Clavier Companion Vol.3 #4

JULY/AUGUST 2011 CLAVIER COMPANION 1

4 Editor’s PageThe changing faces ofpiano studyPete Jutras

6 Winds of Change Robert Weirich

8 Personal PerspectivesThoughts on the TigerMom debateAnn Schein, Fenia I-FenChang, and Bruce Berr

72 Questions & AnswersLouise L. Goss

Columns

30 Jazz & PopIntroductions and endingsPhillip Keveren

32 Perspectives in PedagogyA review of Succeeding at the PianoRebecca Grooms Johnson with Gail Lewand Sylvia Coats

40 Repertoire & PerformanceMusic for one handNancy Bachus with Lyle Indergaard andJoyce Grill

46 HarmonyWhy should I consider having mypiano tuned in anything but equaltemperament?Bruce Berr with Trevor Stephenson

52 Technology RMM really is for everyone!George Litterst with Lori Frazer

56 Tech Tips

July/August 2011

Volume 3, Number 4Single Issue $9.95

Published by the Frances Clark Center forKeyboard Pedagogy

Companion

Departments

38 I play my best

43 Poetry Corner

58 First Looks

58 Indian Character Pieces

60 New music reviews

64 CD & DVD reviews

66 News & Notes

67 Pupil Savers

68 Keyboard Kids’ Companion

70 Advertiser Index

14 Livia Rév: Musical education is about more than just musicby Mark Ainley

20 Frank Glazer: The coda continuesby Duncan Cumming

26 Ivan Ilic: A left-handed complement to Frédéric Chopinby Michael Johnson

2 CLAVIER COMPANION JULY/AUGUST 2011

Clavier Companion (ISSN 1086-0819),(USPS 013-579) is published bi-monthly bythe Frances Clark Center for KeyboardPedagogy, 90 Main Street, P.O. Box 651,Kingston, NJ 08528. Periodicals PostagePaid at Kingston, NJ, and at additional mail-ing offices. Printed in USA.Contents © 2011 by Clavier Companion. Allrights reserved. None of the contents of thismagazine may be duplicated or reprintedwithout advance written permission fromthe publisher. The statements of writers andadvertisers are not necessarily those ofClavier Companion, which reserves the rightto refuse to print any submitted advertise-ment.

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Publisher

The Frances Clark Center forKeyboard Pedagogy

Editor-in-Chief

Pete Jutras

Executive Director

Sam Holland

Design & Production

Bob Payne

Managing Editors

Steve Betts Susan Geffen

Website Designer & Editor

Tim Smith

Associate Editors

Nancy BachusBruce Berr

Michelle CondaRebecca JohnsonGeorge Litterst

Craig SaleScott McBride Smith

Helen Smith Tarchalski

Advertising

Tiffany Smith

Copy Editors

Carla Dean DayKristin Jutras

Kristen Holland Shear

Contributing Editors

Tony CaramiaLouise GossSteven Hall

Geoffrey HaydonPhillip KeverenBarbara Kreader

Jane MagrathChristopher Norton

Robert WeirichRichard Zimdars

Circulation

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The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy is a not-for-profiteducational institution (501c3) located inKingston, New Jersey.

The mission of the Frances Clark Centeris to extend the influence of her inclusiveand revolutionary philosophy of musiceducation at the keyboard. In so doing, theCenter conducts research, develops andcodifies successful methodologies andapplications, and disseminates its work inthe form of publications, seminars, and

conferences that focus on improving thequality of teaching.

Our goals are to:• Enhance the quality of music-making

throughout life;• Educate teachers who are dedicated to

nurturing lifelong involvement in music-making from the earliest to the mostadvanced levels; and

• Develop methods and materials thatsupport an artistic and meaningfullearning experience for all studentsregardless of age, gender, ethnicity, orsocio-economic status.

Companion

In the September/October 2011 issue:Special issue commemoratingthe 200th birthday of FranzLiszt

A Liszt Odyssey: An interviewwith Alan Walker by Helen SmithTarchalski

An interview with BlandineOllivier de Prévaux, Liszt’sgreat-granddaughter, by ElyseMach

De Profundis: InstrumentalPsalm for Piano and Orchestraby Franz Liszt (1834) by MichaelMaxwell

Franz Liszt the teacher bySandra Soderlund

Jazz & Pop with Geoff Haydon

Perspectives in Pedagogy: Asurvey of current methods: TheRobert Pace Keyboard Approach

Music Reading: How do youteach a college major who haspoor reading skills?

Columns by Barbara Kreader andJane Magrath

Questions and Answers withLouise Goss

Keyboard Kids’ Companion,News, Reviews, Pupil Savers,and more!


Not too long ago, I attended an inspiring session on theapplication of learning technologies at the Universityof Georgia, where I teach. The keynote speaker, Dan

Schmit, asked us to imagine vocational time travel.Schmit noted that in most professions, a time traveler from

long ago would be very uncomfortable in the modern world.For example, a physician from the nineteenth century wouldnot understand any of the equipment in a modern doctor’soffice, nor would an accountant from long ago recognize acomputer spreadsheet.

Schmit worried that teaching might be an exception. Sinceso little has changed in education, he asked, could the teach-ers of our great-grandparents show up in a modern classroomand feel somewhat at home? He challenged us to assess whatwe do as teachers and ask some tough questions: Are we con-stantly refining and improving our methods? Are we apply-ing recent discoveries about human cognition, learning, andunderstanding? Are we noticing changes in the student pop-ulation, and are we making the necessary adaptations toreach these new groups? In short, are we complacent with thesame old approaches, or are we constantly striving forimprovement?

These are great questions, and I agree wholeheartedly thatwe should never allow our teaching to become routine, letalone stale or outdated. One of the great joys of life is the factthat we can always be learning new things.

Are piano teachers stuck in outdated routines? There are anumber of aspects of piano teaching that say yes: We teach aninstrument that has not changed for a hundred years. Thebulk of our repertoire was composed between 1700 and 1945.We pride ourselves, for good reason, on the traditions passeddown from masters in intimate, one-to-one settings. Many ofus can trace our piano lineage through our teacher’s teachersback to a famous performer, perhaps even to a creator of therepertoire we play—maybe Clementi, Liszt, or Beethoven.

These are traditions worth preserving, and they are a magi-cal part of our world. They do provide valuable insight intothe methods of the giants who came before us. At the sametime, we must make sure that we are living (and teaching) inthe modern world. As much as I would love to time travel, Idon’t want my students to feel like they have been transportedback a century when they come for a lesson. I want to inter-weave great traditions with the most efficient, effective, andinnovative means of teaching to create lessons that reach stu-dents in their world with relevance and excitement.

Staying up to date could include a variety of subjects, fromemploying new technology to championing repertoire com-posed since our students were born. For this column, I’d liketo focus not on what we teach, but on who we teach, for whowe teach ultimately has a great impact on how we teach.

Have the students in piano studios changed over the lasthundred years? While I wasn’t around during the Taft admin-istration to see for myself, I suspect they have. For starters,adult students are now a very strong part of the piano studentpopulation. One major publisher recently told me that Book 1of a given adult method will typically outsell Book 1 of thesame method for children. Adults learn quite differently fromchildren, and teachers need to adapt their instruction to effec-tively reach adults. This process of adaptation is healthy forteachers, as they must learn to present their knowledge in avariety of ways.

I imagine that today’s students have a greater diversity ofethnic and cultural backgrounds than one might have founda century ago. I know my own children are attending schoolwith children whose families come from a variety of coun-tries. This diversity is not limited to nationality—today’sclassrooms have a wider mix of learning styles, abilities, andneeds. Part of this is due to the success of mainstreaming,and part of it is due to a greater understanding of (and abilityto diagnose) different learning modalities. All of this diversi-ty forces the teacher to adapt to meet each student. The one-size-fits-all approach that was common a century ago nolonger works, and I think that is a great improvement forteachers and students.

As you dig into this issue, I hope you’ll see that it representsmany of the changing faces of piano study. Our two coversubjects are both teaching and performing well into theirnineties, and they serve as an inspirational model for adultstudents everywhere (as well as a great link to those importanttraditions of the past). Three essays on the “Tiger Mom”debate address the growing population of Asian students andchallenge us to explore different approaches to practice, disci-pline, and parenting. The Technology department helps us tosee how music can have a major impact on the lives of stu-dents who have physical limitations that might preclude themfrom traditional instruction.

I’m optimistic. I’m inspired by those in our profession whoencourage us to try new strategies, methods, and technologies,and I do believe that we are evolving for the better. Thestereotypical piano teacher who used knuckle-rapping as aprimary teaching technique is a distant memory for oldergenerations, no longer a reality for today’s youth. Let’s contin-ue to challenge ourselves to stay current, to make improve-ments, and to recognize what’s new with our students, even aswe maintain our hallowed legacy. This process of self-assess-ment and self-criticism can ensure that we continue to grow.When time travel is finally invented we will welcome teachersfrom the past, but we don’t want them to feel too comfortablein our studios! p

Colu

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sEditor’s PagePete Jutras, Editor-in-Chief

The changing faces of piano study

It’s midsummer as this issue sees print, and the quiet time sincethose year-end recitals and juries has been most welcomed.After thirty weeks of lessons, I’m ready for a change. The

longer the term goes on, the more I feel that I can’t hear my stu-dents’ progress—I’m too close to them, too familiar with their ten-dencies. They undoubtedly feel the same way about me. On anearly morning walk in my tree-shaded neighborhood, I unravel thecacophony of the term.

The school concerto competition happened back in January: oneof my students won, but another who plays quite well didn’t makethe finals. No matter—a week later, the second student won outover the first in a competition out of town.

A few weeks after that, I attended a recital by a young competi-tion winner who was performing on the artist series in town. Thisparticular night, the immensely talented young pianist, whoseChopin Preludes recording I liked very much, left me cold. I won-dered how this could be the same artist. In fact, I heard in himmany of the tendencies I hear in my own students: sloppy rhythm,short-changed rests, a lack of legato. I went home in a bad mood.A month later, a well-known veteran of the concert stage per-formed on the same series—playing beyond fault, but emotionallyreserved. The mechanics of the playing were so perfect that a mis-take was out of the question. One admired the control, yet longedfor some personal exposure.

As I walk I think of another of my students who had played arecital around the same time. Here’s a young man from a shelteredbackground, home-schooled, quiet, shy, certainly no globe-trottingvirtuoso. As he plays in this, only his third recital ever, he missessome things, fouls up some tempo relationships, but he also makessome ravishingly beautiful sounds, especially in the second half ofhis program. I notice that he pauses longer at the end of a phrasethan I’ve heard before in a lesson, stretching out the meaning, lis-tening to it with his whole being. He makes me hear it, eventhough I’ve heard him play this same moment many times before.The moments multiply; by the end of the program I realize I haveheard more music made by my student than by either of the artistsdowntown.

It may seem unfair to compare world-class artists to my stu-dents, but isn’t it true that music making is something that takesone’s whole being? Immense talent is certainly helpful in making acareer, but anyone who invests integrity and authenticity into theact of music making stands a good chance of moving a listener.

Alas, my student won’t have a big playing career. He startedpiano too late to lay down the circuitry needed for a flawless tech-nique and to develop the sharp, sensitive ear that one needs tolearn music quickly and unerringly. But he can make music. He cancommunicate a musical message that is honest, from the heart, andultimately moving.

How could this happen, I wondered. What occurred to me dur-ing my student’s recital was that the music itself had changed thestudent. My teaching was only a small part of it—it was muchmore a result of the degree to which the student opened himself upto the music, and let it build his consciousness. His emotional sen-sitivity was not only heightened by the music he played, but created.He was no longer the naïve, home-schooled boy from farm coun-try—the music had altered his circuitry, added to his being,whether he knew it or not.

At another time during the past semester, I read a “contributionstatement” while attending a leadership symposium. It came fromBenjamin Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic,whose words I quoted once before in this column. Zander believesthat defining oneself in terms of success or failure is a dead-end.His solution: define yourself as a contribution. What did you con-tribute today? He suggests that everyone can contribute something,and by writing a contribution statement, you focus your activity.Here is Zander’s, and before reading further, I suggest you take agood long breath, because when you finish reading it, that breathwill be taken away:

To share the most powerful language ever devised by humanbeings...that stirs one’s soul, rearranges one’s molecules, turns one’s beinginside out. It gives you a new insight on life, a new place to stand, anew range of experience.

He’s talking about music, of course. Just sharing that language iscontribution enough—the power is in the music. The music doesthe work. Music has indeed rearranged my student’s molecules,turned his being inside out! Nothing else in his life could havedone this. Music has changed him, possibly forever.

I’d love to ask Zander how it is that music has this power. Myguess is that it has something to do with the fact that music issound, and sound involves vibrations. Quantum physics tells usthat everything vibrates, even solid matter. Could the nature ofmusical sounds, organized by composers of extraordinary sensitivi-ty, somehow alter our own vibrating consciousness?

For thousands of years, Eastern thought has concerned itselfwith sphotavada (sound metaphysics), which conceives of all mani-festations in the universe, both mind and matter, as consisting ofsounds of varying concentration, frequency, and wavelength.According to this ancient Hindu belief system, there are four cate-gories of sound to consider: vaikhari, which is the sound producedby plucking a string; madhyama, which is the transition betweenheard-sound and its inner vibration; pashyanti, the sound heardonly by the spiritually-awakened aspirant; and finally, para (fromthe Sanskrit word meaning “transcendental” or “beyond”), whichlies deeper than ordinary silence—it is an inner sound that is expe-rienced as the unrealized root-sound, or sound potential.

Who knows? For now I am content to contemplate the rustlingof the wind in the new oak leaves. My hearing is coming back. p

Winds of ChangeRobert Weirich

Robert Weirich leads an extremely active career as a pianist, teacher,author, and activist. He has performed at venues including Alice TullyHall, the Kennedy Center, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Tanglewood,Ravinia, and Marlboro. He holds the Jack Strandberg MissouriEndowed Chair in Piano at the UMKC Conservatory in Kansas City,MO. He has been a frequent contributor to many publications, and from1984 to 2003 he wrote the columns “The View from the Second Floor”and “Out of the Woods” for Clavier. He is a past president of the CollegeMusic Society, and he has twice received the Educational PressAchievement Award for his writing.


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To say that Amy Chua has touched a nervewith parents is an understatement akin tosaying that Franz Liszt had an influenceon piano performance and teaching. Since the publication of her book Battle Hymnof the Tiger Mother in January, and the subsequent Wall Street Journal article “Why

Chinese Mothers are Superior,” a firestorm of discussion and debate on parenting has brokenout across the United States. This debate has played out in major media outlets of everystripe, from the cover of Time to The Colbert Report. The dialogue is not only taking placeamong journalists—it has also been hotly debated by teachers, parents, and students in theblogs and message boards of countless websites. Go to Google and type in the words “BattleHymn.” You’ll find that the first automatic fill-in is “of the Tiger Mother.” “Of the Republic”is now second to Chua’s book in the search engine hierarchy.

I believe that no matter what “side” of the parenting debate you fall on (and I think there aremany sides), the discussion that is being generated is healthy. It is acutely applicable to musicstudy, and thus of particular interest to Clavier Companion. We are quite pleased to presentthree essays on the topic. Each author is an accomplished pianist and piano teacher, and eachauthor presents a unique point of view. I didn’t give the authors any direction for thesecolumns, other than to write what they think. I hoped that they would present a range ofideas on this complex topic, and I wasn’t disappointed. As always, I invite you, the reader, tocontribute your own thoughts by writing to [email protected]. p

—Pete Jutras


Thoughts on the

Tiger Mom debate

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES

My piano students know that I ask a million questions inorder to stimulate their minds and imaginations! At thismoment, my own mind and imagination have been

deeply stirred after reading an article that appeared in The WallStreet Journal in January, an article that was excerpted from a newbook by Dr. Amy Chua, law professor at Yale and author of twohighly acclaimed best sellers. The titles of Chua’s other books areblockbusters: World On Fire: How Exporting Free Market DemocracyBreeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, and Day Of Empire:How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance—and Why They Fail.

Definitely out of my area.The title of Chua’s new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,

has a more familiar ring, but it is already mildly irritating. Has shenot helped herself to a large portion of our iconic American hymntitle, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, a spiritual anthem sung onsomber and hallowed occasions? It was the title of the excerptedarticle, however, that jumped off the page. Sweeping forward—where angels fear to tread—its headline, “Why Chinese MothersAre Superior,” attacks her readers head-on! With this outrageousclaim, our intrepid Tiger Mom has just taken on all other mothersof the world! (She meekly retreats in an ensuing interview, saying,“The word ‘superior’ was not my idea!”)

A second article appeared just days later in the Ideas Market blogof the WSJ, and something in it caught my eye: a letter from theolder daughter, Sophia, to her Mom.

“Tiger Mom,” she writes, “You have been criticized a lot sinceyou published your memoir... One problem is that some peopledon’t get your humor. They think you’re serious about all this, andthey assume Lulu and I are oppressed by our evil mother. This is sonot true. Every Thursday, you take off our chains and let us playmath games in the basement...No outsider can know what ourfamily is really like.”

Oh, Sophia, we do know, because your Mom has chosen to writea book about you that has reached celebrity status. Sophia andLulu, you are now famous.

On the front jacket, I read, “This is a story about a mother, twodaughters and two dogs.” After this benign sentence came a zinger.“It’s about a bitter clash of cultures.” What has that to do with afamily and two dogs, I wondered? Then I turned to the back coverand read, “Chinese parenting—at least if you are trying to do it inAmerica, where the odds are all against you—is a never endinguphill battle, requiring a 24/7 time commitment, resilience andguile!” (Emphasis mine.) My shackles firmly up now, I devouredthe book cover to cover. In the course of its 229 pages and roughlythirty-four chapters, Chua’s breathtaking put-downs of “Western”values, education, and culture came fast and furiously!

She loses no time in criticizing “rich Westerners” (are theseAmericans?) who spoil their children, and she is disgusted by the“weak-willed Moms” whose musical progenies are content withjust one hour of practice, and in some cases, just a mere half-hour,after which they receive lavish gifts, even Legos! (Where in theworld did she encounter these people?) We then read about her

own bribery of a gift of a new dog for her youngest daughter, Lulu,if she would just play a perfect cadenza in her Viotti ViolinConcerto!

While awaiting her own daughter’s audition at Juilliard, Chuamakes note of all the “grim mothers” pacing back and forth waitingfor their offspring to finish their lessons. “Can they really lovemusic?” she sighs. (At least those Moms stay outside the lessonstudios, in contrast to her own “Helicopter-Mom” presenceinside!) Commenting on Manhattan’s “terrifying” culture of excessprivilege, complete with sign-ups for SATs available on entrance toNursery School (this may have some validity), Chua anxiouslyawaits her own daughter’s acceptance into one of these exclusiveinstitutions.

No Chinese mother could ever stomach an A-minus, Chuaassures her readers. Western moms would praise their children tothe skies on receiving such a grade! She extols the ancient Chinesevirtue of mothers suffering in silence while pushing their childrento gut-wrenching loads of work, and she adds that for Chinesemoms, Happiness Is Not An Option! (She then complains at thetop of her lungs about her own agonies of mothering in a best sell-ing book!) “I am losing my youth!” she wails.

Going even further, Chua tells her readers how she caused someguests to leave a dinner party in tears after she told them abouthurling withering epithets at her daughters, calling them “garbage”when they disobeyed her, in order to inspire them to more respect-ful behavior. “This would never destroy their self-esteem,” sheboasts to the shocked dinner guests. (Who can ever forget this“garbage” story?) Westerners, she lectures, are too concerned abouttheir children’s psyches and tiptoe around their little darlings’ frag-ile egos with fear and trembling. Chua admits that she spies on herchildren to keep them in line, and uses pure guile to get them topractice their musical instruments until they drop, while dictatingthe “correct” interpretation to them phrase by phrase, bowing bybowing. (Is she actually qualified for this job?) Come hell or highwater, her children are not going to fail! She cannot fail! NoChinese mother can fail! They are Superior! “I Know!” she shouts,“I’ve done it!” When her daughters insist that they are not Chineseanymore, they are Americans (good for them!), Chua cries out infrustration, “But you are Chinese!!”

Hopelessly spoiled by the “Western values” she criticizes, whilesimultaneously deploring the “decadence and indulgence” inWestern society, Chua turns her charming humor back onto herselfand regales us with a story of her own “wretched excess” when herfourteen-year-old daughter, Sophia, wins first prize in a pianocompetition. Rewarded with a performance in Carnegie Hall itself,Mom loses her senses and books the family into the luxurious St.Regis New York for the occasion, reserving the even more famous-ly grand party space, the Fontainebleau Room, for the after-concertreception. We also hear about her husband’s near nervous break-down when he receives the bill for this extravaganza for family,friends, and a crowd of ravenous teenagers!

