I get questions from piano students all the time asking, “How can I determine what level player I am?” Students from India have specific designations from organizations like ABRSM that have regimented repertoire putting students in specific categories of levels. Many music organizations like Music Teachers’ Association of California also categorize students by numeric levels. I laugh sometimes when I see repertoire with designations of, Easy, Intermediate and Advanced, and such, with pieces of the standard literature sometimes being called, ”Easy”. But there are no ways to categorize levels of playing since people have drastically different aptitudes. Someone may have a great affinity for Baroque music, but a weak sense of rhythm. Or someone may be a phenomenal sight-reader, but they can’t play anything from memory, or play anything on a really refined level. I would say that someone playing Beethoven Sonatas and large works of Chopin (like his Ballades and Scherzi) for example, may be considered advanced, but only if they are playing these pieces honestly.
There is a huge range of levels within intermediate and advanced music on the piano.
Ultimately, it isn’t important to categorize yourself into any particular piano level. You are growing as a musician as long as you are practicing, and most importantly, expanding your repertoire. Every new piece you learn adds to your skill as a pianist, and increases the depth of your musicianship. There will always be new pieces to learn, new styles to assimilate, and new techniques to explore. No matter how much music you learn, or how accomplished you become at the piano, there are always vast new areas of music for you on the piano. There also will always be people who can do things on the piano you can’t do no matter how accomplished you become.
It’s about the journey, not the destination.
So, enjoy your practice! And don’t worry about what level you are on. That’s my advice to you. If you spend productive time at the piano on a regular basis, you will continue to grow as a pianist.
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Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about how to practice with a metronome. The metronome is one of the most valuable tools for your practice. It is perhaps the most valuable tool other than the instrument you’re playing on. The metronome is something that should be on your piano whenever you practice, to check your work, and to work out passages.
How do you use a metronome to work through a section of a piece?
Let’s say you’re working on the famous Alla Turca movement of the famous Mozart Sonata in A major K.331 no. 11. You get to the F-sharp minor section that has some tricky finger work, and it isn’t gelling for you. Some people might think you should go through the whole piece with the metronome. There is value in doing that to check your tempo, and the consistency of speed throughout a movement. It’s important to make sure you’re not speeding up or slowing down. But what I’m going to show you today is how to use the metronome to be able to solidify a passage like this. So let’s say you aren’t happy with your playing in the F-sharp minor section. It’s not as even as you would like. What can you do about that?
Find a speed on your metronome at which you can play the trouble section evenly and beautifully.
Taking too large a section to do progressive metronome speeds can sometimes be counterproductive. If you work on smaller sections, and then string the sections together later, you might have more success. Not only that, but maybe there’s a section you can already play up to tempo, but the next section still needs improvement. It’s unnecessary to work all those metronome speeds on both passages.
There are metronome applications for your phone that allow you to simply tap in the tempo. That’s a real help. If you are using a traditional metronome, you just start tapping or clapping along with your music as you sing or play mentally, so you can match the speed on the metronome. Make sure that it’s a comfortable speed for you. The most important thing is finding a speed at which you can play it perfectly. Once you can play the passage absolutely perfectly, and repeatably, you’re ready to increase the speed. But make sure you find the speed at which you have absolute security first.
The first time you do this, you’re going to find it to be really difficult to play perfectly at any tempo.
Here’s the key: Spend the time on the front end. Play it perfectly even with comfort. If you find you can’t do that, slow the metronome down further until you find a tempo where you can. Make sure you can play without feeling you’re getting off from the metronome at all. Make sure it’s rock solid, steady, and repeatable. You should be able to get it at least three times in a row, perfectly. It should not only sound perfect, it should feel comfortable. Then once you have it at one speed, take the metronome up a notch.
Physical metronomes actually have one benefit that digital metronomes don’t have. On physical metronomes, each notch goes up multiple numbers instead of having every number. For example, 60, 63, 66, 69, 72, 76, 80, et cetera. Notice how the speeds progress from going up by three, to going up by four beats per minute. If you double the speed, 60 to 63, at 120, the next notch on the metronome is 126 which is double the slower speeds. It doesn’t just go up by three throughout the range of speeds on the metronome. So the progression of speeds on a metronome is calculated correctly. You don’t want to go from 69 to 70 to 71 because the increases in speed are infinitesimally small. But one notch on the metronome, or maybe two notches at most, provides just the right amount of challenge to speed up a passage. Once you can play it successfully and repeatably with comfort at one slow speed, go to the next notch on the metronome. So if you’re at 60, play the passage at 63. You may only have to play it once to feel that it’s perfect and keep going notch by notch. But anytime you have any issues where it doesn’t sound right or doesn’t feel comfortable, keep doing it at that metronome speed.
