The Summer semester officially ended yesterday. Since the last time I wrote, I have had two piano lessons and one organ lessons. Also, a recital and a piano jury evaluation.
Piano:
Piano lessons were great. I have been focused on polishing Etude in E minor O. 28, No. 4 by Chopin and Serenade for the Doll by Debussy. Polishing a piece is way more difficult than I thought. When you perform, there are no do-overs. You play once. And if you don't play well, you remember it, and everybody else does too. Of course you tend to remember the worst parts instead of the performance as a whole.
The voice teacher at the Dixie puts on a recital at the end of each semester. My piano teacher thought it would be fun to have a few piano students play a number during the voice concert. I was nominated as one of them. The last time I played at a recital, it was called a "piano party" it was at the public library in the conference room and there were refreshments.
Out of 31 pieces performed that night, mine was first on the program. Talk about baptism by fire. The performance went well, and I am happy with it. The rest of the concert was great too. The voice students all did well. It was fun to see the different levels of professionalism from beginner to pro (there were a few women in their 50-70's). The concert hall seats about 300 and there is no sound system. A number of singers could still fill the entire space with their voice. It was great.
My piano jury was a couple days later. I had never been through the process before. I prepared both songs I mentioned earlier, announced and played them for three of the music faculty. I played in the same concert hall, so in effect, it was me, a 9' Steinway "D", a 300 seat concert hall and three EXTREMELY knowledgable music professors. They asked a question or two when I was done, and I left. I don't be able to read the comments they wrote on my evaluation form for a few more days. I was actually more nervous after the jury than before.
Organ:
Plans seem to be changing a little here and there. The music dept. chair told me if I want to take organ lessons from credit, I have to take them from someone else. Not wanting to go against the grain right now, I accepted the fact and set up an appointment to meet my new teacher. I met with her yesterday. It's fun to speak with someone as passionate about organ as I am; it makes me seem less like a weirdo, and more like someone normal.
The BYU organ workshop starts the first week in August. My new teacher is attending, and has a meeting with the organ department chair at BYU. She is going to ask him what the best route is for me, seeing as I want to attend BYU's organ program. I may be able to start working toward credit at BYU even though I would be attending at Dixie. Anyway, plans haven't been set it stone and they will likely change in the next two weeks.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Lesson 6
Piano:
Things are moving along nicely now. It's amazing what a week of focused effort can do. Practicing is a part-time job. Over the past 16 days I have practiced 29.25 hours. I'm supposed to be at the piano for a minimum of two hours each day. Some days it is difficult to dedicate that time. I rearranged my work schedule so I could practice in the morning rather than after work when my brain is finished working and has oozed out onto the floor. What a difference.
I'm still working on the Mozart Sonata I mentioned before. The first movement is almost up to (my) performance tempo. I'm still not in love with the song, but it is satisfying to play. The Chopin is still kinda clunky. Memorizing this one has been harder than I thought, mostly because the left hand is so repetitious. I have found that the more simple the songs, the more difficult it is to play.
Serenade for the Doll is becoming MORE difficult to play as I perfect it. I learned the song years ago without the help of a piano teacher, so most of the difficulty is in relearning and getting rid of bad habits.
Debussy was a very detail oriented composer. My teacher pointed out all of the little dynamic markings on the page. There are more dynamic markings in two measures than the entire Mozart Sonata. I told her this song is like a 7 layer bean dip. I am only a few layers in, and I still have loads more to learn before I am satisfied with it.
On the positive side, I have learned more and progressed faster than I thought I would. I have been doing lessons for 6 weeks now and I am so much more comfortable and adept at the piano. I have four years here at Dixie State, and I can't wait to see what I can accomplish.
Organ:
I have had 3 organ "lessons" now. These "lessons" are not for college credit yet. This is to ease me into things and not disrupt the flow of piano lessons. Organ minor lessons are only supposed to be 30 minutes, but I schedule in 2 hours so my teacher doesn't feel rushed. I love every minute of it. It's like a little master class every week. It probably doesn't help the fact that we listened to CD's for 30 minutes or so last lesson.
Things are moving along nicely now. It's amazing what a week of focused effort can do. Practicing is a part-time job. Over the past 16 days I have practiced 29.25 hours. I'm supposed to be at the piano for a minimum of two hours each day. Some days it is difficult to dedicate that time. I rearranged my work schedule so I could practice in the morning rather than after work when my brain is finished working and has oozed out onto the floor. What a difference.
