How to improve my musicality?

[fenz]

What should I do to improve my musicality?

Another question: how do you learn a lot of pieces in one time? i mean maybe 4 or more pieces (not new pieces at all)? how do you manage your practice time?

Thanks 

[stevebob]

Have an aural image in your mind of what you want to project with the music and how you want it to sound.  Great technical skills may mean note-perfect playing, but think beyond notes to a bigger picture; consider the musical phrases and how to shape them so that they breathe.

Using a recording device to check periodically if you're coming closer to your goal is definitely a big help.

[faulty_damper]

But this assumes he has an aural image in the mind.  Most students do not form this image because most teachers do not provide that kind of instruction.

The only way develop this aural image is to listen to excellent musicians.  Western classical music is a very different language from English because of the differences in phrasing, intonation, and articulation.  This is why pop music sounds like it does, it is American English pop, not Western classical pop, which does not exist.

Your next question should be: which musicians should I listen to who are good?

[alexkerr]

Musicality can be described as putting your own mark on a piece, maybe slowing it up in areas where others don't. Taking this definition, then musicality can be a fine art and can sound bad if you get it wrong.

However, playing a piece of music following all the correct dynamics and phasing is still going to make you sound musical. Try to find a professional recording of what you are wanting to play. Follow the music through at the piano while you listen. If you have a good understanding of phrasing, dynamics and other theory then you should pick up on this and be able to replicate it.

Good luck

[fenz]

thanks all for the replies  .
i've tried to playing a piece of music following all the correct dynamics and phasing and i find it helps me.

Your next question should be: which musicians should I listen to who are good?

please mention good musicians that i should listen to... thanks 

(sorry if my english is not good)

[liordavid]

just practice longer and harder

[tds]

just practice longer and harder

 

[fenz]

ok   

[stevebob]

I think that practicing longer and harder could result in playing that is more mechanical and even less musical.

Listening to performances by great musicians should be beneficial, but consciously emulating the details means you're copying their sense of musicality instead of cultivating your own.

[faulty_damper]

please mention good musicians that i should listen to... thanks 

The answer depends on which period of music or composer you prefer to listen to.

If you like JS Bach, then Rosalyn Tureck.  She was instrumental in my understanding of contrapuntal music.  She turned mechanical note-playing (eg. Glenn Gould) into music that I understood.  She was my first music teacher that got me thinking about music instead of playing the piano.

If you like Beethoven's sonatas, then listen to Friedrich Gulda who placed musical expression at the forefront.

If you like Liszt: George Cziffra.  When the music becomes bombast he is able to express it above any other and creates drama and intensity where others fall flat like a Coke bottle left in the open sun.  He is perhaps a master of contrasting moods.

My favorite pianist and musician is Marc-Andre Hamelin.  To him, the piano is simply an instrument used to make music.  He tends to sustain the mood of a piece which gives his performances a unique characteristic that other pianists do not have.  He places musical expression before any virtuosic fireworks which has a tendency to diminish its effect which some listeners do not like because it sounds "easy".

These are just some good musicians.  In order to put them into context, you have to listen to other pianists who are mediocre or bad.  These include Glenn Gould, Yundi Li, Vladimir Horowitz, and Angela Hewitt.

[faulty_damper]

Listening to performances by great musicians should be beneficial, but consciously emulating the details means you're copying their sense of musicality instead of cultivating your own.

What you call copying is what teachers call modeling.  It's important to model excellent musicians because they get the learner to sound good very quickly.  This is incredibly beneficial even if they do not understand why it is good.  Otherwise, the learner is left to invent the wheel on his own which takes far too long.

[fenz]

I think that practicing longer and harder could result in playing that is more mechanical and even less musical.

Is it possible to practice longer and harder but with good musicality too?

[stevebob]

Is it possible to practice longer and harder but with good musicality too?

I reckon it is (everybody's different, after all), but I think that  "practic[ing] longer and harder" connotes the risk, at the very least, of lapsing into a mechanical, unfocused, autopilot-like state.

[fenz]

The answer depends on which period of music or composer you prefer to listen to.

If you like JS Bach, then Rosalyn Tureck.  She was instrumental in my understanding of contrapuntal music.  She turned mechanical note-playing (eg. Glenn Gould) into music that I understood.  She was my first music teacher that got me thinking about music instead of playing the piano.

If you like Beethoven's sonatas, then listen to Friedrich Gulda who placed musical expression at the forefront.

If you like Liszt: George Cziffra.  When the music becomes bombast he is able to express it above any other and creates drama and intensity where others fall flat like a Coke bottle left in the open sun.  He is perhaps a master of contrasting moods.

