has 133 symphony orchestras that are publicly funded.

That’s in addition to private orchestras. They have a vibrant classical music scene! Now, not all of them have budgets as high as the Berlin Philharmonic. There are different tiers of orchestras just like there are here.

In the United States, orchestras are endowed with private donations

and are always struggling. Many go bankrupt and there are fewer and fewer of them as the years go on. So, Germany has something going that is vibrant for the classical music scene. Is there any socialized music in the United States? Can you believe there are 140 publicly funded bands?

There are 5,000 professional musicians paid for with our tax dollars right here in the United States.

In fact, the government spent 1.5 billion dollars in a recent four year period on military bands. There are 140 military bands in the U.S. The Air Force, Marines, the Army, and the Navy all have music programs. They spent over $155 million just on instruments and equipment in that same recent four year period. So, there’s a tremendous amount of money going into music in this country, and that’s basically a social program for music and musicians. It’s all about how money is spent and how it’s delegated along with the rules that come with it. The Soviet Union was very harsh, glorifying music for the Communist Party. And in Germany, it’s glorifying the great traditions of Western music. And here it’s about the military. So, there are different ways that public money can be utilized in music. I’d love to get your opinions about the different ways public funding can help music and what your thoughts are about what I’ve outlined here today. I’d love to hear from you. Again, I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com Your Online Piano Store.

info@LivingPianos.com
949-244-3729

How to Play Hands Together on the Piano

How to Play Hands Together on the Piano

This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com. The question today is “How do you play hands together on the piano?” This is a big subject. After all, playing hands together is what the piano is all about! You might wonder, particularly if you are a wind player or if you play almost any other instrument that plays one note at a time, how piano players play different parts in each of their hands. This is something that makes the piano unique. It’s what the instrument is all about. In fact, all keyboard instruments have this in common. So what is the secret? How do people do this? Even doing something like tapping your head and rubbing your tummy can be confusing for most people! The intricacy of the parts for each hand in piano music can present enormous challenges. You might wonder, how do you approach such a thing? There is an answer!

Of course, the more you practice, spending months or even years at the piano, it becomes more natural for you to be able to play independent parts at the same time. You may even develop the ability to read at sight new music that requires independence of the hands. But that usually takes a very long time to develop for most people. How can you do it right from the get-go?

I’ve been teaching piano for many years and I always introduce playing hands together from lesson one.

Otherwise, it would be like learning to ride a bike with one leg. It misses the whole point! How do you teach how to play the hands together? Even though it seems counter-intuitive, it’s by practicing hands separately. I don’t mean practicing incessantly hands separately. I mean that each phrase you work on, you practice each hand separately first. If you want to learn a new piece, rather than putting the hands together from the start, you break things down. Initially, you may read through the piece hands together a couple times just to get acquainted. Then, you should get to work and and start learning the piece. You should learn a very small section of each hand first while observing all the details.

Anytime you have music that can be broken down into chords, learn it in chords first.

By learning the chords, you are going to find the best fingering. It’s also easier since you only have a few chords to learn instead of so many separate notes. Once you have that learned, then you learn the other hand. Then you put the hands together and get it learned. Finally, you break up the chords and play the music as written.

When learning, you should also avoid using the pedal most of the time. The last step is adding the pedal. By working hands separately, each little phrase at a time and then putting them together, you have the benefit of breaking things down to size so you can master each section. You also can really digest a score and have all of the details learned because you focus on one phrase of music at a time. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of details in each phrase of music. How can this be? Each note has a duration and rhythm. Each note has a fingering. Each note has a phrasing and an expression. So, there are five aspects to each note. There’s only so much you can assimilate at a time!

That’s why learning small chunks of music a phrase at a time hands separately is such a powerful practice technique.

That’s the secret. You hear people playing intricate pieces of music that you want to play, and you wonder how it is possible to learn so much music with your hands doing dramatically different things. The accompanying video shows you how to achieve this with music that is relatively simple. But the same principle applies to learning any piece of music. That’s the secret to playing hands together on the piano. I hope you’ve enjoyed this here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Store. I’m Robert Estrin.

info@LivingPianos.com
949-244-3729

When to Add the Pedal in Your Piano Practice

When to Add the Pedal in Your Piano Practice

The question today is “When do you add the pedal in your piano practice?” Some of you may be thinking, “Why don’t you use the pedal the whole time?” There are good reasons to practice without the pedal. I have discussed this at great length in many videos. Today, we’re going to talk about when to add the pedal in your piano practice.

Why should you practice without the pedal?

As I’ve talked about before, in order to discover the best fingering to really connect the music with your hands, you want to be able to practice hearing all the notes clearly. The pedal is like the icing on the cake. It makes everything sound better! But, you want to try to achieve a beautiful, smooth performance playing without the pedal. If you do that, then adding the pedal is going to enrich your performance. More than that, you won’t use the pedal as a crutch to connect music that you can connect with your hands. This leaves the pedal as an expressive device to enhance tone instead of merely connecting what you should be able to do with your fingers.

I’m going to take a familiar section of the Chopin Ballade in G minor to show you on the accompanying video what to do when you are practicing this section of this famous piece. I’m going to play as written first with the pedal. Then I will show you when to add the pedal in your practice.

The first thing is to know how to practice to begin with!

As I’ve discussed in the past, it’s really important with solo piano repertoire to break down the music to its most intrinsic elements so that you can absorb all the details. Because if you try to learn too much at a time, there’s only so much you can assimilate at one time. It is necessary to take a small section at a time, hands separately, figuring out the notes, counting out the rhythm, figuring out the best fingering, as well as observing, phrasing, such as staccato and slurs, as well as all the expression marks such as dynamics (the loud and soft indications), accents, and all the rest of the details of the score.

If you are learning a fresh, new piece, you should tackle a small section as demonstrated on the accompanying video. You could take more. But it could take you more than twice as long to learn a phrase that is longer. More than that, if you are practicing a whole afternoon and want to keep practicing productively, it would be really challenging to take 16 major or 32 measure phrases. However, you could knock out smaller phrases very easily and sustain a longer practice.

Next you get the left hand securely memorized so you can play smoothly with comfort. Finally, you put the hands together. I suggest when putting the hands together the first time, challenge yourself by doing it from memory. You may need to go substantially slower at first in order to achieve this. You’ll know right away if your fingering needs work since you will hear things that are not connected. In fact:

One of the most important solutions to most technical problems is finding better fingering.

This transcends just this lesson today about when to add the pedal. I would suggest whenever you run into snags in your playing, investigate alternative fingering to solve problems.

Once you get hands together smoothly and memorized at a reasonable tempo (which is as fast as you can get it up to in one sitting before the point of diminishing returns), you are ready to add the pedal.

Instead of relying upon the pedal to connect notes that can be connected smoothly with your fingers, instead, you utilize the pedal to enhance the tone as well as to connect what you can’t connect with your hands. For example, in this phrase, you can extend the left hand broken chords to sustain longer than your fingers can possibly hold the notes which sounds much more beautiful. I had the good fortune of studying with many brilliant concert pianists, and all of them taught me the importance of practicing without the pedal. It’s an essential practice technique for the piano. So, remember to add the pedal to reward yourself as you master each phrase of music.

Even after you have the whole piece on a high level with the pedal, check your work without the pedal to keep your playing honest.

You piano playing will be on an entirely new level when you stop using the pedal as a crutch and learn how to connect the music with your hands. I hope this tutorial helps your piano practice and your playing. This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com Your Online Piano Store 949-244-3729 info@LivingPianos.com