I'm still working on the Mozart Sonata I mentioned before. The first movement is almost up to (my) performance tempo. I'm still not in love with the song, but it is satisfying to play. The Chopin is still kinda clunky. Memorizing this one has been harder than I thought, mostly because the left hand is so repetitious. I have found that the more simple the songs, the more difficult it is to play.
Serenade for the Doll is becoming MORE difficult to play as I perfect it. I learned the song years ago without the help of a piano teacher, so most of the difficulty is in relearning and getting rid of bad habits.
Debussy was a very detail oriented composer. My teacher pointed out all of the little dynamic markings on the page. There are more dynamic markings in two measures than the entire Mozart Sonata. I told her this song is like a 7 layer bean dip. I am only a few layers in, and I still have loads more to learn before I am satisfied with it.
On the positive side, I have learned more and progressed faster than I thought I would. I have been doing lessons for 6 weeks now and I am so much more comfortable and adept at the piano. I have four years here at Dixie State, and I can't wait to see what I can accomplish.
Organ:
I have had 3 organ "lessons" now. These "lessons" are not for college credit yet. This is to ease me into things and not disrupt the flow of piano lessons. Organ minor lessons are only supposed to be 30 minutes, but I schedule in 2 hours so my teacher doesn't feel rushed. I love every minute of it. It's like a little master class every week. It probably doesn't help the fact that we listened to CD's for 30 minutes or so last lesson.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Lesson 5
Dynamics. Contrast. Variety. <-- these are the things I lack.
When I listen to music, those are the qualities I love most. Horowitz modified the keys on his piano so he could have a greater dynamic range. Maybe it's because I'm naturally timid, and that is translated into timid piano playing. Horowitz was once asked who was the angel and who was the devil between he and his wife. He said he was both. As a musician, both qualities are necessary to convey emotion that keeps the audience interested.
Take a pencil. Draw 10 boxes in a row on a white sheet of paper. Leave box 1 white. In the 10th box, fill it in as black as you can. Fill in the rest of the boxes from the blackest shade, all the way to pure white. You should end up with a relatively smooth gradient. Think of each box as a dynamic level. ppp being the white box, and fff being the black box.
The point of dynamics is NOT how smooth the gradient from white to black is, it is how many boxes you use.
Take two great pianists: Vladimir Horowitz and Artur Rubinstein. Here, each play the same song; Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 "Funeral March." This is the very slow and eerie (and famous) third movement.
Rubinstein (watch at least until the 3:00 mark)
Horowitz (watch at least until the 2:15 mark):
Hear the difference? Rubinstein's performance was even and predictable, but lacked emotion. He used only half of his boxes. Horowitz uses his entire dynamic range. The emotion he conveys is inimitable.
What was all that about? Well, I only use 3 or 4 boxes, and those few boxes are on the white end of the scale. I play timidly. I don't convey enough "devil" when it's called for. I play music, but I don't vary dynamics much, and that makes for boring music. The skill and technicality is there, but the music is not.
Anyway, I have a lot to work on this week.
When I listen to music, those are the qualities I love most. Horowitz modified the keys on his piano so he could have a greater dynamic range. Maybe it's because I'm naturally timid, and that is translated into timid piano playing. Horowitz was once asked who was the angel and who was the devil between he and his wife. He said he was both. As a musician, both qualities are necessary to convey emotion that keeps the audience interested.
Take a pencil. Draw 10 boxes in a row on a white sheet of paper. Leave box 1 white. In the 10th box, fill it in as black as you can. Fill in the rest of the boxes from the blackest shade, all the way to pure white. You should end up with a relatively smooth gradient. Think of each box as a dynamic level. ppp being the white box, and fff being the black box.
The point of dynamics is NOT how smooth the gradient from white to black is, it is how many boxes you use.
Take two great pianists: Vladimir Horowitz and Artur Rubinstein. Here, each play the same song; Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 "Funeral March." This is the very slow and eerie (and famous) third movement.
Rubinstein (watch at least until the 3:00 mark)
Horowitz (watch at least until the 2:15 mark):
Hear the difference? Rubinstein's performance was even and predictable, but lacked emotion. He used only half of his boxes. Horowitz uses his entire dynamic range. The emotion he conveys is inimitable.
What was all that about? Well, I only use 3 or 4 boxes, and those few boxes are on the white end of the scale. I play timidly. I don't convey enough "devil" when it's called for. I play music, but I don't vary dynamics much, and that makes for boring music. The skill and technicality is there, but the music is not.