This is one of the greatest practice techniques for developing speed, fluency and evenness in your piano playing!
I recommend doing metronome speeds on a regular basis with anything in your music that isn’t up to a high standard. If you feel that there’s some passage work or any sections of your music that aren’t even, or aren’t reliable, find a speed at which you can play it perfectly, repeatably, and comfortably, and go through metronome speeds notch by notch. You can solve almost any technical problem this way. Try it out! Let me know how it works for you! You can leave comments here at LivingPianos.com or YouTube. Thanks so much for joining me. I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about why it is so hard to start in the middle of a piece of music. Have you ever had that situation? Maybe during your practice something fumbles. So, you want to start from where you left off. You try, but it’s too hard, so you just go back to the beginning. Worse yet, you’re in the middle of a performance, and you have a finger slip or a moment of memory insecurity. Then you try to start in the middle, and you just can’t do it. You have to go back to the beginning. It feels so terrible! The audience is fidgeting because they already heard you play that music. This is a real issue. So, first I’ll explain why this happens, then I’m going to offer you some solutions.
It has to do with the way the human mind works.
Learning things sequentially is much easier than random access memory. For example, have you ever seen memory geniuses who can remember thousands of digits? Some of these people are just unbelievable. Or, they can remember countless unrelated items. How do they do it? The secret they use is relating the things they are trying to remember to each other. If you had random objects and you wanted to remember them sequentially, the first visual image that comes into your head can really help. So let’s say you want to remember car, toaster. Imagine a toaster with a car popping out of it. That’s a really weird image that came to my mind. So now I have a car and a toaster. And then you go on. What’s next thing on the list to remember? How about car, toaster,orange. The car is popping out of the toaster and there is an orange on top like the light on a police car. It can be anything. The more outlandish the visual images, the better. You can do a chain of dozens of unrelated things so long as the visual images are so ridiculous that you can’t forget them. The more abstract the better.
There is a sequential nature to memory.
In school growing up, I learned all kinds of music because my father taught me how to memorize. From my first lesson when I was a young child, I had to memorize all my music, and didn’t think anything of it. But in school in social studies, we had to memorize all kinds of dates, wars, generals and battles. I had no idea how to learn that kind of stuff! The sequential nature of learning is so powerful. I wish I had known about this technique back then!
What do you do when you want to start in the middle of a piece?
You get so used to going through a piece all at once, there’s a certain amount of motor or muscle memory. Your fingers themselves remember where to go! Once you get off track, they have no idea where to go anymore. There are a few things you can do to remedy this. Number one: in your practice, whenever there is a problem and you stop to fix it, find your place in the score! I know it can be painstaking to do that sometimes, but by finding the place in the score and making yourself start there, you will gain the ability to start from that place. If you had insecurity one time, you may have insecurity another time. If you know how to start from the point of insecurity, it can be a lifesaver in performance. Anytime you have a problem with something messing up in your practice, that’s an opportunity to learn how to start right at that point. That’s a terrific way of solidifying your music.
There’s more you can do! Practice incessantly with the music even after you’ve memorized something! Look at the score as you play slowly without the pedal. Utilize the metronome where appropriate, and go through to solidify your memory. Let’s say you have a piece you’ve memorized, and it’s pretty secure, but you still have issues with it. What can you do to make it totally solid so you are able to start anywhere?
One of the best techniques is to be able to play a piece without the benefit of playing it on the piano.
First, try just playing it on a tabletop or in your lap. Have the score nearby so when you get to a point of insecurity, you can find your place in the score. Go back a little bit and pass that point until you can play the whole piece away from the piano. Then, the ultimate, is to be able to play without even moving your fingers! Think the piece all the way through. When you can do that, you will gain great security in your playing. That’s why for example, memory problems often happen when you have leaps in music because your fingers have a memory all their own. But when you have to jump from one section of the keyboard to another, you have to be aware of where you’re jumping! Worse yet are pieces that have repeated sections in different keys. When you have a sonata where in one section you modulate from one key to another key, and later the same thing comes back, but it goes to a different key, you have to be very deliberate. Study your score to remember (for example), first time D, second time A, or whatever it may be. Lock it in your brain, and then be present enough in your performance to know, yes, the second time go to A. You have to have that information ready in the back of your brain, looking down on yourself while you’re playing so you’re not all just on automatic pilot! You can’t always trust finger memory. It is a godsend having it. If people didn’t have that to work with, I don’t think pianists could memorize massive amounts of music nearly as easily. But you can’t depend upon it completely.
