THE PIANIST.COM - making pianists feel at home » The pianist at work http://www.thepianist.com A journey in the world of pianists, musicians, composers who changed our lives and times - Written by Italian pianist Roberta Pili Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:13:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en hourly 1 Basic principles of efficient practicing – I http://www.thepianist.com/2008/12/basic-principles-of-efficient-practicing-i/ http://www.thepianist.com/2008/12/basic-principles-of-efficient-practicing-i/#comments Sun, 14 Dec 2008 10:03:19 +0000 Roberta Pili http://www.thepianist.com/?p=185 Did you ever ask yourself whether your piano practicing is in fact efficient? Or have you ever had the feeling that your exercises on the keyboard are just a boring routine you daily repeat while not knowing why you do it?
Remember first: Practicing means exploring every unknown detail of the score you are studying; it is like disclosing the secret of music and discovering the unlimited power of the composers´masterworks.
A good approach to your daily practice should include a Prelude and Fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S.Bach. This repertoire represents the absolute fundamental work for a pianist.
Studying meticulously Preludes and mostly Fugues by Bach requires a high concentration, especially when pointing out the plurality of voices (polyphony) relating together through counterpoint. This is the basis of efficient practicing and, in the long term, the perfect construction of high professional piano playing.
After your first approach with Bach, choose a piece which is immediately connected to those specific Prelude and Fugue. Create for your practice session a direct relationship between the pieces you decide to work at. You can set different criteria in doing so, for example if you consider the common key as an esthetic detail of this relationship, thematic similarities or motivic recalls from one piece to another, related characters in the musical message.  You should also take care of your mental work. Be concentrated during your practicing and you will notice a speedy development of your skills as a performer. Do not just play notes or push keys down, try rather to shape the musical phrase focussing on a beautiful tone. Be interested  in the quality of your daily practicing, because it will affect the quality of your being a pianist.

Suggestions of different piano works for a practice session:

Begin:

  • J.S.Bach, Well-Tempered Clavier Book II – Prelude and Fugue D Minor BWV 875

Connected work:

  • L.v.Beethoven, Piano Sonata D Minor Op. 31 No. 2 – “The Tempest” / First movement

Related works:

  • S.Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto D Minor No.3 Op.30, First movement
  • Bach-Busoni, Chaconne / First part to the begin of the D major key section (quasi Tromboni)

You can take these practicing ideas to build a large repertoire. Try this every day, rotating with other pieces and being creative in the combination of them for your session. Be sure to remain highly concentrated during the whole practice, otherwise your work will be unproductive and unreliable.
If you have any questions, don´t wait and ask for help by simply posting a comment.

]]> http://www.thepianist.com/2008/12/basic-principles-of-efficient-practicing-i/feed/ 0 The pianist at Work http://www.thepianist.com/2008/11/the-pianist-at-work/ http://www.thepianist.com/2008/11/the-pianist-at-work/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:41:29 +0000 Roberta Pili http://www.thepianist.com/?p=117 “I practice very industriously…” – Quote Ferruccio Busoni, Letters to his wife 1895-1907, London, Edward Arnold & Co. http://www.rodoni.ch/busoni/bibliotechina/letteregerdaEN/gerdaEN1.html

Do these words of Ferruccio Busoni sound familiar to you? They certainly do, especially if you are a pianist with your heart and soul like Busoni was. He was the pianists´pianist, the musicians´musician. To be as good as he was, or at least if you want to play with his virtuosity and to have a profound knowledge about piano playing, you have to do only a simple thing: practice!

Oh my God, this terribly sounding word…our teachers threatened us with it, I am sure that the more your piano teacher repeated this word during the lessons, the less you wanted to do it.

I practiced up to seven hours a day during the time of my former music education, not only because my teachers said that, but also because I felt that spending many hours at the piano was necessary to get an appropriate technique.

However, practicing should not be just a matter of being a diligent student. If you consider your daily practice like a passionate exercising, you will be improving both your finger technique and your entire personal expression as a pianist.

Practice is the secret of being good in life.

If you repeat every day a task you are still not experienced with, you will be able to discover the strong power of practicing.

Practicing is repeating, repeating is learning, learning is living. And living is knowing more and more who you really are.

Maybe you are now fascinated by reading this and you want to know more about efficient piano playing.

But we will make a break now.

Do you know why?

Because we go practicing…

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