by Bryan Chuan

by Christopher Norton

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Merida, Sultry Night, Warm Breeze from MicroLatin (Norton)
• Bossa Nova, Bossa Nova II, Pop Bossa from the Latin Preludes Collection (Norton)
• Cuban Romance from Connections 8 (Norton)
• Bossa Nova from Latin Duets (Norton)

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Tap this 8th note pattern, accenting the numbers in bold: ONE two three FOUR five six SEVEN eight
• Find bossa nova rhythms on keyboard or online-count aloud while listening 

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music 

• Check the range of dynamics – the loudest moment and the quietest.
• Look at the right hand phrase lengths.
• Check position changes.
• Check where there are slow downs (rits) 
• Play the bossa nova left hand pattern as well as the melody (try 4 bars at a time, not necessarily up to speed)

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• Play legato in your right hand and shape each individual phrase. 

Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Play some of the chords – eg (from bottom to top) Fmaj7 – F, A, C, E and Bbmaj7 – F, A , Bb, D
• See which chords are outlined by the melody at various places.

Process and Practice

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Maintain a steady beat and try to feel and sound relaxed rhythmically.

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• Practice sections one at a time, left hand pedalled, right hand genuine legato. Increase the length of the sections practiced until it is all joining up.
• Feel the overall shape of the piece – where the climaxes are in particular.

Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• Treat each phrase as a sung phrase- in one “breath”- No gaps, no overlaps.

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• Use the track(s) and aim for a song-like line that goes from beginning to end.

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Before you start, try to visualise the aural sound you are about to make and the tempo you are going to use.

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• Try to go through the right hand melody in your mind, away from the piano. Then try it with both hands!

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

Always have a sense of expectation as you prepare to play the piece. You want to find your own, particular sound.

by Penny Lazarus

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• First Experiences with Inventions, Canons, and Rounds such as:
  • Canon in A minor by Cornelius Gurlitt (1820-1901)
  • Invention in C Major by Renée Christopher (b. 1955)
  • Etude in Imitation, Opus 218 by Louis Köhler (1820-1886)
  • Autumn Echoes or Follow Me by Florence Price (1887-1953)

• Longer Inventions, Canons, and Rounds where beats are subdivided even further: Inventions in the Royal Conservatory Celebration Piano Repertoire books, Levels 1 and 2, particularly Follow my Leader from Work and Play by Felix Swinstead (1880-1959).
• Follow the Leader, Opus 39, No. 7 by Dmitri Kabalevksy.
• Answering in Reaching Out, for Solo Piano, by Emma Lou Diemer (1927-2024)
• Sonatina in C Major by William Duncombe, c. 1778
• Arabesque by Friedrich Burgmüller (1806-1874)
• Gavotte by Cecelia Chaminade (1857-1944)
• Any of the 12 Country Dances for the Year 1779 by Ignatius Sancho such as All of One Mind from Piano Music of Black Composers, level 2, compiled and edited by Leah Claiborne
• A single Minuet or Polonaise from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, 1725. The Polonaise in B flat Major would be particularly helpful with understanding dotted eighth-note rhythms

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Use rhythm words for counting.  My favorite is the word “won-der-ful” while counting triplets. If counting aloud is difficult for a student, this might be a good time to introduce an alternative method of counting such as Takadimi. Students only need to know the triplet syllables, such as ta-ki-da, and the sixteenth note syllables ta-ka-di-mi while practicing Following.
• Whatever system of counting you and your students decide to use for this piece, have fun by taking turns clapping. One person claps the big quarter note beats while the other claps the beat divisions such as triplets or sixteenth notes. Turn this into a “follow the leader” game where both of you take turns becoming the leader. The leader keeps the steady beat but gets to call out 3’s or 4’s!
• practice drawing groups of 4 sixteenth notes and comparing these to a dotted eighth note with a sixteenth note rest, and then an eighth note followed by a rest and then a sixteenth note. Tap and/or speak these rhythms slowly by changing where the rest falls.
• Using the rhythmic motif presented in the first two measures, echo play with your student, clapping between the two of you. Alternate to a different sound pattern by using Rhythm Cup Explorations by Wendy Stevens or rhythm sticks. Make sure everyone can hear the difference between the sixteenth note divisions and the triplet divisions. 

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music 

• Using a highlighter mark the primary motif whenever it occurs. Practice these in each hand.
• Label the sections of the piece: Exposition, Development, Bridge, and Recapitulation.