Conductors have to memorize scores.
Conductors have to know their scores without the benefit of muscle memory. Of course, many conductors are pianists, so they may flesh out a lot of the music on the keyboard first. But for all you pianists out there, take advantage of the music you know by playing mentally. The sound of the music, the feel of the keys as well as the vision of the keyboard. The whole playing experience away from the instrument can be an awesome learning experience. In the meantime, as a first step, make yourself find where you are in the score when you have insecurity in your playing so you can learn to start from there. That’s going to help you if you ever have problems in those particular places during a performance. Thanks so much for joining me. I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com
Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about how to get better at playing the piano. There are so many things you can do! Of course, everyone would say, “Practice!” That’s obvious. How to practice is a whole other subject for another video. I know people who practice incessantly and don’t get anywhere, because how you practice is key. But as I said, that’s a whole other discussion. Today we’re going to talk about other things aside from practicing, which is the obvious thing.
Immerse yourself in music!
Listen to music on recordings and go to concerts. If you have friends who love music, or better yet, friends who are musicians, talk with them! Read books about music, watch films about musicians and music. Watch videos of various concerts or musicals. Total immersion makes all the difference in the world!
Play piano every day.
You should play the piano every day, unless you absolutely can’t because you’re on vacation or you’re really sick in bed. Practicing every day, of course, is great, but simply playing every day makes such a huge difference in how you progress on the instrument. Naturally, if you also practice every day, and you practice effectively, that’s awesome!
Play on high level instruments.
Another thing you can do to help you become a better pianist is to play on fine pianos whenever there’s an opportunity. I remember when I was at music conservatory, I would always sneak in anywhere I could where there was a concert grand. I shamefully admit, I used my ID late at night to break into some of the teaching studios to play on really well prepped Steinways. I used to go down to the pit of the musical arts center. There was a concert grand there. I used to climb down there. I probably shouldn’t have been doing that because it wasn’t meant to go down there, but I did. Of course I’d get kicked out. But if I could get even 10 minutes on an instrument like that, it was worth it. So anytime you can play on a fine piano, it makes a world of difference in what you’ll learn. Play on any fine piano and you’ll have a clear idea of what you’re after and what’s possible in your music.
Find a great teacher.
Of course, having a great teacher can be a godsend in getting better at playing the piano. A teacher can not only improve your playing by showing you how to approach different sections of music and assigning appropriate material, but a teacher also can guide your practice and show you exactly what you should be doing day after day in your daily work to maximize the effectiveness and the productivity of your placticing. So if you’re not getting it from your teacher currently, seek out a teacher who shows you what to do. If you get home after a lesson thinking, “Oh, that was great. Now, what do I do?” Then that’s not the right teacher. You should be filled with more than a week’s worth of work and know exactly step by step how to approach it if you have the right teacher.
Play for as many people as you can.
Another thing that’s really great is simply playing for people. You can practice and practice and practice, but as soon as you play for somebody, it feels different, doesn’t it? I’m sure you all relate to that, because practicing and performing are not the same thing. When you play for people, that is the moment of creation. When you’re practicing, you’re just preparing for that moment, but you’re not really experiencing the performance. Even if you’re just playing for friends or family members, it is a different experience. You will grow tremendously from playing for people on a regular basis. Start off with people who are supportive and loving, who don’t mind if you mess up. But make it a performance. Don’t stop. Play all the way through for better or worse so you get used to recovering. So when you’re in an actual performance, you’ll know how to deal with situations of stress because you’ve practiced in a low stress situation with people who will forgive you.
Play music with other people.
If you have any musician friends, play with them! Playing with musicians, particularly musicians who are more advanced than you, is an amazing experience for growth. You will learn so much playing with fine musicians. The sense of balance, rhythm, the nuance of rubato in romantic period music. You’ll learn tremendous amounts playing with other musicians. Any opportunity you have to play with people, even if they aren’t better than you, you will learn something from it – especially as a pianist! We play alone so much of the time that if you have any opportunity to play with other people, whether it’s accompanying them or even jamming in an informal gathering, you will learn something. I promise you.
Sing!
On the piano, you can play a note without hearing it first. When you are singing, that’s impossible. On many instruments, just to be able to get the notes to come out, you have to hear them in your head first. For example, I also play the French horn. French horn has so many different notes you can get on the open horn that you have to hear the notes first to successfully produce them. By singing, you’ll learn your music better and you’ll gain a connection between the keys you’re pushing with your fingers and the sounds they create. You’ll develop your ears. You’ll be better at improvising and playing different styles of music. It will also help you to recover from the inevitable finger slip or memory issues in performance from singing your music and developing your ear.
