Copyright
2005 RAW Productions
One
of the rules of practicing we all hear over and over
is "Be sure to practice slowly." (I'm guilty
of this too!) Often the result of this is a feeling
of inhibition, which leads to tedium. Picture yourself
filled with excitement and yearning in setting out
to learn a new piece. Suddenly a voice from the darkness
whispers: "Don't touch those keys! Sit erect,
play slowly, stay strictly in time, watch that fingering..."
and your smile is gone. I'm beginning to feel a cramp
just talking about it.
The
fact is, a certain amount of slow practice and attention
to small scale detail is absolutely necessary. But
there is something lacking in the approach so many
of us have taken; we set out to make music, and end
up playing what amounts to no more than a series of
sterile exercises.
How
can we overcome this problem?
First
of all, it's important to remember that music comes
to life through shading, dynamics, differences in
touch, the shapes of its phrases, the rhythmic vitality
that is so much a part of the right tempo. These qualities
are all missing in a slow, rigid "practice"
version of a piece. They are just as essential as
correct fingering, and they don't come across without
careful work.
So,
perhaps we should change that rule from "Be sure
to practice slowly" to "Practice as fast
as possible." But Wait! This requires some further
discussion. The slow part of practice helps teach
the fingers where to go, and makes it mush easier
to learn the work. But in order to learn how to create
music, how to make the piece sing--we must practice
it at a tempo that will help reveal musical relationships
and subtleties of form.
Pianists
must have the opportunity to experiment with touch
and phrasing while practicing, and there is little
chance of boredom when so many exciting elements are
introduced to the practice session.
In
my E-book, I've included many basic exercises with
background music to assist you in acquiring this level
of keyboard performance. In other words, you will
be practicing with other instrumentalists. You will
hear the drums, bass and an unobtrusive piano accompaniment
that provides a harmonic blanket for YOU to practice
your course material!
Ideally,
then, both ways of practicing should be used!
First,
we should practice slowly enough to learn the notes
and fingerings. Then, we should "practice as
fast as possible"; that is, as fast as we can
without losing control of the basics we learned in
slow practice.
Here'
how this would work. Take a short part of the piece;
you might choose a four- or eight-measure phrase.
Practice it slowly. When you feel comfortable with
the music, increase the tempo. Don't wait until you've
practiced the entire work slowly. In this way, at
each sitting you'll get to learn a little section,
bring it up to tempo, and feel into what is needed
to bring it to life.
At
the next sitting, work on the next four or eight measure.
When you have that section brought up to tempo, combine
it with the first section. Now, you will begin to
understand how the phrases relate to each other. You
can introduce the idea of dynamic shading and decide
which lines to bring out at a given moment. In fact,
you will be making real, exciting music--even before
you've learned the whole piece!
As
you go on in this way, you will probably change your
mind about how to play the work as new sections are
added. This is part of the process of discovery and
experimentation. Concert artists are always re-interpreting,
because they think about these elements all the time.
So
play as slowly as you need to; but as fast as you
are able!
I wish
you the best of success.
Ron
Worthy http://www.mrronsmusic.com/playpiano.htm
Ron Worthy is a Music Educator, Songwriter
and Performer. He provides online piano instruction
for all ages at: http://www.mrronsmusic.com/playpiano.htm
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