Category Archives: Teaching

At the Piano With……John Humphreys

What is your first memory of the piano?

An upright piano in the family home

Who or what inspired you to start teaching?

Abandoned the unrealistic idea of being a performer!

Who were your most memorable/significant teachers?

Henryk Mierowski, John Hunt (pupil of Schnabel) and Harold Rubens.

Who or what are the most important influences on your teaching?

Harold Rubens

What are the most exciting/challenging aspects of teaching adults?

Their wide-eyed curiosity and eagerness to learn.

What do you expect from your students?

Hard work, self-discipline and RESPECT!

What are your views on exams, festivals and competitions?

All useful in their ways but only as a means to and end and not as an end in itself (often the case)

What do you consider to be the most important concepts to impart to beginning students, and to advanced students?

Respect for the composer above all – and the constant need to examine, intellectually and physically how things are achieved.  It is years since I have taught beginners so I’m not qualified to comment on this…

What do you consider to be the best and worst aspects the job?

Best – raising the level of achievement of a moderately talented player (the best can fend for themselves). Worst – not being able to do that, also feckless, indolent students with no care for their progress or even a modest desire to please me…..

What is your favourite music to teach? To play?

Mozart A minor Rondo or Chopin 4th Ballade 

Who are your favourite pianists/pianist-teachers and why?

Old oldies – Richter above all, Gilels, Cortot. Schnabel. In the case of Richter, sound and integrity.

John Humphreys studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Harold Rubens, and in Vienna on an Austrian Government Scholarship. He made his Wigmore Hall debut in 1972 with Busoni’s rarely heard Fantasia Contrappuntistica and since then has led an active life as a teacher and performer. He has broadcast on BBC Radio3, and played throughout the UK, in Iceland, Hungary, Austria, Holland and the USA. He is a Diploma Examiner for the Associated Board and both Artistic Advisor and jury member of the Dudley International Piano Competition. His recording (with Allan Schiller) of the complete two piano music of Ferrucio Busoni was released by Naxos in December 2005 and in March 2007 they recorded major works of Schubert as part of Naxos’s ongoing complete Schubert duet series due for release in January 2008. In January 2006 he and Allan Schiller were invited by the Wigmore Hall to present a recital on the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. In 1998 he received the honorary award of ARAM from the Royal Academy of Music for his ‘distinguished contribution to music’.

www.schiller-humphreys.com

At the Piano With……Gail Fischler

Gail Fischler

What is your first memory of the piano?

I remember sitting at the piano at my Grandma Packy’s as a very little girl and being completely entranced. We didn’t have a piano and I would pick out songs and create my own whenever I found one. I wanted to take lessons for years as a child but my parents refused until I was 9. My Grandfather Zickert was an opera singer and they didn’t want that life for me.

Who or what inspired you to start teaching?

It wasn’t a matter of whether I was going to teach—it was what. I remember getting in trouble for bringing all the little neighbourhood kids to our house and playing school when I was 7 or 8. I am pretty much a born teacher. You know the old saying, “them that can’t teach”? I don’t think it means what we commonly think. To me it means that you can’t do anything else because it is your true nature—your true calling.

I started teaching when I was in high school. As much as I would do things differently with those early students now, I know that that those first teaching experiences—good and bad—are the rock that my teaching and blogging are built on today.

Who were your most memorable/significant teachers?

All my teachers have been memorable. Some in positive and others perhaps not so much. I learned both what to do and what not to do from them all. From my childhood teacher, I learned to read music, basic theory, and how to create basic arrangements. From my undergraduate professor, Patrick Meierotto, I learned that music was an entire world of sound, thought, and communication with others—the most important lesson of all in my opinion. Once that lesson was well and truly ingrained, I was able to build on it and grow into myself. As I practice and teach bits of advice from all of my teachers and coaches bubble to the surface and it’s like I have this great support group. Sometimes it can be quite startling! I still chuckle over Johana Harris’ simple little gem, written in my copy of the Poulenc Flute Sonata, “Don’t hold over gone notes.”

Who or what are the most important influences on your teaching?

Obviously, my teachers and coaches have been a large influence. But, I think the most important influences are my colleagues and my students themselves. Both continually both validate and make me question my choices and that is an excellent thing.

Most memorable/significant teaching experiences?

I have had a lot of memorable experiences over the years, but, here are a couple that have truly stuck in my mind.

A high school transfer student I’ll call Marcella had had lessons with me for about 18 months. She would learn the nitty-gritty musical details alright, but never really seemed to be able to make the music come alive or have much connection to it. I did everything to bring it out of her and was beginning to think that perhaps she just didn’t have it in her. One night at studio class, we did an activity where I played recordings of a piece by 3 different artists. I had the students fill out a form which asked what they liked and didn’t, details of patterns and repetitions, and form, as well as how they thought each artist used interpretive details to convey their personal view. Marcella’s insights were stellar—by far the best in the class. She had really heard and learned everything I had been trying to teach her. She just couldn’t make it come out of the piano. By the time she graduated, she had become only somewhat more able to be expressive herself but I was content that I had given her something that would last a lifetime—the ability to appreciate music at a deep level.