Dear Sophia, we are sure that you truly did play a beautiful


Dear Mom,by Ann Schein

recital, and that you richly deserved such a joyous celebration. AndLulu, we are moved by your incredible strength and spirit in con-vincing your Mom that there was another way to your happinessand fulfillment than playing the violin, and that you can both tellyour mom that you are “Americans” now! We do know without adoubt that you have a tremendously gifted, and yes, SuperiorMom, who loves and cares for you with her whole being. And welove that your Dad makes you pancakes and takes you to Yankeegames! (Your Dad, for me, is the hands-down hero of your Mom’sbook!)

America is our melting pot, and we worry that somehow, some-where, your mother has missed a lot of the best things about ourcountry—success stories that are sadly absent from her book. Wewant to be sure that you know about the hundreds of fine musicschools, music camps, youth orchestras, and fabulous music festi-vals that are thriving across this land, with so many talented stu-dents just like the two of you coming year after year to study withselfless instructors who are passing on to young talents the greatest

inspirations and traditions of Western classical music. Happiness isengraved in our American DNA, and it is deep in the souls of thegreatest musicians of the world.

Hopefully, your Mom will soon write her next best seller—andpresent you with your third dog! p


It was a cold Sunday in January when the Dallas MusicTeachers Association held its Symphonic Festival piano com-petition. Icy conditions on most of the roads made it very diffi-

cult to drive from home to the competition site. Many parentschose to stay home and skip the competition. However, almost allof the Asian parents made it there. As usual, all of the winners hadAsian last names!

When people asked me about the differences between Chineseparents and Western parents, I always like to tell this story: In myneighborhood there is an activity center and a math school sittingon opposite sides of the same street. On any given Sunday, you willsee a lot of traffic as parents take their kids to different classes oractivities. Most of the cars turning into the parking lot of the activ-ity center are driven by American parents dropping off their kidsfor basketball, swim lessons, or simply to play. The cars turning tothe math school contain Asian families, most of them Chinese.

Dr. Amy Chua’s article in The Wall Street Journal about the supe-riority of the Chinese parenting style has drawn a lot of criticismon the internet, but as a Chinese mother and a music teachermyself, the article touched some of my daily debate—what is thebest for my kids?

I agree with Chua about the parenting philosophy of mostChinese parents. (As Chua, I am also using the term “Chinesemother” loosely. These parents could be Korean, Indian, or fromany other ethnic group that subscribes to the strict parenting rule.)Most Chinese parents do have a goal in mind to produce childrenwho display academic excellence, musical achievement, and profes-sional success. And, as Chua pointed out, most Western parentsworry that pushing kids too hard academically will hurt their chil-dren’s self esteem.

This difference is evident in music study. Although parents of allethnic groups would like to have their children learn to play instru-ments, most Westerners would rather enroll their children in group

lessons to simply have fun, rather than find a really good teacher totrain their children to display musical mastery. On the contrary,most Chinese parents would think that having fun at a groupmusic class is a waste of time and money.

If you ask a typical Chinese parent to take a Myers-Briggs per-sonality test, most of them will probably have these characteristics(taken from the ESTJ personality type as described at www.per-sonalitypage.com):

“...they take parenting responsibilities seriously,... They like to be incharge, and may be very controlling of their children. They do not havemuch tolerance for inefficiency or messiness. They dislike to see their mis-takes repeated.... They will have little patience with the unstructured,“go with the flow” attitude of their perceiving children.”

This is not, as Dr. Chua stated, because Chinese parents believethat their kids owe them everything. This might be the thinking ofmy grandparents’ generation. The strict and academic-success-driven Chinese parenting philosophy, in my view, has more to dowith the Chinese culture. The imperial examination system solidi-fies the thinking that only academic excellence will give you successin life. Chinese parents don’t believe in great carpenters or success-ful salesmen—they want their children to be professors, doctors, orlawyers. Academic achievement is at the core of a child’s upbring-ing in most Chinese families. It is no coincidence that Chineseparents produce so many whiz kids and musical prodigies.

As a music teacher, I am in agreement with Dr. Chua that kidsneed to be pushed. Given the choice, children will always chooseplay over practice. As parents, we need to make sure that theyspend enough time working on perfecting their knowledge andskills, be it in an academic field or in music. I also believe we needto challenge kids to get over the difficult parts of their study. AsChua pointed out in the article, “This often requires fortitude onthe part of the parents because the child will resist; things arealways hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents

To be or not to be Topby Fenia I-Fen Chang

Ann Schein served on the piano faculty of the Peabody Conservatoryfrom 1980-2000, and she has been an artist-faculty member of the AspenMusic festival since 1984. She has performed in more than 50 countriesacross the world, with artists including George Szell, James Levine, SeijiOzawa, Sir Colin Davis, and Jessye Norman. She was trained in hernative United States, where she studied with both Mieczyslaw Munzand Arthur Rubinstein. She has received many distinguished honors forher Chopin performances and recordings, and her 1958 recording of theNouvelle Etude in A-flat Major was recently included in MarstonRecords’ special collection A Century of Romantic Chopin.

tend to give up... Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial forexcellence...Once a child stars to excel at something, he or she getspraise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence andmakes the once not-fun activity fun.”

Nobody wants to hurt a child’s feelings. However, if parents aretoo anxious about their children’s self-esteem, praising children’smediocre performances instead of challenging them, they will like-ly miss opportunities to unveil the children’s potential.

Having said that, I don’t think it is necessary to exhaust all toolsto motivate your children, including calling them names and usingnegative words to describe them. One thing I notice in my teach-ing career, be it private teaching or at the college level, is that thereare different degrees of intelligence among different people. Forstudents who are not that smart or naturally talented, a harsh chal-lenge might ruin their confidence. As a music educator, you willneed to adapt to the talents you have, to know there are limits tohow far you can go, that you cannot just keep pushing everybody.Dr. Chua is lucky to have two very smart girls who can meet ademanding mother’s endless challenges. Applied to other children,these techniques might produce rebellious teenagers or cause nerv-ous breakdowns.

It is generally believed that Western parents will try to respecttheir children’s individuality, support their choices, encourage themto be what they want to be, and provide positive reinforcement.There is nothing wrong with positive reinforcement and a nurtur-ing environment. However, don’t mistake that for accepting medi-ocrity and being a pushover parent. There may be some supergeniuses or extremely talented children who will inspire themselvesto greater things without any outside influence. But a lot of theseachievers were pushed to be successful by their parents as well.Most of us are just ordinary people who will choose to take it easyif given the choice between working hard and having fun. This isespecially true in regard to learning piano or other musical instru-ments. It is a very complicated process of the brain processing thescore and telling both hands to do different things simultaneously.Even the smartest brain will need a lot of practice to master theskill. You will only have fun if you can get past the hard parts. Formost kids, you need strict parents to push you past those hardparts.

I believe all decent parents want what is best for their children,and they want their children to be at the top, if possible. MostChinese parents believe that to get to the top, the best way to pre-pare your children is to let them have a higher goal for themselves,to let them realize their potential, and to arm them with skills,work ethics, and confidence. It may not always get them to the top.But it will certainly give them a good chance to be successful inthis highly competitive society. p


Not everyone is winking

by Bruce Berr

Born in Taiwan, Fenia I-Fen Chang made her solo debut at age eleven,after winning the first Japan Kawai piano competition. She hasperformed at major venues in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, France, andthe U.S., including Alice Tully Hall & Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall inNew York, Strathmore Hall & Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.,and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She holds B.M. and M.M.degrees from Juilliard, and a D.M.A. from the University of Maryland,and her teachers include Abbey Simon, Russell Sherman, JeromeLowenthal, Thomas Schumacher, and Santiago Rodriguez. Devoted tomusic education, she has served on the faculties of, among others,Washington Bible College, National Taiwan University of the Arts, andTexas A&M-Commerce. She is the Founder and Artistic Director for theAsian-American Performing Arts Association of Texas, and she currentlymaintains a private teaching studio in Plano, TX.

This is the second opportunity I’ve had to publicly sharemy views on the Amy Chua article, “Why ChineseMothers are Superior.” Some of what follows is from

my essay, “A Colorful Life” which appeared on the last pageof the April 2011 issue of American Music Teacher, but I haveroom here to elaborate.

I don’t agree with Chua’s educational philosophy as statedin the Wall Street Journal article, (I have not read her bookfrom which that article was excerpted), but I am thankful itappeared because it has ignited discussion about many currenteducational issues, making possible a public discourse that hasneeded to take place for a long time.

In the last ten years in my independent piano studio in anupper-middle class Chicago suburb, have I seen a decline indiscipline and rates of achievement? Yes, to a degree. Havemore families over-scheduled their children with extra-curric-ular activities such that their chances of achieving excellencein any one area are greatly diminished? Yes, definitely. Have Iencountered more parents who seem to coddle their under-achieving children and make excuses for them? Yes, definitely.Have many (but not all) of my best students been from Asianfamilies? Yes.

And yet I still disagree with Chua’s approach? Most defi-nitely! It’s obvious to me that none of the Chinese parents inmy studio treat their children as Chua does—not even close.Instead what I see are parents who are willing and able to dowhat some others in the studio are not. More on this later.

I believe that many American educators are grappling witha society that increasingly seems to be losing its focus interms of how hard work, dedication, external reward, andmeaningful, pleasurable accomplishment fit together. There isan interview on YouTube with the saxophonist BranfordMarsalis, in which he comments on his teaching experience.Although I don’t share the tone and degree of negativity inthat clip, I do agree with his broad view: “Most of my stu-dents are not willing to work to live up to [their potential] . . .Welive in a country that seems to be in a massive state of delu-sion—where the idea of what you are is more important thanyou actually being that. And it actually works as long as every-body is winking at the same time.”

Are we all winking? Perhaps collectively, but Chua’sapproach is no cure. It offers extreme “solutions” to complexsituations that require nuance and fine differentiations. Tryingto solve grey problems with black or white solutions mightseem to work, but down the road new problems arise that areimprints of the old ones, just turned inside-out. For instance,

when a beginner lacks innate discipline in pianostudy (which is naturally true for most), dracon-ian methods that ignore the unique personality ofeach person can be utilized “successfully” to pro-duce intensive practice. The result may beimpressive in that students learn how to play pro-gressively advanced pieces, but at what price? Dothey also learn how to be creative in this way? Tobe good listeners to music? To love what they’redoing? To understand what they are playing?

During the thirteen years that I was a full-time university professor, the majority of ourmost physically accomplished students wereAsian, and they did work very hard. However, ascompetent as they were as players, almost all(even those raised here) struggled mightily withthe creative aspects of being a pianist: projectingthe structure of music beyond the score mark-ings; communicating emotional depth; being ableto play by ear or improvise, let alone compose. Whenpresented with early intermediate piano literature to learn on theirown for pedagogy class, many could not make musical sense of thescore without instruction or hearing a recording. Early intermediate!Was this demographic weakness cultural in origin? Was it theresult of an austere learning approach that championed precisionover romance, material over spiritual? Was it just a coincidence? Idon’t pretend to know the answer, but I do know that Chua’s articledoes not even hint at these important aspects of musical adeptness.

So I don’t agree with the discipline-above-everything approachof Chua, nor do I agree with the parents I’ve seen firsthand who,for various reasons, avoid fostering a healthy work ethic and pursuitof excellence in their children. However, I am inspired and encour-aged by the families in my studio—Chinese and others—who doskillfully, lovingly juggle the needs and wants of their children,helping them grow into creative, decision-making adults. Mydescription of them from the AMT article:

[They] impart to their children through their words andbehavior that hard work and fun are not mutually exclusive,rather the greatest pleasure comes from both intertwined;make firm unilateral decisions when necessary but do so kind-ly; persistently frame music study as a privilege and responsi-bility that requires commensurate effort over time; limit theirchildren’s outside activities so they can enjoy doing excellentwork (not perfect), but still allow the child choices; areinvolved in their young children’s home practice from a practi-cal standpoint (helping with structure and even content,regardless of their own music background) and an emotionalone by showing sincere interest and providing moral supportduring bumpy times; set an example of commitment by rarelymissing or being late to lessons, and being on top of schedul-ing lessons, attending recitals, and paying tuition; reinforce thejoy of music by listening to art music in their homes, andbringing their children to concerts of all kinds, not just thoseby pop stars; model that recreation and a social life are natural,desirable facets of a healthy person’s life; communicate thatpiano study is part of an education that is not just aboutprocuring a career, but helping a person grow into themself, thuslearning how to live a life rich in many ways.

This was all said best by a Chinese mother in my studio,Ms. “W,” when I interviewed her for the Winter 2004 issue of

Keyboard Companion: “You have to balanceeverything. You already know how youwould like your kids to be in the future.Everything I do is based on this vision. Iwant their life to be very colorful for them:to know music, to enjoy sports, and to begood students. I don’t need to push themreally hard to do this, but I feel I have toprepare them.” Seven years later, her chil-dren are still all of that, plus they arehappy, levelheaded, beautiful people.

You can hear parts of the interview with Ms.“W ” on the Clavier Companion website:www.c laviercompanion.com/Inter view1/Interview1.html.

After the AMT essay appeared, I replied tosomeone who disagreed with the perspective, “I

think we both agree on one thing: the survival ofthe art music we love requires a discipline that seems

to be showing up less and less in American homes. We all need todo what we can to reverse this unfortunate trend.”

We do not have control over the values and standards our stu-dents are exposed to in their homes. But we do have control overwhat happens in our studios, and what and how we communicatewith students and parents, all of which makes a difference in theirlives.

What are we each trying to create in our studios? Skilled play-ers? Creative musicians? Music lovers? Better learners of any sub-ject matter? Self-confident people? Strong character? Some combi-nation of these? Students are people who have not yet grown intowho they are, even at college. They are unknown, evolving entities.Therefore, it seems to me that the more we treat our students aspeople first, musicians second, and players third, the more likely weare to help them grow into well-balanced, healthy people andlearners, and the less likely we are to do harm. As their skills deep-en, talents emerge, and preferences crystallize, adjustments can bemade. By then, they are willing partners in the process, showingdiligence borne of passion, curiosity, and a heartfelt desire toaccomplish a goal.

There are some who think that the more Lang Langs we try toproduce, the better. Instead I believe that each person realisticallyachieves maximum musical resonance at a different “pitch.”Discovering that pitch takes time for everyone—student, parents,teacher—and it requires intentionality to allow that “string” tovibrate freely of its own accord, guided by foresight and empathy. p

1 Copyright © 2011 Music Teachers National Association. Used by Permission.


Bruce Berr has been an independent teacher and university professor ofpiano and pedagogy for a long time. He is known nationally as aclinician, educational composer and arranger, and author on a widevariety of topics related to teaching, music, and piano. His column onpersonal observations, “ad lib,” appears regularly in American MusicTeacher magazine, and he has been editor of the Rhythm departmentfor Keyboard Companion and Clavier Companion since 1997.Please visit www.bruceberr.com for more information.

We do not have control over the

values and standardsour students are

exposed to in theirhomes. But we dohave control over

what happens in ourstudios, and what

and how we communicate with

students and parents,all of which makes a

difference in theirlives.

An interview with Livia Révby Mark Ainley

Musical education

is about more

than music


CLAVIER COMPANION 15

“Very interesting. But not beautiful.” Livia Révis examining some modern art on the mainfloor of the Institut Hongrois in Paris, an exhi-bition that was set up between the start of hermaster class that morning and the lunch

break. The Hungarian pianist, who stands barely five feet tall, hashardly finished her pronouncement before she is off again, wander-ing through the gallery. At age ninety-four, she shows no signs ofslowing down, evidenced by a recital and week of master classes atthe Institut for students from Hungary and other countries. Heracute observations about music, art, and life, and her dynamismwhen playing and teaching are remarkable, signs of a brilliant intel-lect and a life devoted to the best in musical expression.

BeginningsBorn in Budapest on July 5, 1916, Rév began her studies at a

young age with Margit Varro, winning a Grand Prize at the age ofnine and making her orchestra debut performing Mozart ’sConcerto for Two Pianos in E-flat Major, K. 365/316a, at age

twelve. At the Franz Liszt Academy she studied with Klara Mathe,Arnold Szekely, and Leo Weiner, winning the 1st prize; later (from1934 to 1936) in Leipzig she worked with Robert Teichmuller andPaul Weingarten.

Like most international concert artists, Rév gravitated to thepiano at a young age. “I was five years old when I heard the pianoplayed for the first time, and I was stunned because it was a largepiece of furniture for me and there were these extraordinary soundscoming out of it! I was absolutely fascinated, and then I went tolisten to a young girl who used to practice, and I loved it so muchthat I went to listen to her every day, and that was the beginning ofmy musical education.”

The story of Rév’s beginnings with the piano and music is quitedifferent from the norm today. “I started playing at the age of sixwhen I received my first piano lesson as a birthday present. It wasin the summer—I was born the 5th of July—and I was sent to thecountryside after my first piano lesson with some piano scores Ihad been given. I spent all of my holidays going through thesescores to discover the music, without a piano, and when I returned

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to Budapest, I had read them all and could read music flu-ently. I don’t know how I played them, as I wasn’t quiteprepared for that yet, but I learned to read music muchearlier than learning to read letters at school. Fortunatelymy education started by reading music because very oftenthe young musicians of today don’t know how to do so.Everything becomes easier to do if you can read musicproperly. I believe this is why a lot of students abandontheir musical training at a certain point—the effort gets tobe too great.”

InfluencesWhen asked about her education, Rév’s emphasis goes

immediately to Margit Varro above all others. “She shouldbe very well-known, because she was the most marvellous,most gracious teacher in the world. She wrote a book in1921 called Dynamic Piano Teaching—Methodology andPsychology. Varro translated the book into German, and itis still compulsory reading in conservatories in Germanytoday. I was taught by her and one of her students andwas exceptionally well trained.

“Then there was Teichmuller in Leipzig, where I stayedfor two years before the war, and Leo Weiner in

Budapest, who was the chamber music teacher. This wasobligatory for all instrumentalists, so all the musicians,violinists, conductors, studied with him. Many of thosewho became famous had been taught by him—he was awonderful musician and his only goal was to help nurturegood musicians.

“I had a formidable education, with all my studies inBudapest, and then in Leipzig, and then again inBudapest when I trained as a teacher (I got my diploma in1938). I had good luck because Madame Varro was a stu-dent of one of the best students of Liszt’s, Árpád Szendy,so musically I descend directly from Liszt. AndTeichmuller, my professor in Leipzig, was a student ofBrahms. So I was very fortunate.”

Thoughts on performingLivia Rév has been before the public for more than eight

decades. She is still active as a pianist, and even gave herfirst performance in Switzerland in September 2009 at theage of ninety-three—the clips that have been uploaded onYouTube show that she retains tremendous interpretativeabilities, with a rich tone and beautifully shaped phrasing.While she may not have been the biggest headliner, shehas performed far and wide and on auspicious occasions.Having settled in France after the War with her Frenchhusband, she was particularly successful in London, whereshe played with all the major orchestras under renownedconductors such as Boult, Cluytens, Jochum, Kubelík,Silvestri, and Sargent. She also adores chamber music andplayed for a decade with the famous cellist János Starker.She has made well-received recordings for the Hyperionlabel of works by Debussy, Chopin, and Mendelssohn;Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe said that Rév “has astrong claim to being the most alluring Debussy pianistalive.” Having played for more years than most people live,Rév has been witness to profound shifts in the musical lifeof the planet, which she speaks about with clarity, certain-ty, and sincerity.

Among the changes Rév discusses are those relating toperformance. “Each period or era has a different style.When I was quite young, great Romantic liberty was invogue—but only if it was authentically felt. And thenthere was a period after the war when everything wasawfully metronomic. After this period there was anotherperiod of great liberty, but not by feeling it—simply bydistorting the rhythm.” When I chuckle at the sad truththat she articulates, her voice becomes very serious.“Please don’t laugh,” she scolds. I assure her that is a laughof resignation and understanding, and she continues withan even more astute observation. “Performers give theimpression of feeling something that they have never trulyfelt—and we can sense it right away.

“Pianists now play so well, quickly, softly, loudly, all onecould hope for, but they are often not making music. Theyare not free to express themselves, or they have nothing tosay. As my teacher Madame Varro said, ‘All is well done,except for the music.’ All these big international competi-tions, which are unfortunately necessary nowadays, aswithout them the impresarios wouldn’t know whom tointroduce to the concert societies, reduce the musical


Liva Rév, 1975

plane to what we can measure: force and speed. The tal-ent, and all the rest, we cannot. Musical expression, inspi-ration—we can’t learn it, we can’t grade it. We can give ascore for speed and force, but for the rest, we can’t. Andthen there are juries who are generally made up of formercompetition winners. I am very proud that I never entereda competition—and now I wonder whether I would havewon if I had!