My favorite pianist and musician is Marc-Andre Hamelin.  To him, the piano is simply an instrument used to make music.  He tends to sustain the mood of a piece which gives his performances a unique characteristic that other pianists do not have.  He places musical expression before any virtuosic fireworks which has a tendency to diminish its effect which some listeners do not like because it sounds "easy".

These are just some good musicians.  In order to put them into context, you have to listen to other pianists who are mediocre or bad.  These include Glenn Gould, Yundi Li, Vladimir Horowitz, and Angela Hewitt.

Thanks for your answer  

[fenz]

I reckon it is (everybody's different, after all), but I think that  "practic[ing] longer and harder" connotes the risk, at the very least, of lapsing into a mechanical, unfocused, autopilot-like state.

Yes, I feel like that too... But if I'm studying difficult piece, how should I practice to keep the musicality while learning same part again and again?

(sorry if my english is bad)

[stevebob]

But if I'm studying difficult piece, how should I practice to keep the musicality while learning same part again and again?

Consider the distinction between playing and practicing.  Playing (in the sense of performing a learned piece or passage, even if just for yourself) should always be musical; practicing, on the other hand, might not seem very musical at all.

I think it's a paradox of musical practice that in order to learn a challenging piece of music and play it musically, we might first have to break it down into small and isolated fragments and drill the daylights out of them.  The technical work needed to master a piece is often unmusical!  But I believe that's inescapable, and it's just the nature of the beast.  It's worth it when those practiced components—however unmusical when treated in isolation and subjected to intense repetition—are brought under our control and assembled into something beautiful that we play.

That's not to say that musicality has to be completely disregarded in practicing a piece, though, however repetitive and mechanical the practicing may be.  One of the many wise quotations attributed to Schumann is "Always play as if a master were listening," and I think that applies nicely to practice as well.

[noon]

First of all you have to follow all dyn.,phrases in the pieces. Work on the sound to make it  more colorfull, think about it as cold, warm, deep,light. Read about particular composer who do you play, it will help to understand the piece. Listen a lot of different performers with the book in your hand to follow the music. Record yourself, then listen.Try to attend as many concerts a you can. I trully believe that you will get more insparation after every visit to concert hall.
P.S. you have to know your piece  with confidence to work on sound
 Best of wishes

[dylan_c]

Hi everyone,

I took grade 7 abrsm 4 years ago and has not touched the piano since then. I'm thinking of doing my grade 8 this year and was wondering if anyone can give me good advice as to what practices can I do to strengthen my hands & improve my accuracy as it feels as if its the first time I'm touching the piano now. My sight reading is also very lousy (in fact I'd say I really suck at it now), anyone has any good practices/tactics to tackle these problems?

& I'm also thinking of getting a new piano but my place has space constraint and my landlady doesn't like to hear anyone practice, so I'm thinking of getting those pianos that can have earphones plugged in it so I'll be the only one hearing the practices. Is that advisable? I know that those digital pianos will never replace the traditional ones but I've tested the new series from Yamaha and it feels more or less the same. However I would like to seek past experiences and feedbacks from you guys to see if I should really get the piano ^^

[fenz]

thanks all 

somebody please help dylan..

[pianist1976]

What should I do to improve my musicality?

Just another advice to sum to the others found in this thread: listen to singers and other musicians non pianists (can be in recordings but it's far better if you have a chance to listen live). Listen how they build the music (specially singers), how they do the perfect legato, etc... Work with them if you have a chance.

[ongaku_oniko]

These are just some good musicians.  In order to put them into context, you have to listen to other pianists who are mediocre or bad.  These include Glenn Gould, Yundi Li, Vladimir Horowitz, and Angela Hewitt.

Excuse me? EXCUSE ME? EXCUSE ME?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You just said something that should never be said. Take it back!!!!!

[bleicher]

dylan_c: if it makes the difference between being able to practise all you want and not, then get the digital piano. They're not as nice to play as a proper piano but it's also hard to play when you're worrying about the neighbours. My best advice for getting from grade 7 to 8 is to have lessons: I think it would be very hard without. My advice for sight reading is to join an ensemble or orchestra which rehearses regularly so that you have to sight read regularly.

As for playing musically, that's a much harder question to answer! I've always been involved in a lot of musical activities which helps. Playing just the melody of each phrase first to decide how it should be phrased before trying to get the same phrasing with the accompaniment figure is a good way to practise, and recording yourself is also useful. Make a decision about every phrase and every note regarding dynamics, articulation, phrasing and rubato, rather than just playing the piece and hearing how it turns out.