An adult student who came to the college had many holes in her background. The biggest was her ear. She could only hear the melody and everything else went by the wayside. During her 3rd semester we were working on one of the more accessible Beethoven sonatas in hopes of building her musical conversational skills. It was quite a stretch for her. We spent many hours working on recognizing the layers and letting the voices interact with each other. One day she came in and said I heard it! I heard it! She had made the connection in an 8 measure section of the piece. After that, she began to be able to apply what she had learned to other sections. At her jury, she performed her piece with many mistakes but with such determination and understanding of the voices and musical content that I was brought to tears, I was so proud.

Neither of these students had demonstrated perfection in performance by any means, and yet each had broken a barrier and transcended themselves. I continue to be changed by each and every student I teach.

What are the most exciting/challenging aspects of teaching adults?

I love teaching adults. They are motivated extrinsically for the most part. They come to lessons because they want to. The biggest challenges are that they get frustrated easily and their learning habits are ingrained. Because they have clear goals, they don’t always have the patience to let the process have the time it needs. Since their learning habits are ingrained, it can be hard and sometimes very emotional to change those habits. Adults also often get fixated on details and fail to see the larger picture. ( i.e. a missed Bb ruins the entire lovely tone and mood they created in a piece) You also often have to work through a great deal of fear.

What do you expect from your students?

I expect them to do their best and push themselves beyond that which they think they are capable. I want them to be themselves but the best themselves possible. That’s it.

What are your views on exams, festivals and competitions?

These are important parts of becoming a professional pianist. For those who will go on to other careers, they are important because they give concrete goals to work for. Participating in events like these are a trade off because the lessons and practice are differently focused. Some of my students participate and others’ time is better spent in deep practice and discovery of a larger variety of music and creative projects.

What do you consider to be the most important concepts to impart to beginning students, and to advanced students?

Beginning students need to learn what practice is and how to do it. It doesn’t matter what skill or concept you are learning. It matters how you work. Students have to learn to work smart and not get down on themselves just because something doesn’t go right. As they advance, they need to continually refine these skills to adapt to their repertoire and adult lives.

Another important thing all students need to learn is that listening to music of all genres is essential to being a good musician. As they mature, they need to learn to bring their total experience of life into their music.

What do you consider to be the best and worst aspects of the job?

The best aspect of the job is that I get to do something I love and it’s new everyday. I get to help people grow and stretch themselves through teaching, workshops, and blogging. I also get to work with a lot more repertoire than I could ever keep up on my own. The worst aspect has to be some of the parents. It’s so sad when they stand in their child’s way and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

My favourite student funny of all time went something like this: Me: How are you doing today? 8 year old girl: Not so good. My brother and I had a fight. Me: Oh no! what happened? Girl (clearly disgusted): Well, he said there was no such thing as F Major!!!

What is your favourite music to teach? To play?

I am really quite eclectic in my tastes. My favourite music is always what I am working on at the time somebody asks. That said, Beethoven is definitely my boy! I also am continually drawn to 20th century and contemporary composers and I teach quite a lot of that repertoire.

Who are your favourite pianists/pianist-teachers and why?

Our home library consists of about 75 linear feet of 78s, 33s, and CDs plus a large iTunes library and my YouTube channel. I love listening to performers from all eras and discovering their unique approach to a piece or a time period. It really does keep you honest and put details such as ornaments, tempo, and touch into perspective. The common thread I find is that rules, such as ornamentation, touch, stylistic details, etc, never drive the interpretation—the music itself does. It drives me quite crazy when someone discounts an entire performance because of a preconceived idea of an ornament , tempo, or slur.

Gail Fischler is an MTNA Nationally Certified Teacher, and a past president of both Arizona State Music Teachers Association and Tucson Music Teachers Association. Gail received her undergraduate degree in music from San Jose State University and completed her masters in piano performance and her doctorate in Music Education and Piano at the University of Arizona. Her teachers and coaches have included Patrick Meierotto, Johana Harris, Marilyn Thompson, Ozan Marsh, Rex Woods, and Carol Stivers. She is a recipient of the Janice McCurnin – Beatrice Searles ASMTA Honored Teacher Award.

Gail was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the National MusicLink Foundation and has served as Southwest Regional MusicLink Coordinator. She has performed across Arizona and presented lectures, workshops, and research presentations throughout the United States and in Canada. Gail has adjudicated for the Arizona Study Program, Roberta Slaver Competition, Prescott Fine Arts Association Piano Scholarship Competition, NAU Adele Piano Competition, ASMTA Honors Recital, TMTA Scholarship Audition, AMEA Solo & Ensemble Festival, Cochise Young Artists Competition, and NAU Concerto Competition.

