Tag Archives: how to play piano

Problem Solving: Piano VS Computers

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The topic today is about how computers and pianos require completely opposite approaches to problem solving. For example, in a recent video I talked about how when you make a mistake in your practice, it’s actually a great opportunity to stop and to find where you are on the score so you can cement the correction. The worst thing is when people make a mistake and they go back to the beginning to try again. Maybe they will get it and maybe they won’t, but it doesn’t solve the basic insecurity that’s there. It’s a real shame because you want to cement the correction by finding what it is and approaching the score. You don’t want to just hope that your tactile memory will just happen to get it right next time. Computers are the exact opposite! I’m going to tell you a story about how I discovered this years ago.

In the early 2000s, I was engaged by a music software company called G-Vox in Huntington Beach, California to be the head of the music content development team.

When I arrived the first day there were brand new Dell computers in boxes. I was a Mac guy all the way. I’d never even worked with Windows computers, and then I was the head of the department with Windows computers! It was my job to set them up, so I was a little bit scared. But everything kind of worked. I was very lucky and started getting productive. It was great! The team there was wonderful. It was a lot of fun. I was working in a high-rise right near the beach. I was very happy.

Every now and then something would go wrong with the computer system, not just for me but for the whole team. Something would screw up and we would ask the head of the program, “Isn’t there somebody who can help us?” So, he sent in an IT specialist. We were all looking forward to that because every time something went wrong we couldn’t figure out how to fix it. When this gentleman came in, I was actually looking forward to the first time I had a problem so that I could see how he solved it. I wanted to learn from him. Finally, I had a problem. I went to him and showed him what the issue was. He asked if I had tried restarting, I told him I had. He asked if I had tried reinstalling the program, I told him I had done that, too. Then he told me to reinstall Windows. I was shocked! I thought he was going to go in there with his magic fingers. I wanted to see the codes he would find, the underlying programming where he would get to the nuts and the bolts of what was wrong. But that’s not the way it’s done. This is diametrically opposed to piano where you want to zero in on the correction when there’s a problem. You want to figure it out so you can find out how it’s supposed to be.

When there is an issue with computers, the best thing you can do is just restart your computer or reinstall the program.

You want to start with a clean slate. It’s really counter-intuitive for me. I’ve owned recording studios for years. I had an analog studio many years ago. When there was a problem, you would simplify, but you wouldn’t tear everything apart and start over. You would want to try to identify where the problem was and correct it so you wouldn’t have that issue again. With modern digital technology, that just isn’t the case. When data is corrupted in one way or another, the best thing you can do is start over.

So many of us now are spending so much time online with virtual piano lessons and virtual visits with friends and family. As great as this technology is, it isn’t perfect. Sometimes for no reason, the audio drops out or something gets distorted. Of course, the best way to solve these problems is to logoff, close the program, and start over.

That’s the lesson for today. There is a huge difference in approach to computer technology, where you just want to start with a clean slate when you have a problem. Because you can spend far more time trying to identify the problem than just starting over again. Whereas, on the piano, that’s the worst thing you can do, because you’ll never really develop security. Isn’t that interesting? They are diametrically opposed! I’d love to hear from any of you who have different ideas about this subject. There are plenty of people who know more about computers than I do. Maybe there are secret tools that I don’t know about. Let me know in the comments! Thanks again for joining me! I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

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What is a Fugue: Bach Toccata in E minor

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s subject is about the ultimate musical form: The fugue. Even if you don’t know what a fugue is, you’ve heard them many times, from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to Handel’s Messiah. The fugue is actually a technical type of form that can be utilized within compositions. There are also whole movements that are fugal. The master of writing counterpoint and fugues is Johann Sebastian Bach. He could craft such unbelievable compositions of counterpoint, of interweaving lines, that it’s a mathematical wonder that he could create such intricate music. But it’s the joy of the music and the emotional content that is most important!

What is the structure of a fugue?

A fugue is an amazing type of composition that is based upon counterpoint, the interweaving of separate lines. Rather than just having melody and harmony, imagine having more than one melody at the same time. Is this possible? Well, we all are familiar with a round. A fugue is a bit more complex than a simple round or canon. First let’s talk about a simpler form than a fugue, which is called an invention. Then you’ll understand and appreciate what goes into writing a fugue. An invention is simply two different lines or voices. One line played by one instrument and another line played with another instrument. One isn’t melody, one isn’t harmony. They’re both melodies that interweave with one another.

