Practice works for modern music incorporating classical, jazz, folk, etc.

[oldlearner]

I started learning piano only a few weeks ago (relatively late in life). Several threads on this forum have been very helpful in various respects (special thanks to Bernhard). I’ve downloaded many etudes and other practice works for beginners by composers largely from the baroque, classical, and romantic periods. A few (e.g. Bartok’s Microcosmos) are by modern composers.  Although all would help me learn, I’m not sure they are the ideal pieces to progress me in the desired direction. 

The following from the topic  “Classical vs Jazz Instruction…?”  (https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=38640.0) I found very enlightening:

Jazz is a specific style. Baroque is a specific style. Classical is a specific style. Romantic is a specific style. And so on. What classical pianists do is "spread themselves too thin," and learn how past composers' fingers moved from five or six different eras. It is a lot of work. So much work, it crowds out improvisation (in most cases). The reason jazz succeeds is that it is focused on a specific style, with a specific vocabulary of harmony, melody, rhythm and technique, so the task is simpler.

However, this does not mean improvisation cannot fit into classical. But we must be willing to either focus on a specific style or no style at all (in other words, find our own individual style), and possibly make some sacrifices on how broad our classical repertoire of pieces is. Until the overall attitude towards what being a "good pianist" is changes, I believe classical pianists will continue to "spread themselves too thin" with learning how dozens of different people moved their fingers, rather than learning how their own fingers can move in a new way.

Another way to put it is classical piano playing today is more or less a museum profession, it is not a creative profession. The point is to become experts at a wide variety of musical history, by a wide variety of people. The point is not to create something new. People always think "composition" when thinking about classical music, but this is only because people are accustomed to striving with great misery and discomfort to learn difficult ways of moving their fingers that are in many cases not natural.

To change the classical world back into a creative one, we must remove the artificial distinctions between styles, remove the extremely high performance standards (as the ONLY criterion for "good musician"), and remove the endlessly recycled vanity and pride amongst modern classical composers.  I think it is already happening, it is only a matter of time before this becomes true.

Those were just some personal thoughts, from an amateur who thinks a lot in isolation. My thinking is influenced by my profession, software engineering. My entire job is based around battling complexity and making things simpler. So, I believe the reason improvisation stopped happening in classical is simply that the task of being a "classical pianist" became too demanding and too complex after a while.

I don’t want to “spread myself to thin” but want to focus on modern classical music, especially that which incorporates forms from folk, jazz, etc. - Copland, Milhaud, Ginastera, etc., etc. More specifically, a favourite is Piazzolla who combines classical, jazz, and tango (which he called neuvo tango). My greatest shorter-term musical aspiration is be able to play a piano arrangement of Libertango, eventually improvising and using various instrument sounds from the keyboard. A longer-term goal is to do the same with the much more substantial and complex Estaciones Porteñas (Seasons of Buenos Aires). Piazzolla (a bandoneón virtuoso) and his various ensembles improvised as they performed these and other works. Piazzolla’s compositions, played by musicians from both the world’s of jazz and classical, are highly adaptable having been arranged for various solo instruments, combos, and orchestra.

It appears that classical and jazz instruction are equally applicable to this type of music. Would appreciate comments, and suggestions as to exercises, etudes, and other works at early levels which could help me attain these goals.

[rdf_mx1]

Hi,

I'm no expert (meaning i'm a beginner! haha) in classical piano but i do play jazz and have played tango and Piazzolla before. Indeed, i believe playing tango in the piano involves a bit of both worlds.

The next tips are not meant to be all rehearsed in one week or anything, it's a slow but fulfilling process!

If you're just starting out you should work on your technique, 5 finger position exercises, scales and arpegios.

Once you get more comfortable you should start learning to build 7th chords (which will help you when you start improvising), and practicing popular cadences like ii-V or IV-V. Get to know at least major, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales and their chords/modes.

The left hand in tango, many times it's doing octave work, so you should look for exercises that teach you octave work. I try to do this with shoulder movement but there are probably others ways, a classical pianist could help us more with this one! This should take you a while to do properly, so you can perhaps get some preparatory exercises involving octaves. Other times it's doing like a stride piano accompaniment with different rhythm, so you should look into this as well.

Try to listen to tango music for piano and really LISTEN how is it supposed to sound. If you listen anything you really like, try to transcribe it! See why it works in the specific context, etc. Studying theory & harmony should help you a lot!

I hope this helps!

Grande Piazzolla!

[oldlearner]

Muchas gracias rdf_mx1 for all that considered advice - it gives me a lot to work on before starting to practice actual tango music. All the tango scores I've downloaded are presently well beyond my abilities, so I'll keep practicing mainly scales, arpeggios, etc. Good to see that at least one other person on this forum appreciates Piazzolla.

[dogperson]

Muchas gracias rdf_mx1 for all that considered advice - it gives me a lot to work on before starting to practice actual tango music. All the tango scores I've downloaded are presently well beyond my abilities, so I'll keep practicing mainly scales, arpeggios, etc. Good to see that at least one other person on this forum appreciates Piazzolla.

I am a HUGE Piazzolla fan, as well !