Gail currently teaches private and community class piano at Eastern Arizona College and maintains an independent studio in Tucson. Her students have won honors in state and local competitions, evaluations, and festivals. She is co-author with Neeki Bey of Latin America, a volume of original, folk, and popular pieces coming in August from Piano Accents. Gail also runs Piano Addict, a website for piano students, teachers, and avocational players and The Musical Adjectives Project, an interactive Wiki to aid pianists and musicians in describing and understanding the emotions and character within repertoire. She holds Permanent Professional Certification in piano from Music Teachers National Association.

Gail’s blog – Piano Addict

At the Piano With……Simon Nicholls

What is your first memory of the piano?

Playing by ear on an instrument belonging to a neighbour.

Who or what inspired you to start teaching?

My own teachers.

Who were your most memorable/significant teachers?

E. Marie Oswald (Woking) Michael Matthews, John Barstow, Kendall Taylor (RCM) Paul Badura-Skoda; Vlado Perlemuter, Louis Kentner.

Who or what are the most important influences on your teaching?

Experience of the lessons of Louis Kentner and Vlado Perlemuter given to my own pupils at Yehudi Menuhin School. The writing of: Friedrich Wieck, Heinrich Neuhaus, Günter Philipp, Donald Tovey and others.

What are the most exciting/challenging aspects of teaching adults?

Adults understand concepts but they are set in their ways and find it difficult to change habits.

What do you expect from your students?

Commitment.

What are your views on exams, festivals and competitions?

They are useful focuses and inducements and experiences of performing but should not be ends in themselves.

What do you consider to be the most important concepts to impart to beginning students, and to advanced students?

Rhythm and sound, in both cases.

What do you consider to be the best and worst aspects the job?

Very rewarding to work with dedicated students. Deadly to work to predetermined criteria.

What is your favourite music to teach? To play?

All good music – whatever the piece (if good) that we are working on – that is my favourite.

What are your thoughts on the link between performing and teaching?

When I am working on a performance or doing concerts I have more ideas for teaching. So I try always to be practising something, however busy I get.

Who are your favourite pianists/pianist-teachers and why?  Heinrich Neuhaus – huge general culture,  telling comparisons in teaching. Great artistic concept. Alfred Cortot – ditto. Vladimir Sofronitsky – complete unselfish possession by the music. Tatyana Nikolayeva – ditto. Mariya Yudina – ditto.  Edwin Fischer – ditto, plus inspiring poetic writing. Imogen Cooper – singing quality. Mitsuko Uchida – compelling focus and beauty of concept. Evgeny Kissin – perfection of gift and supreme achievement, with effortless physical aspect.  Murray Perahia – focus and concentration. Stephen Kovacevich – ditto. Grigory Sokolov – ditto.

 

Simon Nicholls studied at the Royal College of Music with John Barstow and Kendall Taylor, winning many awards and prizes, and attended master classes by Paul Badura-Skoda in Germany. For ten years he taught the piano at the Yehudi Menuhin School, working with Louis Kentner and Vlado Perlemuter, and for twenty years was a professor  at the Royal College of Music,  London. He now teaches piano, accompaniment and song interpretation in Birmingham Conservatoire. He has often been a visiting artist at Dartington International Summer School, teaching improvisation, piano and chamber music.

Simon Nicholls has performed frequently at London’s major recital venues, at Snape Maltings and Dartington International Summer School, and toured and broadcast on radio and television in Britain and abroad. He has performed in the United States,  including at New York’s Lincoln Center, and he has also played in the Czech Republic (Prague Spring Festival), Eire, France, Germany, Greece, Holland and India. He has recorded for Chandos Records and Carlton Classics, and written for many musical journals.   Compositions by Simon Nicholls have been published by Faber Music and Bärenreiter.

Simon Nicholls’ interest in the music of Skryabin is long-standing. He has made many research visits to Moscow, and in October 2007 he gave a lecture and masterclass on Scriabin interpretation at the State Memorial Skryabin  Museum, Moscow. He has had articles on Skryabin published in the U.K., America and Russia.

 

At the Piano With……GéNIA Part 1

Recently, I had the very great pleasure of interviewing GéNIA, Russian pianist and teacher, and creator of innovative piano technique, Piano-Yoga®. We met at London’s prestigious Steinway Hall to talk about many aspects of piano teaching and performing, and, in a departure from the usual format of the At the Piano….. interviews, our conversation was filmed.

The videos will be published in six short instalments. In the first, we discuss GéNIA’s musical heritage, her first piano, the influence of her great-grand uncle Vladimir Horowitz, significant teachers and other influences that affected GéNIA’s musical development.

For more information on Piano-Yoga® please visit

www.piano-yoga.com

More At the Piano…… interviews

At the Piano With……David Nelson

David Nelson

***The inaugural Hebden Bridge Piano Festival, conceived by David Nelson, takes place from 19-21 April.

Further information and tickets here***

What is your first memory of the piano?

Age 5 picking out tunes on a neighbour’s piano. She encouraged my parents to get me an instrument. To this day I’m not sure whether she recognised my innate talent -or whether she just needed me to make that row in my own home!

Who or what inspired you to start teaching? Nothing really: I just wondered whether I could do it. Made a start and found that I could.

