This year, we went to Ellesmere United Church at SFU for the Christmas Recital. My colleague, Jammy Smith and I hosted this recital of our students. I’m glad that everyone played beautifully. It was a nice opportunity for the students to experience the fun of performing. Look forward to the next recital in May/June!
As a performer, I totally agree that be able to perform in public is something to be learned. Play at a festival is a good opportunity to challenge yourself and see how well you can handle the unexpected circumstances. It is required to concentrate and pay attention just in your music no matter what. I remember one time I was playing at a univeristy club house where dinner was served right after my performance. The staff were busy setting up the food so the utensils were clinging and the phone was ringing. It was kind of noisy and that shouldn’t have happened during a performace. So I totally ignored the noise by keeping my concentrate only in my music. Everyone were amazed by my performance and suprised by how well I know my piece.
Another tip for performing is be able to play through mistake(s) as if there’s no mistake at all. This is the only way to minimize the “demage” of a music and this is also the only way to cover up your mistake. Stop and play from the beginning is FATAL. Fixing your mistake(s) at the middle of your performance does not make your playing easier but it worsen the whole process by telling the audience that you are lack of concentration, control and knowledge of your piece. Play a note wrong is already one mistake. If you repeat your mistake, you’re rhythmically wrong too. So you created 2 mistakes by fixing a wrong note. Therefore I always emphasize my students to be able to play from anywhere in your piece by memory. Be able to move forward instead of going back. Another good strategy is knowing the ending very well. In worse case scenario, if you lost your memory in the middle of the piece and can’t continue anymore, jump right to the last 4 bars and finish the piece so that you can walk away from the piano with an ending.
Recently, I sent my students to the SPG piano festival in which only Registered Piano Teachers can apply for their students. All of my students who played at the festival got either first, second or third in their classes. I’m pleased with their accomplishment. However, what attitude should teachers, parents and students use when facing a competitive piano festival?
As a piano teacher, I always make sure my students are well prepared. Memorize the pieces correctly and be expressive. Enjoy the moment when you’re making your lovely music. Share your enthusiasm in music as if you wanted to tell a story or express an emotion through playing.
As a parent, be supportive by providing a good environment for practicing. Be positive no matter what happened during the performance. Don’t focus too much on the marks or ranking or the trophy. Focus on the whole experience rather than the marks. Praise your child(ren) after performing as children often have to bravely step out of their comfort zone to do it.
As a student, treat it like a precious moment to share your music to someone you don’t know. Persuade the audience that the piece that you picked is the best in the world. For students, it’s a good opportunity to experience the difference in playing out of your familar settings (either at home or at lesson). It’s an opportunity to learn how to control their nervousness before and during the performance, learn how to cover up their mistake(s) if there’s any. It’s also a great opportunity to listen to other players at the same level. Students also get comments from the adjudicator. So as a whole, students always gain something from this experience regardless of the marks.
Yesterday was finally the big day. I enjoyed every minute of it. From doing the hair, to make-up, then eating and waiting in the dressing room in the back stage, rehersing on stage with photographer and video man stay close around you, to getting ready to perform live on stage. I loved it! I like the feeling of uncertainty but yet still know everything will be under control. The music will just flow out from our fingers. I loved to listen to the music that we made in the big concert hall.
Since our group (6 of us) performed after the intermission, we still had a bit of time getting together in the waiting room. We stayed together and sang out our parts with the metronome. Making sure we were in sync, be close and tight together. We practiced the eye contact between teamates from one piano to another piano, and among ourself in our piano. After doing this a few times, we felt that we were in unity. That’s the most important thing in piano ensemble.
The other fun part is that when we’re on stage, we have to act like one unit instead of 6 individuals. So the timing of walking, bowing, sitting, puting our hands on and off the keyboard, and standing up after finishing the piece are all very crucial in terms of the persentation.
Well, after doing it once, just want to do it again if we have a chance.
People always think practicing super hard right before performing (or lesson) will enhance the performance, does it really turn out that way? I don’t think so. Be able to play beautiful on stage requires a lot of practicing and preparations. It’s all about time. Polishing a piece or making changes a week before perfoming will only stress out the player, make the exprience less enjoyable.
I would suggest not to over practice the piece a week before the performance. Slow practice by memory to strengthen the concentration . When you play slow, listen carefully to different parts and pay extra attention to dynamics, voicing, pedaling, fingering, colouring etc. Then practice with music (still playing slow) to enhance the visual memory of the piece. Get a chance to study the music silently. Imagine the sound in your head when you look at the music. This helps you to convey the imaginary sound into real music. I usually practice some technicals on the performing day but not the performing piece. Playing technicals to warm up and loosen up all the joints. Play fresh on stage! The audience can feel the stress if you play with stress. When you’re on stage, enjoy every minute and fall in love with your music.
