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I always enjoy hearing the piano played well, and this morning I had the particular pleasure of hearing young people (aged c15-17) perform in a masterclass led by renowned pianist and teacher Andrew Ball. I was there at the invitation of Andrew Matthews-Owen who teaches at Trinity-Laban Conservatoire.

The Masterclass format offers a powerful tool for learning and teaching. For the performer, it is an opportunity to play for other people, including the teacher leading the class, in a more formal performance setting (in this instance, the beautiful Peacock Room at Trinity) and to have one’s playing critiqued by someone other than one’s regular teacher, which often leads to new insights and ideas about the music, how to shape it, communicate it and bring greater expression and imagination to one’s performance. For observers, it’s a chance to hear complete pieces in performance, and for a teacher, there is much to be gained in watching someone else teaching, and to share their wisdom.

Andrew Ball is a most sympathetic, kind and encouraging teacher. Where once the masterclass was an ordeal for the participants, putting their music before an opinionated master teacher, under the auspices of a generous, understanding teacher, the class becomes an exchange of ideas and a positive experience for all involved.

Six teenagers performed music by Chopin, Ravel, Prokofiev, Sculthorpe, McCabe and Burrell. The intention of this particular class was to reveal connections between 20th century and contemporary piano music and to demystify contemporary music, which is too often regarded as esoteric, inaccessible, atonal or “difficult” (for player and audience). The choice of music was impressive – the pieces selected by the young people themselves – and demonstrated a deliberate move away from the strict confines of exam repertoire. In fact, all these young people were playing advanced/post-Grade 8/Diploma level repertoire, and they all played with poise, quiet confidence, musicality and individuality. They were unselfconscious, with no hint of trying to imitate a particular professional performer, and they played without pretensions or affectation. Their naivety (and I use the word in the best possible sense) allowed them to approach their music with a freshness, free of any preconceptions, interpreting what was given to them on the page, and with Andrew’s gentle guidance, they were encouraged to project their personal musical imagination to the audience with colour and expression.

In addition to Andrew’s inspirational teaching, I was particularly impressed by the sophisticated choice of repertoire (see below for full list) by these young people and the care with which they had prepared their pieces.

Music performed:

Chopin – Nocturne Op 27/2

Ravel – Oiseaux Tristes from Miroirs

Prokofiev – Sonata No. 3

Sculthorpe – selection from Night Pieces

McCabe – Bagatelles 1 & 2

Burrell – Constellations 1 & 2

Junior Trinity

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On Saturday afternoon members of the London Piano Meetup Group met at Peregrine’s Pianos for a masterclass on improvisation with Dr Mark Polishook.

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Generally considered nowadays to the the preserve of jazz musicians, classical improvisation has become something of a lost art, but prior to the 20th century, pianists routinely improvised and there are accounts of Liszt and his contemporaries offering improvisations on suggestions from the audience at the end of concerts. Mark presented the activity of improvising not as something new or novel, or to be confined to the world of jazz, but as the reclaiming of a lost art and a necessary skill for pianists of all levels.

Four members performed works by Bach, Debussy, Menotti and an own-composition, and Mark worked with each person to guide them into improvising from a fairly basic starting point. For example, José, who played the Prelude in C Major from Bach’s WTC, used a basic C major arpeggio for the starting point for a simple, yet rather arresting, improvisation which encouraged us all to think about the sound, and the silences in between, as well as the harmonics the piano can create, which can be used as inspiration for further improvisation.

After David had played Debussy’s Jardins sous la pluie (from ‘Estampes’), he began his explorations into improvisation with a straightforward diminished 7th arpeggio. Mark demonstrated that by placing one arpeggio on top of another, or using scale patterns, some interesting and unusual harmonies and colours could be produced quite simply, creating an improvisation that suggested both Debussy and looked forward to Messiaen and beyond.

Petra then gave us a lively and assured account of Menotti’s Toccata. Mark encouraged her to think about an improvisation based first upon a repeated rhythm deep in the lowest register of the piano, thus demonstrating that rhythmic impulses can be the source of improvisation, as well as melodic or harmonic ideas. At this point, we also had a discussion about the ‘mystique’ of the performer and the idea of creating a ‘performance’ before one has even sat at the piano, playing on the audience’s expectations and “creating magic” within a performance.

Jennie was the last person to play, one of her own compositions. Mark introduced us to an iPhone app called Drum Genius, which allows you to play any number of drum beats, and showed once again that rhythm can be the starting point for improvisation.

