AND THE GOSS ON TEACHING AND PLAYING PIANO
NOTE: All material in this website is copyright and is for private use only. It may not be copied or used for any other purpose without my
written permission.
Any questions or comments? Contact me at chrisdebeusmusic@hotmail.com
First of all, let's get one thing straight. I am not an academic, nor some fantastic piano player and I never was a child prodigy. I am just someone who loves music in general, and the piano in particular. I am reasonably adept at playing the instrument, but had to work hard for it. As a child I dreamt of being a famous concert pianist, but although I had the love and the talent, I never had the technique, the finger speed or hand span to achieve it. Such is life. I was fortunate to have excellent teachers: Nancy Salas, William Scarlett for practical, and Dulcie Holland for theory and my first lessons in composition. I am also very proud to have Peter Sculthorpe as my mentor. Am I lucky or what? My own limitations as a pianist meant that I learned from my teachers how to overcome technical problems and over the years, as a teacher of piano, I have passed this knowledge on to my own students - and I am proud to say that some of them are better pianists than I am. The reason for creating this webpage is to share some of what I have learned about playing and teaching with as many people as possible. I am now mostly retired, and have time to write music. Which is fun. When it stops being fun, I'll stop doing it.
Last updated 14 February 2011.
The view of music as "the gentle art" goes back centuries. Keyboard instruments were perfect for young ladies who could look demure and elegant sitting at a keyboard instrument. A flute in the mouth or a violin under the chin does not have the same effect. To some extent the playing of an instrument such as piano, violin, etc. still carries this "gentle art" image, which extends to the mostly sweet and gentle titles, especially in music for children. What children really do love is Dr Seuss and Roald Dahl, but there is no equivalent of this in music. I started making up some rhymes. The first one was Cockroach Pie, quite a few years ago now. My young students loved it, and so I wrote some more. And then still more. Now I have a total of five books, with the sixth just about ready. The music in my books is in a variety of styles and many of them have lyrics. All the music has been written for the lower piano grades, including pieces of just eight bars long for beginning students up to grades three or four.
Cockroach pie and "Termite Munchies" are being distributed by All Music Publishing and Distribution Pty Ltd (AMPD) and are available from music outlets, and two compositions out of each book have been placed on the syllabus of Australian and New Zealand Cultural Arts (ANZCA). From Cockroach Pie both the title song and Dancing Caterpillars are listed for Preparatory Grade. Rag for Sarah and Under the paperbark from Termite Munchies are listed for First Grade.
The wonderful book covers were designed by the talented Katy Harris-Lambourne, who can be contacted at the_ledger_line@hotmail.com
LINKS within this page:
Hopefully Helpful Hints for beginning piano teachers.
Contents: Introducing the piano; Which way is up; Naming the piano keys; Lesson books; Technique.
The goss on counting.
Contents: Counting the beats; How to count beats; Counting quavers; Counting 6/8 time.
Note reading.
Contents: Reading; Limits of tutoring books.
All the goss on technical work.
Contents: Scales! Why scales?; Studies/Etudes; Major and minor scales; Taking scales beyond the octave; Contrary motion scales.
The who and how of piano exams
Contents: Names and URL's of exam systems; Exam list preparation; Maximising technical work points.
Hands on the keyboard.
Contents: Long, long ago...; From harpsichord to piano; Piano tuning; From fingers to forearms, elbows and shoulders;
Whole arm technique; Wrists and elbows.
Feet on the pedals.
Contents: The damper pedal, simultaneous/syncopated; The soft pedal; The middle pedal, practice/sustaining.
I learned the notes. Now what?.
Contents: Young students; What's the story? Bar phrasing.
The goss on dynamics.
Contents: Loud or soft?; Crescendo/diminuendo; Controlling volume in scales and compositions; Balancing
volume between hands; Bringing out the melody.
Hand span and stretch
Contents: Average hand span; Stretching it.
LINKS to the genealogy pages:
Kwartierstaat Schellevis and Visser.
Links to Schel(le)vis genealogy pages within this site.
Joden with the name Schel(le)vis who died in concentration camps 1940-1945.
Kwartierstaat de Beus and Lindsen.
HOPEFULLY HELPFUL HINTS FOR BEGINNING TEACHERS
Introducing the piano. Once you are familiar with the piano, it is easy to forget how strange - and kind of frightening - this large instrument may
look to young children. There are a lot of things we may take for granted. Some that come to mind are:
Which way is up? Ask the child, and it will point upwards. To get the student used to the "up" and "down"on the piano, turn it into a game.
The student plays any note on the piano. Then you give instructions such as take a big jump up; take a little jump down; take a little step up, etc.
You can also turn this into a "Simon says" game.
Naming the piano keys.Children know the alphabet from an early age. Luckily, the piano starts on A. You play the notes starting on the lowest note
naming each piano key up to the first G. Ask the child what comes next. They will say "H". Then explain that pianos only know the alphabet up to G.
Which then explains why the next note is A again. The child (with some help perhaps) continues playing and naming the piano keys all the way up.
Lesson books. Most people who teach piano have started the way I did, on a wing and a prayer (so to speak) without any specific training. And your
first students are likely to be beginners. Which is a good place to start! Luckily, there are some good piano lesson books available. The modern
piano tutors are based on reading intervals, i.e. line to space, line to line, etc, rather than finger numbers and note names. These books work well
for teaching the basics. The only negative is that they introduce non-essential markings to the music at a very early stage. Most children are too busy
working out the notes and fingers to be able to pay attention to anything extra. Feel free to ignore these markings: they can easily be introduced a bit
later when the child has the brainspace to take them on board.
