How to teach phrasing?

[fuel925]

Hi, what explanations/techniques do you use to describe to your students how to play phrases correctly? Explaining that they are in effect musical sentences is ok, but i'd like more ideas on how to better explain how that relates to how they physically play the piece.

Thanks!

[go12_3]

For me phrasing is a challenge to teach students.  When a student acheives an aptitude in the technical aspect of playing piano, knowing how to play loud and soft, then they can learn to recognize the various touches upon the piano to create a musical phrase...that playing musicially requires a good listening ear to determine to begin softer at the beginning of the phrase by a lighter touch.  You can demonstrate your students how a musical phrase should sound.  Then have them play what you demonstrated.  I think it takes time to  have a student physically  comprehend playing a phrase, it depends upon what level they are.  Beginner to Intermediate students I don't even explain about phrasing, not until they are at a higher level. 

[lilla]

There are so many ways to help students with phrasing.  What material are you using?  Is it a method?  or assigned literature?  If it is a method, are you using the coordinated technique books?  They usually have insightful ways to help demonstrate.  The student can practice "lift-offs", lifting wrists gently like a balloon is tied to their wrist, floating up and landing gently - Bartok has many exercises where he demonstrates quiet endings at the end of a phrase line.  Have you tried inserting "singer breath marks" at the end of a phrase.  And helping the student understand that you observe the breath mark, but that it gets no count (beat?). Have you tried having them sing each phrase as they play?

Does any of this help?  If not, perhaps being more specific would bring more focused solutions.