This was a fascinating class which left everyone feeling very inspired and energised. It was as if we had all been given permission to go back to our pianos and free ourselves from our rigid classical training and simply enjoy the sounds and colours available from the instrument. Mark’s teaching style was engaging and friendly, endlessly positive and enthusiastic, and his tuition was peppered with interesting anecdotes about jazz musicians which more than added to the overall enjoyment of the event.

Details of other London Piano Meetup Group events can be found here

Dr. Polishook, who is from the United States, has had a varied career as a university professor (composition theory, music technology, and piano), a jazz pianist, and a multimedia and sound artist. He currently teaches through Mark Polishook Studio (http://www.polishookstudio.com) in Leicester and world-wide through Skype . Dr. Polishook writes about pianos, pianism, jazz, and improvisation on his Blog of the Improvised Line, also at http://www.polishookstudio.com.

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Renowned teacher and pianist Graham Fitch gave a masterclass to the Brighton EPTA group on the keyboard music of J S Bach. The class took place at the home of one of the members and proved both instructive and convivial.

Bach’s output for the keyboard is vast and offers the pianist many challenges, both technical and artistic. The class hardly the scratched the surface of Bach’s oeuvre with the performance of four pieces, but these were all excellent examples of Bach’s keyboard writing and provided much useful food for thought for performers and observers.

These notes are by no means comprehensive, merely a record of what I perceived to be the salient points which emerged through the study of two Preludes & Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier, a Toccata and the Prelude from the First Partita.

Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in C major (WTC Book 1)

Prelude

  • Use the harmonic structure of the music to shape phrases and to give emotional depth/lightness. Practising the RH figures as block chords can help this.
  • Be aware that the expressive range of this Prelude comes from within the music itself through, for example, the use of major or minor harmonies, dissonance and suspensions.
  • Create a sense of ‘breathing’ in the music, an ebb and flow within phrases.
  • Use of techniques such as over-holding and finger pedal can increase sonority and richness of sound without additional use of sustain pedal.
  • Feel fully connected to the bottom of the keys when playing the RH semiquavers to create a rich, authoritative sound.

Fugue

  • Be aware that the P&F were intended to be performed together. Anticipate the Fugue from the closing cadence of the Prelude and create a connection between to the two works.
  • Highlight the way the music rises through the register to create a sense of climax and dying back.
  • This fugue has a distinctly ‘processional’ flavour – feel the sense of the music ‘arriving’ at cadences, in particular in the final quarter, and maintain a sense of energy, before a quieter closing cadence.

The study of this Prelude & Fugue led to some general discussion about playing Bach expressively, with Graham suggesting that one should not shy way from playing Bach’s music with expression. Too many of us feel we should play in a more restrained way, and yet Bach writes much scope for expression into his music, through the use of devices described above.

Toccata in E minor BWV 914

The Toccata is related to the Fantasy or Fantasia, and contains improvisatory sections as well as the strict toccata elements (usually rapid passagework).

Opening section

  • Create a sense of freedom and improvisation in the opening measures
  • Walking bass – highlight the sounds with different types of attack
  • Aim for consistency of articulation

Toccata section

  • Keep the semiquavers vibrant and mimic bowed strings in the articulation
  • Create a sense of energy which runs through the entire section
  • As in the P&F, use the harmonic changes to shape the phrases and create a rise and fall in the music

Prelude from Partita No. 1 in B flat

  • Ornaments should be on the beat, and it’s important to maintain a sense of the underlying rhythm. Practise without ornaments
  • Be aware of the rising intervals in the opening measures – 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, octave – and use these to shape the phrase and create a climax
  • Overhold the semiquavers for greater cantabile sound
  • F major section – allow the secondary vocal lines to sing out and create filigree in LH.
  • Create a sense of grandeur in the G minor section and at the end.
  • Again, use the harmonies to inform phrasing and to add expression.

Prelude & Fugue in F minor BWV 857 (WTC Book 1)

Prelude

  • Create a sense of the opening crotchets supporting the upper parts
  • Lighten the semiquavers in the LH lower register so that the texture doesn’t become too thick.

Fugue

One of the most dramatic fugues – spiritual and tragic. Highlight each entry and exploit the grandeur of this piece, particularly the beautiful F major closing cadence.

 

Graham’s blog

http://practisingthepiano.com/

http://www.grahamfitch.com/