Start the development section hands alone. Notice that the development section is in 3        voices. Review the stemming direction of notes so that students can distinguish between the soprano and alto voices that appear in the right hand.

• Find the descending half-note chromatic scale in each hand!
• Then take turns playing only two voices at a time, switching between voices 1-2-3.
• The Development section is divided into two halves. While the two halves are similar, they are not identical: notice that measures 17 and 18 are slightly different from measures 12 and 13. Highlight the differences. This will prevent many stumbles later on. 

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• The Development section measures 7 to 18, is the most challenging technically.

Find an exercise that uses grace notes, such as pages 6 and 9 in Carolyn Miller’s    Sportacular Warmups, Book 3, and use a warmup.

• Create a pentascale exercise: While holding the thumb down, play a triplet pattern of three notes with fingers 5-4-3 with the right hand. Use this pattern moving one note at a time from C to C staying in C Major. Refer also to Sportacular Warmups Book 3 for multiple exercises using triplets. 

Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Reflect on the title “Following”. Why would the composer choose this title for this piece? Who is this piece dedicated to? Hale Smith dedicated Following to the jazz pianist and composer John Aaron Lewis (1920-2009) who formed the Modern Jazz Quartet, a quintessential innovative jazz ensemble noted for consistently high performance standards. (Thank you to Regina Harris Baiocchi for generously sharing her research from her upcoming memoir about Hale Smith with me.) Both John Lewis and Hale Smith were noted for merging classical forms such as baroque counterpoint with jazz, deliberately blurring the boundaries between the two, where serious music and popular music become indistinguishable. For both John Aaron Lewis and Hale Smith, “composing is an artful craft no matter what one calls it.” (bruceduffie.com interview with Hale Smith.)
• Talk about the Baroque two-part invention form where a short composition is made up of two independent melodic lines or voices, first presented in one hand and then the other, with one hand always “following” the other throughout the whole piece.

Ask the question: How can a two-part invention form stand in as a metaphor for the title of the piece?

Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• The fingering of the first motif is deceptively tricky. Using the suggested fingering, repeat the primary motif out of context until secure. Keep the same fingering even when the motif transposes up a step from D to E as well as the final four measures when the motif returns to the tonal home of D natural minor.

Process and Practice

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• The word following has two meanings: one means sequential action, that is, a synonym for something coming immediately after. This is the root of the meaning of the two parts in a round or voices in a two-part invention. The word following also means having trust and belief in someone who leads. Another musical form uses this concept: the musical technique integral to African folk music and many Southern Baptist religious practices in the United States known as Call and Response. In this musical form, the first phrase asks a question, and the second phrase provides an answer. Call and Response is like a conversation between multiple participants—a call for belief that is then returned.

So, imagine this two-part invention as representing two people. The left-hand starts the conversation, and the right hand follows.Try to hear and sing the melody line in your mind as you play through the phrases to support a proper musical forward flow

• Create a character for the left hand that calls and leads and one for the right hand that follows and responds. Create different characters for each hand; someone who is hesitant; someone who is full of confidence; someone who is shy; someone who is excited; someone who is sad; someone who needs prodding or someone who can’t wait to respond! In Hale Smith’s composition, what happens at the end of the piece? Does the hand who leads, change?

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• Number the measures!
• In the exposition and the recapitulation, practice in two measure segments being careful to notice when the right hand follows the left hand immediately or when there is a beat in-between.
• Practice measures 1 through 8 until flow is achieved. Follow this with the left hand of measures 19 through 22 and, finally, the last 6 measures of the piece. Become equally comfortable with each of these transpositions.
• Practice the development section, first hands alone and then together.

Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• With colored washi tape, mark measures 7-9 and then measures 19-22. Only remove the tape when these connecting measures are as smooth as the rest of the piece.

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• The most difficult section for maintaining tempo is the bridge between the development and the recapitulation, measures 19-22. Finger the right hand’s Dsus2 chord 2,3 and 5. Practice these measures with a slow metronome tempo and gradually work to a faster tempo. Stop and repeat if the chords are not played smoothly and evenly.
• Using a metronome, work with the whole piece, checking that the timing between the hands is correct. Make sure that extra beats are not added during difficult passage work between the hands.  Do the pulses stay in place without the use of the metronome?