Bach wrote a whole bunch of inventions for the keyboard. To understand what an invention is and what counterpoint is about, listen to the beginning of Bach’s 1st Invention in C major. It starts off with what’s called the subject, which provides the seed for the whole composition! It starts off rather simply. Then the subject is repeated an octave lower, while the other hand plays the countersubject. The entire composition is built upon both the subject and the countersubject. Even though they’re independent lines that could be sung by different people or played on different instruments (or in the context of the keyboard, played with different hands), the way they intersect creates harmonies that are lush and beautiful.

Bach lived from 1685 to 1750, or dates around that. (Nobody is 100% sure.) He wrote Preludes and Fugues in every one of the major and minor keys. But that wasn’t enough for Bach! He wrote two complete books. So, you have all 12 major keys, all 12 minor keys – times two, for 48 preludes and fugues! It’s one of the milestones of musical literature.

What kind of things can be done with the subject and the countersubject of a fugue?

There is so much that can be done! Naturally, the subject and countersubject can be transposed. They can also be played slower or faster. This is referred to as augmentation and diminution. They can also be played backwards. This is called, retrograde. They can be played upside down as well which is called inversion. These can be combined, for example, retrograde/inversion. For a demonstration of this, listen to Bach’s fugue in C-sharp minor from book one. This is an example of a five-voice fugue. This means there are 5 separate lines of music interweaving with one another. Can you believe this? There are at least three voices in a fugue. The initial statements of the subject and countersubject are called the exposition which is followed by the development where the subject and countersubject are presented in many ways.

For example there is Bach’s fugue from his Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp Minor from Book I. The subject of this fugue is incredibly simple. It has only 4 notes! As in all fugues, it is restated a fifth higher. This is the way fugues work. As in inventions, you have a counter subject. And once again, it can be altered in many ways. It can be played backwards, upside down, faster, slower, or it can be altered in combinations of techniques. But the entire work is built upon the seeds of the subject and countersubject. Listen to the first section of this fugue to get a feel for what a fugue sounds like. And listen for how this simple subject keeps coming back again and again along with the countersubject. It’s remarkable how 5 voices keep interweaving with one another! There are five separate lines going on. The writing requires mastery in order for a piece of music constructed this way to hold together.

Fugues are rarely pieces all by themselves.

Fugues are usually just parts of pieces. Even Bach wrote preludes and fugues which are two movement works. The only way to really appreciate a fugue is in context. Just like if you really wanted to appreciate a great motion picture, you wouldn’t watch just one or two scenes of it. You’d watch the whole movie! Because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

So what I’m going to do for you is play a complete work of Bach that ends with an absolutely stupendous fugue. I’m going to perform on my grand piano so you can really get the full experience. Bach wrote several toccatas and they’re emotionally charged works. And his E Minor Toccata is one of my favorites. I’m going to play you the whole toccata. It’s not that long, and it ends with a brilliant fugue. Be sure to listen to the fugue subject. This is a three voice fugue, meaning there are three separate lines going on at the same time. The emotional content and how this affects you is unbelievable.

I’m a firm believer in listening to music to really understand it.

I could go deep into the weeds and show you the subject, countersubject and all of the permutations. At a certain point later on in fugues, there is often a section called a stretto, where the statement of the subject is interrupted before it can finish again and again. It creates a chaotic madness of emotional tension. We could go through and analyze it very methodically. But I learned a lot from my father, Morton Estrin. I’ve talked about him so much because he was my piano teacher, my theory teacher, my harmony teacher, sight-singing, everything! Aside from his private piano teaching, he gave many classes. He was a professor at Hofstra University. He also gave classes in our home where he had a big studio. One of the things I used to love was attending his classes. Whenever he would have a class about music, he would play recordings of music, and people coming from other teachers would ask, “What should I listen for?” If you go to a music conservatory, you understand where this question comes from. I remember in music conservatory, whenever we had any kind of theory, harmony or dictation, if we would listen to music it would be to listen for specific techniques, such as where the development starts or where the stretto is. We were told to listen for this, listen for that. But if somebody asked my father what to listen for he always said, “You listen to enjoy!” Because you will understand in an intuitive way what makes a fugue great by listening to a masterfully composed composition. So I hope you enjoy the performance of Bach’s Toccata in E Minor which accompanies this article.