Technique Don't overburden young beginners with technical requirements. Only a small percentage of young children can play with the rounded fingers
as pictured in the piano tutors. Most will play rather flat-fingered. The only two rules children need is (1)that they do not play with their fingers completely
flat on the keys, depressing the keys with the underside of their finger joints and (2) that they do not rest the heel of the hand on the edge of the keyboard,
which tends to happen with children who have played a keyboard instead of a piano.
Counting the beats is regarded as an optional extra by most beginners, but it must be learned along with the notes. The idea of
"just playing the notes without a rhythm" does not exist at any level of playing piano. Even without counting, the notes will be played the same way every time.
This creates a barrier for the correct timing, because this potpourri of long and short notes has to be unlearned before the real rhythm can be learned.
Unlearning is difficult and may result in the student no longer being able to learn the correct rhythm - and that's the end of that song!
I know it sounds fussy but it isn't. I wouldn't bother with it if it was! Counting beats is an integral part of music. Musicians automatically count the beats
for everything they play, every time they play it. Pitch and rhythm cannot be separated. Playing notes without rhythm creates mere noise.
How to count beats? Traditionally we count numbers for the beats. For beginners this may be confusing: finger numbers and beat numbers!
Overload! The French time-names (are they really French? I don't know!) are often used in school music. They come in handy, although a little creativity
may be required. A semibreve has a much greater chance of getting its four counts if the TA-A-A-A is replaced by a more attractive four-syllable word,
for example "chocolate icecream" and for a minim, TA-A could then just be "ice-cream".
Another helpful tool is a percussion instrument, such as a small drum. Students get to play the rhythm on the drum before playing the music on the piano.
Of course this gives exactly the same result as clapping rhythms, but playing the drum is fun, and clapping is not. It also allows the teacher to give
children a few minutes extra "drum work" during a lesson if needed. Extra "clapping work" just wouldn't do it, would it?!
Counting quavers. This is generally done by adding a syllable to the numbers, thus giving "one-and, two-and" etc. The French time names have "ti-ti"
for two quavers. Sometimes neither of these works well. I then use my own made-up counting language of two-syllable words, where "apple" means "one",
"orange" means "two", "apple" also means "three", "orange" also means "four". Thus counting four beats would go: apple, orange, apple, orange.
I check that the child understands, by asking questions such as "how many noses do you have?" I show the child how there are four "pieces of fruit" in each bar.
Some are whole apples and oranges, and others have been cut in half. When I started trying out this method I knew I was on the right path when a young
student said "you can tell it's cut in half, because the peel is still stuck on". And so we learn from our students. Sometimes neither the fruit nor the
French time names will do the trick. When that happens, make up a lyrics for that passage. To give a simple example: say a rhythm of "ta ti-ti ta" just
isn't happening, but if you replace it with "hop skip and jump" with that same rhythm, it is very likely to do the trick.
Counting 6/8 time. Compound time consists of triplets, usually counted one-and-a, two-and-a. For some reason this does not gel with quite a few students.
With the success of the apple and orange counting system, I also invented one for compound time, that is, each bar contains a kangaroo
(the first triplet) and a platypus (second triplet). It works like a charm!
NOTE READING
Serious note reading begins when the student has reached the level where both hands play the C to G span, "C position". One way of learning the notes
on the staff is by writing or copying them. Which is pretty boring! A much nicer way of learning who is who on the staff, is by actually using the
known notes to write music. We do this by writing "mystery music", that is, it has to be written before it can be played. It works like this:
When preparing students for examinations, some teachers use the same grade book for all students of that grade. Boring, but doable. These books have a choice
of pieces for each list (i.e. studies, baroque music, etc). I have found that there is usually one composition in each list that has greater appeal than
the other pieces. However, instead of allowing each student to choose their favoured composition from these lists, the compositions are handed out like
biscuits. Maybe all four (or 10, for that matter) students may choose the same composition. Why not let them?? The students come first!
Another issue is that teachers get tired of hearing a composition that "everyone wants to learn". For example, Beethoven's Fuer Elise. I remember
learning to play it as a child, and how exciting it was. By now I wouldn't mind if I never heard it again! Being tired of hearing it does not give me right
to refuse teaching it. My student is entitled to the same excitement I felt as a child learning it! It is my job to
teach this composition with the same enthusiasm as any other.
ALL THE GOSS ON TECHNICAL WORK!
Scales! Why scales?
Studies/Etudes
Major and minor scales
The next step is learning how to change a major scale into a harmonic minor one. Easy peasy. All you need to do is flatten the third and sixth note of the scale
(i.e. E flat and A flat for the
C scale). Lo and behold: BOTH the flattened notes in the scales fall under the third finger! For both left and right hands, even. Piece of cake.
Learning the melodic minor scale is more difficult and is better left until the harmonic minor scales are well established, to avoid confusion between the two.
Using the same approach as before, in the melodic minor scale, the bottom half is minor, the top half is major, i.e. only one flattened note (the third).
Which is easy enough, going up. What children find difficult is to flatten both the 7th and the 6th note of the scale on the way down. To say that
these notes are the same as the relative major is no help at all. Does anyone think of E-flat major when playing a C minor scale? If you do, let me know!
You'll be the first!
Taking scales beyond the octave
Contrary motion scales
There are three different examination systems for piano available in Australia that I am aware of.