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Who do you admire?
• Write a short story about someone you admire and what you would want to emulate.
• How can you incorporate your own experience into this piece?
• Draw a dynamic graph: Using graph paper, mark the measures of the piece on an X-axis. Use the vertical line, the Y-axis, to mark a dynamic range from soft to loud. What happens to the dynamics during the duration of this piece? How would your story fit with the progression of dynamics in this piece?
• Exaggerate the articulations and dynamics.
• Play around with the response between the left hand and the right hand. Now you can loosen up the timing so that this piece has more of an improvisatory feel and is no longer rigid.

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• Create an index card for each section of the piece. Mix these up and practice out of order until each section is just as secure as the beginning of the piece.
• Play a section of the piece, then stop and place your hands in your lap. Count to 5 and start playing again exactly where you stopped. Keep doing this until the wait time between sections becomes so long you can walk across the room and come back to the piano and pick up immediately where you left off!
• Play each hand by itself from memory.

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

Following is not yet recorded on YouTube. Be the first person to post a video of this piece! Record several times, changing the character of each hand.

Listen to Duet for One by Christopher Norton, Microjazz Collection 1 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6dxjQIho9o

What do you think the title “A Duet for One” means?

What would Following sound like if only one voice was present?

by Jordan Karrigan

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Cécile Chaminade: “Aubade,” Op. 140
• Jacques Ibert: “L’Adieu” from Petite suite en 15 images
• Aram Khachaturian: Andantino (“Ivan Sings”) from Album for Children, Vol. 1
•  Edward MacDowell: “To A Wild Rose” from 10 Woodland Sketches, Op. 51
• Robert Schumann: “The Happy Farmer,” No. 10 from Album for Young, Op. 68

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Improvise using sequences based on the melodic material while using the same accompaniment scheme throughout the piece.
• Experiment with basic triads by adding extra notes to explore new sounds that still relate to the piece, helping to understand the purpose of these additional notes in chords.

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

•  Play one part while the other plays the contrasting part in a hands-separate duet, helping to acclimate the ear to the melody above the accompaniment, with attention to specific touches for each part.
• Achieve soft and sustained accompaniment by keeping the fingers “glued” to the keys with gentle lifts and drops, both with and without the pedal, to emphasize the sustained nature of the sound.
• Coordinate varying arm weights by using a heavy lift and drop for the melodic line with a tenuto touch, while using a light “pluck” sensation in the accompaniment.
• Facilitate arm weight coordination by playing either the melody or the accompaniment, doubled between the hands, such as playing the accompaniment in the right hand or the melody in the left hand while playing hands together.

Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• “Calme et expressif, le chant en dehors” indicates that while the piece should be expressive, it should also remain “calm,” avoiding dramatic or large shaping, except for a tasteful build in the B section where indicated.
• Despite its expressive nature, the piece should not be overly sentimental or excessively rubato. The message, intended for a “sweet friend,” is simply a warm and meaningful sentiment, not requiring exaggerated musical expression.
• Once balance and voicing are established, aim for a reserved dolce touch to maintain the “calmness” while addressing the challenges of balance and voicing.

Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• Select supplementary repertoire that complements the slow, demure, and expressive nature of this piece, with a quicker tempo, snappier, and potentially “flashier” piece to work alongside it.
• Incorporate exercises that focus on balance and voicing, such as scales with different articulations in each hand (e.g., legato in the left hand, staccato in the right hand), and playing blocked intervals and triads softly in a repetitive manner.
• Ensure a solid understanding of basic harmonic relationships, as Bonis uses standard harmonic practices with non-chord tones for color; it is beneficial to explore how Bonis subtly alters chords to add color while recognizing these harmonic structures.

Process and Practice

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Exploring the life of Mel Bonis and understanding the challenges she faced in her life can provide context that makes this piece stand out in the piano repertoire, potentially deepening emotional engagement and interest in the work.
• Taking breaks can be beneficial when progress stalls after several weeks, but it is important to maintain a balance by incorporating supplementary repertoire that supports the technical and expressive elements of the piece, ensuring continued development.

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• This piece is in ternary form, and it’s important to know the starting points of each section.
• The phrase structure begins with a (2+2+4) pattern, but Bonis alters it toward the end; recognizing the clear starting points of each phrase helps clarify the overall structure.

Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• Many chords in this piece feature repeated notes, but as the piece progresses, Bonis introduces movement in parts of the blocked intervals and triads; identifying where this occurs and which parts of the chords are affected is important for understanding the harmonic shifts.
• Understanding how the melody connects to the harmony can be challenging, but recognizing which melody notes align with the pulsing accompaniment provides clarity and helps link the two.
•  While the piece begins with diatonic harmonies, Bonis incorporates more chromaticism as it progresses; highlighting where scalar passages remain within the key and where chromatic movement occurs can clarify these harmonic shifts.

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

•  Given the slow tempo of this piece, using internal subdivisions of eighth and sixteenth notes is can help maintain evenness; using a metronome or counting (e.g. 1-e-&-a) can reinforce this.
• Although slow, the piece can be played in both “slow motion” and “fast” versions to achieve different outcomes; a slow version builds sustained concentration, while a faster version helps grasp the larger structural sense without the need for prolonged focus.
• To help develop a “bigger picture” understanding of the piece, tying the pulsing quarter notes in the accompaniment (while maintaining a soft and subdued dynamic) helps to outline intervallic and chordal changes more clearly; suggested ties include grouping every two quarter notes as half notes or every four as whole notes.
• Brief pauses at the end of each phrase improve understanding of individual musical ideas and allow for more focused interpretation; these can be applied every two or four bars, depending on the context.

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• After addressing the technical and musical aspects, creating personal meaning from the work can be made by imagining a friend to dedicate the performance to.
•  As the piece progresses from a demure and meek beginning to a small conflict, guiding through the piece by discussing and labeling the varying moods at different points can bring out more expressivity.
• Constructing a story based on the music and its emotional journey with the “friend” can further deepen interpretive connection.

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• While in ternary form, there are many overlaps and slight differences between sections that can be tricky to discern. Identifying the subtle differences between similar phrases can help clarify the distinctions.
• Instead of blocking the melody as a large cluster, extracting smaller chords within each phrase can aid in better understanding the harmony. For example, the first sequence (mm. 2-3) is based on a root-position C Major triad, mm. 6-7 uses the same triad with an A as a suspension, and mm. 8-9 features a second inversion F7 chord.
• While the harmonies follow traditional patterns, the piece includes several non-chord tones. Identifying the primary harmonic structure and then recognizing the non-chord tones within passages, such as the D in the left hand that resolves to a C in the first measure of the second page, helps highlight the use of these embellishments.

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

By integrating trigger words or cues from earlier activities, a specific section can be played while focusing on a chosen word or story. Pausing before each section to recall the intended musical content helps reinforce the emotional and expressive elements within the performance.

After considering a friend to dedicate the piece to, an even more imaginative approach can involve playing the piece with variations tailored to different friends, evoking unique emotions or connections for each.

by Yangmingting Fang

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• “Morning Prayer,” Op. 101, no. 2 (Gurlitt)
• “Longing,” Op. 140, no. 11 (Gurlitt)
• “Wild Mignonette,” Op. 205, no. 1 (Gurlitt)
• “Folk Dance,” Op. 39, no. 17 (Kabalevsky)
• “Pastorale” (second movement) from Sonatina No. 1 (Latour)
• “Andante” (no. 3) and “Play” (no. 5) from Volume 1, Sz. 42 (Bartok)

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Introduce Neo-Baroque style to the student; discuss meaning, historical background, and reflections of this context found within the music
• Find a traditional piece of the specific genre and listen together; describe the similarities and difference
  • Example: listen to a waltz from this set and compare to a waltz by Chopin
• Play the piece for the student without revealing the name; encourage the student to describe the mood of the music and/or react through body movement (Dalcroze or similar methods)

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music 

• Explore pentatonic scales with the student
• Label sections in the piece and discover the similarities and differences related to mood, dynamics, texture, articulation, and register
• Experience the changing meters and rhythmic patterns away from the piano first

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• Create drills to work on the multi-voice and chordal texture in the right hand
• Practice hand-crossing exercises
• Practice repeated-note exercises
• Prepare trills through a variety of exercises:
  • Slow and staccato
  • Double staccato
  • Varying rhythms
  • Accenting different notes
  • “Trill” scale (i.e., CDC-DED-EFE-FGF, etc. with fingers two and three)

Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Listen to the piece together and guide the student to describe the mood and atmosphere
• Encourage the student to interpret the piece using varying artistic methods:
  • Writing a short story
  • Drawing a picture
  • Adding text to melodies
  • Choreographing a dance
• Explore Distler’s well-known choral works and discuss how the vocal style/influence is present in his piano compositions (for example, the frequent use of melismas and the concept of word painting)
• Sing the melody and draw the contour with your hands to understand the direction and shape of the phrase

Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• Practice first without pedal, especially in legato passages; the student should perform smoothly and expressively without pedal and not rely on the pedal to “connect” the notes
• Develop confidence in ornamentation drills, so that students can perform the ornaments in this piece with a “vocal” style (not rushed or frantic)
• Work on transitions between phrases and sections that require “stretching” or rubato–ensure phrase coherency while being expressive
• Practice slowly and detailed to refine articulation, ornamentation, repeated notes, voice, and pedaling

Process and Practice

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Study the score, specifically discovering how Distler reflects the Neo-Baroque style in this piece
• Identify the challenging parts, and have the student come up with practice strategies and drills
  • Example: play “Twinkle, Twinkle” with ornamentation (CDC-CDC-GAG-GAG-ABA-ABA-GAG-GAG, etc.) to practice trills

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• Focus on small sections, note the challenges within each small section, and implement specific practice strategies
• Practice the left hand alone while singing/humming the right-hand melody; feel how the melodic line fits into the harmonies, and react to the harmonic changes
• For moments that require complex rhythmic coordination, tap the left-hand rhythm on the right arm while playing the right hand

Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• Discover the phrase structure of each section, then consider the big picture by comparing phrases–what repetitions, similarities, and/or differences do you notice in each section?
• In moments with multi-voice textures, isolate each voice and practice in two-voice combos (pay special attention to counter melodies in the right-hand lower voice)

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• Identify the most technically demanding part of the piece; find a tempo at which the student can play this difficult section confidently and musically, and use this as the starting tempo for the whole piece
• Refer to the main theme and sing it out before playing a new section to maintain overall coherence even within tempo and dynamic changes
• When working on sections with frequent tempo changes, dance/conduct with a full arm while listening and humming to internalize a natural and smooth sense of pulse

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Revisit the project (story, drawing, dance, etc.) that the student created earlier in the learning process–what changes or additions might a student make now?

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• Play the left hand alone while humming the right-hand melody, listening for how the accompaniment changes/progresses to support the melody
• Create a map with sections and phrases marked out, then practice with the map (instead of the score); the student may add descriptive markings and/or colors to assist

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Encourage the student to record their practice sessions on a regular basis, watch the recordings, and provide a brief self-assessment
• Practice on different pianos and try different spaces; adapt the touch and sound accordingly
• Perform for friends and family prior to the official performance day
• Solicit feedback from the audience on the moods and emotions they experienced

by Natasha Frid Finlay

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Minuetto in C Major, Op. 37 (Hook)
• Minuet in F Major (W.A. Mozart)
• Minuet in D Major (W.A. Mozart)
• Minuet in C Major, Op. 38 no. 4 (Hassler) 

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Watch a costumed dance performance of a minuet (examples can be found on YouTube)
• Dance along to a recording of the piece (or another minuet) to feel the rhythm of the piece

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music 

• Rhythmic stability:
  • Encourage hands-separate work
  • Encourage tapping the hands-together rhythms to build coordination

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• Refine the portato touch by using any improvised notes to develop a graceful sound

Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Imagine a dancer performing the minuet and aim to embody this elegant movement in your sound

Process and Practice

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Play for others while they move along to the music, to strengthen the stability of the pulse and the connection to the dance origins of the piece

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• Play hands separately to experiment with articulation and melodic shaping

Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• Identify the two main sections of the piece
• Consider how each section can be differentiated to highlight the overall architecture of the piece

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• Dance the minuet steps along with your own performance recording to ensure your pulse is steady and your tempo is “danceable”

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Analyze the harmonic structure of major vs. minor to find a convincing interpretation for the affect of the piece

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• Memoize hands separately
• Identify memory “starting spots” at each four-bar phrase

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Explore varying ornamentation options 

by Janka Krajciova

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Kinderszenen, Op. 15, no. 1 (R. Schumann)
• Dedication, Op. 1, no. 1 (Granados)
• Arietta, Op. 12, no. 1 (Grieg)
• Dear Sister, Op. 32, no. 14 (Fuchs)

