Today’s show is, “Secrets of Phrasing: How to Approach Two Note Slurs on the Piano”. There are two aspects of phrasing. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but there are two distinct meanings. One meaning of phrasing is how you approach music in terms of musical units, a phrase being a musical sentence. The other meaning is the way in which notes are connected or detached. Two notes slurs are a classic example of phrasing. Last time we talked a bit about staccatos and how they are approached from the wrist.
Two note slurs are essentially one note connecting to the next note. Even if the second is not written to be played staccato, it still is played staccato in most musical contexts. Since staccato is simply not connecting notes, and a slur is connecting notes, if you have a two note slur, you essentially play, long-short for the two notes. The slurred note is long, the staccato note is short.
How do you approach such a thing? Staccatos are created by using the wrists creating a crisp sound, particularly with fast music. Slower tempo staccato is a completely different subject which I’ll cover in a future video. When you have two note slurs, you go down for the first note and up for the second note with the wrist. That is what creates the two note slur. When approaching staccatos, sometimes it can be difficult to identify the wrists separate from the arms. It is very important that you understand when you’re using the wrists and when you’re using the arms since the sound is extremely different. There is certainly a place for arms in piano playing, but with quick, snappy staccatos or two note slurs, the arms are too heavy and cumbersome in order to execute the phrasing in a musically pleasing way.
To sum up, the secret to approaching two note slurs is utilizing the wrists in order to accommodate the staccato. You go down for the slurred note and up for the second note of the slur which by its very nature is detached which is synonymous with staccato. I hope this has been helpful! Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com