- The Australian Music Examinations Board main focus is on classical music. They offer two levels, of which "Music for Leisure" has less stringent requirements. No diploma level for Music for Leisure. It also offers a course for Contemporary Popular Music for keyboard, which has certain electronic requirements. Website: www.ameb.edu.au
- Trinity College London is based in England but they hold exams in Australia with offices in major cities. Their focus is on classical music. Levels up to Diploma. Website: www.trinitycollege.co.uk
Exam list preparation. Many students practise their examination pieces continuously until the day of the exam. In the higher grades the compositions are long and complex. It takes a lot of work - and thus time - to learn not only the notes, but also the interpretation. Playing the music continuously is counterproductive. Once it has been studied for a while, it will become stale and boring to play. It is essential that the composition gets a holiday of several weeks at least - up to about 6 weeks - BEFORE the student loses motivation. The longer and more difficult the piece is, the more holidays it needs. During this time this music should not be played at all. There is no way that the student will forget how to play the piece. If it has had a long holiday (such as six weeks) it may take a day or so before all the notes "come back". The music will sound fresh, and students will be able to take their understanding and interpretation of the music to the next level. If there is no break in the practice routine the student will be sick and tired of playing this music by the time of the exam, and this will have a negative effect on the performance. During the holiday of one piece, the student can give more attention to another composition. Perhaps more importantly, it gives space to introduce one or more comparatively easy pieces as party pieces - just for fun. It also means that the student will be reading new music, which is important for the development of sight reading skills. Yes, there are sight reading books by the dozen, but why not play some real music instead? Always remember to keep the PLAY in playing piano.
Maximising technical work points
Long, long ago... there were no pianos. The keyboard instruments in rich people's homes were small harpsichords and clavichords. These were lightweight wooden instruments with a very light and shallow touch, suitable for the young ladies, who would sit perfectly straight, demurely showing off their lovely shoulders, and tinkle with their pretty fingers. More often than not, they would only play with three fingers, leaving out the thumb and little finger, which made their hands look so pretty. This worked fine on harpsichords of all sizes, whether they be small virginals at home or a concert harpsichord leading an orchestra. If you ever have a chance to tinkle on a harpsichord, try it out, and you will realise how light and easy it is to play.(Yes, fusspots, the clavichord had little metal hammers which hit the strings, which gave it control from the keyboard. Its volume ranges from PPP to PP. It is a wonderful gentle little instrument. I would love to own one).
From harpsichord to piano.
Then in the 18th century the piano was invented. There was (and is) an enormous difference between a harpsichord and a piano. The harpsichord is a PLUCKED
instrument - like a guitar. If you pull a guitar string up a centimetre and let go you will get a certain volume of sound. Right? Pull the string up more than
a centimetre, and the sound will be louder. Right? But whether you pull the string quickly or slowly, makes no difference. The one centimetre pull will
still have the same volume, and so will the second pull (please don't bust your guitar strings to confirm the laws of physics!). So far so good?
On the harpsichord, the quills (I suppose these may have real feather quills originally, but later made of leather) will ALWAYS pull the string the same distance,
whether you depress the key fast, slow, firm or light, with your nose or with your toes. Which means you cannot control the volume by pressure on the keys.
In contrast, the piano has small wooden hammers which hit the strings. You control the speed of the hammers through the keys, which allows you control the volume.
Piano tuning. Wood will shrink in a dry atmosphere, swell in high humidity. For this reason the early wooden-framed keyboard instruments
need constant re-tuning. The modern piano with its iron frame is much more stable and will stay in tune for quite a while. As a piano teacher
I have my piano tuned at the beginning of every school term, because the piano gets a lot of work and I believe a teaching piano should never be
far out of tune. A private piano should be tuned at least once a year. I know that some unscrupulous dealers will claim that the piano is so sturdy
that it will never need tuning. This is sheer nonsense. Horses patoots! In a piano - no matter how good its quality - the timber inside the piano will swell and
shrink depending on ambient temperature and humidity causing the strings will loosen
and stretch gradually, each string at its own rate. This means the piano is "out of tune" and you will hear a "wow-wow" sound when the three strings of that note are
no longer at the same pitch.
Unless the piano is tuned, the pitch will eventually fall so far under its original "concert pitch" of A=440 (440 vibrations per second)that it can no
longer be tuned at concert pitch without real risk of breaking the frame to which the strings are attached, which is the end of your piano. Dead as a dodo.
The reason for this is that the stress on a piano frame is very high. In an upright piano it is 15 to 20 tons, and up to 30 tons on grand pianos. It doesn't
sound that dangerous to pull the pitch of a piano up by just a semitone. Just a blip, really, isn't it? But when you add together the increased tension
of the more than 230 strings of the piano, it can add as much as two tons to the stress on the frame. Once it gets to a tone below pitch,
well... would you risk it? Spend the dough at least once a year on having the piano tuned. I assure you it is worth it!
From fingers to forearms, elbows and shoulders. After 1800 the piano became the favoured instrument over the harpsichord. Various
improvements had been made to the piano. It was sturdier, more reliable and had a heavier and less shallow touch. The tinkling finger technique was no
longer adequate on this instrument. Pianists began to use the weight of their forearms and the flexibility of the wrist in their playing technique.
During the 19th century more and more iron was added to strengthen the timber frame which holds the strings. The stronger frame then allowed the use of
thicker and stronger strings which improved the piano sound, but also made it heavier to play. As the piano became more powerful, composers wrote music
that demanded even greater power. Piano playing technique developed along with the more physically demanding compositions and the more powerful piano.
