Clarity in playing

[i_m_robot]

How does one develope such an aspect of one's playing?

[kghayesh]

Try to concentrate and listen to the music you are playing, not just play it. Also, every now and then play it slowly without pedal but with great concentration at all the notes and dynamics.

[jlh]

practice

[wintervind]

I think you mean more than just practicing to aquire it?

I believe it is also creating the desire to hear yourself playing with clarity.

 It is so incredibly easy, satisfying, fleeting, boring, and disasterous to play sloppy. It is as if our brains make believe that we are making music when in reality we are just wasting time.

To keep myself focused on clarity I listen to recordings and try to imagine the technique required. I also try to listen for the pedal and whether or not it is audible.
 
Using the pedal to cover sloppiness is a #1 no no that most are guilty of.
Once the pedal is released one can clearly hear the technical defalts.
Of course, recording yourself is a wonderful way to self-evaluate!
Bon Courage!

[xvimbi]

practice

I must now comment on this type of advice. Although "practice makes perfect" is still true in many cases, lack of motivation (translating into lack of practicing) is really NOT the issue with questions like this and most others. I would assume that most pianists facing a problem indeed work diligently but can't solve their problem. It should be explained HOW to practice. It is obvious that i_m_robot is not achieving accuracy with what he is currently doing, so why should doing the same thing over and over again (i.e. practicing) suddenly make it work. He needs something else.

What should be pointed out for a given problem is:

- what are the criteria for success and failure
- what are the approaches/techniques that can help achieve success and/or avoid failure

My little rant for the month. I'm off to a vacation now... Thank you so much. See ya later!

[sznitzeln]

I agree with a previous poster that to gain clarity you must listen for it.
The only way to become perfect is to be a perfectionist.
Its also important to understand that one is not in a hurry, you have all your life infront of you, and the piano is going to give you a lot of joy.
So you must never be discouraged and never be stressed (unless you have a dead-line of course )
And when you hear your play is not clear, then slow down and try to understand why its not clear. Never just keep playing thinking "its unclear, but i'd like to finnish playing the piece", you have to stop and start solving the problem of clarity for those bars that were unclear. And you dont have to completely solve it in one try, just keep trying.
One of my favorite quotes from Neuhaus book: "If one has a great love for music, and if one works like obcessed at his instrument, then one is bound to become a virtuoso"
These are not the exact words, but the meaning
I recommend the book too.

[ted]

Perhaps you could play more music which generally demands a high degree of clarity and precision for its effect. Baroque, classical ragtime, boogie - these usually require a sparing use of the pedal and are wrecked altogether by sloppy playing, so the issue is more or less forced on you. Another way might be to improvise using figures with clear finger strokes and little pedal. Play pieces with rapid,flowing arpeggiated stuff less often until clarity is acquired. Then when you go back to them you might find a change.

It is also possible to cultivate the habit of being aware of every note - not in the sense of thinking about all notes but being aware of them, even the less significant ones - there's a subtle difference. You might be aware of groups of notes at the moment and the groups you are aware of are gradually getting larger. That's great for memorising but it's a bit of a slippery slope when playing - or at least I have found it so.

[LVB op.57]

Definitely play some Bach and some classical stuff, like Mozart and Haydn. Also, Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words. This music will help you because it's so bare that it will force you to either sound terrible or clean up your playing. Not to mention all the other good stuff you'll acquire from playing it.

[rhapsody in orange]

Hmm how 'bout practising it slow to make sure every note sounds and that they are even? Also you can try doing HS if the piece requires fast passages on both hands. Sometimes the weaker hand will be a 'follower' of thestronger one. So if you do HS, you can listen out to places where unevenness occur and correct that.

[steinwayguy]

FINGER STRENGTH WHOO!

[steinwayguy]

What an idiot 

[quantum]

Try articulating finger movements.  Lift them higher between playing notes.  This will give more distinction between notes and make it easier to diagnose uneveness in the fingers.  You may find that it doesn't create that great of a liquid legato feel, but you are concentrating on clarity so it's ok. 

Later on you will be able to refine this movement and vary it's degree so a multitude of different sounds.  This may range from crispy clear to super legato. 

[jlh]

I must now comment on this type of advice. Although "practice makes perfect" is still true in many cases, lack of motivation (translating into lack of practicing) is really NOT the issue with questions like this and most others. I would assume that most pianists facing a problem indeed work diligently but can't solve their problem. It should be explained HOW to practice. It is obvious that i_m_robot is not achieving accuracy with what he is currently doing, so why should doing the same thing over and over again (i.e. practicing) suddenly make it work. He needs something else.

What should be pointed out for a given problem is:

- what are the criteria for success and failure
- what are the approaches/techniques that can help achieve success and/or avoid failure

My little rant for the month. I'm off to a vacation now... Thank you so much. See ya later!

I agree with you, of course, but my post was not meant to be a fix-all response.  Rather, it was more of a response on the comical side -- perhaps a bit out of place, but nevertheless I thought it was cute.

There are many things which must be done in order to play clearly and articulately, all of which require practice, both mentally and physically, to achieve.  Yes, you have to listen, but practice, advice from a teacher and experience will all tell you WHAT to listen for.  This is a complex issue involving many issues of development as a pianist.  Taken individually, they are easy issues to overcome, but it takes time and practice to put them all together.  Start by doing what others have suggested here... articulate finger movements, listen for evenness in your playing, alternate playing with and without pedal and legato and staccato to give your fingers more control over what you're playing, play works from the baroque and classical periods that will force you to play with clarity, and above all, be patient!  This will not happen overnight, but by solving all these little issues one at a time you will give your fingers the experience and ability to play with more clarity over time.