by Catherine Kautsky
Austin: Rose Sonata for piano and reciter
by Christian Johnson
Takemitsu/Hosokawa: Rain Tree Sketch/Etude III: calligraphy, haiku, 1 line
by Ikuko Inoguchi
Bonds: Troubled Water
by Sarah Rushing
Kaprálová: Sonata Appassionata, Op. 6
by Asher Armstrong
Tchaikovsky: “Morning Prayer” from Album for the Young Op. 39, No. 1
by John Price
Preparation and Presentation
Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one
- Cornelius Gurlitt: “Morning Song” Op. 140 No. 2
- Robert Schumann: “Soldier’s March” Op. 68 No. 2
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Ecossaise in G Major, WoO 23
Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success
- Demonstrate the SATB voicing and have the student play a four note chord with proper balance, first from the bottom up and then simultaneously.
- Have the student improvise short melodic phrases in 5-finger patterns or scales with the goal of creating a climactic high point and resolution in each.
- Practice long decrescendos and crescendos on repetition of a single note.
- Read the melody and bass parts of simple four-part examples.
Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music
- Practice hands separate in the beginning with careful attention to fingering.
- Put hands together slowly, paying attention to each chordal shape.
- Analyze the chords if the student knows enough music theory.
Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece
- Practice playing two note clusters with more weight on the upper voice.
- Play one bass note with finger 5 in repeated eights while the other fingers play a legato line in quarters.
- Practice two-note chords broken to focus on the voicing. Then gradually bring the two notes closer together in timing until they are simultaneous.
Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece
- Have the student identify significant points of harmonic tension while the teacher plays.
- Discuss the peaceful character of the work and how it relates to the title (e.g. morning time along with solitary activity of prayer or meditation).
- Ask the student to sing the melody line and then try to reproduce the phrase shape and rubato on the keyboard.
- Identify and mark the climactic point of each phrase.
Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road
- Clearly number the sections, based on phrase structure, for the student to focus on individually.
- Identify difficult sections for special focus both in the lesson and at home.
- Create tailored finger independence exercises to help the student achieve different dynamic levels and articulations in a single hand.
Process and Practice
Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time
- Have your student listen to recordings of great pianists playing the work.
- Compare to other pieces in the set (e.g. “In Church”) or works by other composers.
Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole
- Practice only the melody line of each phrase while shaping it precisely like their ideal sound model.
- Play only melody and bass parts (preferably from memory), paying attention to proper balance and shaping.
- Overlap phrases or sub-phrases so one section ends with the first note of the next section. This makes it easier when stringing sections together.
Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole
- The phrase structure of the work as a whole should be understood from memory and notated in the score. Practice sections are also derived from this structure.
- Locate the furthest harmonic point from the tonic key in this work and note where the home key returns.
Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically
- Imagine the opening tempo before beginning and breathe in tempo prior to the first note.
- Visualize horizontal movement or “propulsion” between static chords.
Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece
- Have the student listen to and identify favorite recordings of the piece.
- Ask your student to create their own narrative associated with the music to help them connect more personally with the work.
Deep knowing: tips for securing memory
- Understand and memorize the harmonic structure of the piece including cadences, pedal points etc.
- Practice playing hands alone, especially left hand alone, from memory.
- Be able to start at each section identified for practice.
- Your student should have as many additional memory sources as possible besides just tactile. These other types of memory include analytical, aural, and visual. Visual memory varies by student whether they find it easier to picture the score in their head or the keyboard itself. To be truly memorized, your student should be able to visualize a complete performance of their work away from the piano.
Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection
- Practice performing the piece for family and friends.
- Record your student on video and play it back. What changes would they make?
- Have your student compare their video recording to professional recordings. What is different or the same?
Granados: “Introduction” from Valses Poéticos
by Jessie Welsh
Preparation and Presentation
Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one
- Friedrich Burgmüller: 12 Brilliant and Melodious Studies, Op. 105
- Selections from Edvard Grieg’s Lyric Pieces
- Selections from Robert Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood and/or Album Leaves
- Frederic Chopin’s Waltzes (levels 7-9)
Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success
- Play for the student and discuss the character and meter—why might the composer choose a piece in 2/4 as an introduction to a set of waltzes?
- Model the choreographed “dance” of the hands & ask the student to describe the motion/gesture.
- Play a five-finger pattern in A major up the piano.
- Conducting in 2 (or marching) and speaking subdivisions of 4, 6, and 8.
Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music
- Find & bracket mini “etudes.”
- Map the positions of your hands both separately and together.