Just the weight of the forearm was no longer enough, and the whole arm, from the shoulder down, was beginning to be used by pianists in the 19th century:
Franz Liszt has been reported as "shaking the octaves out of his sleeves".
Position at the piano
- Sit on the piano stool, feet flat to the floor.
Muscle tension In your balanced position, and keeping your hands just above the keys, make a tight fist of one hand. You will notice that
making a fist tensed all muscles of your arm up to your shoulder and that the shoulder itself is lifted up. This is the way the body works. Tensing muscles in
your hand will automatically tense all the muscles in your arm and shoulder! This is not what you want: you want to use the WEIGHT of your arm, not the muscle
power!
Using weight instead of muscle
Wrists and elbows!
The relative position of forearm, wrist and hand is important. The hand should never point outwards from the wrist. There should be an almost straight line
from elbow to the tip of the little finger, which allows the fingers to be in line with the keys. This position is a natural one
when the notes are close to the centre of the keyboard, but may get lost when playing a long arpeggio or scale type pattern which takes the hand way up the keyboard.
If the elbow is held close to the body, the hand will point outwards, with the fingers at an angle to the keys, which makes it impossible to play the notes effectively.
In the top octaves the forearm will point outwards to some extent (unless you have very long upper arms!), and you will need to turn your wrist
inwards far enough to keep your fingers lined up with the keys.
If you have difficulty achieving the correct arm/hand position in the top octaves, try turning the scale/arpeggio run upside down. Instead of starting at the
bottom of the run, and moving your arm up, start at the top. You don't need to play the notes. Just get your arm and hand position right,
and then move/slide your hand down the keyboard, using the correct hand/arm position. Concentrate not only on how it LOOKS but also on how it FEELS.
Do this a few times and then try your scale/arpeggio run again.
The tucked-in elbow problem exists mainly for the right arm. We seem to swing our elbows more freely in the left arm - which is probably due to the difference
in patterns of left and right.
Keep breathing! Often when piano players encounter a difficult section in a composition, they hold their breath. This has just about the same effect
as pulling our shoulders up to your ears: everything tenses up! So watch out for that one: keep breathing!!
Tennis players are heard to grunt (the men) and squeal (the women) as they expel air from their lungs when hitting a ball. I am not quite sure why it has to
make so much noise (and I wish it wouldn't). The reason for expelling the air (quietly, please!) is because if affects the power of the strike. Strangely enough
this also applies to piano playing. One great example is the very first chord with which Beethoven starts his Sonata Pathetique. It is a big, dark C minor
chord spread over both hands. To see the effect of breathing in or out or holding your breath:
- Place your fingers ready on the correct keys for a BIG C minor chord (so you don't play a wrong note) and make sure your wrist and elbows are up and ready.
Now play the chord:
(1) while holding your breath; then (2) while sucking in air; finally (3) while expelling air. I bet the third trial won on Beethovenism!
The damper pedal is connected to the piano's dampers which stop the strings from vibrating. Depressing this pedal will lift all the dampers away from the strings, allowing every string in the piano to vibrate. Releasing the pedal will reset the dampers. There are two different ways of using the pedal, simultaneous and syncopated.
- This pedal should be used with care. Lead-footing the damper pedal produces noise, not music.
The soft pedal. Its official name is "una corda (one string) pedal". If you look inside the piano, you will find that most of the hammers hit three
strings, all tuned to the same pitch. In a grand piano the action (that is, the mechanical bits and pieces that connect the keys to the hammers) is shifted
over a little and as a result the hammers will only hit one of the three strings, which not only reduces the volume but creates a different sound altogether.
This works beautifully in a grand piano, but does not work well in upright pianos, and therefore the soft pedal works differently.
Rather than the action moving sideways, the configuration inside the piano changes and the hammers are closer to the strings and at a different angle.
This means that the strings are struck by a much softer section of the hammer felt. Also this change in figuration seems to change the effect of of the key
strike itself. It does not really make the piano sound softer, but it does allow the player to play softer once the pedal is down.
The middle pedal. In the 1800's a third pedal was invented, called the "sustaining" pedal. This pedal allowed you to keep the dampers away from any chord or single note that was keyed down while this pedal was depressed. Once the pedal was down, it would not affect the use of the damper pedal. It was popular for a while, and you will probably find compositions of the somewhat more difficult kind that contain a note or chord which is tied for several bars and seems to call for a third hand to keep it down. These pedals are no longer found on newer pianos: the middle pedal now is usually the "practice pedal". When it is depressed and locked in place a strip of felt falls between the hammers and the strings which deadens the sound. It is a good thing for people who live in home units and such. The problem with the practice pedal is that it changes the touch of the piano considerably. My piano and I once lived in a small home unit, and I am fully aware of its usefulness!
To get back to these chords or notes that seem to require a third hand. These are invariably found at the lower end of the keyboard. The strings in the bass are thicker and stronger than those in the treble. As a result they need more "damping" than the strings higher up the keyboard, i.e. you need to keep your foot UP longer to stop the sound (try this out on your piano, there is quite a surprising difference!). This means that if you can lift the damper pedal quickly and not all the way up, the dampers will be effective on the higher notes, but will leave sound behind on the lower
tied notes. Not a perfect solution, but like the practice pedal, it's better than nothing!
I'VE LEARNED THE NOTES. NOW WHAT?