“All the work that one does at the piano will only takeyou to a certain level, but there is something else that wecannot really teach: the spirit. If we are not born with itand we don’t cultivate it afterwards, then it is missing.”Rév tells the story of a young pianist sent by a Frenchimpresario to play for her. “I was to give my opinion whatI thought of him. Well, I thought that my Steinwaywould crumble to dust because he played so hard on it,and so I had no idea if he had talent or not. I asked him ifhe could play me something classical, by Mozart, orBeethoven, or Brahms, and he said, ‘I don’t have them inmy repertoire—what do you play?’ And I replied, ‘Well, infact those are the composers that I play,’ to which hereplied, ‘Oh, so you only play easy music...’ So how is itthat this ‘easy’ music is so difficult for others? They playStravinsky and Prokofiev and all these pieces that are dif-ficult so well, but when they get to something ‘simple’there is very little going on.”

Thoughts on teaching and repertoireFor this reason, Rév is particular about what her stu-

dents play. For the master classes in Paris, she asked themto prepare a Beethoven Sonata from the first ten, as theyare more classical and ‘simple’ and yet, as she explained,‘simple’ is not easy. While teaching, Rév will not playmore than a few measures to make a demonstration,something she learned in her own training. “MadameVarro avoided as much as possible playing us anything,and, if she did, it was only a tiny little excerpt of a piece,but never a whole piece, because she wanted us to avoidcopying her. This helped each student to find her ownnature, her own voice.” Rév sits attentively or walks nearthe student, making observations, for example, aboutaccents fitting within the structure of the work, and howpatterns repeat themselves and how to highlight them.When I mention these comments later on, she is quick topoint out, “Anything I say about structure isn’t reallyabout the structure. It ’s about how to get students tobreathe life into the music, how to express the richness ofthe composer’s emotions.” A structure is a structure, but itneeds to be filled with something—something, as shestated earlier, which competitions cannot measure.

Which brings us to another topic that has changed overthe course of her career: fidelity to the text, which is lessthe point for her than the music that it reveals. “Today wehave thousands of pianists who play a thousand times bet-ter than others in the past, and me for example, but theyforget that we represent the music and not only the notes.And that is a shame, as the musical level of performanceshas fallen. One hopes it will go up again, which it should,as it has gone so far down it has no other choice!”

As for her own preferred composers and repertoire,“Naturally we would start with Bach, and then there’sMozart, Chopin, and Debussy. Of course there are all theothers, but one has to keep in mind one’s physical andtechnical capabilities. As I am so small, and have suchsmall hands, I couldn’t simply play anything. I played lotsof Liszt nevertheless, which already gave me some prob-lems to resolve, physically. I could never play, for example,the great concertos of Brahms, which I adore and knowvery deeply, but which would be impossible for me to play.When we’re not at ease and we force ourselves, we can’treally play.”


Livia Rév in 1952 and 2010.

“Now I must tell you a little story, some-thing which took place when I was preparingmy recording of Chopin Nocturnes. While Iwas playing, at a certain moment, I had theimpression that my soul had met Chopin’s—that they were in contact with each other. Itwas something so bizarre, and yet from thatmoment, I had the sense of a freedom ofexpression. I had the impression that I couldnow express myself as I wished, as I felt.Whether this is true or not is up to you todecide. Whether it was real or imagined, theimpact was profound.” Indeed, her commercialrecording is imbued with a sense of authorityand freedom, and her 2009 Lausanne interpre-tation of the Nocturne in B-flat Minor Op. 9,No. 1, is remarkable for its singing line andbalanced Romantic expression.

Career and familyI asked Rév about her own experience making a career as a

pianist. “There are people who decide ‘I want a career, and I will dowhatever it takes.’ I had a friend at the Academy in Budapest whowas trained to have a career in America. Once she finished herstudies in Budapest, she went off to America to start her career. Wenever heard anything of her again. We cannot decide our careers—they come or they don’t come. It’s not we who decide. It’s the pub-lic. In any field, we cannot ultimately decide on our careers. DidMr. Sarkozy know as a child that he was going to be President ofFrance?”

While much is often made about women not having had thesame chances as men, Rév herself did not experience this. “I nevercame across anyone who gave me the impression that I couldn’thave a career because I was a woman. I was married, and I hadchildren, luckily for me, and by chance I had my children betweenseasons, so I never missed a season! And now I have two wonderfulchildren who help me with everything and who are happy, and theymake me happy. There were a number of pianists who didn’t wantto marry or have children because of their careers. I am very happythat I was able to create with my husband a warm family atmos-phere for my children, and I don’t feel that I sacrificed my careerfor it. In fact, I didn’t even really live for my career—I lived to playthe piano. That was my goal, not my career.”

When talk turns to pianists she admired, Rév is quick to praiseAnnie Fischer as not only one of her closest friends, but also as oneof the most impressive pianists she has heard. “When I heard herplay, it was possibly the first time that I didn’t miss a single note, itwas so fascinating. From the first note, she took us and didn’t let gountil the last note—that was my impression; it was such passionateand intense playing.” The other pianists that Rév says had thebiggest impact on her were Ernst von Dohnányi and SviatoslavRichter.

A career as long as hers is surely filled with interesting concertsand experiences. When asked about some highlights, she responds,“An impressive concert with the great Charles Grove in London,when we played the First Concerto by Bartók. And then a perform-ance of the Chopin E Minor Concerto with Rafael Kubelík when Iwas seven months pregnant with my first daughter. And then therewas a concert at Buckingham Palace—I was invited by the Queenof England, and there were 1,500 people. I had played for the Royal

Family several times when there were gala ben-efit concerts, and there was always a member ofthe entourage who was present to accompanyme and hold my hand as I took a bow. Becausethis time I was in front of the Queen and theQueen Mother, there was no one there. Andwhen I went to bow, as deeply as I could inorder to respect the Queen, the heel of my shoegot stuck in my dress, and I fell backwards. Itthrew me completely off guard, and I wantedto laugh, but I didn’t know what to do, so I bitmy tongue. Nothing like this had ever hap-pened to me before and it hasn’t happenedsince—it just had to happen on this occasion!It was so funny to me. One of the members ofthe court came to me and said, ‘You played sobeautifully that we were more than willing toforgive your gaffe.’”

Music is not just about musicToday, Rév continues to balance her good humour and direct

views of music making with a gentle disposition and generousnature. Awarded the Legion of Honour by President Sarkozy onJuly 14th last year, she is remarkably free of pretension. When Ifirst meet her in the lobby at the Institut Hongrois, she is sittingwith a gentle smile. She cordially invites me to join her for break-fast—she had not had time to eat before coming from her home inthe suburbs. We sit in a small area up a flight of stairs, which shenavigates remarkably well, eating French bread with jam anddrinking coffee. She looks at her watch in horror when she realizesthat she is still eating forty-five minutes after class was scheduledto begin—but she needs to eat and so her students must wait, andshe continues to eat. She will not be rushed. Whatever she does,she does it fully. Once in class, she is completely focused on herstudents.

On the lunch break, she invites a member of the public to join usand her students, and we walk around the corner where we pick upsome quiche and other baked goods, which she insists on payingfor herself, and we all head back to the Institut kitchen. As shespeaks, her blue eyes sparkle and she is very animated. Her smallstature and advanced age may initially belie the depth of her ener-gy, but her wisdom and dedication are apparent in all interactions.Music is but one way in which she expresses herself and throughwhich she enables others to do the same. Just as she stated thatstructure is not about structure, the music is not just about music.

“The only truly important thing in life is love. That’s what I aimto give my students. That’s all that I can do.” p

A Canadian writer and teacher with a particular interest in histori-cal piano recordings, Mark Ainley has researched and written about anumber of important pianists, most notably Dinu Lipatti and MarcelleMeyer. His research about Dinu Lipatti led to the discovery and publi-cation of previously unpublished recordings of this legendary artist. Hecurrently operates the websites www.thepianofiles.com and www.dinulipatti.com, along with matching pages on Facebook. Inaddition to writing for websites, magazines, and CD booklets, he alsogives presentations focused on historical recordings by great pianists andthe shifting tides of interpretation. He can be contacted [email protected]

Photos on pp. 16-18 courtesy of Liva Rév, www.liviarev.com/en.


Livia Rév, 1947


Frank Glazer at Bates College, 2006Photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen

Many people have played all thir-ty-two Beethoven Sonatas inone concert season before, butI would be willing to bet thatno one has done it for the first

time at age ninety-five. Frank Glazer holds aunique place among concert pianists and teachers.He is the last living student from the Berlin days ofthe great Beethoven interpreter Artur Schnabel(other students remain from his teaching in Italyand New York). Surely no one who has ever per-formed the complete Beethoven cycle for the firsttime, including Schnabel himself, has ever broughtninety years of study and performing experience tobear on his performances.

In addition to this heroic Beethoven series, this nonagenarianhas recently given concerts and master classes from Maine toCalifornia as well as in Austria, Iceland, and Japan. This pastseason, at age ninety-six, he played a program that includedBach’s Chromatic Fantasie and Fugue, Liszt’s Sonata in B minor,and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, which were all new pieces tohim. He keeps adding to his enormous catalog—he doesn’tbelieve in recycling his performance repertoire. He’s never tooold to learn new things. And for almost eighty years (fifty con-secutive years at the college level), he has been a dedicated, effec-tive, and generous teacher.


by Duncan Cumming

Frank Glazer in 1936. Photograph byBen Pinchot.

OriginsFrank Glazer was born on February 19, 1915, during Woodrow

Wilson’s presidency. He was the sixth of nine children born toBenjamin and Clara Glazer, Jewish immigrants from Lithuania.Their sparse furnishings included a piano. By age three, Glazercould pick out, among other tunes, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” and“My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.”

With so many children for Clara to look after, Blanche, the old-est child and only girl, happily took on her little brother Frank asher special charge. One of Glazer’s early memories was makingmuffins with Blanche; she often baked cookies and made cocoa forhim as well. When Frank was five, Blanche dropped to the floor inthe living room. Glazer remembers watching his father pick her upin his arms. She was rushed to the hospital, but later that night shedied. Needless to say, Frank was devastated.

As a child, Glazer’s interest in the piano was sustained andinspired by his sister’s playing; whatever playing he did was by wayof trying to imitate her. In essence, Blanche was his first teacher.

TeachersYoung Glazer went through a number of temporary (and not

always competent) teachers before his study with his first profes-sional teacher, Raphael Baez. The price was eighty cents a lesson.Glazer remembers him this way:

He was a sinister-looking man with a goatee and mustachethat drooped almost down to his chin. He wore a black cape, ablack felt hat with a wide brim, and he walked with the aid ofa cane. I didn’t look forward to those lessons because when Imade a mistake he would pull my hair, if it was long enough,or hit the back of my head with his hard knuckles while sayingUm Gottes Willen (“For God’s sake”). There were plenty ofthose hits. Although I didn’t understand the German exple-tive, I knew it was bad news.1

In the summer of 1927, something happened that altered thecourse of Glazer’s life. Two cousins asked him how he was doing inhis piano lessons. To their surprise, the twelve-year-old answeredthat he wasn’t getting anywhere, and he was going to quit andbecome a ballplayer since, in his words, “ballplayers can make

$8,000 a year.” The cousins suggested that he play for their teacher,Jacob Moerschel. Before he agreed, Glazer wanted to know twothings: “Is he old? Does he hit?”2 The cousins reassured the youngmusician and made the appointment. Glazer played Beethoven’sSonata Op. 13, “Pathetique” and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2. Moerschel accepted him on the spot.

Glazer later learned from Moerschel’s widow that when he leftthat audition, Moerschel said, “At last, I have found the personwho is going to do something. I can see it in his eyes, and I’m surehe has the Sitzfleisch [capacity for work].”3

Vaudeville callsMeanwhile, in the summer of 1927, a cousin arranged for Frank,

a violinist, and a cellist to form a trio playing classical music in avaudeville context. Glazer’s professional career was underway. Thetrio was one of seven acts in the vaudeville show, and it didn’t takelong for a manager to notice the pianist in the group. Soon he wastouring with “Baby Dolores,” who sang and danced. The manager,Mrs. Frank Billings, created a five-piece band called the “KiddieRevue” which included violin, piano, drums, saxophone, and banjo.The Mistress of Ceremonies was Baby Dolores herself, and soonthey had a chorus line of dancers. Every week there were tworehearsals and ten shows. Glazer worked on his homework as wellas his music theory assignments backstage between shows. For allthe performances and rehearsals he was paid a total of fifteen dol-lars per week, which he dutifully turned over to his family. Inreturn for this he received fifty cents a week as an allowance. Inorder to get permission to work, Glazer had to go to juvenile court.Child labor laws, even then, protected children from being exploit-ed by their parents.

Glazer played in vaudeville shows from 1927 to 1930. Theteenager played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue only eight years afterit was written, once performing it twenty-eight times in one week!Years later when he played Rhapsody in Blue with the LyonPhilharmonic in France, an elderly gentleman told him he hadheard Gershwin play it, and Glazer was the only pianist he everheard who played it the way Gershwin played it.4

SalonsJacob Moerschel brought Glazer to play in people’s homes, in

the style of the nineteenth-century salon. Everybody benefitedfrom these events. His hosts got to listen to Moerschel talk abouthis years in Vienna where he heard Johann Strauss and metAntonin Dvorák. Perhaps the study of the piano was only one ofthe skills Glazer learned from Moerschel; he seems to have passedalong his gift for storytelling as well.

At these events Moerschel laid the groundwork for the possibili-ty that one of the wealthy salon hosts might fund Glazer’s study inEurope. Moerschel was well aware that Glazer’s parents wouldn’tbe able to provide the kind of life education the young and enthu-siastic boy deserved.

In November of Glazer’s senior year of high school, Moerschelbecame ill. In February, the week following the twenty-eight per-formances of Rhapsody in Blue, Glazer was to play Moskowski’sConcerto in E major with the Young People’s Symphony at theMilwaukee Auditorium. After playing three vaudeville shows, hechanged into his tuxedo and headed to the MilwaukeeAuditorium. On the way, Glazer stopped to see the bedriddenMoerschel. Two months later, almost twelve years after Glazer losthis sister, tragedy struck again—Moerschel died.

Study with SchnabelMoerschel had been working out a plan for young Glazer’s path.

While he was ill, he told Glazer that he should study with Artur


Young Frank Glazer at the piano.

Schnabel in Berlin. Moerschel and Schnabel had both been stu-dents of Leschetizky in the 1890s, and Moerschel had followedSchnabel’s career. Moerschel insisted that Glazer study withSchnabel and not someone else. Near his death, Moerschel sentMilton Rusch to speak with potential sponsors, and fundingwas secured.

Glazer left his family, Milwaukee, and America for Berlin.Glazer recalls his feelings at this crucial turning point in his life:

A few months before I left home, the teacher uponwhom I had been completely, utterly dependent for direc-tion and guidance, not only in my studies, but also in mycareer and life in general for almost five very impressionableyears—this true mentor—had died. Losing him, I also losthis unflagging support and encouragement. Furthermore, Ihad left behind a large and closely-knit family as well as allthe friends with whom I had recently graduated from highschool. And I expected to be away for two years in a coun-try where I didn’t know anybody. At home, in Milwaukee, Ihad performed a great deal and was probably considered tobe a proverbial “big fish in a small pond.” It was so very faraway from, home, sweet home!5

Glazer arrived at ten at night and went directly to Schnabel’shouse in Charlottenburg, as Schnabel had instructed him.Schnabel was teaching; he often taught until midnight. His secre-tary told Glazer he couldn’t possibly see Schnabel that evening andhe should come back the next day. She sent him out into the night.

Glazer remembers his initial interview with Schnabel as both amarvelous, inspiring time and also one of great confusion. Schnabelwas delighted by Glazer’s naïveté. He had never met anybody who

had come such a distance all alone at such an age (Glazer was onlyseventeen at the time). Glazer thinks Schnabel was very enter-tained by him, although he didn’t intend to amuse him. Schnabel’ssmile and the twinkle in his eye reminded Glazer of his own father.

The lessons took place in Schnabel’s home, in a large room withtwo beautiful concert grand Bechsteins and an enormous library.The lessons were fun because Schnabel had a lively imaginationand a great sense of humor. All the students were invited to attendall the lessons. Schnabel, of course, was giving a lesson for the ben-efit of the student who had paid. The others were allowed to comeat no extra expense, which was a way of learning a great deal ofmusic and getting good teaching for free. “The trouble with thissystem,” Glazer recalls, “was that if you went to everyone else’s les-son you wouldn’t have time to practice yourself.”6

Because of the Nazi situation and because Schnabel was bothJewish and outspoken, there was fear that his apartment might beransacked by the storm troopers as apartments of others had been.In May of 1933, Schnabel and his entourage of family and studentsleft for Italy. Schnabel lived in Tremezzo on Lake Como, andGlazer lived one village up from there in Cadenabbia. The atmos-phere in Italy was much more relaxed than it had been in Berlin.Glazer made many friends in Italy and enjoyed hiking, wonderfulfood, and boat rides on Lake Como.

The rest of Europe in 1933, however, wasn’t as stable; the politi-cal climate was growing more and more uncomfortable for Jews.Schnabel decided he wouldn’t teach the following year and didn’tknow whether he would relocate to London or stay in Italy; hewasn’t going back to Berlin. After much thought, Glazer realized

that he didn’t want another pianoteacher, so he decided to return toAmerica.

Returning homeBack in Boston, at eighteen years

of age and mostly on his own,Glazer was still quite a young artist.He was grappling with issues allartists face: From where comes realconviction of interpretation inmusic? How can he play convinc-ingly with rubato, with flexibility?Can he trust what he feels, or doeshe still need a teacher to tell himright from wrong? When will he bean artist in his own right?

By October of 1936, Glazerwould begin to find his true voice at

the piano. It was then, at the age oftwenty-one, that Glazer triumphed inhis New York debut at Town Hall. The

composer Kurt Weill wrote in a letter to a friend after the concert,“Frank Glazer is an excellent musician and a pianist of high quali-ties. The best test for his great talent for me was his fine interpreta-tion of the Schubert Sonata, which is a very difficult work to per-form. I am sure he will make his way through the concert halls ofthe world.”7

The concert didn’t go unnoticed in the New York press. Nofewer than four newspapers ran glowing reviews of the youngpianist’s professional debut. The fact that there were four newspa-pers represented at all suggests a special concert and a special timein concert coverage; today the debut of an unknown pianist wouldnever attract so much attention. The opening line of the review inthe New York Evening Journal (October 21, 1936) is reminiscent ofSchumann’s heralding of the arrival of Brahms: “A young pianist


Frank Glazer tuning a piano. Photograph by Mottke Weissman.

Frank Glazer with ArturSchnabel. Lake Como, Italy,1933.

burst upon the musical horizon who is a real personality—his nameis Frank Glazer.”

Three years later he made his professional orchestral debut, play-ing Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with Serge Koussevitzky andthe Boston Symphony in Symphony Hall. This time five newspa-pers reviewed the concert. The Boston Transcript (April 18, 1939)wrote, “He played at every stage as if the cruel passage-work werethe most natural activity in the world for him. The remarkableaccord among soloist, conductor and orchestra strengthened thisconfidence. The performance was applauded, as it deserved to be,in almost tumultuous fashion by the audience.” Koussevitzky him-self called Glazer “A most interesting and exceptionally giftedyoung artist whose compelling, sane, masculine temperamentaffords great pleasure.”8 George Szell wrote, “I consider him amongthe very best of American pianists,”9 and Eugene Ormandy stated,“I was deeply impressed by his wonderful art and fine interpreta-tion. In my opinion Mr. Glazer is one of the finest Americanpianists today.”10

Beginning anewDespite his growing success as a gifted performer, Glazer’s curi-

ous mind craved a deeper understanding of the instrument andtechnique, and where those two forces intersected. An audition hadbeen arranged for Glazer with professional manager Carl Engel.However, Glazer made up his mind that he was going to investi-gate playing the piano as if he had never studied with Schnabel, infact as if he had never played the piano at all, and he was learningto play for the first time. How shall I sit? How shall I hold thehand? How can I play the piano in the best, most efficient way? Hewanted to learn to use only those parts of his bodily equipmentthat would be necessary, and not a bit more. He decided that usingmuscles when he didn’t need them to play what he was playing wasdangerous, and as he got older his muscles would grow more andmore tense. Glazer reduced his tremendous repertoire to the studyof five-finger exercises.

His friends back in New York all thought he had lost his mind,but he felt that he was on to something important. He knew thateven if he were accepted onto Engel’s roster and given huge con-cert tours immediately, he would feel unfulfilled because he hadleft this project incomplete. Career or no career, he had to take achance and figure this out.

It goes without saying that this gamble paid off, as seventy yearslater, when nearly all of Glazer’s colleagues, friends, and contempo-raries have hung up their tuxedoes because of tendonitis, arthritis,or other medical problems, he is still playing brilliantly.

