IMPORTANT MEMORIZATION GUIDELINES REVEALED

Transcription

1 SECRETS to a flawless performance IMPORTANT MEMORIZATION GUIDELINES REVEALED The Way I Teach Them Eva Martin Hollaus

2 HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU SEEN..young pianists in the Annual Studio Recital play beautifully, get stuck and get up in tears, unable to finish the piece???.young pianists in the Annual Studio Recital be all nerves, close to a nervous break down, pale in the face and afraid sheer fear performing the absolute worst the piece ever sounded and then starting to HATE piano?.why? Then, on the other hand, how many times have you seen confident, sometimes very young pianists and older young pianists play happily, confident, enjoyable in front of a crowd and LOVE every minute of their performance?.young pianists make a mistake, collect themselves, so quickly, you hardly even noticed a mistake was made unless you were familiar with the piece, and finish the piece comfortably and enjoyably? When I went to the Conservatory, the only answer available was practice, practice and more practice ; yes, I was terrified myself many times in performance, yes, I got stuck myself in an Annual School Recital and was in tears and no one could help me. I just never gave up, I REALLY WANTED TO KNOW. Now, after years of searching for answers and working my way through myself, I have answers to share: I came a long way from fear of performance to comfortable enjoyment, from not getting through a single piece in front of an audience (after I had it perfect at home) to performing in the 8 th International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna in 1985 and performing Virtuoso 152 pages long piano recitals (90 minutes) all from memory. 2

3 THE FIRST THING I WILL TELL YOU.. 1. Every detail of learning a piece, memorizing and performance needs to be studied and rehearsed: 2. You need to have a rock solid foundation and know how, how to learn a piece; 3. You need to be seasoned in understanding and predicting your memorization learning curve; 4. You need to be able to recover swiftly and quickly if a memory slip happens; 5. You need to have performed in front of people MANY TIMES; 6. You need to be able to block out any distractions of any sort. 7. You need to have practiced putting yourself on the spot and performing under pressure. 3

4 LET S TAKE A LOOK AT EACH ELEMENT: 1. Rhythm 12. Back to review to improve 2. Notes and Note Values / Rests 11. Final Performance: comfortable and enjoyable 10. Videotaping 9. Performance Practice 3. Fingering 4. Phrasing, Articulation, Breathing, Dynamics 5. Interpretation, Pedaling 8. Memorization Practice 7. Technique Know How and application 6. Practice Know How from Slow Motion to in tempo 4

5 LET S BRIEFLY DISCUSS THE STEPS PRIOR TO MEMORIZATION 1 1. Rhythm: Clapping and Counting with the metronome (to avoid cheating) each hand separately (or each voice in a difficult piece), you need a solid grasp of the rhythm to know into which time slots the notes fall. Do not forget the rhythmic pulse: for example: in 4/4: beat 1 should usually be louder than beat 3 and beats 2 and 4 are a little softer. In ¾: accent beat 1, beats 2 and 3 are softer. Practice your clapping and counting MANY, MANY times. When I went to the Conservatory, when I was 11 years old, I had a full year of Rhythm class, which was nothing else than plain old clapping and counting. It started quite simply: just clap and count one simple rhythmic line, but soon was challenging: clap right hand on the table, clap left hand on the table, add right foot and later left foot. You had to read 4 rhythm lines at once. 2. Notes and Note Values / Rests: not only, do you need to know EXACTLY the alphabetic note name, but also WHERE the note is placed on the piano keyboard and exactly HOW LONG the DURATION of each sounding note and each rest is. 3. Fingering: Each finger used is a clearly defined decision, I ask my students to mark (with pencil) each finger used (each decision made) in difficult pieces (difficult for the student, maybe easy for me) 4. Phrasing, Articulation, Breathing, Dynamics: Be precise and exacting while learning: each accent, slur, staccato, etc must be exactly considered and followed; make sure you breath between phrases (a breath is a slight disconnection) 5

6 LET S BRIEFLY DISCUSS THE STEPS PRIOR TO MEMORIZATION 2 5. Stylistic Interpretation and Pedaling: Many teachers, some very famous, teach one touch for all. I prefer a variety of touches and shadings of sound, almost like carving a sculpture in sound. I also suggest a complete understanding of the style, the way it was intended to be performed at the time and updated to meet present time performance standards. Understanding the interpretation techniques of a style period takes diligent listening to numerous famous recording artists and analyzing their choices of interpretation. It also requires reading biographies of the composers and how their contemporaries viewed the composer when he was alive. Visiting the birth place and apartments (nowadays often museums) where composers lived is also very important. One of my most valuable moments visiting one of those museums, was being allowed to touch and play the original composers piano and play a few notes. What an experience! The pedal is the artistic soul of the piano and the many pedaling techniques considered. Again a one size fits all is not appropriate. 6. Practice Know How from Slow Motion to in tempo : you need to know how to stay on the road without crashing while you are learning: you need to adjust your tempo to play accurately without errors, comfortably and totally at ease and of course, musically (project your feelings). Do not go faster than you can without any errors, be aware: too slow (slower than 1 beat per second, 60 on the metronome) is not feasible; instead of a quarter note beat, change to an eighth note beat or sixteenth note beat. 7. Technique Know How and application: You need to have defined which physical motion of your fingers, hand and arm produces which sound; the attack angulations of your fingers also produce different sound qualities and sound shading. You will address a fast piece differently than a singing and slow piece. 6