Young students. At this level playing the music is mostly about playing the notes. Up to age twelve 99.9% of children only want to play loud and fast. That's it. At age twelve I just about set a new speed record for Beethoven's Für Elise, to the consternation of a number of people present. I know how the children feel! They are not interested in subtleties such as staccato, legato or dynamic markings. They don't like "interesting" chords and are happiest with simple harmonies. All my beginners music is based on it. It is important not to get fussy about detail. The young student must get the notes and counts right. Anything else is a bonus, and I have found that at exams if the student plays the correct notes and rhythm with confidence and a firm touch (not to be confused with just "loud") just about everything else is forgiven.
What's the story? All music tells a story. You may not hear the words, but it does affect how you feel. Ask the student "what do you think the story is of this music?" Work it out together with the student. It might be a dance. Who is dancing? People or animals? Big animals or small ones? What do you think happens at this point where the music changes? Once you have worked out the story, then let the student try to tell the story of the dancing animals through the music. This helps to create the understanding that music is so much more than just notes.
Bar phrasing. As the music we play becomes more complex, we need more tools to bring the music to life. If there is no dynamic variation at all,
the music seems to bob up and down in the same spot. There is no sense of forward motion leading you into the music and towards the finish.
In basic theory you learn that the first beat of the bar is the most important, and in 4/4 time the third beat comes second place. Sometimes this third beat
is more important than other times. It usually falls into place. But you cannot ignore the first beat. No matter what the music is, be it classical,
songs, or jazz, "you gotta know where the ONE is at". If you look at your music, you will find that the notes in one bar lead up to the first note in the next bar.
You could leave out some of the notes leading up to the barline, but never the first note after the barline.
From phrase to phrase. Just bar phrasing is not enough. Now you must look for the phrases. Often these are marked by the composer, but not always.
In that case, you must listen to your music and find the phrases for yourself. Western music largely consists of four-bar and 8-bar phrases.
Generally speaking, a phrase will become louder in the middle and will get softer towards the end. That's the theory - and you know what happens to theories...
So, use your ears! Perhaps a more reliable rule is that music tends to get louder when going up, and softer when coming down.
Loud or soft? Most music has dynamic markings indicating loud, soft and everything in between. Even though young children may know what the signs mean,
they see no reason why one bit should be played softer or louder than another bit. And generally the only reason for the markings is to familiarise
children with the abstract concept of dynamics. Children don't DO abstract, but in this case they will follow the teacher's direction, even though it
has no true meaning. However, if you have lyrics, the dynamics will make sense. For example, if the last line reads "the mouse crept quietly back
into its house" it will be played differently from "and all the elephants jumped and shouted hooray, hooray", and if the music's rhyme ends with "SPLAT!"
you are assured of an accent! Right? There is a REASON for the dynamics.
Crescendo/diminuendo. Long crescendos and diminuendos are found in quite a few compositions. A composer may go from forte-fortissimo to piano-pianissimo.
Piano exams require you to play a crescendo over a four octave scale. The problem is that the piano is not really capable of such a wide range.
Crescendo/diminuendo in scale playing
One requirement in music examinations is the ability to play scales over four octaves, with a crescendo going up the scale, and diminuendo going down - or vice versa.
The imbalance of volume over the piano range means that if you play a scale over four octaves without increasing hammer speed
(more weight on the keys), you will actually get a diminuendo (a decrease
in volume) when going up the keyboard, which makes an upward crescendo even more difficult! Trying to gradually
increase a crescendo over four octaves just doesn't work. By the end of the second octave you will probably have reached the maximum volume
the piano can offer.
Crescendo/diminuendo in compositions
This same principle applies to compositions requiring long impossible crescendos and diminuendos. Pianos don't have a range from pppp> to ffff.
The most you can achieve is a range of four levels, that is p to mp to mf to f. Loud is just loud and if you go beyond loud, you end up
with noise from the overworked strings spoiling the sound, and once you go below soft, the strings will fail to activate the sound board
(the back of the upright piano) and you get a wispy
colourless sound. Of course it may well be possible to add another level in the forte (loud) range on a grand piano as well as one in the piano
(soft) range. Playing softer than soft, however, whether or not it be achieved by the use of the una corda (soft) pedal, creates the risk that the sound
won't make it "past the footlights". And, according to my old teacher, Nancy Salas,
you must always make sure you will be heard by your audience.
Balancing volume between hands. The sound range of the piano encompasses the range of all instruments of an orchestra. Is that amazing or what?!
Bringing out the melody. In many cases this means merely playing the right hand melody louder than the left hand accompaniment. At times a melody will pop up
in the bass, requiring the left hand to play louder than the right. However, there are various instances where only one note - generally the top note of a chord
in the right hand - needs to be played louder than the other notes in that chord. Examples of this are found in compositions such as Beethovens "Moonlight"
Sonata and also the second part of the Sonata Pathetique. This is tricky because your little finger also just happens to be the weakest
finger of your hand. Piano playing would be easier if our thumbs were on the outside of the hand instead of the inside! The little finger cannot outmuscle the other
fingers. The trick? Well... I'll try and explain it. Take a three-note chord as an example. Your hand will depress the three keys at a relatively slow pace.
When your fingertips touch the keys (not before!) make the little finger make its downward move FASTER than the other two fingers. The increased speed
of the key going down (relative to the other keys) will increase the speed of the hammer and therefore this note will sound louder than the other two notes. Now ain't
that a real trick?!