- Choreograph gestures in time (feeling meter) hands separately and then together.
Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece
- Play-prepare between position shifts.
- Place, then play – feel the shape first!
- Over-the-bar line practice.
- Identify, draw, and feel gestures, first away from the piano and then in position.
- Play from the keys—stay close, move horizontally, and feel the shapes of each chord/position.
Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece
- Play bass and melody alone to hear the tension/release of the progression.
- Voice the top notes for the singing melody to shine amid the many rapidly moving notes (staccato the lower notes for practice).
- Listen for “arc” shaping that follows the direction of the line.
- Practice small sections fast to hear the connection of the small units into a longer line.
- Conduct while the teacher plays and vice versa.
Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road
- Practice small sections fast for both longer lines and building stamina.
- Voice the top notes with a singing tone.
- Exaggerate the dynamics, especially on repeated sections.
- Practice staccato on fast notes for clarity of sound within the large gestures.
- Practice eyes-closed for tactile memory of positions and increased aural awareness.
Process and Practice
Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time
- Find hidden lines and melodies that complement the primary melodic line.
- “Opposites” practice: rehearse with opposite articulations, mood, dynamics, etc.
- Take time before beginning a performance to visualize the sound, character, tempo, and overall success of the performance.
- What is it that first drew you to this work? How can you capture the magic of that first exposure to the work?
- Engage in mindfulness practice during performance, always returning to the present moment and the sound.
Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole
- Practice the “etudes” separately (noted in the Presentation and Preparation list), then put them back into context by adding the transitional measures.
- Identify sections and/or chunks by “stars” and gradually increase the number of stars “performed” in a practice segment.
- Find similar passages and practice them with varying dynamic levels throughout the piece; then put them back into context of the phrase.
Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole
- Find all “turn around” or transitional moments in the piece. Where are these the same and/or different in repeated sections?
- Practice bass and melody alone.
- Practice voicing for a singing top right-hand line.
Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically
- Conducting bars: count the length of phrases by the number of bars and work to feel each of these segments as a whole.
- “Over the bar line” practice to feel the connection to the next element and to feel the pulse always moving forward.
- Small sections faster than performance speed, always feeling the coordination of the hands and “dance” of the movement patterns
Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece
- Focus on character and notice any subtle moments in the piece where the character changes. Exaggerate these shifts, however slight.
- Identify places in the music where it might be appropriate to change the color. Consider “instrumentation” and how this might inspire a specific tone/touch/sound.
- Record your own performances and self-assess; compare and contrast with favorite recordings.
Deep knowing: tips for securing memory
- Eyes closed practice, especially for big jumps.
- Feel the coordination of the body, stemming from a supported and energetic seating posture. Notice the movement of the body on the sitz bones and the “recentering” required, especially on the passages in a very high register.
- Sing the bass line while playing the melody and vice versa.
- Practice half tempo with exaggerated motions and all details in place.
Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection
- Double-note practice: play every note twice in a row under tempo.
- Three speeds practice: half tempo, slightly under tempo, and faster than performance tempo.
- Practice opening and beginning only, in tempo with exaggerated character.
- Perform daily and self-assess.
Carreño: Le sommeil de l’enfant, Op. 35
by Lynn Worcester Jones
Preparation and Presentation
Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one
- Edvard Grieg: Arietta Op. 12, No. 1
- Robert Schumann: “Träumerei” from Kinderszenen Op. 15, No. 7
- Felix Mendelssohn: “Venetian Boat Song” from Lieder ohne worte Op. 19, No. 6
- Frederic Chopin: Waltz in A Minor, B. 150, Op. Posth.
Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success
- Learn about Carreño’s life and experiences as a concert pianist and singer: known as the “Valkyrie of the Piano.”
- Learn about lullabies, an ancient form of song and meant to soothe and protect a baby during sleep.
- Listen to Brahms Wiegenlied (Lullaby) Op. 49, No. 4 for piano and voice with German translation to hear the tenderness of the vocal line. Re-familiarize the student with this famous lullaby melody.
- Sing any other lullabies that the student knows, such as Hush Little Baby and Rock-a-Bye-Baby.
Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music
- Map out the overall ABA + Coda form (A mm. 1-60, B mm. 61-80, A mm. 81-94, Coda 94-end).
- Observe the stark key change from F Major to B Major and back to F Major (A-B-A sections), while listening to a recording. Warm up with scales and triads.
- Use color-coded tape to label all repeated phrases to help the student see repetitions; First A section: mm. 1-6 are repeated 2x in mm. 16-22, mm. 41-46; & mm. 7-15 are repeated 2x mm. 22-27 and mm. 47-54.