Who were your most memorable/significant teachers? My current teacher, concert pianist Paul Roberts. Also Katerina Wolpe at Morley College.

Who or what are the most important influences on your teaching?

Probably all the other musical things I do in addition to playing Classical music. So…jazz, pop, world music, playing guitar and bass, singing, writing music and lots more. All these things  help explain music differently and sometimes better than more formal routes, and add  vibrancy and colour to lessons (and to the music too)

Most memorable/significant teaching experiences?

The moment a student plays beautifully for the first time – in their piece, or in their lives perhaps. That’s when you know it’s all been worthwhile!

What are the most exciting/challenging aspects of teaching adults?

Keeping them going! They often demotivate when other aspects of their lives get tough. Musically: bridging the gap between what their highly formed musical minds know the music should go like -  and what their fingers are actually able to do!

What do you expect from your students?

Their best.

What are your views on exams, festivals and competitions? I don’t really have a view on these things. I have a view as to whether they might benefit or be detrimental to the progress of each individual student which is based on their own needs, wishes and abilities.

What do you consider to be the most important concepts to impart to beginning students, and to advanced students?

Perhaps the holistic nature of the intervallic relationship between notes. We read, see, hear, and (at the piano) feel them too. Oh, and rhythm obviously. I think these things might be the same regardless of the ability of the student.

What do you consider to be the best and worst aspects the job?

It’s all good: I love it! Worst thing is when good students leave (for whatever reason)

Who are your favourite pianists/pianist-teachers and why? 

Those who are inspirational, with a good sense of humour and infinite patience! Their ability to go deeper into the heart of the music, but into the microcosmic detail too

David Nelson has been teaching piano for over 25 years, giving lessons to hundreds of students/pianists both in London and in West Yorkshire. A sizeable number of these have gone on to become professional performers or teachers, whilst others have become influential in jazz and popular music. Many others have continued to play long after their lessons had ceased and value the life-enhancing qualities of such activity.

More about David Nelson at www.piano40.co.uk

 

At the Piano With……Karl Lutchmayer

Karl Lutchmayer

What is your first memory of the piano?

Actually, and rather embarrassingly, I used to use the spaces between Bb and C# and Eb and F# to park my Dinky cars – and run them along the fronts of the white notes! It always vexed me that the spaces between other black notes weren’t wide enough for such a clearly useful purpose. However, it is also true to say that, at about the same time, I would hear my mother playing those timeless classis such as Rustle of Spring, Maiden’s Prayer and In a Persian Market.

Who or what inspired you to start teaching?

I am ashamed to say that in my 20s it was simply an economic necessity! However that changed significantly when I was awarded the Lambert Fellowship to return as a member of the keyboard faulty at the Royal College of Music, and it was here that I realised that I was far better at connecting with older minds, and it was at this time I stopped working with younger pupils.

Who were your most memorable/significant teachers?

One always remembers one’s first teacher! June Luck (with whom I had tea recently!) taught me from middle C up to my Diploma and entry to the RCM, and I know it’s a cliché, but probably taught me as much about life as she did about playing the piano. Then there was John Barstow, who, somehow, and I really don’t know how he did it, managed to turn youthful dreams into grown up realities (as long as students were willing to work!). And here again too, broader culture was as important as practice – he expected students to go to concerts, the theatre, read literature, follow current events. After that there were of course many other extraordinary musicians who helped me to grow, but perhaps Lev Naumov (formerly Neuhaus’ assistant) stands out for showing me how to throw away the score!

Who or what are the most important influences on your teaching?

Of course my own teachers, but also the many extraordinary treatises, from CPE Bach, and Czerny to Schnabel, Brendel, Rosen etc. Each time I open up one of those tomes I become acutely aware of my own ignorance, and try to become a little better! Also Herrigel’s Zen in the Art of Archery, which has been by my side for a couple of decades now, but most importantly, as any teacher knows, my students, from whom I learn at least as much as I attempt to impart.

Most memorable/significant teaching experiences?

Every time a student tells me that I’ve made a difference to their life – I can’t imagine anything more significant than that.

What are the most exciting/challenging aspects of teaching adults?

The passion – the idea that amidst a busy life here are people who want to be part of the tradition of human creativity. Of course, bringing such a wealth of experience, often quite, quite different from one’s own is also exciting as it offers so many various ways of discussing and understanding a concept. But it is so hard for adults to get used to the idea of necessary repetition, when its something they usually left behind at the school gate.

What do you expect from your students?

I expect them to do all they can with all that they have. The results don’t actually matter, as long as the journey is honest, which is why I get upset with the lazy ones, and those just in it for the buzz/fame/ ego, no matter how good they are, but the honest student with meagre talents is always a joy. If it isn’t about the journey of a whole person I really don’t know what the point is.

What are your views on exams, festivals and competitions?