7 8. DETAILED 15 STEP MEMORIZATION PRACTICE STEPS 1-5 I like to think of memorization like an overhead projection of transparencies, all 15 together give you a beautiful secure WHOLE, each one alone does not tell all: 1. DUMMY PLAY THE RIGHT HAND: this means, your left hand plays with sound, your right hand plays without sound: your RH fingers move, your RH fingers touch the keys but do not depress the keys. First without, then with metronome. Use at least 3 different speeds, only flawless runs count, slow down so you are flawless. 2. DUMMY PLAY THE LEFT HAND: let s turn it around, your RH is sounding and you are playing your LH without sound touching the keys (no cheating) you MUST be on the correct keys. First without, then with metronome. 3. DUMMY PLAY BOTH HANDS: now both hands are touching the correct keys, but are not depressing the keys, you must imagine the sound, hear the sound in your inner ear, while playing 4. FOCUS ON JUST PLAYING BY EAR: hear with your inner ear, listen to the sounds you are making. For many years, all I paid attention to was, notes, notes, notes. After purchasing the David Burge Relative and Perfect Pitch Ear Training Course (highly recommended), I started to listen into the qualities of each individual sound. If you start listening into the sounds and their carrying qualities, your interpretations will soon show greater musicality and quality. 5. FOCUS ON VISUALIZING THE WRITTEN NOTES AND PLAYING THE NOTES FROM MEMORY (photographic memory): Close your eyes and practice seeing the notes. I once hear the story about Walter Gieseking, pianist, famous for his Debussy interpretations: he could look over the score of a Debussy piece, memorize it (all away from a piano) and then go and perform it in front of an audience. 7

8 8. DETAILED 15 STEP MEMORIZATION PRACTICE STEPS ) FOCUS ON WATCHING YOUR HANDS AND FINGERS MOVE AND ARM MOTION (let your fingers play the piece) visually. Many times 7) (ALMOST) CLOSE YOUR EYES and just let your arms / wrist / fingers play the piece (tactile senses); play with sound 8) KNOW AND DEFINE THE CHORD PROGRESSIONS CADENCES AND MODULATIONS (you need theory knowledge here, apply what you know, even if you only define a few chords) 9) KNOW AND DEFINE WHICH SCALES AND BROKEN CHORDS ARE USED AND IN WHICH TONALITIES: (take a look at the key signature) the piece is written; it is very helpful to determine the scale you are playing and plug in the fingering that you have been practicing in your scales. 10) KNOW THE STRUCTURE OF THE PIECE (is it an ABA Form, or Sonata or Rondo Form) 11) IMAGINATION: Practice on a silent keyboard with metronome, imagining each sound. FOCUS ON THE MELODY. 12) VISUALIZE your entire performance, from taking a bow, adjusting the bench, to playing through the piece, taking a bow and exiting. Seat yourself comfortably on a sofa, music book on your lap, close your eyes and see the notes (with your inner eye), superimposed, your fingers on the keys (with your inner eye) and hear the correct notes (with your inner ear); when you are stuck look it up and start over, until you are flawless for the entire piece. 8

9 8. DETAILED 15 STEP MEMORIZATION PRACTICE STEPS ) PRACTICE WITH SOUND a minimum of 5 different speeds with the metronome: SLOW MOTION set the metronome at 50% speed, medium motion 75% and THREE DIFFERENT SPEEDS IN TEMPO (one your preferred speed, and two others slightly slower) if the piece is a very slow beat, pick 5 different speeds close together. You need 3 different speeds in tempo, so you are prepared if your heart rate is quicker or slower. Usually we pick speeds according to our heart rate. 14) LISTEN to professional recordings and read / imagine / know the notes. You need to listen many times, so that you ear adjusts to correct interpretations. Please, only listen to renowned artists. You can purchase CDs of recordings. Youtube.com provides several good recordings, however, also lots of amateur recordings which are more detrimental to listen to, than educative. You simply do not want to engrave a wrong sound concept into your ear, it acts like a virus and stays on the backburner forever. 15) DEFINE and PRACTICE various starting places throughout the piece, where you can start or skip to should the need arise. STAY FOCUSED IN YOUR THOUGHTS during your performance You should stay clear of all competitive thoughts, any critical thoughts, thoughts how you are playing. Good or bad thoughts during a performance are equally unhelpful. The only thoughts you should have are FEELING the MUSIC which is NO THOUGHT AT ALL. Just stay with the tune and you KNOW the rest, since you practiced every detail!!!! Performance should be MUSIC or NO THOUGHT!! 9