- In the B section, learn the RH melody first and notice the two-measure phrase lengths which create 8 + 8 + 4 measure phrase lengths.
Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece
- Practice the soprano and bass voices together with accurate fingerings .
- Practice harmonic blocking (beats 1-2-3 together, beats 4-5-6 together) within short phrases to anticipate chord shapes and changes and to build muscle memory.
- Practice LH leaps with a closed hand position (left hand 5 finger on bottom note of jump chords) to avoid tension.
- Cross-rhythms (mm. 44, 45, 91, 93) can be measured out and practiced from slow to fast with metronome hands together, and then practiced at tempo alternating hands until the cross-rhythm feels seamless.
Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece
- Create a storyline with lyrics for this lullaby in the A section and contrasting B section. The A section can reflect on the blessings of the baby’s life, while the B section can harken back to the protective magic of lullabies in ancient times to keep the baby safe during sleep.
- Imagine yourself soothing a baby to sleep with a lyrical singing voice and mimic that tenderness in your playing.
- To create your expressive rubatos, embrace the repetitive nature of melodies and lean into the lilting feel of 6/8.
Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road
- Continue to spot practice the cross rhythms first (four measures total) so those become seamless and easy to play.
- Focus on finger legato to connect the melodic line, especially on the double-stemmed soprano notes that almost always fall on the strong beats, beats 1 and 4.
- To create beautifully shaped phrases, have the student play just the soprano (voice 4) at a quicker tempo to create beautiful phrase beginnings and endings.
Process and Practice
Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time
- The student can continue to practice a Romantic technique with a flatter spread in the hands for ease in playing in and out of the black keys.
- Have the student practice smooth wrist motions by feeling a lateral, side-to-side motion for even weight transfer of the melodic line in the soprano and the bass.
- Allow your lullaby story to flourish as the piece settles into your fingers, creating vivid imagery for yourself and the listener.
Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole
- In 2 to 8 measure phrases, practice with the focus entirely on legato with both fingers and pedaling which will use half-pedal and mostly two pedal changes per bar.
- 1+1 measure addition: In one section at a time, play one measure slowly until perfectly smooth without hesitation, and add one measure to play two measures smoothly. Add one measure at a time until the student is satisfied with the number of fluent measures played in that practice session.
- Experiment with keeping ends of phrases especially sensitive by reserving rubatos and extra-expressive playing for 3/4 of the way through a phrase.
Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole
- The technique here is all about the feeling of playing with four hands instead of two hands. Fingers 123 (one hand) + 45 (another hand) in each hand, making four hands to achieve voicing control. See video for demonstration.
- Practice voices 1 (bass) and 4 (soprano) in short phrases, and eventually the whole piece, to hear it as the listener does.
- In the B section, sing and count the phrases in 2 measure chunks, then phrase it in 8 +8 + 4 measure phrase lengths for the entire B section.
- Practice the tempo changes indicated in the score through conducting-melody singing, harmonic blocking with the melody, and with distinct metronome tempi as needed.
Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically
- Develop tempo choices with a deep understanding of how two different choices change the phrasing and overall effect. Chooses a slower, sleepier tempo (e.g. dotted quarter = 40-42) and one that is more brisk (e.g. dotted quarter = 50-52).
- In difficult spots, take those opportunities to be expressive and take time to create your rubato.
- Lead with the melody to create the rubatos and expressive changes for sensitive phrasing and voicing.
- Implement half-pedal and use the “tap-hold” verbalization practice (see video).
Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece
- Focus on a beautiful, buttery tone production to capture the essence of the lullaby.
- Practice on as many pianos as possible to gain more experience refining the voicing on any instrument.
- Create memory posts, roughly three to four in each main ABA section, and be able to start at the beginning of, and two measures immediately before, each post.
Deep knowing: tips for securing memory
- Practice alternate measure drops. Play one measure and then hear the next measure in your inner ear without playing for an entire phrase, one phrase at a time.
- Practice in phrases from the end of the piece, moving backward toward the beginning. Use meaningful repetitions 5 times in a row perfectly on tricky spots.
- Be able to play the left hand alone, memorized, while singing the melody.
Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection
- Incorporate mental practice away from the piano with the score to develop a more nuanced interpretation to keep your performance fresh.
- Practice on as many different pianos as possible for voicing and phrasing control.
- Practice performing frequently for friends and family so that each successive performance becomes easier to think about your interpretation.