So, that is just one example of how a fugue at the end of a toccata can build such tremendous emotion. It’s not all just about mathematics. You have to have a certain awe that someone could craft a composition that has such intricacy. These lines all coming together and forming this magnificent piece of music out of all these separate voices that somehow weave in and out of one another in ways that you can’t even imagine. It’s hard to believe what’s actually going on!

I hope this has enlightened you enough that you’ll take an active interest in listening to more fugues! Beethoven, Brahms and other composers also wrote magnificent fugues. If you are interested in part two where I get really deep into analyzing a fugue, telling you all the statements of the subject and countersubject, the retrograde, inversion, diminution, augmentation, and how it’s all crafted, I’m happy to do that for you. Just let me know in the comments or send me an email. I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

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How to Play the Piano Without Looking at Your Hands

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The topic today is about the magic of the five finger position on the piano. This is particularly important for beginning students. First I’m going to explain what I mean. Put your five fingers over five keys, for example right now I’m over C, D, E, F, G in both hands. Interestingly, when young students are playing, you’ll notice that they will constantly be looking down, even if they are in a five finger position. But the keys aren’t going to go anywhere! If you just leave your hands in this position you should be able to have your eyes closed and play whatever key you want. This is a great way to develop reading skills, because you know which fingers go down in each hand in order to play those five notes.

Of course, it can be shifted to other keys.

You might rest your fingers over G, A, B, C, D. Whatever the position, once you are comfortable in that position you should be able to play without looking down at your hands at all. This is invaluable, because as music gets more complex you can do things like reach one note beyond. It’s not a far reach to be able to play one key beyond in one hand or the other. Getting that sense of the keyboard, of where the notes are and where your hands are on them without having to look down is so important. And if you don’t do it in the five finger position when you first start, you’ll likely never do it. So it’s really important to get comfortable playing in that position without having to look down at your hands, to develop your connection between your fingers and the keyboard, irrespective of looking at them.

That is the secret of the five finger position!

There’s amazing things you can do just with five keys on the piano! So test yourself. Close your eyes and play, and see if you can hit the keys you intend to hit. Naturally, if you’re at a more advanced level, go back to some easier music. If you find your reading skills are really lacking, try to find books that are in that five finger position and sight read without looking down at your hands at all. Get comfortable with that, and build up from there. This could be a tremendous help for you to develop your sight reading skills with that connection to the keyboard just from the feel of the keys. I hope this is helpful for you! I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

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Don’t Find Your Mistakes, Find The Corrections

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s subject is. about focusing on corrections instead of your mistakes. This may seem counterintuitive. Don’t you have to find your mistakes in order to find the corrections? It’s true that you need to find where your problems are. But beyond that, you don’t want to hunt for what you did wrong. I know a lot of students desperately want to find their mistakes. What’s worse is when they not only want to find the mistakes, but they want to replay them to see exactly what they did wrong. This reinforces the mistakes! You want to learn and cement the corrections right from the get go. This might seem like an arbitrary distinction. But think about when you play a concert, you obviously want to put on a good performance. You want to have the performance securely memorized. You don’t want to go out there thinking, “I hope I remember everything. Am I going to remember the third movement?” If you start thinking that way, it’s a downward spiral, because whatever you think about tends to manifest itself.

Visualization can be extremely valuable in a concert situation.

Conceptualize and see things the way you want them to be in your performance. Imagine yourself on stage in front of an audience. Imagine your performance going well and you’re much more likely for that to happen. But, if in preparation for your concert you’re thinking about the mistakes you might make, it can be crippling. Those thoughts keep percolating in the back of your mind. Then when you get out on stage, it’s going to undermine your performance. It’s the same thing with searching for your mistakes. You don’t want to concentrate on your mistakes. You want to concentrate on the corrections! And that is what is going to assure a good performance for you.