A generous teacherPerhaps Frank Glazer’s greatest legacy is his teaching. Glazer

had been teaching privately for many years and was an artist-in-residence at Bennett College when in 1965, in the middle of hisbusy concert season, his friend Walter Hendl called him up at hisNew York City apartment. A pianist was taking a sudden andunplanned sabbatical from the Eastman School of Music inRochester, of which Hendl was director. Could Glazer commute toRochester a few times that term to teach the lessons? Glazer hadn’tbeen looking for that kind of work and didn’t really want to be tieddown to an academic schedule, but he would find a way to make itwork for one semester. After filling in for that one term, his phonerang in New York again. Walter Hendl said, “I have six ‘Glazerbeams’ in front of me insisting that you come back next year!” Thestudents who had studied with Glazer had arrived in a delegationin Hendl’s office, saying they wouldn’t remain at the school unlesshe found a way to bring Glazer back. He agreed to stay until theyoungest graduated, but the youngest kept being younger and hewas there fifteen years.

In 1980, now professor emeritus at Eastman, he and his wifemoved to Maine and he was immediately invited to become Artist-in-Residence at Bates College. More than thirty years later, heremains in that position.

In 1986 I met Frank Glazer for the first time. The warmth of hispersonality and the generosity of his spirit shone from the instantwe first shook hands. He invited me to work with him on tech-nique. I began making a two-hour commute to his house once ortwice a month.

There was never a time limit on the lesson. A typical lesson wentlike this:

7:00 PM Pick him up at the airport from Turkey, Israel,Japan, etc.

8:00 PM Out to dinner on the way home.10:00 PM Arrival at his home. Discuss trip, concerts.1:00 AM He says he’s going to bed; I am welcome to practice

as late as I like.2:00 AM He wanders through in his pajamas saying he for-

got something. “Don’t mind me.”2:01 AM Second trip through the room—he makes a small

suggestion.2:05 AM He suggests I start again, and sits down in an arm-

chair.2:10 AM We perform the complete “concerto for solo piano

with man in a nearby chair in his pajamas singingthe orchestra part.”

3:00 AM We both go to bed.10:00 AM Proper lesson; he plays the orchestra part on the

second piano instead of singing.12:00 PM Mrs. Glazer cooks lunch.


What keeps Frank Glazer going? That’s easy; he needs to getready for his next concert and there’s always another concert. Hecredits his longevity as an artist to his wife of fifty-four years,Ruth. His efforts at developing a thorough technique in his twen-ties and thirties made him last. Certainly the art itself has kept himyoung—the company of Beethoven, Schubert, Bach, Liszt, and somany others, and his desire to learn music he’s never played.

Ultimately, though, I think his happiness as he approaches acentury of life stems from his generosity of spirit. The kindness heshows his colleagues, students, former students, and friends has notonly been a great benefit to the musical world at large, but some-how it has also turned back on the giver and helped sustain him.Many professors get a sabbatical every seven years; Frank Glazerhas taught at one and sometimes two institutions every term forthe past fifty years—100 straight semesters affiliated with a collegeor university on top of his concertizing, recording, and privateteaching. Personally I think his happiness and positive attitudeseem to lead to his generosity. Or maybe it’s the other way around.

CodaAfter a concert in Wisconsin in March of 2001, Frank Glazer

was rushed to the hospital for what was ultimately quadruplebypass surgery. The music world held its collective breath. Whenhe had recovered enough to fly home, I met him at Logan Airportin Boston. The first thing he said to me was, “Well, Duncan, itappears I’m entering the coda of my life. When it comes to codas, Ican only hope that God is as generous as Beethoven.” Beethovenwas known for his disproportionately long codas, and whenBeethoven arrives at a coda the piece is often far from over.

The first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is 631measures long, and the coda is 129 measures. Therefore, if Mr.Glazer began his coda at eighty-six, he should live to be 108. ButBeethoven didn’t bother conforming to anyone else’s standards, sowhy should Mr. Glazer conform to his and stop at 108? p

Duncan J. Cumming, on the faculty of the University at Albany, isthe author of The Fountain of Youth: The Artistry of Frank Glazer.He has performed concertos, recitals, and chamber music concerts in citiesacross the United States as well as in Europe. He has recorded forCentaur and Albany Records and his new fortepiano recording withChristopher Hogwood is due out later this year. He is a member of theCapital Trio, a piano trio in residence at the University at Albany. Hestudied at Bates College, the European Mozart Academy, and NewEngland Conservatory, and he earned the Doctor of Music degree fromBoston University. Duncan and his wife Hilary have two daughters,Lucy Rose and Mairi Skye, and a son, William Bear.

1 Glazer, Recollections, unpublished pamphlet, p. 1.2 Glazer, interview by author, 5 July 2002.3 Ibid.4 Glazer, interview by author, 28 January 2009.5 Glazer, “Journey into a Special Moment,” unpublished lecture, pp. 2-3.6 Glazer, interview by author, 9 September 2002.7 Kurt Weill, letter to Alfred Strelsin, 21 October 1936.8 Serge Koussevitzky, letter to Olin Downes, 1936.9 Eugene Ormandy, letter to Vladimir Golschmann, 1938.10 George Szell, letter to Erik Tuxen, 1950.


Drawing from the 1938-1939 Boston Symphony brochure.

American expatriate pianist Ivan Ilic has just finished a semi-private recital of Godowsky’s Chopintranscriptions for the left hand at his Bordeaux apartment, and the thirty guests are sipping Bordeauxrouge in his dining room. Most of us had been unfamiliar with the repertoire before this event, andmany seemed awestruck that so much music could come from playing with one hand virtually tiedbehind the pianist’s back. Mr. Ilic is a recent Godowsky devotee and has just finished recording thetwenty-two left-hand variations for the Paraty label in Paris. It is scheduled for launch in July. In thepost-recital hubbub, fellow expatriate Michael Johnson cornered him and made a date to discuss histhinking behind the music. They met a few days later for a serious talk.

Why all this attention to the left hand? Isn’t it needlessly difficult?No, in fact the more I have come to know Godowsky’s left-hand variations, the more I realize

that his hugely important contribution to the repertoire has been overlooked. His Etudes werecomposed at the very beginning of the twentieth century, and there are very few pieces for solopiano in the twentieth century that come anywhere close to this level of technical ingenuity andexpressiveness.

A left-handed complement to


Ivan Ilicby Michael Johnson

FrédéricChopin:

An interview with

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Kong

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How long have you been concentrating on left-hand Godowsky?

For well over a year now, and it has been one of themost rewarding things I have ever done—certainly themost difficult. This music has pushed me in every way.

Of all the great repertoire out there, why choosethese transcriptions?

I like the idea of championing music that is stillunknown, yet much more interesting than most of the‘forgotten’ piano repertoire that other pianists are ped-dling these days. Godowsky is the real thing, a forgottengenius, and the only reasons thousands of pianists world-wide are not playing his music are either that they haven’tbeen exposed to it or because it seems unapproachable.It’s like walking into a bar and seeing a woman so beauti-ful that no one approaches her for fear of being rejected.Yet she is lonely and complains to her friends that no onetalks to her. That’s Godowsky in a nutshell.

Don’t you find the music intimidating?Yes, at first I was terrified. But from experience I know

that if I feel butterflies in my stomach when looking at ascore, it ’s a sign that it ’s the right thing for me to beworking on.

Do you really feel that the piano has been neglectedby composers in the twentieth century?

Yes and no. It is mind-boggling to me how many peo-ple spend months learning Boulez Sonatas. Except forRavel, Debussy, and Bartók, the twentieth century actual-ly didn’t produce that much great solo piano music. Imight add certain works by Ligeti, Kurtág, Messiaen, andRzewski, but even the Russians age poorly. When I wasan adolescent, the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues,Stravinsky Etudes, and Prokofiev Sonatas and Concertosmade me want to become a pianist, they were so excitingto experience as a concertgoer, and so I understand theirsuperficial appeal. But now they leave me indifferent.

Was Godowsky trying to find newdimensions in sound?

If so, he certainly succeeded, and heexpanded the way one can use thepiano. He reveals a tremendous hiddenpotential in the instrument. You can’tsay that about many twentieth-centurycomposers. Of course, since most com-posers after him are completelyunaware of his music, there have beenvery few who have continued on thatsame path. For them, he was one of themany ‘dead ends’ in music from thefirst half of the twentieth century.

Most of the composers of the twen-tieth century did not have the puremusicianship, grounding in tonal har-mony, or fluency at the piano to followhis act. Just to get comfortable with theidiom takes tremendous dedication,and many composers preferred to writemusic of little value that was based onpurely abstract ideas in order to prove

their intellectual credentials. What a waste of talent andan assault on our collective sensibility!

What was behind your decision to attack thisrepertoire?

My goal is to prove the worth of this music in thehopes that some day all conservatory students will workon at least a couple of the Godowksy Etudes to beef uptheir left-hand technique. But the only way for that tohappen is to convince them of the music’s beauty, becausemusicians choose repertoire with their ears. Those whochoose this repertoire for its difficulty are a minority, andthey are not always the most convincing performers.

Some musicians object to this attempt to improveon the genius of Chopin. What’s your bottom line?Does Godowsky enhance or pervert Chopin?

Several Godowsky Etudes are clearly more expressivethan the originals by Chopin. Numbers thirteen and twoare obvious examples. The original version of No. 13 isbeautiful but much less sophisticated; the original versionof No. 2, the infamous first Chopin Etude, is musicallymonotonous compared to the left-handed version. Thereare plenty of other examples. Godowsky’s music affords aglimpse into an alternative universe void of atonality; he ismuch more creative with relatively simple building blocksthan composers whose harmonies are crunchier and sup-posedly more sophisticated, but whose grasp of music(and especially the piano) pales in comparison toGodowsky. He was a real musician’s musician.

Is the public ready for this rather unusual rumblingbass clef sound?

Absolutely. It would be fascinating to give a whole con-cert devoted to all twenty-two Etudes, and I plan to do itin the near future. It will be daunting to prepare, but it isthe best way to make a strong case for the repertoire. As Idid with each book of the Debussy Préludes in previoustours, I give great importance to the order of the works toframe this unusual sound world in a greater narrativeform. It is a kind of meta-Godowsky recital project.


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Are you doing this to develop left-hand strength tomake better use of it in two-hand works?

That is among the reasons, yes. Left hand strength addsextra layers of richness to the sound in two-hand reper-toire. I have always been interested in the importance ofthe bass in music—it is the source of the harmonics andtherefore the foundation of a voluptuous sound. I am alsoslowly returning to composing for the piano, and I hopethat my writing will now have the improved balancebetween density of content and transparency of soundthat I admire so much in Godowsky’s music.

What specific technical problems have you faced inmastering these pieces?

The major difficulty is building the agility of the lefthand. It’s a shock to take on Godowsky and suddenly feellike a beginner after over twenty years of intensive study.It’s like a slap in the face.

What else makes these works tricky?There are significant musical difficulties to consider:

‘breathing’ in pieces that are continuous streams of notesis always a problem at the piano. There is also the chal-lenge of balancing the different registers of a concertgrand with one hand, not to mention the sophisticatedpedaling that’s called for throughout. Then there’s theintimidation of the scores themselves—the way the pieceslook on the page is enough to keep most pianists far, faraway. I hope to convince my colleagues that they’re reallymissing out.

Do you feel it’s worth the relearning, the hardwork, the intensive practice?

Yes. I feel I have made major headway in developingmy own personal practice techniques to overcome hugedifficulties more generally. It also feels glorious to performthese pieces, with their supple, languid phrases, when theyhave been well prepared.

Has Godowsky changed your perception of othercomposers?

Certainly. Among other things, I nowrealize that the traditional repertoire isridiculously right-hand heavy.

Did your teachers lead you into thisrepertoire?

No, I have opted to work more or less insolitude for the past four or five years. A solocareer is so demanding that it’s in your bestinterest to become self-sufficient as soon aspossible. Of course it is helpful to have anoutside perspective; nevertheless I find itdifficult to avoid creating a dependencythere. It’s also hugely satisfying to be able tosay that you created something wonderfulwithout anyone’s help. Godowsky’s life isproof of that idea, as he was largely self-taught.

What have you retained from yourmost recent experience with a teacher?

François-René Duchâble in Paris was oneof my last teachers. His command of the

keyboard was unlike anything I had ever seen and thatinspired me to push my technical limits. He is also aniconoclast and says exactly what’s on his mind withoutsugar coating, which I really admire. There are very fewpeople in classical music who don’t have some kind ofmask. Sometimes they remind me of a bunch of spayed orneutered cats, too cautious and lacking in character whilecultivating a certain gratuitous eccentricity.

What is next in your plans for development?I have no idea what comes after Godowsky. This is a

love story that needs to run its course. But I do know thatI will throw myself at it head first. p

Editor’s note: For a discussion of teaching pieces for onehand, please see this issue’s Repertoire & Performance depart-ment.

Michael Johnson, an American journalist based inBordeaux, served on the board of the London InternationalPiano Competition from 1997 to 2005. His writings haveappeared in The Wall Street Journal, The InternationalHerald Tribune, Business Week, InternationalManagement, and Clavier Companion, among others. Hehas also served as a Moscow correspondent for the AssociatedPress, and he is the author of four books.

Ivan Ilic is an American pianist of Serbian descent. Heholds degrees in music and mathematics from The Universityof California at Berkeley, and he pursued graduate studies atthe Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, where he took aPremier Prix in piano performance. He has performed atCarnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Glenn Gould Studio, and theAmerican Academy in Rome. His first recording, a CD ofmusic by Claude Debussy, received Mezzo Television’sCritic’s Choice Award, and was named a Top Five CD ofthe Year by Fanfare magazine.

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Ivan Ilic plays at the Salon Sauternes of the Grand Hotel 'Régent' in Bordeaux.


A multi-talented keyboard artist andcomposer, Phillip Keveren displays a

tremendous versatility in both his concertperformances and his original works. He

composes in a variety of genres, and iswidely acclaimed for his

piano publications.

Mr. Keveren presents keyboard concertsand publishing workshops in more than

fifty cities a year. Recent tours have takenhim to Australia, Southeast Asia, Taiwan,

and the United Kingdom.

Phillip is co-author, major composer, andMIDI orchestrator of the internationallyacclaimed Hal Leonard Student Piano

Library, a complete piano method foryoung students. His unique arrangementsare also featured in The Phillip Keveren

Series from Hal Leonard.

A pioneer in the field of MIDI orchestration, Phillip has created software

programs for Yamaha Corporation andproduced dozens of piano performances forthe Yamaha MusicSoft Library. He is indemand as a “traditional” orchestrator as

well. He frequently composes for studioprojects in various media, with his

orchestral arrangements featured on recentreleases by popular recording artists John

Tesh, Twila Paris, Bob Carlisle,and Larnelle Harris.

Mr. Keveren holds a Bachelor of Music inComposition from California State

University, Northridge, and a Master ofMusic in Composition from the Univer-

sity of Southern California. He lives inBrentwood,TN, with his wife, Lisa, and

their two children, Lindsay and Sean.

Introductions and endings

It’s Got That Swing:

Jazz & PopPhillip Keveren, Editor

Jazz &

Pop

Areally great meal is made even better with a tasty appetizer and dessert. AChristmas tree is just not complete without a shining star on top and a decorativeskirt around the base. In the same way, a pop or jazz arrangement can go from OK

to spectacular with a unique introduction and ending framing it.Let me introduce you to “Molly Malone,” aka “Cockles and Mussels”—a lively little Irish

folk tune.

“Molly” uses a very common chord progression in the first 8 measures—the I-vi-ii-V7“workhorse.” This progression would serve us well as the underpinning for an introductionand ending. One could simply “vamp” on this progression in the left hand before launchinginto the tune, but having some secondary melodic interest will set things up nicely for theentrance of the primary theme. Example 2 incorporates an introduction using the first fivenotes of the G Major scale above two passes through the I-vi-ii-V7 progression. The end-ing returns to the melody used in the introduction, followed by an accented G13 chord (seeExample 2).

“Molly” uses a descending bass line in the second eight measures that would also be acatchy progression on which an introduction and ending could hang its hat. By quoting“Molly’s” rising third motif as a secondary melodic idea, we further enhance the effect.Notice how these two ideas tie the arrangement together while adding harmonic interestand rhythmic bite (see Example 3).

I hope these ideas will help you to find creative ways to frame your own adventures intopop and jazz arranging. p


Example 1: “Molly Malone”


Example 2: Version 1 with introduction and ending. Example 3: Version 2.

1107Clavier-2.qxd 7/16/11 9:44 AM Page 31

Rebecca Grooms Johnson, Ph.D.,NCTM, is a nationally respected

leader in the field of piano pedagogy.She is an independent teacher and has

taught extensively at the college anduniversity levels. Rebecca is active in

the Music Teachers NationalAssociation, where she has served as

President of the Ohio Music TeachersAssociation, National Chair of

MTNA’s Pedagogy Committee, andNational Certification Chair. She is

currently Vice-President of the MTNABoard of Directors, and three times a

year she publishes a feature inAmerican Music Teacher titled

What’s New in Pedagogy Research.

This issue’s contributors:

Gail Lew is a nationally respectedleader in the field of piano pedagogy,an independent studio teacher in the

San Francisco Bay Area, aninternational adjudicator, and serves

as Editor for the California MusicTeacher magazine. She is also

Chairman of the National Conferenceon Keyboard Pedagogy Committee on

Independent Music Teachers. Gailreceived her bachelor’s degree in piano

performance, a master’s degree in musichistory, and a Lifetime California

State Teaching Credential withspecialization in music education.

Dr. Sylvia Coats, NCTM, has beenprofessor of piano pedagogy and class

piano at Wichita State University forthe past twenty-five years. She

authored Thinking as You Play:Teaching Piano in Individual and

Group Lessons, published by IndianaUniversity Press. Her credits include

presentations at conferences throughoutthe United States and internationally

in Italy, Malaysia, and China. She hasheld many offices in MTNA, includingNational Certification Chair, and has

served as a member of the Board ofDirectors. The Kansas Music Teachers

Association honored her as 2007Teacher of the Year.


A survey of current methods:Succeeding at the Piano

Issues and Ideas:

Perspectives in PedagogyRebecca Grooms Johnson, Editor

Per

spec

tive

s in

Ped

agogy

This issue continues ClavierCompanion’s survey of pianomethods.1 Each article in this series

has three sections—an introductory synop-sis by the Associate Editor, two articleswritten by teachers who have used themethod extensively in their studios, and aresponse from the authors of the methodsurveyed in the previous issue. We hopethat you find these articles to be an inter-esting and helpful overview of all the mostpopular methods currently on the market!

Succeeding at the Piano - by HelenMarlais

Publisher: The FJH Music CompanyInc.

Levels: Lesson and Technique Book (withand without accompanying CD), Theoryand Activity Book, Recital Book (withCD)—Preparatory through Grade 2A.

Proposed schedule for future releases:Grade 2B—May, 2011; Grade 3A—October, 2011; Grade 3B—April, 2012;Grade 4—October, 2012.

Alpha: This series espouses what theauthor terms “familiarity training,” inwhich new concepts are introduced in theorder of listen, play, see, learn, and rein-force. The first half of the Preparatorybooks utilizes off-staff notation, with par-tial staff introductions to 2nds and 3rds.An eclectic approach to reading includesintervals, guidepost notes, middle C, andmodified C positions. Rhythmic pulse isequated to heartbeats and initially uses unitcounting.

Teachers may consider one of thestrengths of this method to be its earlyinclusion of arrangements of melodiesfrom the classical repertoire. Short para-graphs introduce the composers, and lyricshave been added to most of the themes. Amajority of the pieces in the Preparatorybooks have teacher duet parts. Although

the covers of all the books show a group ofstudents in a lesson situation, there is noindication that this series is particularlydirected to teaching in groups.

Lessons and Technique: In addition tothe author’s contributions, repertoire in theLesson and Technique and Recital booksincludes compositions by Timothy Brown,Kevin Costley, Mary Leaf, EdwinMcLean, and Kevin Olson. Pieces aresometimes preceded by a “Before playing”list of preparatory activities, and occasion-ally followed by “After playing, ask your-self ” questions such as “Did I count all thequarter rests?” Most of the pieces in thePreparatory, Level 1, and Level 2A Lessonand Technique books have lyrics, and con-tinue to include arrangements of themesfrom the classical repertoire. The graphicsare tasteful and age appropriate.

Various composers are referenced on thetechnique pages (e.g. “Technique withBeethoven—Major five-finger patternsand triads”), but without any overt reasonother than, perhaps, to continue themethod’s emphasis on classical composers.Extensive suggestions are given for thecorrect technical approaches to the exercis-es. By combining the lesson materials withtechnical instruction, a more seamless inte-gration between the two is ensured.

Theory and Activities: Six activities arepresented throughout these books: Writing(drills and games), Time to Compose,Rhythm (with an emphasis on steadybeat), Ear Training, Follow the Leader(rhythmic clap backs), and Parrot Play(melodic play backs). Pages are correlatedwith the Lesson and Technique books andare visually attractive.