10 STEPS TO CONSIDER, AFTER MEMORIZING 1 9. PRACTICING PERFORMING: Now, that you worked so hard learning the rhythm, notes, fingering, technique and memorized it, it is time to start performing your piece, in front of non critical and positively supportive friends and family members. When I was preparing for the Beethoven International Piano Competition (a program that took 3.5 hours to play through one time), I performed my Sonatas every day, playing for my mom (she was 60 then and fell asleep often), but nevertheless I had a practice audience and a reason to play well and get used to not stopping and playing through entire pieces. When you practice performing and make a mistake, recover quickly and move on you need to practice that do not let everyone know that you messed up (your lips must be sealed, literally) recover and finish the piece. I always have my students practice with distractions, so they learn to focus and not listen to anything else going on: When I grew up in my teens, everything had to be PERFECT (the piano had to be perfectly tuned and regulated, everyone listening had to be dead quiet and sit still like a statue; oh, I couldn t play if a pin dropped,.) Well, coming to the USA and starting to teach here, that was many years ago: the TV is going, the brothers and sisters running by, screaming, parents and uncles on the phone and the child PLAYING PERFECTLY IGNORING ALL totally amazing!!!! 10

11 STEPS TO CONSIDER, AFTER MEMORIZING 2 Many years ago, I came to see Barry Douglas, 1986 Tchaikovsky competition winner perform at the Hollywood bowl, performing the Tchaikovsky piano concerto #2. In the slow movement a moth started flying around his head for the longest time, then landed on his hand. I went backstage afterwards to congratulate him and get an autograph and I asked about the moth: He said he had to entirely block out the bug and just concentrate on the music. That is what got him through. I still remember the incident well I had brought my binoculars and saw every detail clearly. Sure enough, years later, one of my students at a CAPMT audition in Hemet performing her little pieces and this fly is buzzing around her head. She did not stop, finished her audition with a Superior and went on to perform in the Winners recital. 10. VIDEOTAPING: The students in my studio who consistently video tape their lessons are progressing much quicker than the students who do not. Similarly, the more you videotape practice performances at home and other local performance opportunities, you will be much more confident. You SAW your playing and MOST IMPORTANT you saw where you played fabulously (we all know where we make mistakes, but we rarely know how GOOD we really are until we SEE IT) 11. FINAL PERFORMANCE: after all these steps and hard work, I have not had one student (including myself) who could not play through even difficult pieces flawlessly. If flaws occurred, one or more steps were not done, every time. You should always feel so JOYFUL, that after all this hard work, you are FINALLY ALLOWED to perform and share your talent, musicality and hard work. 12. BACK TO REVIEW TO IMPROVE: Heifetz, a violinist extraordinaire, who supposedly NEVER played a wrong note in recital, always went home after a successful recital and looked for areas to improve. Amazing! WAY TO GO!!! Learn from the Masters. 11

12 WHO SAID IT WAS NOT EASY? You should feel relieved that there is a way across the bridge and there is an end in sight. Each little step should be actually quite easy, after a few times. It gets easier each time you work these steps. As long as it is all new to you, it may seem overwhelming but you know, don t go there, just take one little step at a time and you will soon be flying and exuding certainty in your memorized piece. Always be HAPPY with your PROGRESS! Just remember, if I COULD DO IT ANYONE CAN, with a little dedication and work. And my many students with their busy school, gymnastics, soccer practice, karate practice and social commitments, they are daily proof, that with know how and focus, you can really play well and go very far practicing minutes 6 days a week. 12

13 FOR SOME OF MY ADULT STUDENTS The biggest obstacle is a consistent time schedule in midst their many commitments. There is no way around those. Life happens. Just keep on going, new day, new start, don t look back, just ahead and keep going. If things seems too difficult, take smaller steps and be happy with small improvements. Never be critical about yourself, never minimize yourself, never compare yourself to others progress. Everyone is UNIQUE, everyone s progress is unique, everyone can look for their own JOY in playing and SHOULD. Love yourself more, in your heart, you will be happier and your sound will be more musical, since you are more relaxed. Emotions of self criticism, frustration, self minimization and the whole battery of negative / social critical / make less none of these are helpful, none of these will make you happy (there is no such thought as: let s be a little frustrated today, so I earn my happiness tomorrow ) Play the way you feel and enjoy. I just took the time in my many years to find answers to questions I really wanted to know which now allow me to teach literally anyone who is interested to listen to me and follow my instructions at least a little bit at a time. ENJOY and MAKE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC AND GOOD LUCK SHARING YOUR GIFT WITH OTHERS HAPPY PERFORMIING!!! 13

14 WHY DO I PLAY AND TEACH PIANO? To share my music, passion, dedication and know how. Because I LOVE the sound of the piano Because I LOVE making music Because it makes me happy listening to good music Because it makes others feel better I am teaching piano because I LOVE to HEAR GOOD MUSIC (all styles), all my students are learning to play well. Because I LOVE the sound of the Piano. You are invited to all my Secrets to Piano Playing, that took me 43 years o put together. Enjoy! All the best, as always Eva 14