So those are all different things you can do. And guess what? They’re all fun and enriching! As long as you love the piano, you’ll want to do these things anyway. Try them out for yourself! Thanks so much for joining me. I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin
Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com
Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today I’m going to share an important tip with you. More motion equals more volume and less motion equals less volume and more speed. It’s as simple as that. This applies not just to finger work, but to wrist technique as well. I’m going to illustrate both for you today!
The answer is, it really depends upon the context.
Sometimes you want to be able to play delicately and quietly. For example, in the B flat minor Nocturne of Chopin. If you play it with a lot of finger motion, not staying close to the keys, with raised fingers, you will hear a great deal of sound generated from the sheer motion. But if you want to achieve a real pianissimo, you’ll use less motion and stay close to the keys. You don’t even need to use the una corda pedal, the soft pedal! You can get so much control when you’re close to the keys! You get a really soft sound. Now the converse of that, if you want more volume in your playing, simply use more finger motion. Raise your fingers higher. It’s very simple physics really. If you want to bang a nail into the wall, you’re not going to strike from right next to it. You’re going to give some momentum and strike from above. Well the same thing is true with chord technique on the piano.
How does this apply to wrist work?
Let’s say you want to be able to play light and fast chords in the Military Polonaise of Chopin. If you try to use a lot of motion, it’s going to be very loud, but it’s going to be difficult to play fast. You get a lot of volume, but you can’t achieve much speed. Speed is related to how much motion you use in your playing. Staying closer to the keys, using less wrist motion, you have more control, more speed, with less volume.
The amount of motion affects the volume and speed of your playing.
This applies to the wrists as well as finger technique. So remember: when you want to play a true beautiful pianissimo, stay close to the keys. The same is true of anything with staccatos. If you want light action from the wrist, staying close to the keys is going to give you a crisp light sound, whereas more motion is going to give you more power. For fast playing, stay close to the keys and use a minimum of motion in fingerwork or wrist action.
So now you know how to get power and how to get lightness and speed. Staying closer to the keys enables quieter playing and quicker response. To achieve greater power, use more motion. That’s the tip for today! Try it out in your piano playing! Let me know how it works for you in the comments below here on YouTube and LivingPianos.com. Thanks so much for joining me. I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin
Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com
I have two questions for you today: How fast is allegro, and how loud is forte? Have you ever seen a metronome with a tempo guide? It gives you all the speeds for andante, adagio, allegro, presto and more. But when you look at the guide, allegro is from 80 to 120. How do you know how fast it is? Is 80 allegro, or is it 100, or is 120 allegro? It’s the same thing with forte. How loud do you have to play for it to be considered forte? These are excellent questions!
The answer is, it really depends upon the context.
For example, in Mozart, forte may be the loudest indication of an entire piece. When Mozart writes fortissimo it’s really serious business! It’s really loud because it happens so rarely. Same thing with pianissimo in Mozart. But I’ve played some Mahler symphonies that have , FFF, sometimes FFFF, and even FFFFF fortissississississimo! So when you see a forte in Mahler, you have to take it with a grain of salt. There’s such a range and so many different levels of loud, louder, loudest and beyond.
You must consider the acoustics of the room and the sound of the instrument you’re playing.
The acoustics of a room and the sound of the instrument have an affect not just in regards to volume, but speed as well. How you articulate can make something sound faster or slower. If you play very legato, it might sound slower even playing at the same tempo. But if you play with more separation between the notes, really well-articulated staccato fingers, it will sound faster even at the same tempo.
Allegro isn’t just a speed, it’s a mood.
The same thing is true of presto which is very fast, and vivace, which is lively, and andante which is a relaxed tempo like taking a stroll. These are not just tempos or speeds. They have to do with the mood and character of the piece you’re playing. This is really obvious when you have dance movements, like a minuet or a waltz. Everything has to be in the character of the music. It’s not just an absolute speed or volume. Everything is related to everything else, just like in life itself. There are very few absolutes in this world. There are some, absolutely! But in music, most things are relational.
How fast is allegro? How loud is forte? It depends upon the piece and what you’re trying to create with it!
Listen to how loud the loudest part of your piece is and how soft the softest part is. Then you can come up with an architecture that makes sense of the dynamic scheme. Find tempi that work for the mood you’re trying to create in your music. That’s the answer. Keep an open mind, and think about what you’re trying to achieve with every piece you’re playing. Thanks so much for joining me. I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrin
Contact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com