Gyorgy Sandor once told me that in his day pianists played concerts, but now they played piano competitions because there were no concerts left! In some ways he was probably right. A judicious use of exams/festivals/competitions in order to fire the work ethic/enthusiasm seems very wise – so that the young artist understands what it is to throw themselves at a particular goal at a particular moment (and let’s be honest, unlike most professions, we can’t just stand up in the boardroom and say ‘sorry been very busy, will a week next Tuesday do?’!), but as soon as they become an end in themselves they can only harm the art. After all, the artist has to throw himself wholly at his art every single day. I remember, when I was teaching in America, how students would ask whether it ‘would be in the test’ – when music becomes about jumping over hurdles, or acquiring laurels then it inevitably forgets about touching souls.

However, perhaps we should start being more honest in the big international piano competitions. We all know they’re fixed, whether through outright skulduggery or old fashioned juror bias, so why not instead make it a purely sporting event. Speed trials with time penalties for wrong notes and split-screen TV coverage, loudest chords and fastest octaves measured electronically, a speed learning competition, audience prizes for the most dolefully dreamy stare into the middle distance etc – what a great spectator sport, and at least it would be honest! ;)

What do you consider to be the most important concepts to impart to beginning students, and to advanced students?

I don’t really teach beginners, but from the wrong end of the telescope it seems to me that the fundamentals must be entirely thorough – fluency and lack of tension in the body, a real understanding of notation (I have yet to meet a 1st yr college student who understands the very different purposes of a slur and a phrase mark), a sense of musical style and an understanding of how music works.

For my advanced students these are all the same issues! But most particularly the idea of interpretation – the art of investing a score with life in an honest and coherent way. Once that is understood, adapting one’s skills to allowmit to happen in concert is just a matter of hard work!

What do you consider to be the best and worst aspects the job?

Best is to see a musician grow and be able to help that process, and to meet so many wonderful people (anyone who loves the piano is going to be a friend of mine!). Worst is dealing with the many terrible neuroses which seem to come out so clearly in music making and so hamper the individual.

What is your favourite music to teach? To play?

To teach – Haydn. He knows all the rules, and constantly subverts them! It’s just so joyous!

To play – hmmmm. I love playing Liszt and Busoni, and at the moment I’m thrilled to be immersed in Alkan for the bicentenary next year, but every time I approach Beethoven I know I’m in for a rollercoaster ride – so vexing and daunting, but there is nothing like that moment after you’ve just played the last chord of one of the sonatas!

Who are your favourite pianists/pianist-teachers and why?

Pierre Laurent Aimard – an extraordinary artist at his best (although it does sometimes appear that he does too much) and his masterclasses combine the practical with the truly revelatory.

David Dubal – although he rarely plays the piano these days, his unique way of challenging, beguiling and even outraging his students, and his unbelievable breadth of culture pays the most extraordinary dividends. A true educator (recalling that the word ‘education’ actually means to draw forth, quite different from instruction, which is putting in!).

Karl Lutchmayer studied at the Royal College of Music under Peter Wallfisch and John Barstow and also undertook periods of study with Lev Naumov at the Moscow Conservatoire. For his Masters’ degree he conducted extensive research into performing practice in the piano music of Busoni, since when his research interests have grown to include Liszt, Alkan, Enescu, The Creative Transcription Network, reception theory, and the history of piano recital programming. He later returned to his alma mater and started his lecturing career when the prestigious Constant & Kit Lambert Fellowship was awarded to him by the Worshipful Company of Musicians – the first time in its history that it was awarded to an instrumentalist.

Full biography here

www.karllutchmayer.com

At the Piano With……Alan Fraser

Alan Fraser teaching

What is your first memory of the piano?

I was learning a piece called ‘Baby Bear’, and I was having difficulty with it. It was about the sixth piece in my grade one book, and I think you actually had to play hands together or something incredibly challenging like that. My mother sat down with me and patiently helped me through it. For some reason that always stuck in my mind – it’s one of the few memories I have of a warm and caring feeling between my mom and I.

Who or what inspired you to start teaching?

The lack of good piano teachers. I figured there has got to be some way of offering students better than what I received. But it was also just by chance – some neighbourhood kids needed lessons, so I taught them. I was 16 which means I’ve now been teaching over 40 years.

Who were your most memorable/significant teachers?

First off the bat is Richard Hunt, and Englishman who ended up in Montreal and later founded Quartango, one of the best tango groups around. He taught me for only two years when I was 8 and 9 years old, but he instilled a love of music in me that I carry to this day. He was very clever and he let me have fun! We even had some of our lessons on the church organ instead of the piano.

Then there was Phil Cohen who had been Yvonne Hubert’s assistant (she had been a student of Cortot and taught such Canadian greats as Janina Fialkowska, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Ronald Turini who later studied with Horowitz, Andre Laplante and Louis Lortie). Phil was fascinated with the psycho-physical aspects of performance and would do strange things with your hand that made you play way better but you weren’t sure what exactly was going on.

When I finished my studies with Phil I wanted to understand what had just happened to me, so I did a training in Feldenkrais Method, and I count Moshe Feldenkrais as my next most memorable and significant teacher.

I concluded that Phil had given me an amazing degree of refinement, but I had never acquired the firm foundation upon which such sophistication needs rest. So I went to study with Kemal Gekić in Yugoslavia. More or less a product of the Russian School, he rebuilt everything from the ground up and indeed gave my hand a strength and security it had never had before.

