Transmission of feelings and emotions

[faa2010]

Is there a reason why do pianists have to "show-off" as they are playing?

How can you transmit your feelings and emotions through music?

Is it necessary to make gestures and move in a "sophisitcated" way or can it be only enough with how one plays the piano?

How can you transmit the "correct emotions"?

[mistermoe]

Is there a reason why do pianists have to "show-off" as they are playing?

How can you transmit your feelings and emotions through music?

Is it necessary to make gestures and move in a "sophisitcated" way or can it be only enough with how one plays the piano?

How can you transmit the "correct emotions"?

Of course there's a bunch of musicians showing off, but making gestures and move at the piano can be absolutely natural. As a musician you can experience music not only in your head, but also with your body. Those feelings can be really intense, believe it or not.

If somebody kicks you in the crotch and you are convulsed with pain, crying and having a really expressive facial expression - are you showing off? Not necessarily.

[m1469]

If somebody kicks you in the crotch and you are convulsed with pain, crying and having a really expressive facial expression - are you showing off? Not necessarily.

haha ... are you suggesting that it's possible though that it is simply antics?  I have always suspected ...

[lostinidlewonder]

I like to play the music not the music play me. Sometimes however it feels good to move around but some people take it too far. Most observers do not really mind it but it can irritate some of us who play piano ourselves and who choose not to do such things.

When a singer performs if they do not move at all people tend to get bored. I remember when Barry White came to Australia he sat on a stool almost the entire concert. There where lots of people complaining that it was so boring and some of them where watching his back the entire concert! So perhaps some movement is good for a visual indication to the audience what musical expression you are going through and to encourage them to listen to the music, but I think there is a limit one can take it when it comes to piano, melodramatic movements to me are stupid and uncontrolled. It is the music playing you and looks funny

[mistermoe]

are you suggesting that it's possible though that it is simply antics?  I have always suspected ...

It seems you came across a lot of crunch-kicked men in your life. Now i'm just wondering, is that by mere chance or is it due to some secret passion of yours? 

[m1469]

It seems you came across a lot of crunch-kicked men in your life. Now i'm just wondering, is that by mere chance or is it due to some secret passion of yours? 

Well, firstly, no I haven't come across a lot of crunch kicked guys in my life.  I think secretly it's the one thing the guys think they 'have' on the ladies though, we can give birth which is probably an unimaginable pain, and so guys are like 'yeah, heh ... woah ... well, we feel a special pain, too, when this happens, and it's something you ladies couldn't possibly imagine' and then the appropriate antics when the time is right!   Hey, I've seen it in the movies  :-. 

Mostly I have zero secret passion about that ... mostly  .  I have sometimes enjoyed a healthy wrestle though  , so long as my wrestling partner is not a giant jerk -- if they're a giant jerk, they get crunch kicked.  Nuff said.  hee hee.   

[mistermoe]

'yeah, heh ... woah ... well, we feel a special pain, too, when this happens, and it's something you ladies couldn't possibly imagine'

this is such an intriguing statement, that i couldn't help but make a poll on this subject. hope to see you there 

[mcdiddy1]

Music and movement are always going connected together. Music makes people want to dance and movement inspires composers to write.  We would do good to accept that. No people are made the same way so we all have differnt reactions to music. It is a personal relationship to music that we have. I personally don't feel I as a piano teacher have the right to say to not move to music unless it interupts the music line or flow of the piece. Like bobing your head in a music that is relaxed and calm. That being said expression comes from the playing , mind and soul working together. The gestures have the potential to enchance or potential detract from the playing. If is a good idea to have mix or some movement and no movement dependent on the character of the music. It would hurt someone who plays Bach who wrote a large number of Dance forms , to dance to the music and to develop that type of feeling.

What is your definition of showing off? To me showing off is making extra movements that are unnecessary for playing the music. Sometimes people make faces because they are involved in the music or they are trying to act out a story in their head to make the music more expressive. Is that showing off? One music teacher said to me I dont care if you play with your toes just as long as you play the correct notes. Considering that I often wonder why does it matter what someone looks like when they play if the result of the music is expressive and connecting to the audience. The only reason I think people would do that is if they cared and wanted to connect to you the listener in someway which i normally view as a good thing.

[pianist1976]

Is there a reason why do pianists have to "show-off" as they are playing?

Every person is different. Some pianists chose to do some acting to emphasize or support their playing, other can't help it (it's involuntary)  and others focus only on the music. While the final music result is valid, the gestures are not important. I recall, for example, one of my favourite pianists, Uchida. She has really exaggerated gestures that I don't like visually but I find her playing just wonderful. I guess she needs those gestures while another giants like Cliburn never did an unnecessary movement or face gesture.

How can you transmit your feelings and emotions through music?

In my opinion there's no real art without a control over the emotions. Of course, also in my opinion, there's many emotion in music but there's also a science and composers write with many detail. Emotion must be never an excuse to distort the basis of music (tempo, dynamics, rhythm, phrasing...). Emotion = YES but CONTROLLED. You control the music, you control the emotion. The emotion mustn't control you.

Is it necessary to make gestures and move in a "sophisitcated" way or can it be only enough with how one plays the piano?

Be always yourself! Never do a movement you don't want to only because a well known pianist does it. But you must have in account that for what many of us we understand as a good technique, some movements of the wrist and the arm, not only the fingers, are absolutely necessary. You'll need them in order to play technically correct, releasing tension and helping the strings of the piano to "sing" and to phrase. These ones must not be confused with the external face gestures or full body contortions seen on some pianists. The first ones are necessary and affect directly and greatly to the final sound obtained. The second ones are accessories (I personally do not like them).

How can you transmit the "correct emotions"?

You must organize very well your study time and try to use always your brain and ear. Try to listen in real time not only to the sound you think you are obtaining but also to the sound is really sounding. Don't let that an excess of emotions blinds you and make that what someone thinks that is making a passionate rendition reality is an unintelligibly and uneven mess! (God bless home recordings, that wonderful tool to improve )