What’s the difference between practicing and performing? When we practice, we extract the parts that need to be worked on. Just do the “trouble” spots over and over until we can play it nice and smooth. Usually start playing slow to get familiar with the finger and know what keys to play. Then gradually speed up. After being able to play it nice and smooth, then move back a couple bars and see if the transition flows with an ease.
Whereas performing requires continuity. Stopping at the middle or start all over from the beginning is fatal!! Always move forward and play ahead if you get stuck instead of going back a couple bars or starting all over. When practicing, pick a few cold start point and be able to start any where in the music. Always know the ending as well as the opening. Just in case if you have memory lost, you can always play the ending so you can kindly go down the stage.
When we pick up a brand new music, most of us just care about getting the notes right followed by getting the rhythm right. Isn’t music just about getting the notes and rhythm right? Of course not! Some of my students wonder why I still want them to work on a piece which they can play correctly in terms of notes and rhythm. It’s because I’m teaching student playing piano not typing piano.
Typing piano is more straight forward. Just “Type” the notes out on the right beat. That’s all! How does it sound when you “Type” piano? It sounds like typing with no expressions. Nowadays, we don’t need a teacher to teach us type. It’s the same for piano, everyone can master “TYPing” piano without an instructor.
Whereas PLAYing piano is about setting the atmosphere, conveying mood or feelings to the audience. But what exactly do you need to do? First, you need a knowledgable and experienced piano teacher. The teacher will help you with the correct touch, dynamics (loud and soft), phrasing and colours of the piece. Pay attention to all the markings on the sheet. They are as important as the notes and rhythm. Look at the title of the music. If it’s a Nocturn, it should be soft and quiet. If it’s a Waltz, it’s a 3 beats dance (Strong-weak-weak). Know all the italian words on the music. They are the hints. Listen to the sound you make. Play to the bottom of the keys to produce a rich and warm tone. Avoid hammering down from above which produces a harsh sound or play half way down the keys which produces a whispering sound. A qualified piano teacher can help you with all of the aspects.
Every one knows family has a big influence on kids. It’s the same for piano study. If a family takes it seriously, the student will also have a stronger will to learn piano. A “Ho Hum” family will produce a “Ho Hum” student. Students, no matter what age, needs encouragement and support from the family. For younger students, one of the parents needs to sit beside the child when practicing at home. This will avoid having the feeling of lonelyness when practicing. A 4 year old can’t read the comments I left after lesson and can’t remember much from the lesson. It is the adult’s responsibility to do the reinforcement at home. If you just leave it to the child, not much acheivement will be seen. Learning piano is a team work between the student, the family and the teacher.
When you play a solo piece. You’re responsible for everything in the music. From the rythm to the voicing and phrasing of the piece. It’s more technically challenging. A solo piece is good for showing off one’s virtuosity. Whereas ensemble, it’s a teamwork. Although the technical requirement is not as demanding, the listening skill becomes more important. In order to maintain the togetherness, rythm becomes a big issue. Counting on your own without listening to the other team players will of course make it sounds like you’re just sitting by the piano and try to join the group. I found that listening to the other teamates is sometimes more important than counting on your own. The base provides the beat of the music. Following the beat will make it easier to flow with the music. The other crucial point is that knowing where the melodies are and try to voice that out. Otherwise, everyone just blast off all the notes that would sounds like a jam of noise. So I would suggest practicing the parts that you’re not in. Know who is making what sound. Once you know where the melodies are coming from, the rest of the notes will fit into the harmonies. The other thing to overcome is rushing. The most terrible situation is that the person who’s rushing doesn’t even know that he/she is rushing. That happens to me as well. Sometimes, one of us rushed then all of us rushes. Once you rushed, it’s hard to hold it back again.
As a whole, it’s a good experience for ear trainning .
I’ve been playing piano solo for almost all my life time. I always dream about playing an ensemble music in 2 pianos with 4 to 6 people. Now that I’m working on a piano ensemble piece. It’s just too good to be true.
However, for the general public, what’s so special or what are the differences between solo vs ensemble?
For any solo music, all the spot lights are focused on one person. Some people would listen to the fluency of the music, some concentrate on the coloring ,phrasing and the technique of the piece, some would fall in love to the atmosphere or the mood that the music present. But everything is coming out from 1 performer, from 1 piano.
Piano ensemble, just like other ensemble music (or orchestral music), the 2 pianos blend in so well that sounds like only 1 big instrument. But yet there are personalities in each individual player. A lot more can be done in terms of voicing and parts crossing between 2 pianos. Imagine you’re sitting in a theatre watching movie with surround sound. Sound could come from your left or right or from behind. Piano ensemble has such a feature similar to a surround sound system. It’s more versitile!
So don’t miss the concert on April 15 at Chan Center. You need to experience it!