Hand span. This is an issue close to my heart. My hands will reach one octave between thumb(1st) and little (5th) finger, and a fifth between index (2nd)finger
little (5th) finger. Only very few females have a hand span beyond the octave: I have never met one in all my years of teaching! Although the average male
hand is larger, this does not mean that it will show a significant increase in hand span. The distance of a ninth (an octave plus one note) occurs fairly
regularly, but the span between 2nd and 5th fingers is still only a fifth. Does it matter? You'd better believe it! Four out of five piano
students are female. Four out of five teachers are also female. A lot of modern jazz music
in higher grades requires a hand span of a a tenth (octave plus two) as well as a sixth between 2nd and 5th fingers. There seems to be a unspoken
theory that all women's and men's hands grow to that size when they reach this playing level. This expectation only applies to the piano. Other instruments
come in various sizes to allow for differences hand sizes - guitars, violins, cellos, etc. Why has this problem never been addressed in exam systems?
Who knows... I wish they would! I am collecting hand sizes. I'd be tickled pink if you would measure your 1 to 5 and 2 to 5 hand stretch and let me know
what your reach is!
Stretching hands. It is impossible to increase your hand size. You are stuck with what you have. Live with it! Your fingers stiffen from carrying groceries,
wielding pens and pencils, opening jam jars and many other activities. Loosen them up by simply flexing the fingers and spreading them out up in the air.
And that is all you can do. Believe me!
It is easy to damage your hands by attempting to stretch them. In piano playing it is not a matter of "no pain, no gain". If you
are practising a composition (such as boogie-woogie)which puts a lot of stress on, your little finger, then STOP when it starts to hurt.
Have a break to allow the muscles and
tendons to recover. Play something else before going back to that piece. The muscles will strengthen in time, but
if you overdo it, you may cause permanent damage. I have experienced this myself. My hands are female sized and I wanted to stretch them. I used to try and get
more space between little finger and thumb by stretching my hands along the edge of the table. I was also given some piano exercises
which demanded
the stretch of a sixth between fingers 2 and 5. The only result I got is damage to the index finger tendons, which has contracted
my hand span even further! Some time after having caused this damage to myself, I found out that the composer Robert Schumann had also damaged his hands by
using wedges between the fingers in an attempt to stretch them. And, lo and behold, just a short time ago I saw a wooden 19th century finger-stretcher
on the Antique Roadshow program! I wonder how much damage that item of torture created in its time...
Some children (and some adults, for that matter) have difficulty with "left" and "right". In that case, ask the student about the position
of their piano at home (make sure to point to the correct side!). For example, if there is a cupboard on the left, and a window on the right,
then their hands become "cupboard hand" and "window hand" respectively.
Some children (and some adults) have difficulty relating hands to staff, and will happily let left hand play the top staff, and the right hand gets the bass.
In that case, the right hand is renamed "top hand" and the left becomes "bottom hand".
Again turn this into a game. For example, find all the notes called "C" on the piano. Together with the child and helping when necessary,
starting on the lowest note again, stop on every C and put a pencil (whatever) on the piano key. How many C's did we find? Count the pencils.
Then, to your surprise, you discover that every "C" looks the same! Check this out together with the student. Aha, the piano is not just a long, long row
of black and white keys, it is just lots of little keyboards stuck together! This turns the scary piano into a much more manageable instrument.
You can repeat this game, to make sure all the other keys are always in the same place, and check how many D's or G's (whatever) there are.
Another game is to have turns with the student of finding the name of a randomly chosen piano key. You must close your eyes, and pick a key, any key.
The other person then (eyes open!) has to work out what the name of that key is. When it is your turn to work out the name, use the same system
the child uses, usually naming keys from the closest C onwards. Some children stick by starting from the lowest note on the piano. Try and ease them
into improving their strategy through demonstration and patience.
Young children may have difficulty understanding the confusing naming of notes on the staff as "on a line" and "in a space". After all, isn't a note
which sits between two lines actually "on a line"? If it creates confusion in children I use the terms of "squashed note" (between the lines) and
a "tummy ache note" that has the line going through it. One of my young students some years ago has renamed "middle C" as the "aeroplane note".
THE GOSS ON COUNTING!
- The student decides whether the music will be for the left or right hand (they usually pick right hand).
- The student draws the appropriate clef (copying is fine, and close enough is good enough. Don't get fussy) and decides on the number of beats per bar. Four
beats are best.
- Student and teacher take turns at writing a bar. The student decides who writes the first bar.
- When we have a total of four bars (using only the C to G notes) it is played on the piano by the student.
Some enthusiastic composers-to-be may want to add another four bars. Others don't. It is the student's choice. We may add a title (student's choice),
the student's name goes on the paper as well as the date.
This exercise helps reading. It also shows children right from the start that writing music is something anyone can do.
You will need manuscript paper with large staffs for the younger children. If you don't have any, then enlarge the size of regular manuscript on a photocopier.
Or draw the lines on a blank sheet!
Often students will want to learn to play Fuer Elise when they
are not capable of playing it all the way through. So what? Let them play the first section that everybody knows and they can learn the rest later when
they are more adept at playing, if they want to. Learning to play this first section is often a wonderful stimulus for the student. It is something
to show off and it creates an impetus to continue towards the next goal. Many teachers forget about the "play" in playing piano. The wonderful, exciting
journey of learning to play this beautiful musical instrument then becomes no more than a mere chore.
Why indeed? In the early 19th century tuning of the keyboard changed and it became possible to
play in any key, and scales were seen as an essential introduction to these new and complex key signatures. Unfortunately in the 21st
century this view remains largely unchanged and unchallenged. Playing scales or arpeggios is not a bad thing. Not really difficult either.