So instead of asking, “What did I do wrong there?” Find out, “What do I need to do right there?”

This is an important distinction that will help the productivity of your practice tremendously. And it’s a lesson for life as well. Remember, you believe what you tell yourself. This is an important fact. So take this to heart, in everything you do and everything you think, because it has a profound effect upon what happens to you in life, and in your music.

I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
Please feel free to contact me with any piano related questions for future videos!

Robert@LivingPianos.com
949-244-3729

The Importance of Quiet in Music

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s subject is, “The Importance of Quiet in Music.” There are many aspects to this question. It’s important to be able to have a dynamic range in your playing. In fact, there’s no better way to draw in an audience than to come down very quiet. But what I’m talking about is the importance of the audience being quiet, and that’s the subject!

Play quietly to summon silence

Something that I like to do if an audience is making noise, ruffling their feet, talking, or doing things that are distracting, is to play quietly. You might think you would want to play louder to overcome the noise, but the opposite is true. If you come down in volume, the audience has to be quiet! They might even shush the person making the noise. Because they want to hear the performance! Talking during a musical performance is so annoying to everybody around, particularly if the music gets quiet. The problem is, we live in a world where music is so pervasive. There’s music playing almost everywhere. So, people are used to talking through music. It’s not only recorded music, even when there’s live music in restaurants and other places, people often talk through it.

Have respect for your neighbors at concerts.

When people who are not familiar with Classical performances go to concerts, they think it’s okay to talk. Worse yet, some people will have a piece of candy. They think somehow, if they open it slowly enough, nobody will notice. They know it’s making noise, so they’re nervous about it. They take an excruciatingly long time to get that candy open, while driving everybody around them nuts. It’s best to wait until after the performance is over to indulge in sweets.

If you have a really bad cough, maybe you should give your tickets to someone else.

Coughing can destroy a musical performance. For example, I try to post musical performances of mine on my YouTube channel. I even have a section you can check out if you want to hear some of my concert performances. But many of them don’t end up being utilized, because there’s some loud coughing right at the most delicate part of the performance. Just remember when you go to concerts, it’s an experience that you want everybody to enjoy. Make sure you can be quiet and have comfortable clothing so you won’t feel like you have to move a great deal in your seat. There’s nothing worse than a chair that squeaks! You don’t even want to move because it causes a disruption. So, check that out when you get to a concert so you can enjoy the performance, and everybody around you can as enjoy the music as well. I hope this is helpful for you! It’s seems like common sense, but not everybody has grown up with Classical music the way I have, so I think it’s important to share this. Thanks again for joining me!

I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Store.
Please feel free to contact us with any piano related questions for future videos!

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Why You Should Practice Scales Two Octaves Apart

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s topic is “Why You Should Practice Scales Two Octaves Apart.” Two octaves apart? You might wonder what value this has. Typically, you play scales an octave apart, right? So what about this idea of practicing scales two octaves apart?

You can hear the hands independently from one another when you play scales two octaves apart.

When you’re playing two octaves apart, it’s much easier to hear sloppiness. I’ve talked about playing in contrary motion also. These are all techniques to help you hear the clarity and evenness of your playing. This is a quick tip for you. If you have never done it before, try playing your scales two octaves apart. At first it’s going to feel a little unnerving. First of all, you can’t look at both hands. But truth be known, you don’t really have to look at your hands very much with scales. The notes are all right next to each other! But you can hear better playing two octaves apart.

You should always practice your scales in four octaves.

This is another good tip! It’s very important to cover the entire range of the piano. You might not think there is a difference playing in the high register versus playing in the low register, but there is! Even though it’s the same notes and the same fingering, your body is at a different angle. It feels different. Get comfortable playing the whole keyboard. The good news is once you learn one octave, it’s all the same! So, go for the full four octaves. In Hanon: 60 Selected Studies for the Virtuoso Pianist, you can find all the scales and arpeggios with the correct fingering. I’d love to hear from any of you who have never tried playing scales two octaves apart before. Tell me how it goes! Let me know if you find improvement in your scales from practicing this way.

I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Store.
Please feel free to contact us with any piano related questions for future videos!

Robert@LivingPianos.com
949-244-3729