Stuff I Learned in the Past 4 Months

[xdjuicebox]

So I made a thread four months ago about the stuff I learned in my first month and a half of not being able to practice anywhere as much as I'd want (https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=61726.0), and here I am with another one.

Once again, these are just my thoughts and discoveries - they are by no means the gospel truth, and if you want to help me revise/refute some of these ideas, please do so! All input is welcomed.

1. Form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis form and analysis! I learned Moonlight III in like an hour (I'm literally not joking...), but here's the catch - I've had the entire piece memorized by sound for the past 4 years, and I analyzed it to death during my theory studies (iv - N6 - vii/V - i64 - V7 (b9) gets me every time). So all I really had to do was learn the notes, which didn't take very long since I had spent the previous week practice overlapping arpeggios up and down. Does that count?

2. The "mental picture" of your playing is every bit as important as the actual motions you do. For the longest time, I'd been playing "mindlessly" (and every time I remembered to play mindfully, I'd forget a little bit later). See in your head, VERY VIVIDLY, the sound of what you're about to play, the way it feels on your hands, see the keys light up on the keyboard, feel your hands on the keys in your head, see in your mind how your hand will fit on the keys before you play...play the piano in your head a split second before you play it in real life. Because after all, if you can't even do it in your head...how are you going to do it in real life? (I know I mentioned this in another post, so I just thought I'd reiterate here). Plus this has removed a lot of my inconsistency issues, and helped a lot with playing in front of other people. Also, it really helps you remember/retain your pieces.

3. You can learn piano away from it - and is safe to do if you're familiar enough with the piano. In fact, I'd almost say it's better because you know exactly what the notes are, so all you have to do is figure out how your hands will play it. That's the easy part - the hard part is knowing what the actual notes are. If you know your motions, that part shouldn't take very long. I think Glenn Gould used to do this a lot.

4. Don't lean forward. I do it sometimes when I'm getting really into it... As tempting as it is, it puts so much strain on your arms that it's literally pointless. Make sure your head is always resting over where your butt touches the chair, unless it's for a brief moment when you're deliberately throwing all of your bodyweight into it (like the ffff's in Rach 3-2, but even then...you could just lift your arms up really high XD). Keeping the weight off of your arms is good because then you don't have to push off of the piano as hard or use your back as much. Which is good for endurance/longevity at the piano.

5. You can't please everyone. One person might think you played something beautifully and someone else might think you're "confused." Depends on their background - play for yourself above all else and if you impress someone else, great! If not, whatever.

6. I need to learn how to play things with a lot of consecutive notes. I can learn/play chordal passages really fast (though idk so much about some of those Rachmaninoff etudes - I looked at 39-1 and all of the stuff with a bunch of bangy chords/double note tremolos I learned really quickly...but I cannot, for the life of me, play stuff like the first section). I think a really solid understanding of the notes and what it looks like on the piano is critical.

7. When learning a piece, especially the bar-by-bar (or beat-by-beat) method that I am currently employing, run it through your head first so you know the shapes on the piano. Once the shapes are ingrained, it's just a matter of training your hands. If you can train your hands in your head too - hey! You can play it! Then just augment with muscle memory and you are set.

8. I harp on muscle memory but it's okay to use it...just not during practice.

9. I would rather have really solid tone and be a little too loud than have a weak, raspy tone. You can make yourself sound really quiet though (even if you're really loud) by really clever pedaling (without using the una corda, of course), or by playing the rest of the notes really quietly. As long as you avoid the twangy sound on the piano though, most people will believe it's quiet.

10. I saw the LA Phil last Sunday and pianos aren't as loud as you might think - and in a big concert hall, some of the details get lost. I was listening Javier Perianes play "Ritual Fire Dance" by de Falla (OH MY GOD HE WAS GOOD), but a lot of the fine details aren't as audible as you might htink.

11. You really do have to be using your brain the whole time. You cannot absentmindedly play the piano. Which makes it hard. Don't practice that much then.

12. Studying composition makes playing piano really interesting - you can see how a piece was conceived of, and since you understand the "architecture" or "design" of it, it really helps you figure out how you're going to present the work in the most organic way. In short, I see things from the composer's point of view too.

Let me know what you think!

[toughbo]

I just wanted to say that I very much like these threads of yours.
There's a lot of gibberish on these forums, but this right here is why I keep coming back 

[bernadette60614]

Love it..

though I think you forgot form and analysis

May I ask what your musical background is?

I'm years into it but not in a very focused way and what I learned this month is that music is like an ocean, and as of now, I'm floating in warmer water with a firm grasp on the outside of a lifeboat.

I hope your postings encourage others to share.  There are a lot of very thoughtful people on this board and it would be wonderful to learn more from them.

[xdjuicebox]

Love it..

though I think you forgot form and analysis

May I ask what your musical background is?

I'm years into it but not in a very focused way and what I learned this month is that music is like an ocean, and as of now, I'm floating in warmer water with a firm grasp on the outside of a lifeboat.

I hope your postings encourage others to share.  There are a lot of very thoughtful people on this board and it would be wonderful to learn more from them.

Only listened until age 8, started piano then. Didn't really care much for it at the time though.

I put the piano down at age 14, but I'd play here and there and start trying stuff on my own. I played the trumpet from ages 9-18, but that instrument is terribly high maintenance in terms of lip strength haha.

Started composing when I was 13, but baby stuff at first. Got more into it when I was 17, and now I'm trying to get into a Master's program for Music Composition.

Picked up the piano again seriously at 18, took a break a few months later due to catastrophic injury, picked it back up and went to a teacher for two years before he vanished on me haha. Looking for time to take lessons again though.

I think I've amassed quite a repertoire, but when I play in front of people I'm still really sloppy and I'm trying to figure that out. ><

What about yours?

[bernadette60614]

Thank you for asking.

Begged my parents for a piano and earned it by having 2 consecutive years of straight As (I think their finances may have had something to do with it..)

Began lessons at 12, eagerly. At 14, my mother began to manage my studies and I was practicing 2 hours each night, 4 hours each day of the weekend and 4 to 6 each day during breaks and holidays.  My piano teacher suggested I audition for a university program. So burn out, gave it up for 30 plus years.  (One reason why questions about "how do I make my kid practice more" are ones I try to restrain myself from answering.)

Still always interested in music. Fell in love with opera at Indiana University, hung around with all the music folk, during my career always attending concerts, including piano soloists (Kissin, Brendel, Watts...the advantage of living in a major city.)

Started again about 3 years ago with a community music program which was group classes with men who didn't practice, a year or so with an almost stereotypical Russian teacher whose teaching technique was comprised of yelling or heavy sighing, another year with our son's piano teacher, who was overjoyed to have an adult student who wanted to play serious music and not the great American song book.

Now, a year with a wonderful teacher/professional performer to whom I said that I wanted to study as if I wanted to enter a university program.  I can't retract that statement, though it is fiendishly hard to break many years of bad habits!

[debussychopin]

Im not being sarcastic here..

Some of your commentary is actually profound.

Helped me look at couple things in a more confirmed perspective.
Thanks

[bernadette60614]

Why, thank you...I think what you learn from studying music goes beyond music alone.

On a personal note, our son has a learning disability, and part of my motivation for renewing piano studies was to have great empathy for his challenges. 

As adults, we develop a comfort zone where we feel competent and confident.  Part of the challenge of being an adult student, is realizing and embracing how little you know and how difficult it is to truly understand rather than just racing to "results."

[debussychopin]

I meant the OP ...but yours too