Recital books: Correlated with, andcontinuing much of the format of theLesson and Technique books, some pieces arepreceded by “Before playing” suggestedactivities and occasionally followed by“After playing ask yourself ” evaluative

1 The aim of this series is to review the core materials of piano methods that are either new or substantially changed since asimilar series of articles appeared in Piano Quarterly in the 1980s. Please see the September/October 2009 issue of ClavierCompanion for more details on this project. For reviews of methods that are older or have not been revised recently, we inviteyou to revisit the original Piano Quarterly series.

questions. A majority of the compositions have lyrics and somehave teacher duets.

Compact Discs: The Lesson and Technique books can be pur-chased with or without accompanying CDs; however, all Recitalbooks contain the accompaniment discs. These recordings areunique in several ways. In the early pages of the preparatory booksa voice counts off each piece (e.g. “one-two-ready-play”).Throughout the currently available levels of this series, this voicegives the title and page number of each piece, and interjects praise,pedagogic reminders, or evaluative questions at the end of thepractice tempo rendition. All solo pieces are played unaccompaniedon an acoustic piano at both practice and performance tempi.Pieces with teacher duets have the practice tempo duets onacoustic piano, and occasionally the performance tempo duets areplayed by an acoustic string quartet—a refreshing sound after

many years of hearing sampled electronic accompaniments.Teacher’s Guide: Currently available for Preparatory and Grade

1, this guide contains information about the author’s “familiaritytraining” philosophy and other pedagogic aspects of the series.Ensuing pages provide an overview of the Lesson and Techniquebooks and discuss new concepts, reinforced concepts, teaching sug-gestions, practice steps, and technique tips for each page.

Omega: Although the latter half of the series is currently in pro-duction, Dr. Marlais indicates that the concepts and repertoire inthe concluding Grade 4 books will equip students for the repertoirein Succeeding with the Masters Volume 1, The Festival CollectionBook 4, and In Recital series, Books 4 and 5. A concept chart of theremaining levels is available on the FJH website: http://www.fjh-music.com/piano/satp.htm. p


My first introduction to Succeeding at the Piano (SATP) wasin Los Angeles at the 2010 Music Teachers Association ofCalifornia convention. There was super-charged excite-

ment in that standing-room only session. I was immediately drawnto the clever cover art featuring an artistic drawing of Helen Marlaisteaching a group class seated around the grand piano, and I was anx-ious to try the new method in my own studio.

Comprehensive approachThis series presents new, innovative ideas, combined with tried

and true piano pedagogy. SATP uses an integrated pedagogicalapproach: reading is a combined Middle C, intervallic, and multi-key approach; rhythm is internalized by the student and learnedlike a language; technique is incorporated into the Lesson andTechnique books, ensuring that correct technique is learned fromthe beginning; repertoire includes terrific motivational music; andthe CDs are both innovative and educational. The mixture of clas-sical themes by master composers such as Beethoven, Haydn,Mozart, and Brahms with FJH composer originals is excellent.Students get to know “Papa Haydn” from day one. What fun! It’sall part of a comprehensive music curriculum that not only devel-ops good posture, hand position, and practice habits, but alsoincludes reading, rhythm, technique, theory, ear training, playingby ear, music history, and composition. For a complete approach,students need the Lesson and Technique Book, the Recital Book, andthe Theory and Activity Book.

Logical learning sequenceSpanning the first half of the Preparatory book, there are plenty

of off-staff reading pieces that introduce quarter, half, dotted half,and whole notes, with 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures. A strong peda-gogical foundation is laid in this section with technical work on“Perfect Piano Hands” and warm-ups that address arm weight,strong fingers, and flexible wrists (see Excerpt 1). Emphasis isgiven to steps, repeats, recognizing notational direction, and inter-vallic reading. New concepts appear in orange boxes, and green“After playing” boxes offer ideas to develop musicality. From myperspective, the Preparatory Level seems best suited for the five- toseven-year-old beginner, and for students requiring exhaustivereinforcement; it may, however, be too slow for the precocious,quick learner. With many instructions for the teacher included onthe page, it seems to be rather text-heavy.

Excerpt 1: “Technique with Papa Haydn” from Helen Marlais’Succeeding at the Piano Lesson and Technique Book,Preparatory Level.

Lesson and technique togetherIt is great to see a method that combines lesson material and

technique rather than putting them in separate books. From thevery beginning phrasing and artistry are emphasized in every les-son. Students are introduced to the idea of playing beautiful phras-es by creating a rainbow in the air. The “Before playing” and “Afterplaying” points develop musicianship, good practice habits, andexcellent listening skills. Using a highly effective spiral approach tolearning, numerous topics are introduced at once with a later returnto each concept.

Eclectic reading approach“Guide Notes” and intervallic reading are utilized in a combined

reading approach (see Excerpt 2). Students learn on-staff GuideNotes Bass F, Middle C, and Treble G, which are then color codedin red. Early-level pieces remain in stationary positions, but are notrestricted to a typical Middle C position. Thankfully, thumbs donot always play Middle C! This integrated approach to music read-ing avoids problems with students becoming locked into any oneposition.

Artistic performance from day oneby Gail Lew

1. Hand position is very important. It is the first stepin making a beautiful sound.

• People play the piano all over the world!Look at Papa Haydn and the piano student as they place their hands over the globes.

2. Imagine that your hand is covering the top of the little globe.Now form your own rounded, natural hand position for playing.

• Look at your hands—do you notice your curved fingers?• Do you notice the space between your fingers?• Do you notice how your knuckles look?

FJH2051 5

Technique with Papa HaydnLearning a natural hand position

PLACE A � UNDER THE DAYS YOU DID THIS PAGE.

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

(Left hand) (Right hand)

“Perfect Piano Hands”

R.H.L.H.

Excerpt 2: “Learning Guide Notes” from Helen Marlais’ Succeeding atthe Piano Theory and Activity Book, Preparatory Level.

Grade 1 emphasizes multi-key work and thoroughly reinforcesall of the concepts introduced in the Preparatory Level. The tradi-tional F-A-C-E is presented for treble staff spaces and adjacentspaces are related as the interval of a third; however, the names ofthe treble staff lines are not included, nor is there any mention thatthirds can also be line-to-line.

Natural rhythmOff-staff reading begins with unit counting, and then moves to

metric counting when the student is introduced to the 4/4 timesignature. Quarter notes are initially related to the natural rhythmof walking and to the beating of the heart. No confusing rhythmsare introduced since eighth notes and dotted quarter notes are notpresented until Grade 2A.

More than just theoryCan theory be “fun”? The answer is YES! Correlated with the

lesson books, the theory books include writing and note-spellingactivities, rhythm experiences, ear training exercises, sight readingexamples, “Time to Compose” opportunities, and other diverse,creative, and fun activities. I especially love the early introductionto master composers (see Excerpt 3). In “Follow the Leader” sec-tions, students listen to and clap back rhythms. “Parrot Play” activi-ties give students an opportunity to play back short melodic pat-terns of well-known songs. These activities are perfect for mygroup theory classes.

Excerpt 3: “Hall of Fame—Which Composer Is It?” from Helen Marlais’Succeeding at the Piano Theory and Activity Book, Grade 1.

Motivating repertoireSucceeding at the Piano contains interesting and creative original

music with fresh appeal, captivating titles, and a variety of stylesand genres. The development of hand independence is also a bigplus of this method. Melodies are either divided between thehands, or harmonized with intervals or single notes. Genres arevaried and include folk, blues, country, traditional, classical, andcontemporary (see Excerpt 4). Pedagogically sound arrangementsof classical themes encourage students to gain an appreciation forthe classics. Katherine, for example, was anxious to play all thepieces by Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin, and she has quicklymoved to pieces from Kabalevsky, Op. 39; the Anna MagdalenaBach Notebook; and a collection of early Mozart pieces. Studentfavorites include The Merry Farmer (Grade 1), Japanese Pagoda atNight (Grade 1), Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Grade 1), Angelfish(Grade 2A) and Festival in Seville (Grade 2A).


FJH2053 39

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Learning Guide Notes

Write the name of the guide notes below each dancer. The 1st one is done for you.

Lesson Book p. 49

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Lesson Book p. 77

Hall of Fame—WhichComposer Is It? • You have learned about famous composers in your Lesson and Technique Book and

Recital Book.

• Draw a line from the composer to the fact that matches below.

This composerwrote Ode to Joy.(page 46 Lesson)

This composerwrote symphoniesfor the people ofLondon, England.(page 22 Lesson)

This composer fromGermany wrote

Hungarian Dance No. 5.(page 49 Lesson)

This composer wasmarried to a pianist

named Clara.(page 73 Recital)

This composer grew up inPoland but spent most ofhis life in Paris, France.

(page 28 Lesson)

This composer was bornin Austria and playedfor kings and queens

in Europe.(page 62 Lesson)

Chopin Brahms Schumann

Haydn MozartBeethoven


Excerpt 4: “Festival in Seville” by Timothy Brown, from Helen Marlais’Succeeding at the Piano Recital Book, Grade 2A. Adding interest

The accompaniment CDs help students to achieve musical,artistic, and educational goals; and best of all, the students loveplaying along with the recordings. Using the CDs helps studentslearn, reinforces correct practice habits, and provides students withan opportunity to play many of the pieces with a string quartetaccompaniment. Most of the songs have lyrics that young studentscan easily relate to and fall within an average vocal range. Eachpiece has a single track in three parts. In Part 1, the students heartheir part with the teacher duet at a “practice speed.” In Part 2,after the student plays the piece with the accompaniment, Dr.Marlais gives a short verbal instruction or affirmation that is idealfor home practice (for example, “Did you remember to use yourPerfect Piano Hands?” or “Playing steadily while counting aloudwill help you play even better.”). Then, in Part 3, students play thepiece at performance tempo with the accompaniment.

Meeting my goalsThe goal of my studio is to instill a life-long love of music, and I

choose methods that will help me attain that goal. SATP achievesthis on several levels: the colorful graphics really appeal to students;the generous use of classical themes makes them feel that they areplaying “important music”; the short pieces are easily masteredwith 100 percent accuracy within one week; students develop smartpractice habits; and above all, students develop a love for music. p

FJH206230

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CD 40/41 • MIDI 20

Key signature: All F’sand C’s in the piece are sharp.

Matching the curriculumby Sylvia Coats

Itell my university pedagogy class to develop their own curricu-lum for each student based on what they think the studentshould know and be able to do, and it really helps when a

beginning method matches that curriculum. Succeeding at the Pianois a welcome addition because of its sound pedagogical basis anddelightful music. Dr. Marlais is an excellent musician and peda-gogue, and she brings her extensive background and creativity tothis recently published method. It is written for five- to nine-year-olds and should take six to nine months for each level. I had mypedagogy class use SATP Grade 1 with a group of ten-year-oldswho had prior piano background, and one of my colleagues usesthe method with a quickly advancing six-year-old.

Sound before symbolsIn learning to read music, I want my students to be able to hear

and sing melodic movement up and down in steps and skips—toaudiate what they see on the page. SATP lets students first experi-ence concepts through sound and feel, and then learn to associatethe sounds with musical symbols. SATP combines conventionalnote reading (Middle C), intervallic reading, and multi-key readingapproaches. Some students might find this hybrid approach toreading rather confusing, so the teacher may need to stress consis-tent reading habits for each new song. For instance, always find thefirst note from the closest landmark, then say direction, interval,and note name.

Students learn to read by grouping notes into patterns, hearingthe sound, and associating them with the feeling of the pattern inthe hand. Concepts are experienced before learning their names.

For example, in the Preparatory book students see space and linenotes in the introduction of 2nds before the staff is introduced;they clap back eighth-note rhythms by ear before they are intro-duced in Grade 2A; and they see four beats in a measure with barlines before the time signature is added. Thus, students will have an“aha” moment when they put a name to the concept that they havealready discovered. The music will make sense to them.

My students who begin lessons in September learn about melodyand rhythm first by ear and later with off-staff notation. Then,when given Christmas music during the holiday season, they arevery motivated to learn to read these on-staff pieces. SATP enablesstudents to read successfully by using seasonal music to motivatethem.

Feeling the pulseSucceeding at the Piano teaches rhythm through movement activi-

ties such as walking, marching, clapping, or tapping while countingaloud. In learning rhythm, I want my students to use their wholebodies to move to the pulse, while clapping the rhythm. Once theydevelop a sense of beat, rhythms are easily related to a steady pulse.In the early stages of the method, I recommend choosing onemovement from the suggested list of activities to develop a consis-tent approach to learning the rhythm in each new song. For exam-ple, always step to the beat while clapping the rhythm. Lyrics arealso spoken and sung in rhythm. The steady quarter pulse is com-pared to the feeling of a steady pulse of a heartbeat, and cleverillustrations picture hearts in quarter noteheads (see Excerpt 5).

Excerpt 5: “The Steady Beat” from Helen Marlais’ Succeeding at thePiano Lesson and Technique Book, Prerparatory Level.

Integrating lessons and techniqueOne of the major strengths of this method is the combining of

healthy technique with the lesson book repertoire. This integrationbrings attention to technique so that it is a “must” for student andteacher, rather than only a supplement. “Technique with PapaHaydn” makes the exercises enjoyable, while students learn howtheir bodies feel when playing the piano in a healthy, tension-freeway. Six basic techniques are taught in the Preparatory and Grade 1books: posture and finger, hand, and arm position; arm weight;flexible wrist; two-note slurs; weight transfer; and rotation. InGrade 2A the basic techniques are reinforced and become morecomplex.

Varied genresA buffet of folk, classical, jazz, and original music appeals to stu-

dents and teachers, and the longer pieces in the Recital Book areappropriate for class lessons and recital performances. Many classi-cal themes are included in each book, with music adapted fromHaydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Offenbach, Chopin, and Brahms. The

theme from Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu in Grade 1 is a lovelyarrangement with a teacher duet. Added lyrics and composer histo-ries help students make classical music a part of their daily lives.

Various styles, articulations, and scale forms, including major,minor, modal, and pentatonic, keep the songs fresh and musicallyinviting. Pieces are harmonically varied to engage the ear and makecolorful sounds. Teacher accompaniments complement the studentparts—they are interesting, yet simple enough not to distract. Ipredict “Maracas” will be a hit with any student (see Excerpt 6).


The Steady Beat

Rhythm marks time in music.

With your teacher,

1. Stand in place and clap this beat:

2. Stand and lightly tap your head with your hands to every beat.

3. Walk around the room and swing your arms back and forth with every beat.

4. Sit on the piano bench and sway to the beat.

Which picture shows you a steady beat? Circle it!

FJH20516

1 HEART BEAT = = (QUARTER NOTE)q

Maracasby Kevin Olson

FJH2056 19

DUET PART: Kevin Olson (student plays 1 octave higher)

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A note with a dotunder or above it tellsyou to play staccato!

Play and listen to the difference in sound.Staccato and legatoare opposites!

After playing, ask yourself:• Did I play staccato?• Did I play with “Perfect Piano Hands”?

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To play with a short, separatedsound means to play staccato.

To play staccato, once you playthe key, lift your wrist andforearm quickly to leave the key.

Staccato

CD 16 • MIDI 15

Excerpt 6: “Maracas” by Kevin Olson from Helen Marlais’ Succeedingat the Piano Lesson and Technique Book, Grade 1.


Thoughtful practiceSATP encourages students to think during their practice. “Before

playing” points are excellent and help students develop good prac-tice habits, while “After playing” assessments encourage students tolisten carefully as they play. The illustrations are lovely, oftenhumorous, and support the musical concepts. Text in colored boxesdraws attention to helpful tips, and occasional red text in the scoregives gentle reminders. If your students are distracted by theamount of text on the page, you can choose from the many goodsuggestions and highlight what to focus on in their home practice.

Musicianship skillsLearning to listen is vital in developing a sensitive musician. The

theory books maintain this focus rather than presenting the mind-less drill of some theory books. Students are asked to listen andclap back rhythm patterns and to sing and play folk songs by ear.By listening and singing intervals and melodies, students associatewhat they hear with what they see. Composition, improvisation,transposition, and ear training are integrated consistently through-out the method. These musicianship skills reinforce the readingapproach with the sound coming before the symbol so that stu-dents develop “inner hearing.”

My home state of Kansas holds an event once a year calledMusic Progressions, during which examinations are given in reper-toire, theory, history, and listening. Grades 1 and 2A of SATP fulfillthe Level 1 and 2 requirements by introducing major and minorpentascales, white note triads, and tonic and dominant notes.

Guiding the teacherA Teacher’s Guide is available for the Preparatory and Grade 1

books. The introduction explains Dr Marlais’ pedagogic philosophyand clearly outlines her approach to reading, theory, technique,musicianship, and repertoire. I plan to use it as a reading assign-ment in my pedagogy class, and I think that intern teachers as wellas experienced teachers will appreciate the lesson plans for eachunit. The well-constructed curriculum of SATP encourages con-ceptual instruction rather than merely teaching the pieces.

I always urge my pedagogy students to prepare students for suc-cess with challenges that are attainable. Helen Marlais writes, “Themethod is designed to create excellent musicians with a passion formusic.” SATP succeeds in making music learning engaging andenjoyable. pAll excerpts from Succeeding at the Piano by Helen Marlais. Copyright © 2010, 2011 TheFJH Music Company Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission.

Author Response

Response to Music Moves for Piano reviewEditor’s Note: Clavier Companion will invite the authors of each

method series reviewed to respond to that review in the following issue.The response from the authors of Music Moves for Piano is presentedbelow.

Ahuge thanks to Clavier Companion and to associate editorRebecca Grooms Johnson for this series of piano methodreviews. I also sincerely appreciate Barbara and Kristine’s

excellent personal reviews of Music Moves for Piano. This pianoseries supports Dr. Edwin E. Gordon’s lifelong, research-basedMusic Learning Theory, or theories of audiation. Briefly, audiationmeans listening to, performing, and thinking music with under-standing. A core belief is that the aural art of music is a powerfulhuman resource and a birthright that can and should be madeaccessible to and individualized for all. Individualizing instructionis a top priority: every student needs to be challenged appropriate-ly, and this is possible in audiation-based piano lessons.

A prototype for a sequential-learning, audiation-based pianoinstruction method did not exist when this series was imagined.Therefore, from the beginning of development (in 1992), my stu-dents and their parents served as an experimental laboratory forconstructing curriculum guidelines and for putting this auralapproach on paper. Enthusiasm was surprising. There was an intu-itive sense that music really is a listening (aural) and performing(oral) art, and that developing audiation skill, while developingmusicanship and performing skills, provides intrinsic rewards.Robert Schumann’s maxim: “The most important thing is to culti-vate the sense of hearing...” became a reality.

Music patterns—their content always in context—build thefoundation for comprehending music. Therefore, understandingpattern instruction and the pattern learning sequences, along withhow to teach without notation, is necessary for teaching this pianoseries. Students adapt easily because they are involved in a personal

and natural way of learning. However, all of us—teachers and par-ents—learned music differently. Consequently, a change in think-ing and the development of new teaching techniques are needed.MMP workshops are very helpful. We expect changes in technolo-gy and medicine, but changing the way music is learned and taughtis difficult. However, the rewards are long-lasting.

Tonal and rhythm patterns are created specifically for learninghow to audiate. Two- or three-tone tonal patterns are withoutrhythm and are based on harmonic function: tonic, dominant, andso forth. Tonal patterns are always learned in context, for example,major or minor. Students sing tonal patterns: singing developstonal audiation. Two- or four-pulse rhythm patterns are withoutpitch and are based on different categories, such as rest, tie, andupbeat. Rhythm patterns are always learned in the context of ameter. Students use coordinated body movement (moving to pulse-beats in the heels and meter-beats using hand touches) whilechanting rhythm patterns: body movement is essential for rhythmunderstanding. Separating rhythm patterns from tonal patterns fol-lows Lowell Mason’s educational principle, ‘Learn one new thingat a time.’

Through sequenced tonal and rhythm pattern instruction andpattern activities, students acquire a personal music vocabulary thatthey use to learn, remember, create, listen to, talk about, and per-form music. Labels, or technical names, learned during patterninstruction further music understanding and communication.Patterns are also used by students to create short “throw-away”improvisations created with the voice or at the keyboard. Like lan-guage, students are expected to use what they know: improvisationis similar to conversation.

The curriculum for Music Moves for Piano provides activities forteaching to the individual student within a group setting in order tochallenge students appropriately. Feeling successful is important forstudent achievement. Rote solos for technical and musical develop-ment are essential for the success of this series. MMP students learn

to perform with technical ease, avoidingmany pitfalls. Students and teachers mayselect from the many wonderful pianopieces in contemporary methods and in thegeneral literature. Fellowship, student inter-action, and common activities enable long-term retention of music concepts that arelearned when students engage in contrast-ing activities of “same/different” sounds.Continual performances for each otherprovide experiences that relieve or reduceperformance anxiety.