What is difficult is the useless extension of this in the examination requirements of playing scales over 2-4 octaves hands together similar motion,
and contrary motion. Playing arpeggios hands together over several octaves is not really difficult, just useless. Why are these requirements still
generally regarded "as an important part of piano playing" when these are never found in the piano repertoire? I have never found any positive
effect of the technical work on the student's ability to play and read music. It merely leads students to avoid doing exams. So be it.
Studies or Etudes (whatever you want to call them) were invented along with the scales. The purpose of a Study is to give practice in some aspect of technique,
and there are lots and lots of Studies that are based on scale and arpeggio playing - which in reality has created a "closed circle" in that scales and arpeggios
help with the playing of Studies, and you play the Studies to help with the playing of scales and arpeggios! Round and round it goes! The theory is that when
you have a problem with a specific technical passage
in a composition, you choose a Study that addresses this aspect. Of course the problem would also be solved by spending time on learning the
difficult passage in the composition, which has the advantage that you don't need to learn a complete Study in order to solve the problem of maybe four
or eight bars of music! This does not mean that all Studies are useless and ugly. There are some great Studies at all levels which deserve a place in any repertoire.
Just ignore the "Study" or "Etude" title of these compositions and approach these like any other composition. They're worth it!
We are stuck with scales. Face it. The way scales are set out in a syllabus is based on the majors and relative minors. This works fine in theory,
because the relationship is easy to see on paper, but not when playing them. Once students are at a point where scales to be learned are increasing
in number (around First and Second Grade) I found it helpful to introduce the "circle of fifths" in the sharp major scales, C major, G major, D major and A major
will be enough for students to cope with at this level. These scales all have identical fingering, each new scale starts on the 5th note of the previous one,
and each new sharp is right at the end of the scale. This is all visual learning. Let the student find the fifth note, let the student find the new sharp,
and write down the sequence of scales and sharps as they appear.
The flat keys are more difficult because of the fingering which changes from key to key. Mastering the sharp keys and having an understanding
of how scales/keys relate to each other does make it easier to learn the flat keys.
Often young students have difficulty adding a second octave because they do not perceive it as a repeat of the first, particularly when playing hands together.
Once the students can play one octave it may help to let the student practise this single octave (for a week or so) ending with the right hand finishing on the thumb instead
of the little finger. If this does not do the trick, then let the left hand do a finger shuffle on the top note of the first octave, from thumb to little finger.
This then shows clearly that the second octave is the same as the first with a (temporary) pause between the two octaves.
A student who has problems with 2 octaves going up, will also have problems going down. Once the student has mastered
two octaves going up, then add only one octave going down, and add the second octave once the student has mastered the first.
Some early contrary motion scales are easy to do over a total span of 2 octaves (i.e. one octave per hand). Children tend to like playing the contrary motion
ones because it looks clever. Unfortunately the pleasure of any scales wears off very quickly.
- Australian and New Zealand Cultural Arts (ANZCA) offer three syllabi, each up to Diploma level: Classical Piano, Modern Piano and Piano for All Occasions.
Modern piano covers areas such as jazz, ragtime, boogies, blues, songs and more. It is very popular with children as well as older students.
Piano for All Occasions covers areas such as Showtime, Dance, Dinner music, Special Occasion, busking and more. It is popular with more mature students who would like to work as a professional pianist for weddings and/or other celebrations. Website: www.anzca.com.au
Many students avoid doing exams because of the required technical work. You can pass piano exam without it, but you will lose 20% of total marks, which is a big slice! Rather than counting down from the available 20 points, we start at zero and see how far we can get with it. I make up a list of all the items to be learned. The more items in one box, the more you have to learn for your points. For example, if there is only one scale in the "chromatic" box, then that one is in the "must learn" category, because you can count on the examiner asking for it. A box with only two items is also a handy one. You'll get asked one of the two! And that is the way we work through the list. When you get around to the scales, do the majors first, because they tend to be the easiest. Doing it that way will still give you a fair share of the points - and without the pain!
- Now move forward on the piano stool until you are in a position where you will fall forward if you lift both feet. This is a "balanced position".
- When you sit at the piano in your balanced position, put your hands on the keys in a playing position. Now check your arms: the upper arm should be
at a slight angle with the elbow a little forward. Never play with your elbows behind you! The forearm, wrist and hand up to the fingers should be
either horizontal or slightly sloping downwards.
- Never play from "under" the keys. Now your're ready for the interesting bit!
So the real trick in whole arm technique is to keep the muscles of your arms and shoulders relaxed while using the muscles of your hand to play the notes. Some people
seem to get this naturally while others have to work for it.
- Sit straight, but not stiff on the pianostool in the balanced position. Wiggle your body to make sure it is not tense.
- Pull your shoulders up (that tenses them) and then drop your shoulders, which will relax them. Make yourself aware how the relaxed shoulders feel.
Shoulders up=tense, shoulders down=relaxed - and it is the relaxed state you want.
- Now lift one arm, keeping the elbow below shoulder height, in a relaxed mode (which means it will be a little away from your body), the wrist in front,
with the hand dangling just above the keys. Dangle your hand. If it doesn't flop around, it is tense! RELAX!! Check that your shoulders are down.
- At this point there should only be enough tension in your arm to hold it up. No extra muscle, no extra tension. Ready? Here comes the good bit:
- Relax ALL the muscles in your arm! If you are doing it right, your hand should land on the keys, fingers first, collapse at the wrist, and slide off into your lap.