Finally, in the past few years I have again been having occasional sessions with Phil – getting some reminders about that sophisticated part and synthesizing what I’ve learned from both Phil and Kemal to develop what I call Craft of Piano Method, the approach presented in my three books on piano technique.

Who or what are the most important influences on your teaching? 

All of the above. Also Richard Feynman, the physicist and author of ‘Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman – Adventures of a Curious Character’, and Werner Erhard, whose work now goes by the name Landmark Education. Also G. I. Gurdjieff. And various psychological disciplines…… what they gave me is the idea always to make it a positive, creative experience. To respect the person. To try to discover the person. Never to fault the student for not understanding but to fault myself for failing to discover the language that would have him or her understand.

Most memorable/significant teaching experiences?  

Hoo boy, there are hundreds of those… Recently I worked with a violinist in Pensacola, Florida, who had shoulder pain. I had him continue his up bow way past the violin, towards the ceiling, then around in a big circle. Then his down bow expanded into a big circle in the other direction. Then I had him play not moving his bow at all but moving his violin back and forth underneath the bow. Finally I explained to him where his arms are attached to his body: do you know? It is only at the central end of the collarbone where it attaches to the sternum. I put my  bunched fingertips one on each of these collarbone-sternum joints and palpated them while he played, just kept physically in touch with them. His sound went through the roof. It had been improving steadily but this was a quantum leap, it had power, sonority, richness, expressivity – it gave us all goosebumps.

I recently worked with a young Italian pianist in Geneva. She had been given a steady diet of arm weight technique and told not to move her fingers too much. When I showed her a way of moving her fingers which gave them activity and tonus without stiffening them or causing any stiffness elsewhere, her playing became amazingly poetic. I was blown away because I didn’t have to tell her to be more expressive or poetic, we just worked to undo the physical block which had been preventing her natural expression from finding its voice.

I taught an American pianist in Trossingen, Germany many years ago. Her hand suffered (as so many do) from over-relaxation, and I worked to build up its structure, just to get it to stand nicely on the keyboard even before we tried to play anything. All of a sudden she says, “Gee, I feel so muscular!” We all laughed, because of course, it wasn’t her muscles at all that were giving her the sense of power, it was her skeletal structure.

I remember teaching a Chinese student during my year in Wuhan. She was playing Liszt’s Dante Sonata and couldn’t really get the special atmosphere of the second theme. I tried explaining to her how Liszt was pulled in two directions, towards divine love but also towards carnal love, and that we don’t really know which one this theme represents. I myself feel it as towards the divine, how about you? No result. I try another tack: “Imagine you are the Emperor of China and it is your yearly pilgrimage to the Sun Temple. You must pray to the Gods for rain, and if you fail, your people will die of famine. You enter the temple, you pray with all your heart, and suddenly, a sound of brass from the sky, a divine melody descends from the clouds – you know your prayers have been answered. Play this theme as if it was that heavenly melody.” She played and we were literally in tears. It was indeed heavenly. It was a prayer. I was fascinated because I had to go into her culture to access the universal quality of that theme. Trying to get her to understand Liszt’s culture met with no success, but her own culture proved an admirable path for her to understand that music, music which does indeed speak to us all. She needed her own culture to access the right side of her brain, which of course possesses a perfect understanding of the spiritual element in this theme.

What are the most exciting/challenging aspects of teaching adults? 

Exciting: their intelligence, their sensitivity, their curiosity, their receptivity, and their willingness to be beginners. Challenging: 1) the slightly rusty nature of their brains, compared to the incredible flexibility and speed of their younger colleagues. 2) having to fix the sometimes vast amounts of garbage they have been taught over the years…

What do you expect from your students?

Curiosity, engagement, dedication….

What are your views on exams, festivals and competitions? 

They are excellent, a stimulus to high level work. Competitions are the equivalent of a scientific congress where people go to meet their colleagues, share ideas and be stimulated. It’s a chance to feel like you are part of a community instead of this weirdo who mostly sits between four walls practicing on his or her own. Whenever I prepared a competition I played better, because I knew I had to. Perhaps theoretically I should play my best simply out of love for the composer, but I find the practical stimulus of a concrete goal a much more effective kick in the pants.

What do you consider to be the most important concepts to impart to beginning students, and to advanced students?

Beginning:

  • Sing a simple song, sense your own voice. Let your fingers begin to find that song on the piano. Experience your fingers on the piano as an extension of your voice.
  • Tap simple rhythms, one hand on your knee, the other on a piano key. Let rhythmic sense be as important as the sense of the notes from the very beginning.
  • Play first, read second.
  • Never let the task of reading distract you from the task of making music.

