I've been studying for a little over a year. My sightreading skills and skills in general are improving. One of the areas that seem to be lagging, though, is my ability to play with a degree of "feeling" or expression.
I notice when my piano teacher sits down to play anything that she has great control over the volume, intensity and feeling of every note she plays. When I sit down and play, even after I've memorized a piece and played it many times, when I listen to it later (digital piano) there's a lack of feeling. It's very mechanica.
My teacher tries to keep me focused on my progress and tells me it will come with time.
I was wondering are there any hints or techniques that you could share on how to practice to develop the ability to play with "expression"?
I don't see that topic addressed in the forums,
Thanks,
Philip
There is a very common misconception amongst piano teachers and pianists about “playing with feeling” and “playing mechanically”. The misconception is that what they perceive as “playing with feeling” and “playing mechanically” has somehow to do with the way you press the keys. They are forever talking about “touch” this and “touch” that. It is a deeply ingrained idea and no one wants to let it go.
Without going too much into the physics of it, or the ugly details, the fact is that “touch” has very little to do with it. Although you may witness luminaries like Claudio Arrau (incidentally one of my favourite pianists) and Glenn Gould (not one of my favourite pianists) shaking their fingers on the depressed keys in a mimic of the tremolo of violin, cello and guitar players, such antics result in no difference at all in the sound. These guys should know better.
The only two things pianists can do (playing normal repertory – if you are playing a prepared piano and pinching the strings with your fingers, then it is a different matter altogether) is press the keys faster or slower (resulting in a louder or softer sound) and make the string vibrate for longer or shorter periods (by either holding on to the key and preventing the damper to stop the key from vibrating, or by using the damper pedal and keeping all the dampers off). In two short words: dynamics and agogics.
It is from the careful and thoughtful manipulation of these two effects that the illusion of “expressive”, “feeling” “emotional” playing arise.
If so, why your teacher’s playing is so different from yours, and how can you emulate it?
The answer is both simple and discouraging.
Piano playing is not complicated, but it is a very complex act (that is, it is a combination of a myriad of simple actions that must be perfectly co-ordinated). Consider some of the decisions that must be taken in regards to any simple passage:
1. Fingering. What is the fingering that will lead naturally to the best rendition of this passage for my physicality? (Notice that this question assumes you already
what is the best rendition of the passage) How, once I decide on this do I proceed in order to ingrain this fingering? (Again this assumes that you know enough of practice methods to answer this question).
2. Technical problems: Which movements do I have to apply to this passage in order to play it with a balance of tensions and releases? How can I fine-tune my movements in order that each movement prepares automatically for the next? How do I make sure never to hit any wrong notes? How do I bring this passage to speed? Where is the cause of my hands not being together in fast running passages?
3. Phrasing: How do I determine the breathing points of the piece (where are the cadences). How do I phrase by a gradation of activity and passivity, of tension and relaxation?
4. Articulation: What is the appropriate articulation for the passage? Have I analysed this piece in terms of a hierarchy of groupings (which notes belong together, which notes belong separately; which phrases organise themselves into periods and so on). Is there a pattern? And how does this pattern relate to meter and rhythm?
5. Melody: where is the melody of the piece – is there more than one melodic strand in different voices? And how do I bring it up? By accenting dynamically the melodic notes? By accenting them rhythmically? By accenting them harmonically? By displacing them in relation to the harmony? Which notes are essential and which are decorative? Am I paying as much attention to the notes as to the spaces in between the notes? Am I “articulating” the melody in a manner appropriate to the style of the composition?
6. Harmony: Do I understand the deep sense of “harmony”, that is, the sounding of each note as dependent and related to all the other notes? Do I understand that in the piano, even when a note has ceased to sound I can still bring out that silent note by playing the other notes in relation to it (that is as if it was still sounding?) Can I tell if the chords are dissonant or consonant? Am I making sure that dissonances are accented and resolutions into the consonant chord are subdued? So I know the difference between active (pulling) chords and passive (reposing) ones? Do I know all the chords in the piece, and their underlying keys? Can I tell when modulation (tonal centre shifts) are occurring? Have I marked the cadences in the piece? Where are the points of greatest harmonic tension?
7. Tempo: How fast should this piece be played? What are the rates of movement between the several passages? How slowly can it be played and still be effective? Any local changes of tempo (rit., rall.)?
8. Rhythm: Am I aware of the pattern of strong/weak beats in the piece? What are the rhythm patterns? Cross rhythms? Syncopations? Is rubato appropriate and is so where?
9. Dynamics: What is the dynamic range of the piece? How many colours does the piece/passage has?
This list does not even begin to scratch to tip of the iceberg.
But can you see that answering it and implementing the answers will pretty much take care of “feeling” and “emotion”? From the point of view of the performer, there should be little or no emotion whatsoever. The audience must feel moved by the performance, not the performer. Think about a magic show. Do you really believe that the best way for the magician to shock and surprise his audience is for him himself to get shocked and surprised at this own tricks?
So you may start to see where your teacher has the edge over you. S/he knows the answers to these questions (or should know) and s/he can implement them. In short:
s/he knows far more than you and s/he can do far more than you can. Which is ultimately why s/he is the teacher and you are the student.
As you may begin to surmise, there is no way you can tackle all of these aspects (and the list is by no means exhaustive) fully aware of each and every detail. You must delegate most if not all of these tasks to the unconscious mind.
For more information on how to do this, have a look here:
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,5995.msg58775.html#msg58775Best wishes,
Bernhard.