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• What is a chanson? Listen to other pieces with this title (e.g., Tchaikovsky’s Chanson Triste and Fauré’s Chanson D’Amour)
• Introduce Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884), the leader of the Czech Nationalist movement, and discuss other works he composed (e.g., “My Country,” the famous symphonic poem, and “The Bartered Bride,” an opera)
• Play the piece for the student, while they label the form (ABA’)
• Have the student identify the climax of the piece

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music 

• Identify the layered, three-voice texture of the piece
• Block the chords with correct fingering
• Compare the two A sections: how has the right hand changed since the initial presentation of the theme?
• Have the student write out the harmonic progression using chord symbols or Roman Numerals

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• Play the right-hand melody with any fingering, listening for a singing, legato tone
• Play with the given fingering and focus on the finger substitutions in the A section (ms. 2, ms. 4, ms. 5, etc.) and the unusual finger crossing of 4 over 5 in the B section (ms. 19, ms. 21, etc.)
• Play the left hand alone, using finger pedaling for the fifth finger where possible, while keeping the sixteenth notes in the middle layer light (maintain a fluid circular motion of the wrist)
• Practice the bass and middle layers only, without the right-hand melody; listen for smooth, even sixteenth notes as they pass between the hands

Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Make up a story to go with this song
• Compose words that match the melodic rhythm and sing along
• Listen for a harmonic “twist” in the story (find the deceptive cadence in ms. 16)–how can you make this a special moment?
• Notice articulation other than slurs–Smetana indicates accents (ms. 23-25) and tenuto (ms. 15-17); discuss the significance of these articulation markings

Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• Subdivide the sixteenth-note triplet accompaniment in the few measures where we “lose” this accompaniment figure at the end of beat two in ms. 16, 18, 20, and 24
• Practice left hand only with the pedal, making sure to “catch” a clean bass note for each new chord
• Play the left hand alone, focusing on the wide jump in ms. 4, 6, and 23-25

Process and Practice

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Practice the piece out of order: play A’B A or B A’ A, etc.
• Play extremely slowly (to take away the muscle memory)
• Play faster than performance tempo (notice how this may affect your phrasing)
• Discover new and different ways of practicing
  • Play middle voice/layer staccato
  • Play backward from top to bottom
  • Play dynamics opposite from those indicated
  • Transpose to other minor keys

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• Practice A and A’ sections back-to-back
• Translate “con tristezza” in ms. 25 and decide how it will change the sound for the final return of the A section
• Listen for smooth, confident transitions between each section:
  • Diminuendo in ms. 9 (end of A) leading into the mezzo forte in the B section
  • Molto crescendo and ritardando in ms. 24-25 (going back to A’)

• Use “stars” to mark the beginning of each new phrase and break up your practice
• Use these same phrase markers to secure memory in small sections
• Play the piece as written with both hands, but choose to intentionally listen to only one selected voice throughout
• Pay attention to the overall phrase structure
  • The A section begins with two-bar phrasing, then switches to a faster harmonic rhythm in ms. 9-10
  • Pace the dynamics in ms. 17-25 for an effective forte climax in ms. 24

Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• Use “stars” to mark the beginning of each new phrase and break up your practice
• Use these same phrase markers to secure memory in small sections
• Play the piece as written with both hands, but choose to intentionally listen to only one selected voice throughout
• Pay attention to the overall phrase structure
  • The A section begins with two-bar phrasing, then switches to a faster harmonic rhythm in ms. 9-10

Pace the dynamics in ms. 17-25 for an effective forte climax in ms. 24

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• Sing the melody and conduct with two pulses per measure as the teacher plays the piece
• Find your starting tempo by audiating the A’ section (ms. 25), as the theme is presented here with harmonic intervals and is more difficult and complex
• Find moments where “stretching” time helps with technical difficulties (e.g., ms. 13-14, ms. 23-25)

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Play the piece with exaggerated dynamics
• Play this piece without the sustain pedal–how does this affect the sound?
• Consider using the una corda pedal for the last two measures (marked “smorzando”) or other moments in the piece that you want to make special
• Choose rubato moments when you want to hold back or push forward, especially in repeated material (e.g., ms. 9-12)

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• Play the right-hand melody with the left-hand bass note only–first with the music, then by memory
• Write out sections of the piece on staff paper, away from the piano
• Practice extremely slowly
• Engage in mental practice (visualizing your performance in the actual performance space)