(I bet you didn't let them slide... so do it again!)
- Now do the same again, but stop your hand from slipping off the keys. And whatever keys you landed on, have been played in a perfectly relaxed manner,
using the weight of the whole arm. Congratulations! This is the very basis of effective piano playing. By using the weight of your arms rather than overworking
the puny little muscles of your fingers, you will have much better control. It may take a little time to get used to this relaxed technique,
but it will definitely be worth it.
- When playing in a relaxed style you will find there is movement in the wrist. The wrist works like a shock absorber. It will drop down somewhat when playing a
note or chord and lift again when you
lift your hand off the keys. Note that the wrist must lift the hand and not the other way around. If your hand is above the wrist then the muscles are tense.
Simultaneous pedalling is usually the first to be learned. It simply means that the hand and the foot go down simultaneously. The young children love using it.
Syncopated pedalling is more complex and learned somewhat later. It will create a smooth legato in a series of chords or notes that lie outside the hand span. In syncopated pedalling the foot goes down AFTER the hand motion. It can be practiced with either single notes or chords as follows:
- Play the chord, hold it down and depress the pedal.
- Lift your hand, but keep pedal down. The pedal is now holding the chord.
- With the pedal still holding the first chord, play the second chord. As soon as the keys are down, lift your foot and depress it again.
- If you got this part right, you will have replaced the first chord by the second chord.
- To get a rhythm going, it may help to use a simple 3-step sentence, such as "Hand, Up, Down" where "Hand" means your hand plays the chord; "Up" means pedal up; "Down" means pedal down.
- Use the pedal only where it will not create ugly dissonances.
- Never keep the pedal down in a scale-like passage unless this passage is played in the top section of the keyboard, where there are no dampers.
- Never keep the pedal down across a chord change unless the two chords will sound good together.
- Be aware of separate music phrases: it often sounds better if there is a small break (like a comma or semicolon) between them.
- Most of all: play the pedal with your EARS. Your foot just helps!
There is a common - and faulty - belief that because the hammers are moved closer to the strings when the soft pedal is depressed, the hammers gain less speed
and thus hit the strings with less power. This is nonsense. The speed of anything thrown,
be it a piano hammer, a watermelon or the bullet from a gun, has its maximum speed at the point of release. And, believe it or not, even our clever piano
is governed by the laws of physics!
If you are lucky enough to own a grand piano, your middle pedal will probably be this (now elusive) sustaining pedal. Lucky you!
THE GOSS ON DYNAMICS
The piano strings of the lower octaves are thick and strong, and create a lot more sound than the thin strings of the higher octaves. When you look inside the piano
you will see that there are more strings per hammer in the higher octaves than in the lower octaves. Even with the multiple strings for the higher notes, the bass
remains stronger than the treble. This problem of inbalance of volume has been part of the piano right from its conception: Johan Sebastian Bach saw this problem
of the bass drowning out the higher notes as a serious weak point of the newfangled keyboard instrument.
The solution is to determine a volume level for each octave: first octave is soft,
next octave a little louder, third octave still louder, and final octave the loudest. It is very difficult not to bump up the volume for a whole octave and you
will probably find that - without even trying - you have increased the volume by the end of the first octave past the level set for the second octave.
Oops! Live with it: it is the way the brain works: "think-crescendo=play-crescendo". Now what? Easy peasy! You just drop the volume back
a little to make it fit your chosen second octave level, and off you go again. Do the same for third and fourth octaves, and you will have created the image
of a crescendo. You've heard of optical illusion. This is aural illusion. It works! Needless to say that the same rules apply to creating a diminuendo image,
using the reverse of the crescendo system.
A long crescendo section will consist of several phrases. Handle these phrases in a similar to the pattern shown above for the scales.
Give each phrase a level. Increase the volume in each phrase and be very careful not to overdo it! Remember how the brain works: think-crescendo=play-crescendo.
You sneakily pull back a little at the end
of each phrase which gives you room for a crescendo in the next phrase. Of course you need to reverse it for diminuendo sections. Believe it or not: it works!
You will never run out of room in a crescendo or diminuendo again!
As mentioned before the bass strings are thick and sturdy and easily drown out the sound of the much thinner treble strings. If the left hand plays
an accompaniment of chords while the right hand, in the role of the singer, has only single notes, then the left hand will certainly drown out the tune. Not a
good thing. An accompanist should never take over from the singer. (For my students I have created the story of a singer who dropped the piano lid on the fingers
of the accompanist... It could have happened, couldn't it?).
Whether or not my story is true, it still means that generally the left hand must play softer than the right. Students often have a problem achieving this. I agree that
is a bit of a trick, but not really difficult. It works like this:
- (1) Play a section of the piece (say the first eight or sixteen bars) as softly as possible to the point where notes tend to "drop out".
Do this two or three times in a row and don't worry about notes dropping out (just let them drop on the floor and you can sweep them up later...).
- (2) Immediately after doing this, start playing this same section again, this time with the left hand as soft as in (1), while playing the right hand
louder than the left. See how far you can go before the left hand takes over again. You may not get to the
end of the piece before you lose the plot, but don't worry. It will improve with a few repetitions of the exercise.
The above exercise works for two reasons: Firstly, playing softly is more difficult than playing loud, and it makes sense to do the difficult bit first.
Secondly: Playing (2) immediately after (1) enables you to utilise your short term memory which times out at nine seconds.
HAND SPAN AND STRETCH