Beach: “Improvisation No. 1” from Five Improvisations, Op. 148
by Leonidas Lagrimas
Preparation and Presentation
Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one
- Robert Schumann: Selections from Kinderszenen
- Edvard Grieg: “Arietta” from Lyric Pieces
- Sergei Prokofiev: easier selections from Visions Fugitives
- Frederic Chopin: easier Nocturnes
- Claude Debussy: “Jimbo’s Lullaby” 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
- Encourage older/more mature students to conduct their own research on Amy Beach before tackling this piece.
- Experiment with creating p, pp, and ppp dynamic levels (and even softer!)
- Explore different tone color through subtle physical means like articulation, attack, wrist movement, key release, and follow through, either on single notes or simple melodies
- How softly can a student play a simple melody like “Ode to Joy” and maintain rhythmic control and a sense of tonal color?
Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music
- Locate the different textures of this music, usually within the same clef/same hand (mm. 1-3 or 4-7).
- Take time to explore this work and realize that conventional “rules” about harmony and key signature do not apply here!
- Locate “advanced” chords and just focus on reading/playing them comfortably, outside of the context of the piece (See RH of measures 14, 16, or LH of measure 31 for examples).
- Students might look at the key signature of this work and assume it is in C Major or A Minor – but is it?
Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece
- Practice voicing melodies with multiple textures in one hand. Specifically, practice bringing out a melodic line using the upper fingers of the right hand (fingers 4 and 5) against accompaniment figures in the other fingers.
- Practice applying constant legato pedal from start to finish, much like in a Chopin Nocturne or Waltz.
- Familiarity with executing ornamentation such as in Chopin nocturnes is helpful!
Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece
- Discuss possible reasons why these pieces are entitled “Improvisations.”
- Ask the student to come up with their own ideas for what this piece might be trying to depict or portray.
- Consider the unique harmonic language used in this piece.
- Encourage expressive playing through the ambiguous and open-ended nature of this work.
Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road
- Revisit and refine the pedaling consistently through the learning process.
- Explore what the marking molto tranquillo could indicate.
- Even the briefest hints of melodic ideas, such as the dotted-note motif in mm. 17-18, 22-23, and 25-26, can be wonderful opportunities for students to make musical and artistic connections in this work.
- The rallentando at the conclusion of this piece, which stretches out over the last 5 measures, will need constant refinement as well.
Process and Practice
Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time
- Encourage the student to discover multiple interpretations of this music and to choose one that is the true means of their individual expression.
- Discover how the essence of this piece changes depending on physical factors in the environment (space, type of piano, etc.)
- Beach’s piano music can be purposefully ambiguous and vague in nature – this can be used to encourage expressive playing!
Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole
- Note where themes and motifs occur to identify places for isolated practice.
- Example: the main theme of mm. 1-4 recurs in mm. 34-37 in its entirety, just transposed up an octave.
- Mm. 1-3 and 34-36 also offer excellent opportunities to practice voicing and phrasing.
- At m. 31, many students will struggle with executing the LH rolled chord smoothly. Apply varying degrees of rubato, both leading into the chord and within the roll of the chord itself, in order to ensure a smooth execution without accents or heaviness.
Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole
- Generally speaking, the piece takes on an ABA’ form as follows: A: Main theme, mm. 1-16. B: Second theme, mm. 17-33. A’: Main theme transposed up one octave, mm. 34-end. There is then a coda-like section mm. 43-end.
- Find spots where the piece takes on a canonic quality, or where the textures become vaguely round-like in form.
- Isolate these canonic ideas from the surrounding texture and listen for them in practice.
Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically
- Allow a natural sense of momentum to take over with some phrases, much like the natural ebb and flow of speech.
- Take note of the rather ambiguous direction sempre con pedale in measure 7.
- Recognize that pedaling in works like this will be a highly personal exercise, one that cannot necessarily be notated on paper.
- Tempo should be flexible as needed in performance in order to achieve a flowing sound without heavy downbeats or accents. Imagine a waltz or other dance-like piece.
- Even at the ppp level, maintaining a solid sense of tonal color and physical control is an absolute must.
Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece
- From the earliest stages of learning, students should be encouraged to explore the expressive possibilities of this music.
- Imagine this Improvisation as film score music to connect to a programmatic interpretation.
- What is happening in the movie where this music is being used? What is the location? What is the mood? Who are the characters? What is the dialogue?
Deep knowing: tips for securing memory
- Separate the melodic layers from one another.
- Pay careful attention to voice-leading.
- Find sequence-like areas in which motives and ideas are taken through chromatic transpositions but are otherwise identical.
Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection
- Take on an improvisatory mindset in performance to capture the ambiguous, open-ended spirit of the piece.
- Experiment with flexibility in performance with elements such as tempo, phrasing, and pulse.
- Encourage the student to not worry about one “right way” to perform this work and to feel free to express themselves in the moment.
- Physical freedom without constraint will help their successful performance. Have students practice bodily motions such as light swaying or deep breaths while playing.
Boulanger: Cortège from Trois morceaux pour piano
by Annie Jeng
Preparation and Presentation
Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one
- Claude Debussy: “The Snow Is Dancing” from Children’s Corner
- Mélanie (Mel) Bonis: Bourrée
- Manuel de Falla: Canción
- Francis Poulenc: Improvisation No. 1
Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success
- Can you imagine an image or story that would go along with the title of the piece? What kind of cortège or parade/procession is this music depicting?
- Listen to a recording of this piece and move/dance to the pulse. Do you feel 1 or 2 beats per measure?
- Listen to some Spanish music and become familiar with the Phrygian Spanish mode.
- What are the characteristics of the whole tone scale in the piece (mm. 44-45)?
- Listen to the arrangement for violin and piano. How does this arrangement with the melody on violin influence your interpretation of the melody played on piano?
Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music
- Make sure that you translate and understand all of the musical French markings.
- Be aware of all of the tempo changes. Remember that the fluidity in tempo is similar to how we change our speed of speech when we speak, ask questions, or engage in conversations.
- Tempo changes are also often connected to interesting harmonic changes.
Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece
- Practice the sixteenth-note accompaniment of the main theme slowly, making sure that the arm and wrist are behind the fingers as each note is played. Avoid stretching or keeping the pinky/thumb extended.
- Isolate the thumb of the right hand with the left-hand accompaniment to ensure consistent and even sixteenth notes in the main theme accompaniment.
- Practice without pedal to work on clarity and only add pedal where needed for color and warmth in the sound.
- Listen carefully for balance of the melody with the accompaniment, especially in the middle section when the melody is in the left hand.
Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece
- Considering that the marking of the melody is léger et gai, maintain a sense of lightness, joy, and air in the piece.
- How can you use pedaling, dynamics, and pedaling to create color changes based on harmonies (ex. B Major to F-sharp Minor in measures 8-9)?
- Notice and locate where the louder dynamics are located in the piece (contrasting middle section and coda).
Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road
- Listen for balance so that the melody is the superstar at the forefront of the texture.
- Pace dynamics carefully so that crescendos and diminuendos are executed gradually.
- Experiment with different timings of the cédez, accel., rit., pressez un peu, etc. so that they are natural and with taste.
Process and Practice
Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time
- Try a variety of phrasing, pedaling, timing, and dynamics throughout your practice so that you can be spontaneous during a performance.
- This melody is absolutely charming and beautiful: enjoy it!
- Practice backwards from the last section to the first section to avoid over-practicing the beginning of the piece.
Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole
- Examine the form of the piece and how sections have either contrasting or similar characteristics.
- Identify the unique tonalities and harmonies of each section.
- When the main A theme returns (ABA), how is it different?
- What are the main technical challenges of each section and how do they impact the overall effect of the section? (ex. light vs. heavy sixteenth note accompaniments)
Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole
- Practice the transitions between sections to listen to how connecting material can influence the sections surrounding it.
- Why do you think that there is such a contrasting middle section that highlights Spanish-music characteristics?
Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically
- Consider how Lili Boulanger utilizes tempo changes to either break up sections, emphasize harmonic intricacies, or to simply be charming.
- The sixteenth note accompaniment should always be steady and consistent, but allow the melody to dance lightly above it.
- Select a tempo that works for you in order to deliver a controlled performance. “Pas vite” is not too fast.
Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece
- This is such a delightful piece that you have to truly discover the charm in the piece. Make it your own by exploring your own timing, color, and tone.
- Always be expressive and spontaneous. This is a beautiful piece and it’s a joy to share with others!
Deep knowing: tips for securing memory
- Know what key you are playing in for each section, especially the beginnings and the final cadences.
- Compare and practice similar sections, for ex. the main theme and its return at the end.
- Sing the melody while playing only the accompaniment part. This can be particularly tricky since the accompaniment is often split between the hands.
Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection
- Perform this piece for friends and family, and ask what their thoughts are. Sometimes other people’s ideas and interpretations can make a big impact on how we perceive performances of pieces.
- Record yourself! Stepping away from your own performance and evaluating a recording allows you to listen for things that you may not hear while you are actively playing.