Advanced:

  • Never let relaxation lead you into a state of emasculated collapse.
  • “Don’t bang” does not mean “play like a wimp,” it means “find a way to play where you stand up into your hand’s structure instead of letting it collapse. Banging mostly comes from weakness not too much strength.
  • Have your hands learn to stand, walk, run and jump well on the keyboard, then give them musical tasks that give them a reason for doing these things.
  • Never let technique distract you from the sound you are making, the music you are making. They are intimately connected.
  • Understand your hand’s structure and function, then find out where it is not working optimally for you. Find out how the body participates in supporting the hand in working well.

What are you thoughts on the link between performance and teaching?

They feed each other. I couldn’t really do one well without the other.

Who are your favourite pianists/pianist-teachers and why? 

Passed on: Horowitz, Rubinstein, Rachmaninoff, Ignaz Friedman, de Pachamann. They all had supreme virtuosity, compared to which most of the best pianists today only move their fingers well. This virtuosity is way beyond digital dexterity – it’s creating orchestral sonorities and emotional characterizations that grow naturally and organically out of the soundscapes the composers created.

Living: Kemal Gekić. He is the one pianist today who is breaking new ground in this realm. He is using his transcendent mastery of the keyboard to explore new emotional and spiritual elements in the music he plays, and dealing with adjustments to the sonority at the micro- or even nano- level to evoke unbelievably huge changes in the expressive dimension.

Canadian pianist Alan Fraser is best known as the author of three major volumes on piano technique: The Craft of Piano Playing (also in DVD), Honing the Pianistic Self-Image, and All Thumbs: Well-Coordinated Piano Technique. Fraser’s new approach grows out of his many decades’ study with Phil Cohen and Kemal Gekić, synthesizing the best features of previous schools of piano technique in order to move beyond them. Analyzing piano technique in the light of the Feldenkrais Method of neuromotor reeducation (Fraser is a senior Feldenkrais practitioner) allows Fraser to unlock the hand’s innate potency at the keyboard by returning to its inherent structure and function. Instead of distracting from musical aspects of piano playing, Fraser’s focus on the physical brings the pianist, by improving his physical relationship to his instrument, back into contact with his essential artistic self. Thus Fraser’s students gain not only in technical mastery; but in their artistic expression which develops a whole new dimension of tonal breadth, emotional subtlety and spirituality.  

In 2011 Fraser inaugurated the Alan Fraser Piano Institute, a week-long intensive designed to create a breakthrough in one’s piano technique. Branches of the Institute have already sprung up at Smith College, Massachusetts; Salt Lake City, Utah; Concord New Hampshire; Stuttgart, Germany; Geneva, Switzerland; Nice, France; and Haarlem, the Netherlands. In addition to his Institutes, Alan Fraser gives recitals and master classes throughout Europe and North America, and continues to teach at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. He has composed several vocal works including two masses and a Magnificat, and is a respected digital sound engineer who edited Kemal Gekić’s monumental recording of the 27 Chopin Etudes. 

 

How to appear confident (when you’re not feeling it)

A guest post from Grace Miles, founder of artiden.com, a blog about the musician lifestyle. She helps pianists get the most out of music with psychology.

Remember the “spotlight”?

When all eyes are on you, every little action feels 100 times more obvious.

We all want more sparkle in our performances– and it comes with the right mix of confidence and nervous energy.

Being confident is easy.

So is performing comfortably.

You just need to make the right choices and behave the right way.

How People Really See You

Imagine giving a speech, making it up as you go, to a crowd.

How will you look?

There’s something I call the ‘glass wall’ effect.

In one study, people gave speeches (made up on the spot) and were asked to rate their own nervousness.

These ratings were compared with the audience’s ratings, and they found that the audience always thought the speaker was less nervous than they really were.

In other words, people looked more confident than they really felt.

Not many people notice how much you’re really shaking inside– that’s the glass wall effect.

People see you, but you’re separated by the glass wall and your emotions don’t come across as clearly as you might think.

This is consistent with tons of other studies–we think our feelings are more obvious than they really are.

(But don’t get carried away: your feelings aren’t invisible to everyone else– it’s a glass wall, remember.)

Of course, looking less nervous isn’t the same as looking confident and composed, and actually feeling that way.

The answer is so simple yet so powerful.

The Secret to Being Confident

The first step is knowing that people can’t see how nervous you really are.

When they told the speakers that they project more confidence than they actually feel, the speakers gave better speeches and felt more confident overall.

To be more confident, we just have to remind ourselves that people don’t see how nervous we really are.

Shy, clipped phrases may be taken as calm and controlled speech, and so on.

When this burden is gone, then we’re free to focus fully on whatever we’re doing.

But remember that you do want some nervous energy in you– this adds the spark and excitement that amazing performances thrive on.

Act it Out

You smile because you’re happy but you’re also happy because you smile.

Your actions change your feelings.

To let this hit home, let’s look at a study where two groups of people are watching the same cartoon.

The first group holds a pencil between their lips in a way that makes them frown while watching the show.

The other group holds the pencil between their teeth so the “smiling muscles” are activated while watching the show.

It turns out that the people who smiled actually found the show a lot funnier (and enjoyed it a lot more) than those who frowned.

So fix your posture and let yourself smile.

This sends signals to your brain: you’re ready and you’re not afraid to have fun.