Nineteen years of creating and teachingan audiation-based curriculum has shownsome amazing results in my studio. Thispiano series has been used successfully forall ages, including adults. It may be usedone-on-one, but I have found that studentslike being at lessons with other students:they learn from each other. Activities forlearning to audiate are enjoyed by studentsof all levels and ages and demonstrateproof of research stating that most childrenand many adults learn best through bodymovement: body movement cements learn-ing. Most importantly, I discovered thatthe internal music learning process is aslow one that requires time for absorptionand experimentation. It cannot be hurried.

Lesson time activities and home assign-ments develop a broad music literacy. And,to top it off, students become excellentreaders and writers of music notation.They are able to apply personal audiationand performing skills to the understandingof music notation when they are ready tothink abstractly, around age eleven. At thisage, students begin to “see with their ears”what is on the page and read/hear patternsand sound shapes in context. It is all amatter of learning style and sequencing:similar to language, students first read andwrite what they know.

Hats off to Edwin E. Gordon for hisdedicated longitudinal research abouthow we learn music. He synthesized wellthe contributions of many music educa-tors to create theories of audiation that

are fundamental for developing musician-ship, performance skills, and love formusic. I am excited about the musicalgrowth observed in students who havestudied using this sound-to-notationapproach. Current students and “gradu-ates” compose, create movies, play inbands, teach, make CDs, listen to music,attend music performances, accompany,sing in musicals, participate in churchand community music programs, and per-form for others as well as for their ownenjoyment. Creativity and audiation areat work as these students, who are thefuture of music in our world, continue tomake music and incorporate it into theirlife experiences. p

—Marilyn LoweAuthor Music Moves for Piano


I play my best. . . when there is a kindred spirit listening with open heart and mind, one whose

senses quiver at music’s unfathomable beauty, a person who responds with infinitecurrents of appreciation, understanding, and even forgiveness when warranted.

. . . when music’s profound message casts away doubt and anxiety and guides eachfinger to lower keys at the exact speed and angle with a disembodied sense of notplaying at all, but rather of being played by a force beyond comprehension.

. . . when a lifetime of hard, devoted work and experience coalesce into a surprisingsynthesis of feeling, thought, and physical coordination that replace self-conscious-ness with the very spontaneity which, as I imagine, guided the masters in creatingmiracles of sound and form that “stir the innermost regions of the soul.”

. . . when I intuit that the silence following the final tone is impregnated with thepossibility of similar experiences and new beginnings that can resound, shape, andinspire all of life’s remaining days, making the musician and the person one and thesame.

—Seymour Bernstein

Nancy Bachus is a graduate of theEastman School of Music and has

taught for twenty-seven years at thecollege and university level. She is theauthor of Alfred Publishing’s “Spirit”

series: the Baroque, Classical,Romantic, and Beyond the

Romantic Spirit piano anthologies,and the Exploring Piano Classics

series, graded literature with a cross-indexed technique book at each

level. Certified as a Master Teacher byMTNA, she currently maintains an

independent piano studio in Hudson, OH.


Lyle Indergaard is Professor of Pianoat Valdosta State University where he

teaches studio and class piano andserves as Keyboard Area Head and

Graduate Music Coordinator. He hasdegrees from Minot State College

(B.A.), the University of Wyoming(M.A.), and the Eastman School of

Music (D.M.A.). As a FulbrightScholar to Germany, he studied andsubsequently taught at the Freiburg

Hochschule für Musik.

Joyce Grill, a former faculty memberat the University of Wisconsin-La

Crosse, holds the MTNA MasterTeacher Certificate and has been the

Wisconsin MTNA State President, theDivision Vice-President, and was

named a MTNA Foundation Fellowin 2006. Grill holds degrees from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison andhas also received training at the Schoolof Fine Arts in Fontainebleau, France,

where she studied theory andcomposition with Nadia Boulanger

and piano with Robert and JeanCasadesus. She presents workshops toteachers throughout the country and

serves on several arts advisory boards.Known for her ensemble writing, Grill

is also a frequent guest conductor formulti-piano concerts. Named the

WisconsinMTA Composer of the Yearfor 2011, many of her compositions are

available from Alfred MusicPublishing.

Isuspect that most pianists are onlyvaguely aware of the existence of musicfor left hand alone. My own experience

with this repertoire began as a studentwhen I broke my right hand in a softballgame and had to wear a cast for five weeks.My teacher suggested that I study theRavel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand andthe Brahms piano transcription of the BachChaconne in D Minor for solo violin.Instead of being depressed about myinjured hand, my practicing was invigoratedby these marvelous and challenging works.

The amount of music that has beenwritten for the left hand is astounding.Theodore Edel’s book Music for One Hand

(Indiana University Press) cataloguesalmost 1,000 original pieces, transcriptions,concertos, and even chamber music for theleft hand, ranging from elementary teach-ing pieces to some of the most difficultmusic ever composed for the piano.

As in my case, injury to the right hand isthe most common reason for exploring left-hand repertoire. Accidents around the homeand sports injuries are an unfortunate fact oflife. Overuse injuries such as tendonitis,carpal tunnel syndrome, and dystonia arealso relatively common among pianists.

Many great works for the left hand havebeen composed for injured pianists. PaulWittgenstein, an Austrian pianist who had


Music for one hand

Putting It All Together:

Repertoire & PerformanceNancy Bachus, Editor

Rep

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& P

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When I was in eighth grade, I fellwhile roller-skating and brokemy right arm just above the

wrist. I assumed that piano lessons wouldbe on hold for at least six weeks as ithealed, but instead, my teacher assignedme a piece for left hand alone called“Andante Finale” from the opera Lucia diLammermoor by Theodore Leschetizky. Iloved the challenge and thrill of playingscales and arpeggios throughout the lengthof the keyboard with just my left hand, and“wowing” everyone who would listen withthis brilliant piece. (Still in print today, it ispublished by Musica Obscura.) I also recallthat my teacher at school insisted I turn inall assigned homework, and learn to writeit with my left hand. This was not nearly asmuch fun as playing the piano single-handed.

Now I realize it was fortunate that myright hand was broken, since most one-hand music is for the left hand. The lefthand fingers can more easily handle theharmony and activity while the thumb, thestronger part of the hand, plays themelody. I remember working to balance

melody and accompaniment with differentfingers of my left hand, and my surprisethat “one-hand music” could have such afull, rich sound. There is no question thatmy left hand technique improved a greatdeal from this experience. Since then, Ihave collected this repertoire, and when Ireceive a call about a piano student withhand injuries, I have a supply of music atmany reading and technical levels foreither hand. In fact, I sometimes give astudent with two perfectly good hands apiece for left hand, to develop better voic-ing and control.

Similar to my experience, LyleIndergaard became interested in this litera-ture after breaking his right arm, and illu-minates several left hand works for us.Most of these are at the early advancedlevels. Realizing the need for music at ele-mentary and intermediate levels for onehand, Joyce Grill composed some, and citesother works that can be used in the earlyyears of piano study. With or withoutinjuries, these works add variety and fresh-ness, as well as solid pedagogy, to ourteaching repertoire. p

Music for the left handby Lyle Indergaard

lost his right arm in World War I, commissioned Maurice Ravel’sfamous Concerto for Left Hand as well as concertos from PaulHindemith, Sergei Prokofiev, and Benjamin Britten. He also com-posed and arranged many works for himself. The Russian compos-er and pianist Alexander Scriabin wrote his Prelude and Nocturne,Op. 9 for left hand after suffering a serious case of tendonitis in hisown right arm from over-practicing.

Pedagogy in left hand musicInjury is not the only reason for playing or teaching left hand

music. Since the left hand is traditionally the weaker hand, stu-dents of all ages and abilities can gain strength, velocity, agility, andcontrol by exploring this repertoire. Certain aspects of piano play-ing are brought more sharply into focus in left hand music. Sincethe left hand is responsible for the entire texture of the music, voic-ing becomes a key issue. Innovative fingerings are often required,since five fingers are essentially doing the work of ten. Careful ped-aling is vital in maintaining a bass line and harmonies while thehand is playing in a higher register. Also, since this music oftencovers several registers, the player must re-position at the keyboardand learn to make rapid, accurate horizontal movements acrosslarge distances.

Exercises for left handThere are several excellent sets of exercises for the left hand

alone. These include Die pflege der linken Hand,Op. 89 (Training ofthe Left Hand) by Hermann Berens (Schirmer, Peters); TwelveStudies for Left Hand, Op. 92, by Moritz Moszkowski (out-of-print,but can be downloaded at the Petrucci IMSLP website); andExercises et etudes techniques pour La Main Gauche Seule by IsidorPhilipp (Durand). Felix Blumenfeld’s Etude in A-flat, Op. 36(Petrucci IMSLP); Béla Bartóks’ Etude (1903, available athttp://www.pianorarescores.com) and Camille Saint-Saëns’ SixEtudes,Op. 135 (available at Masters Music Publications) aresuperb concert etudes.

Besides physical or pedagogical considerations, a pianist maychoose to study and perform a piece for left hand simply because itis appealing. The novelty and challenge can be motivating in itself.Aficionados of piano virtuosity should definitely explore the lefthand compositions of Leopold Godowsky. His original works andtranscriptions of Chopin etudes and Strauss waltzes for the lefthand represent the non plus ultra of piano technique.

Left hand repertoireThe remainder of this article will examine three works for the

left hand in closer detail. Players new to this repertoire shouldexpect an initial awkwardness—physically and mentally—as thebrain must learn to adjust. It is also important to sit about oneoctave higher than normal (about C5) for most left hand music.

“Prelude No. 6” by Frederico Mompou (from SixPreludes, Salabert)

This hauntingly beautiful Prelude (1893-1987) is an ideal intro-duction to left hand repertoire. Virtually unknown, it is not listedin Edel’s book. Essentially a miniaturist, Mompou is renowned inhis native Catalonia, the region of northeast Spain aroundBarcelona. His music can be described as post-impressionistic,emphasizing sonority and containing elements of Spanish andCatalan folk music.

It is a short work in ternary form with few technical difficulties.The sparse, transparent texture is often monophonic. The pianist’smain concerns are voicing, pedaling, and smoothness of lateralmovement, along with creating a dark, pensive, and improvisatorycharacter.

Special attention should be given to coloring the melody differ-ently from the underlying harmonies, such as at the end of line two(see Excerpt 1).

Excerpt 1: “Prelude No. 6” from Six Preludes by Frederico Mompou.

In line three, the B-flat 4 of the melody is suspended throughthe broken harmony and resolves to A-flat 4. The figure occursthroughout the piece and must be pedaled as indicated to delineatethe harmony. The B-flat 4 must be played with enough emphasis tosustain through the harmony so that it can properly resolve to theA-flat 4 (see Excerpt 2).


The B section of the Prelude concludes with the dramatic high-point of the piece. In order to play the following passage effectively,the pianist should be positioned at C5 and maintain a relaxed armduring the broad, lateral movements. The following fingering willhelp achieve a true fortissimo by maintaining a strong hand posi-tion (see Excerpt 3).


This work holds special significance for me because I played itfor Mompou himself in 1976 at a master class in Santiago deCompostela, Spain. It was fascinating to meet this man who hadbeen friends with Granados, de Falla, Poulenc, Satie, and thepainter Joan Miro. My most vivid memories of this master class areof Mompou playing his own music. I was extremely impressedwith the lyrical freedom, attention to sonority, and exquisite voic-ing of his playing. Alicia de Larrocha has recorded this preludebeautifully: Mompou: Spanish Songs and Dances (RCA).

Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9, by AlexanderScriabin (Alfred, Belaieff, Peters)

These may be the most widely played original works for the lefthand. Late Romantic in style, they are tinged with Slavic melan-choly. Ideally, they should be performed together because of theirharmonic relationship. The tonality of the Prelude is vague beforeconcluding in C-sharp major. This leads to the Nocturne, which is


in the enharmonic key of D-flat major.In these works, Scriabin demonstrates his mastery of piano writ-

ing by creating a texture that is as full and diverse as music for twohands. The Nocturne clearly emulates Chopin’s lyrical piano style,but the innovative texture of these pieces present subtle pianisticproblems. Voicing is the key issue in the poignant Prelude. Themelody must be prominent in the upper voice while executingsmooth movements to and from the bass register (see Excerpt 4).

Excerpt 4: Prelude from Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9, by AlexanderScriabin, mm. 1-4.

The Nocturne requires pianists to be creative in pedaling, finger-ing, and the positioning of the body. For example, the Belaieff edi-tion of Scriabin’s Nocturne indicates several pedal changes in mm. 1and 2. I recommend playing these two measures in one pedal inorder to achieve smoothness and maintain the tonic sonority. Aninventive fingering can solve a voicing problem in m. 1. On thefourth beat, it is vital that the G4 in the top voice be more promi-nent than the F4 in the accompaniment. The use of the second fin-ger for both the F4 and the following D-flat 4 allows the F4 to beplayed very lightly (see Excerpt 5).

Excerpt 5: Nocturne from Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9, by AlexanderScriabin, mm. 1-2.

The cadenza of the Nocturne can be played with greater ease bypaying close attention to the position of the body. To play in theextreme high register, the pianist should center the body at aboutC6 before the cadenza so that the highest point of the cadenza isalmost directly in front of the torso. To maintain balance, I suggestusing the left foot on the damper pedal.

Lateral movement and voicing are important in the Nocturne,especially when the melody is found in the middle voice. Measures5 and 6 demand particular control because the melodic line in thetenor voice alternates between the thumb and fifth finger. Thethumb slide at the end of mm. 5 and 6 enables the hand to play theD-flat and B-flat octaves with relative ease (see Excerpt 6).

Excerpt 6: Nocturne from Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9 by AlexanderScriabin, mm. 5-6.

Sonata in C Minor, Op. 179, by Carl Reinecke(may be downloaded from ISMLP/Petrucci Library)

Carl Reinecke (1824-1910) enjoyed a stellar musical career asconductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Director of the LeipzigConservatory, and prolific composer. His music is reminiscent of,though not as inspired as, the works of Mendelssohn andSchumann. Today he is best known for his Sonata “Undine” forflute and piano, Op. 167, and his music for student pianists.

As one of the few multi-movement works for the left hand,Reinecke’s Sonata in C Minor, Op. 179, is especially significant.The Peters edition of this work is out of print, but can be found inmany university libraries or the music can be downloaded from theinternet. It is an attractive work written in a conservative, lateRomantic style. The first three movements are similar in difficulty,while the fourth movement is more difficult due to its fast tempoand virtuosic demands. It should be noted that Reinecke’s pianowriting favors a large hand.

The Sonata is in a conventional four-movement form—fast,slow, minuetto and trio, fast. The first movement is in standardsonata form, beginning with a dark, brooding opening theme, anda contrasting second theme in the relative major. Reinecke oftenplaces thematic material in the middle register and the bass line inthe lower register, making the required shifting the main technicalconcern of this movement. When practicing shifts, work on devel-oping a free, relaxed arm by practicing arm motions on the closedlid of the piano, and practice these movements slowly on the key-board while consciously maintaining a relaxed arm. Accuracy canbe improved by concentrating on the thumb; if the thumb plays thecorrect notes, other things should fall into place.

The second movement, a poetic Andante lento, is based on theHungarian folksong, “Don’t go, my sweetheart.” This theme is fol-lowed by five variations in which arpeggiated figures dominate.The third movement is a jovial menuetto with a lyrical Trio remi-niscent of Schumann’s “inward” style. Its key of B major, the enhar-monically lowered submediant of the Menuetto’s E-flat major, cre-ates a striking harmonic relationship to the Menuetto.

The Finale is by far the most demanding movement of theSonata, requiring a virtuoso technique and endurance. The openingof the movement can be used to examine how one may acquire thespeed and stamina required for this music (see Excerpt 7).

Excerpt 7: Finale from Sonata in C Minor, Op. 179, by Carl Reinecke,mm. 1-4.

The correct use of arm weight is essential in these passages. Thearm should drop on all bass and double-stemmed notes and lift inbetween. These motions propel the hand and fingers through thearpeggios and passagework and, at the same time, ensure that thebass line and melody notes are prominent. The wrist and fingersmust remain as loose as possible and allow the arm to do most ofthe work. The less the fingers have to work, the faster and longerthe left hand is able to play.

An article on music for the left hand would be incomplete with-out mentioning the outstanding collection, Piano Music for OneHand (Schirmer), edited by Raymond Lewenthal. This volumecontains a superb preface and includes the Scriabin Op. 9, the“Finale” of the Reinecke Sonata, and many other fine pieces. Also,


Leon Fleisher’s superb recording Leon Fleisher Recital (Sony) ofsolo music for the left hand is a must for anyone interested in thismusic.

The piano has the most solo repertoire of any instrument. It isreassuring to know that one can injure the right hand and still havemany fine works for the left hand to study and perform. Pianistsshould explore this repertoire even without injury to the righthand. It is a wonderful way to develop accuracy, dexterity, strength,and velocity in the left hand while working on good music. Thisrepertoire can also add spice to a recital program or serve as acrowd-pleasing encore. p

Help! my student broke anarmby Joyce Grill

In a piano studio somewhere in the country, almost daily thephone rings and a parent explains their child cannot come to les-sons for several weeks because they have broken a finger, wrist, orarm. When the teacher says lessons should continue because thetechnical control of the available limb can be developed andstrengthened, the parent is usually amazed. Indeed, this can be awonderful opportunity to work on weaker areas of technique.

Repertoire for one handThere is a rich amount of music written for one hand, right or

left, at all levels, even elementary and intermediate. One of the ear-liest keyboard works for one hand is “Klavierstucke” by Carl PhillipEmanuel Bach, which can be found in Piano Music for One Handby Raymond Lewenthal (G. Schirmer). Also in this book are exer-cises and transcriptions of well-known compositions such as theC.P.E. Bach “Solfeggietto,” arranged by A.R. Parsons for left handalone. More familiar to piano teachers are works for left hand aloneby Scriabin and Ravel that are sometimes played in concerts byprofessional pianists. However, the difficulty level of these works iswell above the level of most young students. In the book OneHanded: A Guide to Piano Music for One Hand, David Patterson listsmusic for either right or left hand by both master and pedagogicalcomposers. The National Federation of Music Clubs JuniorFestival and several states even have a category for judging “OneHand Piano Music,” again at different levels.

Keeping a selection of music for left and right hand alone is agood addition to any studio library. When an injury does occur,music at the student’s current repertoire level is readily available tostrengthen, correct, or reinforce skills at their playing ability.

General planningWhen a student injures a limb, decide what skills or technique

the student most needs. Pick two or three at most, with one thatwill require less work and perhaps one that could use more. Severaleasy pieces could be selected, depending on the length of timeneeded for recovery. The same skill could be reinforced through asecond piece, and some pieces could just be for pleasure, which“teaches” the student to enjoy music!

Make a lesson plan just as you would for two hands. The studentstill needs warm-up exercises: perhaps five-finger patterns, scales,or arpeggios—whatever is at the student’s level. Since at least twonew pieces will probably be introduced, one easy piece along with aharder one will give the student confidence in this literature thatrequires new skills and new ways of thinking.


Piano Practice

Your small fingers seek the keys,your small fingers feeling all overfor the chords, stumbling back over“Go Tell Aunt Rhodie” again and again,your small fingers worry the flat tongues,ordering them to go tell her, to gotell her over and over, they stammer,they cannot tell what.While I in the kitchenwith my hands among the dishesfeel the back of my neck go hardwith the hearing of it. And stillyour fingers tense and stiffen, gropingfor the gray goose, the old graygoose . . . the old . . . the old gray gooseis . . . the old gray goose . . . the old. . . .

Your hands smack the keyboard, hard,and I charge in with my dishrag and my tongue, so sharp you snap, a longthin wire wound too tight, now curlinginto yourself. Your small shouldersbegin to labor now in perfect time,more measured than a metronome, more true.I hold you with damp hands. My heavyhead rests on your bent head, and Idrink in the smell of your hair, thesmell of boy. And I long to hearthe old gray goose honking unevenly,strutting and backtracking on the keys that open nothing, really, but areonly the place of change, where,for a moment, something that moves,a pressure, becomes a kind of music.

—Jeanne Emmons

“Piano Practice” from Rootbound by Jeanne Emmons.© 1998 by Jeanne Emmons. Reprinted with permission ofThe Permissions Company, Inc. on behalf of New RiversPress, www.newriverspress.com.

Jeanne Emmons has three published collections of poetry.Over the past two decades she has received numerous awards forher poems. She teaches English at Briar Cliff University inSioux City, IA.

Poetry CornerRichard Zimdars, Editor

Although fingering is often given, it may not fit all hands. Donot hesitate to change it, and write it in! There may also need to beadjustments in seating on the bench. Some students feel the needto sit more to the right than normal when playing left-hand-alonepieces, since they are playing higher than normal in the treble staff.The same is true for right-hand pieces. It is important to sit so thearm can easily and smoothly cross the body and comfortably playthe required range of the keyboard.

Development of skillsWorking on early level music for one hand can help develop

many skills necessary to play more difficult piano literature. Sincemost people are right handed, the left hand is usually not as flexi-ble or agile. And because it is used more, it is the right limb thatgets broken the most frequently. Music for one hand actuallysounds like traditional piano music written for two hands becausedifferent fingers of the same hand play both the melody andaccompaniment.