Anyway, I have a lot to work on this week.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Lessons 3-4
Wow. I have been taking piano lessons for a month now. Every week has something new to offer. There is a marked improvement in my playing, but I've noticed the biggest difference in how quickly I can sight read and how much easier it is to follow the music and trust my hands to do what they are supposed to.
My teacher gave me a few more scales to learn and started me on arpeggios.
Lesson 4 didn't go very well. I have been swamped at work trying to get everybody back online. The main server failed due to a power failure, and every system was down. I have been there Monday-Saturday 10+ hours a day for the past two weeks getting everything back together. I didn't practice enough, and it showed.
For the past two weeks I have been working on three new songs:
The Allegro movement of Mozart's Sonata K. 545:
(I like this version because it's played slow enough to absorb the music)
The second is J.S. Bach's Invention No. 8:
The third is Chopin's Prelude in E Minor Op. 28, No. 4:
I love the Chopin piece. It's much more my style than the Bach or Beethoven.
Another piece I have been working on for the past few years is this one:
"Serenade for the Doll" by Debussy played by my favorite pianist, Vladimir Horowitz:
I taught myself this piece, and I can play it well, but I will never be able to play it at the same level Horowitz did. How he coaxed so much musicality out of his piano I will never know. He was a master in that regard.
I've always held that the more simple the piece, the harder it is to play. This piece is a testament to that. Not all pianos sound alike, and I have played ONE that could do this piece justice.
Last week I started organ lessons. My organ teacher is eccentric and very knowledgable. My first lesson was two hours long and I didn't even get to touch the keys. We talked and talked and talked. He is so excited to have a student like me, he is trying to teach me everything he knows as fast as possible. I think once I have had a few lessons, it will be out of his system and we can move on.
He worked for the Bigelow organ building company here in Utah, and has offered to take me up to their shop to meet the company owner. He also knows the SLC Tabernacle organists and has played the SLC Tabernacle, Conference Center and Cathedral of the Madeline organs. I can't wait to poke around up in Salt Lake City and meet lots of neat people.
A few weeks ago I was able to talk with a former assistant organist at the Cathedral of the Madeline. She(!) is the niece of my boss, and has studied the organ her whole life. She has been teaching at the BYU organ workshops they hold every August. I have been tempted to go, but never felt like I was a good enough organist. After talking with this organist, she encouraged me to go this year. She said she would meet me there and introduce me to some key people. She also encouraged me to attend BYU and do my Masters program there. She did hers there and was able to do it without incurring any debt because she was able to have students and work to pay for school. Once finished there, I would transfer out of state to complete the Ph. D program.
She also knows lots of key people in the industry, and has offered to introduce me to them. The professional organ society seems pretty tightly-knit if you ask me.
I have had lots of doors open for me already. I feel like I'm sitting on the top of an iceberg. Not because it's cold and my butt is wet, but because the networking possibilities placed in front of me could sink a ship.
My teacher gave me a few more scales to learn and started me on arpeggios.
Lesson 4 didn't go very well. I have been swamped at work trying to get everybody back online. The main server failed due to a power failure, and every system was down. I have been there Monday-Saturday 10+ hours a day for the past two weeks getting everything back together. I didn't practice enough, and it showed.
For the past two weeks I have been working on three new songs:
The Allegro movement of Mozart's Sonata K. 545:
(I like this version because it's played slow enough to absorb the music)
The second is J.S. Bach's Invention No. 8:
The third is Chopin's Prelude in E Minor Op. 28, No. 4:
I love the Chopin piece. It's much more my style than the Bach or Beethoven.
Another piece I have been working on for the past few years is this one:
"Serenade for the Doll" by Debussy played by my favorite pianist, Vladimir Horowitz:
I taught myself this piece, and I can play it well, but I will never be able to play it at the same level Horowitz did. How he coaxed so much musicality out of his piano I will never know. He was a master in that regard.
I've always held that the more simple the piece, the harder it is to play. This piece is a testament to that. Not all pianos sound alike, and I have played ONE that could do this piece justice.
Last week I started organ lessons. My organ teacher is eccentric and very knowledgable. My first lesson was two hours long and I didn't even get to touch the keys. We talked and talked and talked. He is so excited to have a student like me, he is trying to teach me everything he knows as fast as possible. I think once I have had a few lessons, it will be out of his system and we can move on.