People don’t expect to see a nervous trainwreck when they first see you, and they’re not going to think you’re nervous at all if you behave with confidence.

But how does confidence come naturally?

“Natural” Habits

It comes without thinking when you make it a habit.

Confidence just means faking it until you get it right. (Click here to tweet this)

The first few times you try this and remind yourself of the glass wall effect, it might feel like you’re forcing it. And you might be.

But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re on your way to forming a habit and you’ll reap the results when the time comes.

(Some people say that performing puts them in the state of flow, and who’s to argue with that?)

Personally, I’m not the most extroverted person, but I can work a crowd like anyone else.

The Confidence Kit

1. Remember the glass wall effect.

2. Fake it until it comes naturally.

3. Rock on.

The trick to performing is having the right mix of nervous energy and confidence. (Click here to tweet this)

The most technically sound performance falls flat when there’s no underlying hint of nervous energy.

So make sure you leave a comment letting me know how you plan to use these new insights. :)

And here’s where you come in: if you know anyone– absolutely anyone– who might benefit from this knowledge, just send them a quick email with a link to this post.

They’ll thank you.

Grace Miles blogs about the musician lifestyle at http://artiden.com/, designs good designs, and makes great music on the piano.

A visit to Handel House Museum

The double-manual reproduction Ruckers harpsichord at Handel House Museum (photo: Matthew Hollow)

My colleague Lorraine Liyanage (of SE22 Piano School) organised a half-term trip for some of our piano students to Handel House Museum at 25 Brook Street, London W1. This was the home of composer George Frederic Handel from 1723 until his death there in 1759, and the place where he wrote some of his most famous music, including the ‘Messiah’, the coronation anthem ‘Zadok the Priest’, and the ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’

The Museum runs a comprehensive education programme for primary and secondary children, students, and scholars of Baroque music. Our visit included a full tour of the house in the company of a cheerful and enthusiastic guide, who had plenty of stories and anecdotes to amuse the children; dressing up in Georgian costume; and – the highlight (for me at least!) – a chance to play a copy of a beautiful 18th-century Ruckers double manual (two keyboards) harpsichord.

Claire Williams introducing the harpsichord

Not many children have the opportunity to play a harpsichord in the course of their musical studies, unless their school or teacher owns one (Lorraine has a bentside spinet in her home, which her students are allowed to play). For those studying Baroque repertoire, right from Grade 1, it is important to understand what kind of instrument this music was written for. Introducing Baroque repertoire to children is a chance to explain that the modern piano they are learning on is very different from a Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart or Bach-era instrument. It is also an opportunity to explain the evolution of the piano from its beginnings in the early part of the 18th century, and to find out more about other keyboard instruments. I also believe that an understanding of how the harpsichord, works, and sounds, is crucial to one’s understanding of Baroque keyboard music. For example, composers such as Handel and Bach, and even Mozart, were writing for an instrument with a much smaller range (4 to 5 octaves). Ornamentation and other decorative features were often used to create sound to make up for the fact that the harpsichord has very limited sound ‘decay’ – unlike the piano – as well as to create the illusion of a change in dynamic.

Eli at the harpsichord

Each of our young performers played a short piece of Baroque music, and was then treated to one-to-one tuition by Handel House’s harpsichord expert, Claire Williams. She encouraged the children to try different types of ‘attack’ (touch) and to experiment with the effects which can be achieved by playing the upper manual (played on its own it’s slightly quieter). Claire then performed Handel’s Air and Variations, commonly known as ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’. Lorraine and I played short works by Rameau and Bach respectively, and finally my adult student, Carrie, tried Handel’s ‘Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’.

It was a fascinating and very enjoyable visit, one I would recommend to any piano/keyboard teacher who wants to introduce their students to the great variety and excitement of Baroque music.

For further details of Handel House Museum’s educational programmes, please visit the website:

www.handelhouse.org/learning

My review of Handel House Museum for OneStopArts

G F Handel – Air With Variations, ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’ (link opens in Spotify)

Alan Fraser European Piano Workshops

Internationally renowned teacher, Alan Fraser, will be giving a number of workshops in the next few months in Germany and Switzerland:

November 1-4    Studio Hirschberg (near Heidelberg)

November 7-9   Studio Mirka Mauck (Hamm)

January 22-27   Studio Stagliano (Geneva)

January 29 – February 3   Freies Muzik Centrum (Stuttgart)

Alan Fraser will be presenting principles from his new book, All Thumbs: Well-Coordinated Piano Technique , as well as reviewing aspects of his approach already presented in his previous two volumes on piano technique. Don’t miss this opportunity to create a breakthrough in your piano technique! Pianists of all levels are welcome.

There are still places available for all these events. For more details please contact Sophia Cholich at info@maplegroveproductions.com , or follow the appropriate link.

For a complete list of upcoming Alan Fraser teaching events and recitals please visit either

www.alanfraser.net/workshops-recitals/detailed-schedule/

or

http://www.pianotechnique.net/AlanFraserInstitute

Alan Fraser teaching