“I Wish I Knew” for right hand, by Joyce Grill, is an example ofthe outer fingers (4 and 5) playing the melody, while the lower fin-gers (1 and 2) play the harmony. Since fingers 4 and 5 are oftenweaker, they need to develop the ability to play a melody in balancewith the harmony played by “stronger” fingers—playing differentdynamics within the same hand (see Excerpt 8).

Excerpt 8: “I Wish I Knew” from More Left Alone—Right On! byJoyce Grill, mm. 1-4.

I WISH I KNEW (FROM “MORE LEFT ALONE—RIGHT ON!”) By Joyce GrillCopyright © 1996 WARNER BROS. PUBLICATIONS INC.All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

In piano literature for two hands, the left hand needs to quicklyand effortlessly move and leap throughout the keyboard, playingchords and scale passages fluently. Practicing music for left handalone can help develop these skills.

“Adagio for the Left Hand” by Eugénie R. Rocherolle illustratesthis. Here, the strong fingers 1, 2, and 3 are playing the melodywhile the generally weaker fingers 4 and 5 play the harmony.Balance is usually easier in this case than vice versa (see Excerpt 9).

Excerpt 9: “Adagio for the Left Hand” from Hands Separately byEugénie Rocherolle, mm. 1-3.

ADAGIO FOR THE LEFT HAND from HANDS SEPARATELY By Eugénie Rocherolle© 1989 Neil A. Kjos Music Company. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission 2011.

In “Twilight” by Joyce Grill, the left hand must move smoothlyand effortlessly back and forth to a succession of intervals, fifthsand sixths, which become the basis of playing chords later. Theorycan be incorporated with this and expanded to chord progressions(see Excerpt 10).

Excerpt 10: “Twilight” from Left Alone—Right On! by Joyce Grill,mm. 1-4.

TWILIGHT (FROM “LEFT ALONE—RIGHT ON!”) By Joyce GrillCopyright © 1995 BELWIN-MILLS PUBLISHING CORP. (ASCAP). This Edition © 2003 BELWIN-MILLS PUBLISHING CORP.(ASCAP). All Rights Administered by Warner Bros. Publications U.S. INC.All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

Sight-reading skills are strengthened because the hand usuallyhas to read in both bass and treble staves. (It might be helpful tochoose music at a lower level than the student usually plays.) InEither/Or by Joyce Grill, although each piece is written in one staff,asking a student to play treble-staff pieces with the left hand andbass-staff pieces with the right hand gives insight into true readingability. (This is also an excellent way to evaluate a transfer student’sreading skill.)

On the second page of “Twilight,” a melody occurs in the treblestaff, requiring a large leap back to the left hand part as in thebeginning. Careful pedaling, as indicated, will help to sustain themelody note. This also illustrates how a slight adjustment on thebench will make reaching the high melody notes easier (seeExcerpt 11).

Excerpt 11: “Twilight” from Left Alone—Right On! by Joyce Grill,mm. 17-20.

TWILIGHT (FROM “LEFT ALONE—RIGHT ON!”) By Joyce GrillCopyright © 1995 BELWIN-MILLS PUBLISHING CORP. (ASCAP). This Edition © 2003 BELWIN-MILLS PUBLISHING CORP.(ASCAP). All Rights Administered by Warner Bros. Publications U.S. INC.All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

“Elegy” by Dennis Alexander requires sustaining a treble-staffmelody while moving to play the harmonies in the bass staff. Thecomposer wrote that “[t]he pedaling should be strictly observed.”The composer also suggests that the piece could be played by theright hand alone, which would require a change in the fingerings(see Excerpt 12).

Excerpt 12: “Elegy” by Dennis Alexander, mm. 3-6.

ELEGY By Dennis AlexanderCopyright © MCMXCIV by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

In both “Twilight” and “Elegy,” the pedal is necessary to sustainthe melody. The damper pedal sustains lower tones while the handmoves to higher notes. This helps highlight melody and accompa-niment, along with the hand playing different dynamics.



In “Wishing” by Joyce Grill, the melody is in the bass staff andthe left hand must reach up to play chords in the treble staff. Thestudent is learning to sustain and shape a melodic line and play theaccompanying chords more softly to balance with the melody,while simultaneously using the damper pedal to sustain the melodyand connect the harmonies. Since the strong fingers are playingtreble staff chords in a sonorous range of the piano, care must betaken not to overwhelm the bass notes (see Excerpt 13).

Excerpt 13: “Wishing” from More Left Alone—Right On! by JoyceGrill, mm. 1-3.

WISHING (FROM “MORE LEFT ALONE—RIGHT ON!”) By Joyce GrillCopyright ©1996 WARNER BROS. PUBLICATIONS INC. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

“Between Two Lands” by Sharon Aaronson, is an example of apiece for right hand. The melody must be sustained by outer fin-gers while the thumb mostly adds harmony. The pedal (indicated)again helps sustain the melody (see Excerpt 14).

Excerpt 14: “Between Two Lands” by Sharon Aaronson, mm. 1-4.

BETWEEN TWO LANDS By Sharon AaronsonCopyright © MCMXCIX by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

Teachers usually have certain pieces by major composers thatthey want their students to study. In planning future repertoire fora particular student, think of what skills will be needed in thatmusic, and be certain these skills are studied during the early levelof study, even when there are no broken limbs.

The piece “I Wish I Knew” (see Excerpt 8) requires the weakerfingers 4 and 5 to play the melody while the stronger fingers 1 and2 play the harmony. This is similar to the right hand of the “EMajor Etude, Op. 10, No. 3” by Chopin. “Twilight” (see Excerpts10 and 11) teaches the left hand to move smoothly in a similarmanner to the left hand of Chopin waltzes.

When the broken limb has healed, do not immediately stopworking on pieces for one hand. The affected limb will not be atfull strength immediately, and an easy one-hand piece could helpregain full mobility and power.

Having several students in your studio working on music for onehand could lead to a “One-Hand Recital,” which could be veryinteresting for performers and audience. Additionally, it is possibleto have one student play the left hand and another student play theright hand of a piece. A Bach Two-Part Invention is ideal for this.Decisions have to be made about who should pedal and whatwould be appropriate pedaling for Bach. If using music, who wouldturn pages?

As teachers, it is important to remember the “Rs” of piano peda-gogy: review, reinforce and in the case of the broken limb, recover!

Having only one hand to play the piano can be an interesting, ben-eficial, and rewarding opportunity for student and teacher alike! p

Music for One Hand:Aaronson, Sharon. Between Two Lands (Alfred)Alexander, Dennis. Elegy (Alfred)Grill, Joyce. Either/Or (Warner/Alfred)Grill, Joyce. Left Alone—Right On! (Warner/Alfred)Grill, Joyce. More Left Alone—Right On! (Warner/Alfred)Lewenthal, Raymond, Ed. Piano Music for One Hand (G.

Schirmer)Poe, John Robert. Look Ma, One Hand (Kjos)Poe, John Robert. On the Other Hand (Kjos)Rocherolle, Eugénie. Hands Separately (Kjos)Sheftel, Paul. One Piano One Hand, (Four Pieces for Piano, One

Hand) (Carl Fischer)Various authors, For Left Hand Alone, Book 1 (Willis/Hal

Leonard)

General Sources: Edel, Theodore (1994). Piano Music for One Hand.

Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.National Federation of Music Clubs. Many publishers list the

one-handed works from the NFMC list on their websites.Patterson, Donald L., Ed., (1999). One Handed: A Guide to

Piano Music for One Hand. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Bruce Berr has been an independentteacher and university professor of

piano and pedagogy for a long time.He is known nationally as a clinician,

educational composer and arranger,and author on a wide variety of topicsrelated to teaching, music, and piano.His column on personal observations,“ad lib,” appears regularly in Ameri-

can Music Teacher magazine,and he has been editor of the Rhythm

department since 1997. Please go toBruceBerr.com for more information.

This issue’s contributor:

Photo by Lloyd Schultz

As a pianist, fortepianist, andharpsichordist, Trevor Stephenson

gives performances and lecturesthroughout the United States. He

received a DMA in HistoricalPerformance of eighteenth-century

Music from Cornell University wherehe studied fortepiano with Malcolm

Bilson. Since 1990, with his colleagueNorman Sheppard, he has rebuilt and

customized a series of historicalkeyboard instruments ranging fromItalian Renaissance harpsichords to

Victorian pianos. These instrumentsare featured in a series of twelve

recordings on the Light & Shadowlabel (trevorstephenson.com). In 2004

he founded the Madison BachMusicians and currently serves as

artistic director(madisonbachmusicians.org).


Why should I consider havingmy piano tuned in anything butequal temperament?

The marriage of color and structure:

HarmonyBruce Berr, Editor

Har

mon

y

Three years ago my piano technician,Robert Guenther, asked me if Iwanted to try out a well-tempered

tuning on my 1913 Steinway Model O.We have known each other for decades sohe was aware of my interest in the scienceof music, including different tuning sys-tems. He mentioned that several of hisclients had been using well temperament(WT) for the past few years and were sohappy with it that they had no intention ofever returning to equal temperament (ET).Feeling adventurous, I gave him the okay.After he left, I started to play throughsome favorite literature and thought,“What the heck did I just do?!?” Virtuallyeverything sounded out of tune to somedegree, and passages in C major had anunusual quality. I hoped I would get usedto it over the next few days, but I didn’t.

It wasn’t as if I’d gotten a root canaltreatment—it could be undone. Within themonth, I had Robert return to bring myworld back to ET and beautiful soundsagain. I wrote off WT as some kind of his-torical oddity, like thinking the earth isflat.

Then last summer, Robert told me thatthe Chicago School for Piano Technology(he is a faculty member there) was bring-ing in an excellent musician and expert onhistorical tunings, Dr. Trevor Stephenson,who was going to work with the school’sapprentices. In addition, they were goingto open the doors to all Chicagoland key-board players and have Trevor offer a half-day workshop of lectures and demonstra-tions on historical tunings. Some pianosand harpsichords would be pre-tuned todifferent temperaments—ET, WT, andeven meantone—so that pieces could becompared with different tunings.

It sounded like it would be fun, so Iattended the event. Right from the begin-

ning I found Trevor to be a compelling lec-turer and player. He explained the historyand theory behind the various tuning sys-tems in the most clear and enthusiasticway imaginable, but it was his demonstra-tions at the variously-tuned keyboards thatmade a crucial difference. The cliché istrue: hearing is believing.

In the midst of the workshop, I stoppedlistening and taking notes in order toexamine an “aha moment” I was having. Ihad thought I understood WT because Iknew all the mathematics behind it—thecomma of Pythagoras, the frequency ratios,etc. But as a musician, my ears had beenunwittingly closed to it, and that wasapparently why I disliked it the first timearound. After Trevor’s demonstrations andcomparisons, I was able to shed my ET-earprejudices—I was listening in a new way. Icould now hear and appreciate that Cmajor is tuned very pure (like à cappellavoices), and the further the music getsaway from that in the circle of fifths, themore grumbly the tonalities become, par-ticularly their thirds.

Why is this such a good thing? Becausethen the different tonalities actually have per-ceivably different qualities, even if you don’thave perfect pitch (which I don’t). Keychanges hit you with full force. The clinch-er was the preponderance of historical evi-dence Trevor presented that proved most ofthe beloved music we play was composed bypeople whose pianos were tuned in this way,not in ET!

Due to these two revelations (for me), Isoon had Robert once again tune my pianoto WT. As it turns out, there is not oneWT tuning but many—it’s a spectrum soyou can decide how much “spiciness” youwant the lower part of the circle of fifths tohave. To ease back into WT, Robert used amild tuning called “Broadwood’s Best.”

Now that I was listening differently, I actu-ally was displeased with the results becauseit was too close to ET! A few months later,I had him return and do a slightly moredaring one called “Broadwood’s Usual.”Now we were cooking—when pieceschanged keys, you could feel it in yourbones! Literature took on a different, morethree-dimensional quality; ET suddenlyseemed bland in comparison.

It still took a little getting used to, espe-cially in the lower half of the circle. Also,most jazz doesn’t sound quite right in it—tritone substitutions have an unwanted jar-ring effect since such gestures evolved inan ET environment. Additionally, some of

my students with good ears stopped in themidst of accurate playing and wonderedaloud, “Is that right?” (I proactively hadsent out an announcement to my studiobefore switching to WT, but as I saidabove, intellectual understanding is onething and hearing is another.) Despitethese small minor shortcomings (punintended), I am excited to be re-exploringstandard repertoire, hearing the musicmore in the way its creators did. It isimpossible to not get new insights intowhat the music is about.

Surprisingly, even this second“Broadwood” tuning is relatively mildcompared to earlier WT tunings (it is from

the transitional Victorian tunings—moreabout that in Trevor’s article), so if I wantto try an even higher octane mix in mySteinway sometime in the future, that’s apossibility, too.

Because Dr. Stephenson’s presentationwas so inspiring to me, I wanted to share itwith you as much as that is possible in amagazine. He has not only written an arti-cle that will illuminate and make youchuckle at times, but has also providedvideo clips you can experience in our digi-tal edition. These are a must—then youcan truly hear the answer to the article’squestion, as well as read it. p


Tuning and tonalityby Trevor Stephenson

Why should I consider having my pianotuned in anything but equal temperament?The short answer is because historical tun-ings, among many other things:

• Unlock the secret of Chopin’s keychoices and his enigmatic pedal indications

• Help map the odyssey of affectivestates in Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier

• Show why Mozart’s optimism kepthim near the top of the circle of fifths

The rest of the storyIf you love playing the piano, you know

how rewarding it is to try different ways ofplaying something in order to bring outthe music’s inner character. We changephrasings, tempos, fingerings, articulations,pedalings, dynamics, chord voicings, bal-ance between the hands . . . looking forthat magic that will make the music speakmore directly to the heart. But did you evertry changing the tuning?

From the time of Bach until the earlytwentieth century, keyboard instrumentswere tuned in a variety of ways, or tempera-ments, and the historical evidence suggeststhat most of these were not the standard-ized equal temperament (ET) to which webecame accustomed during the twentiethcentury. Although eighteenth- and nine-teenth-century keyboard tunings weresomewhat similar to ET in that they werevery practical—designed so that you couldplay in all keys—they differed from ET insubtle though significant ways that inten-tionally gave each tonality a unique har-monic and melodic timbre, or key color.Moreover, as creations of an overwhelm-ingly tonal musical culture, these versatileand unequal tunings—often called Well

Temperaments (WT)—were themselvestonal constructs that provided order anddirection for the rich variety of key colorscontained in the circle of fifths.

Although ET had been proposed duringthe eighteenth century, theorists and key-board performers (who in those days alltuned their own instruments) generallyrejected it since they were well aware thatthe variegated structure of WT gave itgreater emotional depth. The German the-orist, Johann Georg Neidhardt (whomBach knew) wrote in 1732: “Most peopledo not find in this tuning [ET] that whichthey seek. It [ET] lacks, they say, variety inthe beating of its major thirds and, conse-quently, a heightening of emotion.”1 TheItalian writer Valotti put it this way in1781: “Give to the notes of the long keys,which are most used, all their native per-fection; and . . . throw the imperfectionupon the short keys, which are mostremote from the diatonic scale; that thecontrast of different modulations intoremote keys may have the best effect.”2 Atthe end of the eighteenth century, in 1799,the English tuner and scientist ThomasYoung argued for WT over ET because ofits “considerable advantage in the generaleffect of modulation” and because WTgave a natural beauty to the keys mostcommonly used; Young also stated that“this method [WT], under different modi-fications, has been almost universal.”3

WT was an intonational ecosystem,understood and utilized on a daily basis bycomposers dating from Brahms, back toChopin, to Beethoven, to Mozart, and toBach, who created the most enduringinvestigation of the system in his monu-

mental The Well-Tempered Clavier of 1720(WTC-I). The basis of WT’s structure wasthe role of C major as home key, a sort oftonic tonality to the other keys. C majorwas tuned for the greatest clarity and har-moniousness. Moving away from C, downeither side of the circle of fifths, each newtonality showed a progressive loss ofacoustic transparency which was offset by acorresponding gain in expressive opacity,what we might call an increasing thicknessof timbre. WT’s richly varied musicalpalette was, is, the result of fine, but easilyheard gradations of tempering amongintervals; the divergences of these intervalsizes from those found in ET are generallyno more than a few cents—that is, a couplehundredths of a half step!

What happened to WellTemperament?

During the late nineteenth century, WTbegan to draw fire as taste and beliefsabout the intent of music changed.Composers and players felt an increasingattraction to the tonalities in the lower halfof the circle of fifths; as the velvety diffuse-ness of the deep-flat keys and the tran-scendental sparkles of the deep-sharp keysbegan to dominate the musical imagina-tion, the clearer keys near the top of thecircle became increasingly marginalized. Atthe same time, chromaticism and freemodulation grew so prominent that anysense of buoyancy within the circle offifths—looking toward C major—seemedout-of-date and began to chafe the newaesthetic of relativism. WT was teetering,and was constantly being modified towarda more equally tempered system; these

transitional tunings are sometimes called the Victorian tempera-ments. By the time of World War I, the pendulum had swung farenough that tonality itself was called into question. Within thespirit of the age, it made sense for intonation at the keyboard toembrace the most tonally-ambivalent tuning at its disposal, preciseET. By dividing the octave into twelve exact, clinically-equal halfsteps, ET guaranteed that tones of the chromatic scale were effec-tively isolated from each other—a godsend for the atonal move-ment. Moreover, ET ensured that in the playing of tonal music alltonalities would display the same acoustic hue, thus removing thevisceral foundation of key color. Note also that during this periodthere was a corresponding move toward pervasive vibrato in instru-mental and vocal performance.

Of course, tonal music survived, but so did ET. Together theyformed a most unusual sonic marriage throughout the twentiethcentury: tonal music played in ET, or tonality uttered through themask of a-tonality. At the same time, music schools curtailedinstruction in the principles of intervals, proportion, and tempera-ment—a dull and dusty business considering there were ChopinEtudes to be learned—and the relationship between temperamentand expression fell by the wayside for several generations.

Exploring WT through thirdsSo, what does tonal music sound like in tonal temperament, in its

own intonational dialect? Let’s explore! Imagine that we have two pianos before us, one

tuned in ET and the other in WT. If you actually have two pianosin the same room, it is fairly easy these days to run this experiment,since many piano tuners trained in the past fifteen years or so areonce again acquainted with temperaments other than ET (seeinstructions for tuning historical temperaments at www.rolling-ball.com). In the octave just below middle C, play the major thirdC-E. On the ET piano, this third will produce a type of beatingsensation that pulses about five times per second (5/sec.). On theWT piano, the C-E third will beat much more slowly, anywherefrom 0/sec. (a just third) to around 3/sec.; remember that just orpure thirds, where the two notes are very in synch and harmonious,are a hallmark of all good à cappella singing, string quartet playing,and more!

Now play the major third just a half-step higher, Db-F. In ETthis Db-F third will beat just a little bit faster than the ET C-Ethird, around 5.5/sec. In WT, the Db-F third will beat noticeablyfaster than anything you have encountered so far—generally any-where from 8-10/sec.

The characteristics of the two systems then begin to show them-selves. If we keep ascending chromatically by major thirds, ETshows a steady increase in beat speeds, each chromatically higherthird beating just slightly faster than its neighbor to the south. InWT the ascending thirds beat at various speeds, some slow like C-E, some fast like Db-F, and every variety in between. Moving chro-matically, the WT system seems almost random, but heard in rela-tionship to the circle of fifths, it is astonishingly consistent andfinely shaded. In most well temperaments, there is a progression ofincreasing beat speeds as you move away from C major (pure, or atleast very slow) in either direction around the circle of fifths downto the bottom (F# major, fast). (See Example 1.)

The peacefulness of C MajorRemarkable, but what does this have to do with music? Let’s

start at one of the great beginnings of all time, the first preludefrom the WTC-I (see Excerpt 2).

Excerpt 2: Prelude in C Major, BWV 846, from The Well-TemperedClavier, Volume 1, by J. S. Bach, mm. 12-14.

It is in C major because C major was the understood progenitorof all major keys. The prelude’s undulating, repeating arpeggiosportray a calm centeredness that the poet Goethe described as“The stillness in the breast of God before he created the world.”When played in ET, the built-in buzzing vibrato of C major cre-ates a sort of unrest that plays against the music’s inherent nature,and is difficult to hide (pianists playing the piece in ET instinctive-ly de-emphasize the high E whenever it comes around just to keeporder in the court). By contrast, the C-major tonality in WT isalmost beat-less and is very harmonious; the high E simply snug-


From top to bottom: Well Temperament, Equal Temperament, Mean-tone Temperament. The temperament charts present the circle of fifths asa structure of tonalities, and not individual pitches, thus C major, Gmajor, etc. Lightly shaded areas represent acoustic clarity, transparency,harmoniousness (slower beating intervals); darker areas representacoustic opacity or areas of faster beating intervals. In the MT chart, forinstance, the tonalities in the upper half of the circle are all very clear andharmonious; in the lower half of the circle the preponderance of wolfintervals renders the harmony generally unusable.