He worked for the Bigelow organ building company here in Utah, and has offered to take me up to their shop to meet the company owner. He also knows the SLC Tabernacle organists and has played the SLC Tabernacle, Conference Center and Cathedral of the Madeline organs. I can't wait to poke around up in Salt Lake City and meet lots of neat people.
A few weeks ago I was able to talk with a former assistant organist at the Cathedral of the Madeline. She(!) is the niece of my boss, and has studied the organ her whole life. She has been teaching at the BYU organ workshops they hold every August. I have been tempted to go, but never felt like I was a good enough organist. After talking with this organist, she encouraged me to go this year. She said she would meet me there and introduce me to some key people. She also encouraged me to attend BYU and do my Masters program there. She did hers there and was able to do it without incurring any debt because she was able to have students and work to pay for school. Once finished there, I would transfer out of state to complete the Ph. D program.
She also knows lots of key people in the industry, and has offered to introduce me to them. The professional organ society seems pretty tightly-knit if you ask me.
I have had lots of doors open for me already. I feel like I'm sitting on the top of an iceberg. Not because it's cold and my butt is wet, but because the networking possibilities placed in front of me could sink a ship.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Lesson 2
Lesson one threw me under the bus. Lesson two tore my brains out. I failed the first week of practice miserably. Part of it is because my teacher wanted me to learn music way above my current level, but mostly because I don't know how to practice. I told her I need structure and to know HOW to practice. If left to my own devices, I just plow through the piece without stopping, rather than learning the song one phrase at a time. It takes forever to learn a piece that way.
Lesson two taught me to be regimented and disciplined. Today I practiced for three hours (Beethoven's Pathetique is on hold for a long time) on two new pieces and one familiar one that are lower in skill level and more moderate. Couple doable pieces with a clear method to practice and, violá, progress.
Somewhere in this post there is a picture of a piano (I'm composing this post on my phone). It is located in the Eccles concert hall. The concert hall seats 300 or so, and is designed for un-amplified recitals. Nice, live acoustics. The piano is a Steinway concert D model from New York. It is a very powerful, bright sounding piano.
The concert hall is usually open and available to practice on. I have a few songs I have practiced enough to perform, but sitting at that piano in that concert hall, suddenly those songs seem petty and insignificant. I've got lots of improving to do.
My phone is about to die now and I need sleep.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Lesson 1
My first lesson happened this morning. The professor said some nice things about me and my playing. She is not the type of person to regularly dish out praise and compliments, so that made me happy.
I was expecting to learn some some simple Etudes or Preludes by Chopin or Scarlatti, but she is starting me right off the bat with the third and final movement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 "Pathetique" the Rondo Allegro.
She is also having me learn Bach's Prelude No. 21, BVW 866 (including the Fugue at the end):
I have to play these pieces for her next week.
In other news, I have recently discovered Maurice Ravel's piano works. I have heard some of his orchestral works, but not much on the piano. One song I have been sight-reading is "Pavane pour une infante defunte" for the piano. While browsing through YouTube trying to find more of his music, I came across this song, and immediately fell in love. It is the fourth and final movement, the Toccata from "Le Tombeau de Couperin":
I had to listen to that song multiple times to process its complexity, and once I did, It became one of my favorite pieces for the piano. I mentioned this to my teacher, and she wants me to play it at my senior recital four years from now.
I was expecting to learn some some simple Etudes or Preludes by Chopin or Scarlatti, but she is starting me right off the bat with the third and final movement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 "Pathetique" the Rondo Allegro.
She is also having me learn Bach's Prelude No. 21, BVW 866 (including the Fugue at the end):
I have to play these pieces for her next week.
In other news, I have recently discovered Maurice Ravel's piano works. I have heard some of his orchestral works, but not much on the piano. One song I have been sight-reading is "Pavane pour une infante defunte" for the piano. While browsing through YouTube trying to find more of his music, I came across this song, and immediately fell in love. It is the fourth and final movement, the Toccata from "Le Tombeau de Couperin":
I had to listen to that song multiple times to process its complexity, and once I did, It became one of my favorite pieces for the piano. I mentioned this to my teacher, and she wants me to play it at my senior recital four years from now.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Testing 1,2,3
As I refine my piano and organ playing technique, I am going to record myself and analyze the footage. I will post the details of the audio recorder, but in the meantime, here is some test footage I recorded. This is also a test post for the free SoundCloud service I just signed up for.
Hattie Singing by fanbrain
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