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Record yourself performing and listen back, both with and without the score
• Perform for friends, family, and peers; include background on the composer and the specific piece
• Experiment with changing a few things during each performance to keep the piece “fresh” (e.g., dynamics, pedaling, rubato, etc.)

by Curtis Pavey

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Johann Sebastian Bach: Invention No. 1 in C Major
• Felix Mendelssohn: “Consolation” Op. 30, No. 3 from Songs Without Words
• Nkeiru Okoye: Dusk
• Nadia Boulanger: Petite pièce pour piano No. 2
• Claude Debussy: “The Little Shepherd” from Children’s Corner

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Improvise with interlocked hand positions with the LH on top of the RH (ideas demonstrated in video)
• Introduce and explore the sounds of extended tertian chords and chromatic alterations
• Listen to music by Ravel and other Impressionist composers, noting interesting harmonies, textures, and effects

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music 

• Locate the major sections of this form (ABA’) and divide further into practice sections
• Notice the differences between the two A sections
• Notice the registral change in the B section (LH is in the treble clef!)
• Remind the student that the LH will be on top of the RH in the B section
• Plan fingering for both the RH and LH in the B section
• Locate different harmonies that will require pedal changes

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• Learn and practice left hand arpeggios, three octaves, focusing on creating a smooth, legato line with a decrescendo
• Generate rote exercises to explore interlocked hand positions (especially LH over the RH)
• Review legato third fingerings (especially in the LH)
• Develop fluency with octave scales and intervallic-based patterns in octaves
• Practice voicing the top note of RH chords and octaves

Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Sing the RH melody aloud (perhaps while playing the bassline), listening for dissonance and resolution
• Isolate the RH melody alone to create a lyrical, yet melancholic sound
• Explore LH arpeggios by focusing on a smooth, legato line with a decrescendo
• Listen for long pedals when needed, but otherwise, listen for clean harmonies

Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• Plan fingering for both the RH and LH in the B section
• Listen for clarity of pedal
• Notice ralenti and other tempo modifications
• Carefully listen for a singing RH melody throughout

Process and Practice

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Practice pianissimo (B) section at a mezzo forte dynamic instead to avoid unnecessary physical tension
• Listen to recordings of performances by others noting different approaches to timing, phrasing, and tempo
• Review extended tertian harmonies and note structural harmonies to help the student understand the harmonic blueprint
• Mark major sections in the piece (ABA’)

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• A Section (mm. 1-9)
  • Can be further split between mm. 1-3 and 4-9
  • Listen for clean pedal changes, a singing RH melody, and quiet/smooth LH arpeggios
• B Section (mm. 10-15)
  • Listen for the counterpoint between the octaves and the thirds
• B Section Practice Steps:
  • Master hands separately first!
  • Practice LH with the top note of RH octaves
  • Combine both hands in chunks of measures locating the most challenging measures that need extra work
  • Don’t feel the need to practice it at pianissimo (practice it at a more comfortably loud dynamic and gradually decrease the overall dynamic once technically and musically comfortable)
• A’ Section (mm. 16-27)
  • Listen for clean pedal changes, a singing RH melody, and quiet/smooth LH arpeggios
  • Exaggerate the dynamic changes for clear expression
  • Can be further split between mm. 16-19 and 20-27

 Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• Compare the A and A’ sections, noting differences and similarities
• Notice the nocturne-like qualities of the A sections (RH melody against an arpeggiated LH)
• Prepare both hands separately in the B section, noting their lyrical and legato qualities

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• Choose a tempo that can be maintained in both the A section and the B section
• Locate all ralenti indications and consider other places that may require tempo modifications

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Play significantly below tempo, listening carefully for smaller shapes (strong vs. weak harmonies)
• Create a story/narrative to help unify the contrasting B section with the pensive A sections
• Exaggerate dynamics and shapes to explore a wider range of tonal color
• Explore places where the tempo can be flexible (rubato)

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• Outline/map the sections, gaining comfort to start in multiple locations
• Compare the A and A1 sections, noting differences and similarities
• Practice each section in different registers on the piano, to explore how register affects memory
• Harmonic Analysis: help your student to identify (structural) harmonies
• Compare measures 16-17 and 18-19

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Perform in various low-stakes situations including for friends and family members
• Record a run-through and make a list of any improvements that are needed regarding memorization, musicality, or technique
• Mental Practice: try to play the piece all the way through away for the piano, noting places unable to recall