 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Anon
Date: 2000-08-18 15:09
I have seen some discussion on this board detailing the outlines of a beneficial practice routine; long tones, scales, etudes and arpeggios. Let relate the situation of a close friend who plays the piano whose practice routine is very contrary to musical growth.
My friend started taking piano lessons when he was ten. He continued them for two years and then never took another lesson again. He has been playing for 20 years. The way he practices is to go through a collection of songs, turn of the century stuff mostly. He plays all pieces at adagio, plays them through ONCE. When he gets tied up at a passage the slows down his tempo. His sense of time is so "elastic" (I am being kind) that when I play duets with him I have to basically wait until he is about to play his note and then play my note. I have never heard him repeat a difficult passage. He knows nothing of scales, arpeggios or cords. As a result he plays note to note rather than grouping notes into phrases and is unable to read ahead. This would be akin to reading a paragraph letter by letter rather than reading words. Because he is independenly wealthy he doesn't work so he is at his piano at least 6 hours a day.
By all accounts his playing should be excellent. But the effect he achieves is that he sounds like one of those saloon piano players in the wild west. He accentuates the off beat of every piece he plays so that he has a sickly syncopation to all his songs. I suggested that we try to play the piece as the composer had intended (in terms of tempo and rhythm) and THEN begin to explore different directions. We didn't even get two measures before he reverted to his heavy handed syncopation. Even though he lives by the ocean he tunes his antique (I call it run down) piano once every two years (can you imagne.) He has been playing the same songs badly for years.
After spending a week playing with him I left feeling very musically disoriented and I thought I had been playing out of tune. When I returned home and played duets with another friend who has a very well papered Steinway concert grand piano I was very much in tune and I quickly began to recover.
This is why it important at every level to have other musicians cirtique your playing, to continue with lessons and to practice long tones, scales, arpeggios and etudes at various tempos and rhythms.
Good Luck.
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2000-08-18 17:00
A terrific activity for wind players is to tape the top line of a duet and then play the bottom line along with the tape. The first thing you find out is how 'elastic' your sense of tempo is, and whether your counting is really consistent. There's no better eye opener than having to deal with yourself as a player from the perspective of a playing partner.
A secondary benefit is that good duets fill your brain with harmony and counterpoint in a way that no textbook can. When doing this with tape, you can also experiment with the music a bit. It's no substitute for your technical basics, but it's a better way to take a little break than heading for the fridge or the tube...
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-08-18 17:38
Sounds like you needed to vent mostly, sometimes a week is too long to spend with a friend. I would not directly bring this up to him. Sometimes it's best to 'MYOB' and keep a friend. Or suggest lessons and let the teacher help.
It does sound as if he has a bad case of spastic arhythmia, but its not a fatal disease, after all its only music, not brain surgery.
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Author: Chris Ondaatje
Date: 2000-08-19 06:00
I thought "Anon" made some very good points. I would like to take this idea a little further.
For instance practicing long tones has limited value unless you are using the correct breathing technique, ie abdominal muscles supporting the diaphragm. At the same instance the "oral-cavity" (back of the tongue,soft pallate,throat etc...)must form the optimum shape for tone and intonation(sometimes a slight compromise). For the long tone to sound pleasant it should be "frammed" with the appropriate artistic release of the tongue. In other words a clean attack.
Scales are another item that are also often practiced badly,i.e notes out of tune,uneven passages.
Tongueing studies can easily become endless reinforcing of the same basic articulation difficulties. Far better to attempt to isolate the problems on one single note and then to work on the simplest variation possible.
I suppose I am trying to say "its not what you do its the way that you do it".
All this assumes a clear artistic concept of what you want in the first place. And as Ginny points out its not "Brain surgery". No this is far more difficult!
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