nuances -- a list?

[Bob]

I was just wondering if this is possible.

What are the nuances you typically add to music?  Is possible to create a list of them?

Nuances would be the expressive elements you add to the music that aren't written in the music.   ... or maybe they are written in in some cases?

You could divide them into group too I would suppose....
Tempo (or beat/rhythm nuances)...
slight accel into phrase
rit at end of phrase
pauses

dynamic nuances...
accents


hmmm....
tenuto too


What else?

[gonzalo]

Ornaments

[pianistimo]

pauses.  you will hardly notice they are memory slips.  (jake -be quiet).

when i am listening to someone else play from a distance, it is easier to be more critical than myself close up.  i listen for:

consistency with dynamics.  i mean, if someone plays a 'p' passage a certain way - i look for it EXACTLy the same again.  sorry to be so brutal - but i take them all with a sort of intensity because then you can really get detailed with the dynamics that spin off of that.  you can have an actual 'pp' and a 'ppp'  and so forth.

also, i like to listen for some conception of the style of music one is playing.  especially ornamentation - like with bach - all the trills should start on the upper note (auxillary) unless you have a previous note that is starting from the 'upper' note already.  whereas, with mozart you can fudge more with starting a trill - or simply making it a triplet - on the primary note.  and, i look for consistency with trills (yes, something i have to work on again).  it's nice to hear a trill sound clean and consistent.

pedalling - adding necessary pedalling to clear out unwanted sounds.  ie revolutionary etude  played type A (too much blur)  type B (clearing out unwanted sounds)

nuances, to me, are sometimes spontaneous and sometimes planned.  the more planned ones would be the 'meaning' behind the phrase.  the unplanned - the meaning behind the entire development - a consistent whole.  that spark of divine inspiration - where you get chills because the whole is quite consistent with the beautiful parts that are brought out (melody) whatever - but it's integrated well.

i especially do not like music played so loudly that you cannot hear the notes very well - due to the bass buzzing a lot and covering up it's own sounds.

[counterpoint]

Playing chords or special dissonant intervals with arpeggio (fast or slow) to make them sound more expressive

Different tempo of releasing the pedal to get a soft end of a note or chord

Different tempo of releasing the fingers from the keys  to get a soft or hard end of a note or chord

Releasing the pedal only partly, so that not all the notes from before get lost.

Movement of the head or upper part of the body to signal a light accentuation (insted of really playing louder)

All sorts of movements with the hand/arm   (forwards, upwards, downwards, away from the keybard) in different tempi

The most intense effect I love from pianists is, when they play extreme slow and soft pieces and the piano bank produces squeaking sounds 

And something, that is very important for musical expression for me (some people get very angry about this    )  :

Playing series of equal note values uneven, known as "inegale playing". Uneven playing is extremely important to get the proper expression of many pieces, not only romantic, but also of old music, especially J.S.Bach

[pianistimo]

interesting.  seriously, i think you are right.  i mean - js bach knew about violin bowing.  violins don't play everything exactly exactly even.  there can be an 'impression' of unevenness and still keeping a fairly even beat.  we don't want people having heart problems.

also, violinists and vocalists tend to do naturally what their instruments allow.  breathing, bowing, etc.  so when pianists imitate this - it is very effective.

[counterpoint]

we don't want people having heart problems. 

Oh yes, music can sometimes be very dangerous 

When people enjoy hearing Jazz and Techno and Avantgarde Music, they will survive it, when there are a few tempo changes and uneven notes in some Bach Preludes, Fugues and Dances 

[pianistimo]

yes.  bach's music was probably the jazz of the time.  we might be surprised how much he hammed it up.  we'd be looking at our metronome and then him - and then thinking 'go figure!'  especially with those organ preludes and fugues and toccatas.  seems to me the mite small and delicate harpsichords didn't allow for much unevenness though, did they?  or actually is that the way they are played.  entirely two notes at a time through trills (or three?)  and,well, with all his avante garde fingering - how COULD he keep it entirely even?
yes.  i say drink a beer and then play bach the way it should be. 

[ahinton]

yes.  bach's music was probably the jazz of the time.

As in Prelude, Fugue and Riffs from Das Wohltemperierte Honky-Tonkalvier (oh, wait abit - that was Lenny Bernstein)...

we might be surprised how much he hammed it up.

Now you just go leave your near neighbour Marc-André Hamelin out of this...

we'd be looking at our metronome and then him - and then thinking 'go figure!'

How to Write a Figured Bass, Pianistmo Style, as in...

yes.  i say drink a beer and then play bach the way it should be. 

I know I'm not a pianist, but if I were one I would not enjoy the prospect of being sick and then playing Bach...

Best,

Alistair

[jakev2.0]

yes.  i say drink a beer and then play bach the way it should be. 

You can bet this guy was hammered out of his mind when he played this:

[pianistimo]

he was probably sitting on the can.  just kidding.

utmost respect. 

but, if you speeded this up - it would be as repetitive in speed ups and downs as leaning backwards and forwards over and over again.

somehow, and this is not to be critical, but i like it just a little bit more even but still unmechanical.  more like landowska?

[counterpoint]

I found a really wonderful and convincing example of how to play Bach on Youtube

it's the Allemande from Partita 4, played on a harpsichord:

&mode=related&search=

[pianistimo]

i didn't know thal played the harpsichord!  interesting.

[counterpoint]

i didn't know thal played the harpsichord!  interesting.

 

[Bob]

Any more?

[pianistimo]

effective use of tension and release
using pedal sparingly
evenly matched notes when called for
stressed notes within context (for instance a 'sfz' within a 'p' context wouldn't mean 'bash it')
adding a cadenza without thinking about it
making trills pearly
knowing how to release tension while playing
keeping a diary of one's pianistic 'pallete' of sounds - even in the brain - going beyond dynamics to shadings.  (thinking of a word - and matching it with sound)