Example 1:

gles into the harmony, and the piece floats along easily in its medi-tation on grace.

When the first hints of trouble come along in the twelfth andfourteenth measures—as flats and diminished chords arrive—Bachreaches into the lower part of the circle—more beats—to elicitdoubt and angst. On the prelude’s final C-major chord the vibratoof ET precludes a sense of absolute stillness, while WT harmo-niousness here allows a closing with elegant inner resolve.

The half step is a huge harmonic distance in WTBut what about Db (C#) major? What do we do with a key in

WT that beats more quickly than anything we’ve heard in ET? Itdepends upon what the composer was trying to convey. For exam-ple, at the stunning Picardy-third closing of the gnarled C#-minorfugue (WTC I), Bach utilizes the sudden C#-major chord as ablazing and unadorned directive or a vow of hope (see Excerpt 3).

Excerpt 3: Fugue in C-Sharp Minor, BWV 849, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume 1, by J. S. Bach, mm. 111-115.

But in the rapid, light-footed C#-major prelude (WTC-I), Bachuses the same searing buzz of WT’s C#-E# third (enharmonic Db-F) to capture the greatest effervescence (see Excerpt 4).

Excerpt 4: Prelude in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume 1, by J. S. Bach, mm. 1-5.

In WT, the effect of this piece is like water sprinkled on a hotstove, or, in true Bach family style, the glorious chaos of getting allthe kids ready for church. In ET, though, the contribution of thetuning toward interpretation is exactly, and inappropriately, thesame in the C#-major prelude as it is for the C-major prelude.

We’ll stay in C# for a while and look at a piece by Beethoven,the first movement of the “Moonlight” Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2, inC-Sharp Minor (see Excerpt 5).

Excerpt 5: Sonata in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2, Mvt. 1, by Ludwigvan Beethoven, mm. 1-4.

Try it first in ET and then in WT. Notice how in WT it seemsto just float out of the piano, the dropping bass seems deeper andmore of a psychological undertow, the tolling bell of the melodicG-sharps seem more forlorn, distant, and disembodied. Next, onthe WT piano play the opening measures in C minor (instead of inthe original C# minor); notice how the piece loses its quality oftranscendent meditation and becomes a rather heavy dumplingsince C minor has a great deal of earthly gravity built right into itskey color. Now try it in D minor, suddenly it sounds wiry, overlycaffeinated, because D minor in WT has a kind of a sinewyspringiness to its sound. Beethoven understood the temperamentpractices of his time thoroughly, and he chose precisely the rightkey for the mood he was looking for in this sonata.

Chopin’s pedaling and WTChopin as well, who, according to his pupils, could play much of

Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier from memory, was cognizant of


WT’s expressive power in the keys of D-flat major and C-sharpminor. In the “Raindrop Prelude” Op. 28, No. 15, Chopin daringlylays out the root and third on the very first note (see Excerpt 6).

Excerpt 6: Prelude in D-Flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15, by FrédéricChopin, mm. 1-3.

In WT, the rapid beat speed gives a flutter to the melodic line,and there is a haunting, lifting sensation that a more harmonious(slower beating) key cannot provide. Chopin uses the diffuseness ofD-flat major here, joined with a light touch, to create a sense ofremoval and longing. For a laugh, play this passage in the harmo-nious key of C major in WT; everything is so in-tune and hunky-dory that there really isn’t much to sing about. Try the piece in ET,it generally sounds fine, but the emotional stakes are just not ashigh as in the WT version. Explore in this piece how WT and ETsuggest different rubatos, voicings, even tempos. Notice alsoChopin’s remarkably idiomatic pedal indications, such as: no pedalin measure 16 (beats 3-4) and for all of measure 17; pedal releasesat the half measure in measures 19 and 20; holding the pedal overthe bar in 72-75. Try them and see if they are more viable in WTor ET (see Excerpts 7 and 8).



Historical temperament may unlock the secret of Chopin’s enig-matic pedaling in the E-minor Prelude (see Excerpt 9).

Excerpt 9: Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28, No. 4, by Frédéric Chopin, mm.1-8.

Chopin’s autograph indicates pedaling in this piece only for briefmoments in measures 17 and 18. Yet, most pianists playing thispiece in ET use legato pedal throughout. Though for good reason,since in ET the chords in E minor are very active and it is almostimpossible to settle them down enough to play without pedal, nomatter how light your left hand is. In WT, however, many of theharmonies in E minor are calmer, high in the circle of fifths, so theintervals beat a lot less. When you try the piece in WT withoutpedal, as Chopin is probably asking, the chords are generally morewilling to shut down when the damper lands after every eighthnote, and the effect is of paleness, even worry, of time movingalong softly and inexorably. Above this gentle pulsation, themelody moves in a much slower rhythmic realm, and here the tem-perament comes into play in another way, melodically. In WT, thehalf step from B to C (measures 1-3) is a large half step, whereasthe ensuing half step from B to Bb in measure 4 is a narrower one.The large repeated half step B-C conveys a series of sorrowfulsighs, whereas the smaller half step represents a subtle transforma-tion of the mood, perhaps to the not-quite-so-pained, somewhatresigned, whole-step sighs between A and B in measures 5-7.Whatever one’s reading of the emotional course of the piece, WTallows the player to shape the melody as great singers do, by artful-ly adjusting the intervals.

Give it a try!Pianists who work with WT on a regular basis find that tonal

music falls into a more natural curve. They also exclaim repeatedlythat nuances of melodic line, harmonic color, and rhetorical pacingthat in ET they only suspected were there, do indeed emerge readi-ly in WT. If you want to start slowly with tonal tuning, perhapsjust to hear how even the subtlest adjustments can heighten thesense of sublime mystery in Debussy’s Clair de lune, try a Victoriantemperament. Or explore the keener colors of WT and see howMozart makes a jolly theme chortle in six different ways (keys) inthe D-major Rondo—how Bach explores the metaphysical heart ofevery key in The Well Tempered Clavier. You can even go way backto the crystalline harmonies of Baroque mean-tone tuning; theamazing Frescobaldi awaits! It is all fascinating and moving beyondcompare.

In the videos accompanying this article, I demonstrate how WTand Victorian Temperament are tuned. I also play and discuss therepertoire selections contained in the article, as well as some otherpieces. Also included is a video demonstrating how to tuneRenaissance and early Baroque mean-tone temperament whichflourished during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth cen-turies; the video also contains an explanation of how mean-tonetuning was gradually modified during the late-seventeenth andearly-eighteenth centuries to form the basis of the key color systemfound in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century masterworkscomposed for WT. p

1Duffin, R. (2007). How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care).New York: W. W. Norton & Co., p. 43.

2Jorgensen, O. (1991). Tuning: Containing the Perfection of Eighteenth-Century Temperament,the Lost Art of Nineteenth-Century Temperament, and the Science of Equal Temperament. EastLansing: Michigan State University Press, p. 176.

3Ibid., p. 251-252.


George Litterst is a nationally knownmusic educator, clinician, author,

performer, and music softwaredeveloper. A classically trained pianist,

he is co-author of the intelligentaccompaniment software program,Home Concert Xtreme, and the

electronic music blackboard program,Classroom Maestro, from

TimeWarp Technologies(www.timewarptech.com).

This issue’s contributor:

Lori Frazer is a Yamaha consultantwho shares the marvels of modern

music technology with everyone. Shebrings the amazement and wellness

benefits of music making to people whonever thought they could participate!

Lori’s activities have included thebuilding of Yamaha’s Clavinova

Festival, training teachers andfacilitators for the Clavinova

Connection RMM program, andworking with diverse organizations

such as Wounded Warriors andDaniel’s Music Foundation.


RMM really is for everyone!with Lori Frazer

Tomorrow Today:

TechnologyGeorge Litterst, Editor

Tec

hn

olo

gy

The Recreational Music Makingmovement is all about inclusivenessand creative self-expression.

Embedded in the RMM philosophy is thisstatement: No matter what music back-ground you may or may not have, no mat-ter what physical or mental limitationspresent themselves, you can participate inthe joy of music making and express your-self creatively!

The statement above comes from LoriFrazer, one of the tireless pioneers of theRMM movement. She is a well knownmusic clinician who specializes in creatinglearning and performance opportunities forthe young, the old, and even individualswith severe physical or mental challenges.If you have ever attended a national con-ference for piano teachers—such asMTNA or NCKP—you have probablyseen her. If your students have ever partici-pated in a Clavinova Festival (www.clavi-novafestival.com), you may have encoun-tered her in your own community.

I never know for sure where I might findLori on any given day. She could be justabout anywhere in the country giving atechnology workshop to music teachers,assisting with the establishment of a newrecreational music making class, teaching agroup of children or adults with specialneeds, working with a group of soldiersrecovering from battle trauma, or eventeaching her own piano class at a musicdealership in Tucson, AZ. The one placewhere I rarely find Lori is at home.

The many faces of RMMRMM means different things to differ-

ent people. For some, it can be an extra, fundimension to traditional, disciplined pianostudy. For others, RMM means a grouppiano class for seniors that focuses equallyon both the musical and social aspects ofthe experience. Amazingly, RMM canmean any or all of the above, with specialemphasis on the health-promoting andeven healing outcomes that can be associat-ed with musical self-expression.

In many or most cases, RMM has one ormore technology components that providea gateway for creative self-expression. Forexample, imagine a student who has hadno formal music background and who mayeven have limited ability to move the fin-gers, hand, or arm. With a technology-assisted keyboard instrument, that studentmay be able to participate in and enjoy ameaningful music making experience withliterally no advance preparation. And, thatmusic making experience may be the firststep in a long-term experience that pro-motes health and even physical or mentalhealing.

According to Lori, “When I first sawthe testimonial videos from the test pilot ofClavinova Connection RMM program(www.clavinovaconnection.com) in 2003,the way that I thought about music mak-ing changed profoundly. I had always beeninterested in music therapy, but this was anew angle. The idea that you could usemusic for non-musical outcomes had beenaround for centuries, but now there wasempirical data to back up this concept. Iremember commenting to a colleague thatthis could really change everything, and forme it has.”

From home organs to digitalpianos to RMM

Lori has a background in pop piano andboth jazz and classical organ. Not surpris-ingly, this has meant that her teaching hasblended both traditional and popapproaches to keyboard pedagogy. And,she has been quite successful. “Early in myteaching career, I had a studio in my homein California as well as rented studio spacein a music store. At the busiest time of myteaching career, I had fifty-two private stu-dents and nine classes a week.”

Over time, as the home organ marketdisappeared in the United States andsophisticated digital pianos replaced them,Lori became interested in the many waysthat embedded technology in a keyboardinstrument can facilitate and enhance

musical expression. Ultimately, this interestled her to Yamaha and the ClavinovaFestival program.

“The Clavinova Festival was startedtwenty-one years ago by Jim Foster inBettendorf, Iowa. In 1997, Yamaha askedme to investigate the festival concept andto grow it for the benefit of dealers andstudents nationwide. I did just that. At itspeak, there were ninety festivals per year inforty-one states. In a typical year we wouldsee between 17,000 and 20,000 partici-pants.”

The Clavinova Festival is an annualevent that takes place at many Yamahadealerships around the country. The focusof the festival is on student performanceand the many creative ways that you canuse the features of a Clavinova CVP digitalpiano. For example, somestudents will perform theirown compositions that usethe orchestral voices of theinstrument. Others will playpieces that use the automaticaccompaniment features, aswell as pre-recorded MIDIfiles.

“After spending time onother projects in recent years,I am currently in the processof rebuilding the ClavinovaFestival. Yamaha providesteacher-training seminars forthis event, as well as plan-ning assistance for the dealer.I conduct these teacher semi-nars and assist the dealerswith planning if they needit.”

Taking RMM in new andprofound directions

With such a rich and varied professionalbackground, Lori was poised to take theRMM concept forward in profound ways,working with other pioneers in the field.

“I have always been fascinated with key-board instruments that employ new tech-nologies, starting from myearly years as a YamahaElectone [Organ] Festivalparticipant in the 1970s. Ienjoy the challenges of usingtechnology to surmount bar-riers. As technology contin-ues to improve, so does ourability to increase generalparticipation in the joy ofmusic making. I spend manyhours researching not onlywhat Yamaha instrumentscan do, but also other tech-nologies that are available to

help bring music to all—regardless of the physical,emotional, and mental chal-lenges that any individualmay face.

“Things changed for me inJanuary 2004 when I startedto work with the late KarlBruhn (the “Father of Rec-reational Music Making”)and Dr. Barry Bittman, aneurologist. The project thatbrought us together wasYamaha’s new RMM pro-gram called ClavinovaConnection. This programwas originally written foractive, older adults, and I washonored and thrilled to bring music mak-

ing to those who neverthought that they could par-ticipate. However, the fur-ther I got involved with theprogram, the more I realizedthat the concepts behind itcould be much more far-reaching.

“One day, after giving aClavinova Connection pres-entation at a cancer center, Iwas approached by a nursewho asked if we had everconsidered using the pro-gram for children. I ex-plained to her that the pro-tocol, as it stood, would

probably not be appropriate forchildren. However, she contin-ued to press and suggested thatwe develop a pilot program and

test it with children with special needs.This pilot test was a great success, and weall learned a great deal. The experiencereally opened up my eyes to the potentialof this program.”

Startling results“Several years ago while working the

Yamaha display at an AARP show inWashington, D.C., I hadthe great fortune to meetan amazing young man,named Daniel Trush, andhis family. As it turns out,they had planned to tourD.C., but it was rainingthat day, so they came tothe AARP show in-stead—no accident aboutour meeting!

“I learned that Danielhad suffered a massivecerebral hemorrhage onemonth before his thir-

teenth birthday while playing basketball.Daniel was not expected to live, much lesshave any type of a normal life if he did.After thirty-one days in a coma, Danielhad survived.

“Today, after years of therapy and deter-mination, Daniel is now twenty-six. Mostimportantly, he became the founder ofDaniel’s Music Foundation in New YorkCity (www.danielsmusic.org). TheFoundation has a purpose that is statedsimply: Our mission is to provide a comfort-


Seniors enjoyingClavinova Connectionat Colerain TownshipCenter, OH.

Daniel Trush of danielsmusic.org shows us how it’s done inNew York.

Colerain seniors makingbeautiful music together.

able, educational, and social environment inwhich our members can enjoy, learn, and prac-tice the joys of music together. With constantlove and support from his family, Daniel’sdream flourishes and is currently servingmore than 150 members weekly.

“After meeting Daniel and his family, Iimmediately called Karl and Dr. Bittman,explaining that we needed to help thesepeople grow their amazing program. Dr.Bittman and I flew to New York, met withthe organization, and now we both sit onthe Board of Directors for Daniel’s Music.We have helped introduce the organizationto new programs and products that contin-ue to enhance the music making of thosethey serve.

“When Daniel’s Music first started lessthan five years ago, they had five portablekeyboards and four members. Today theyhave fifteen keyboards, three Clavinovas,guitar programs, a Health Rhythms pro-gram, song writing classes, and even chil-dren’s classes. In all, there are now twenty-six classes offered each week, at no cost tothe participants.”

It is difficult to describe in words thenature of the music making that takesplace at Daniel’s Music. To see what I

mean, check out the videos on the organi-zation’s website. In one case, a student mayplay the strings of a smart guitar that auto-matically changes the chords. In anothercase, a student may successfully and per-fectly play a melody on a Clavinova nomatter which keys are struck. In otherwords, appropriate tech-nologies are provided foreach individual, and noone is left out of theexperience.

“In order to work withDaniel from either myhome in Tucson or fromany other location,Daniel and I meet fromtime to time on Skype(www.skype.com) andconnect our Clavinovakeyboards together using Internet MIDI(www.zenph.com). Inthis way, I am able to

collaborate with Daniel and the curriculumdesigner.

“It has been an amazing experience tosee this young man come so far. Andwatching him serve so many others is morerewarding than words can express. Theopportunity to work with Daniel and his


Relay for Life team from Samuel Music, Effingham, IL, prepares for an all-night cancer benefit walk.

New Clavinova Connection for Wounded Warriors at Soldiers’Angels, San Antonio, TX.

foundation’s diverse clientele helps me tobe able to try out ideas and concepts thatmay be applicable elsewhere.”

Expect the unexpected“A little over a year ago, I got a call from

a salesperson working with a music dealerin San Antonio, Texas. He had been in amotorcycle accident in 1997, resulting in atraumatic amputation of his left leg.During his recovery, he found that playingthe piano was his only solace to deal withthe phantom pain, and that the activityhad helped him to overcome an addictionto pain medication. The purpose of his callwas to find out if we had a music makingand wellness program, as he wanted tobring the relief he found in music to ourwounded soldiers.

“Together we spent several monthsresearching and planning different aspectsof such a program. Later we had the goodfortune to meet people from Soldiers’Angels in San Antonio (www.soldiersan-gels.org). Soldiers’ Angels is a volunteer-based, non-profit organization dedicated to‘providing aid and comfort to United StatesArmy, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and CoastGuard veterans and their families.’

“The outgrowth of this meeting was thedevelopment of RMM classes specificallytailored to these soldiers and their families.Today, Soldiers’ Angels offers an RMMguitar program, an RMM harmonica pro-gram, a Clavinova Connection course, andother adaptive keyboard programs.

“Many of the men and women served bythis organization suffer from severe physi-cal and emotional injuries. My role is toassist the organization in finding ways tohelp these wounded warriors express them-selves through the joy of music making,employing adaptive devices and musicalinstruments with assistive technologies. Ilook forward to being involved in buildingthis movement for a very long time!”

As you might imagine, the work of anorganization like this is never ending:

“Working with this group of men andwomen and their families has been a trulyamazing experience for me. Currently,Soldiers’ Angels is involved in a capitalcampaign to raise funds to build and runThe Karl T. Bruhn Center for Music andWellness. I am now working with theYamaha Music and Wellness Institute(www.yamahainstitute.org) to supportthese efforts with a national ad campaignand general program support. As I do withDaniel’s Music, I am working to set uplong distance programs using Skype andInternet MIDI.”

And the beat goes on!RMM, as a specialized area of music

pedagogy, is a field that is still in its infan-cy and one that provides music educatorswith many opportunities for creativity andinnovation. The rewards for both teacherand student are substantial.

“I have been given the great honor ofworking with some extraordinary peoplealong the way, and continue to learn moreabout the possibilities each day. As I con-tinue to travel throughout the U.S. offeringtechnology seminars for music teachers, Iam inspired by the creative educators

whom I meet. Each way that I turn, Iencounter individuals who are doing amaz-ing things with all levels of music makers. Iam thrilled to be working with the YamahaMusic and Wellness Institute, an organiza-tion that enables me to create new oppor-tunities for those we serve.” p


What kind of equipment do I need for working withstudents who have special needs?

When responding to questions posed to this column, I amaccustomed to providing specific information about the issue athand, including recommended products and techniques forusing software programs, ways to integrate specific technologiesinto curricular objectives, and so forth. In this case, I need tostep back from talking about products and technologies in aspecific way and address the underlying issues.

When working with students who have special needs, themost important thing to do is to start with the student. Whatare the student’s aspirations? What musical abilities does thestudent already possess? What are the physical, emotional, andmental challenges?

During the 1980s and 1990s, I taught in the PreparatorySchool and Extension Division of the New EnglandConservatory. During most of those years, I worked with ablind adult student who was also a piano tuner. By the time hecame to me, he already had years of lessons and a very acutesense of hearing. I could play any combination of dissonantnotes at one time and he could pick them out! He knew how toread braille music and hated it.

Based on the foregoing circumstances, I did my best to assesshis strengths and leverage them in lessons, all the while beingcognizant of his goals and interests. For example, he much pre-ferred to learn by ear, and it became my practice to record newpieces for him at a slow speed. I also chose repertoire carefully,basing my choices largely on his interests, yet always looking foropportunities to broaden his horizons.

During our time together, we found a number of technologiesthat were particularly useful. For starters, he had a special cas-sette recorder that was designed for the blind. It had speed con-trol. This meant that he could record my playing during the les-son and take the recording home to study. If necessary, he couldslow down my already slow performance. As you might expect,slowing down the recording also resulted in the pitch beingchanged, but he had no trouble transposing what he heard backinto the correct key. In this case, a technical feature that wouldhave been impossible for many students to use was quite con-venient for my student.

Toward the end of my experience with this blind student, Iwas able to bring him to my home for an occasional lesson.This gave me the opportunity to work with him using myDisklavier piano, which is a piano with a record and playbacksystem. During the lesson I seated myself at an adjacent MIDIcontroller keyboard that I connected to the Disklavier with aMIDI cable. When I needed to demonstrate something, thisgave me the opportunity to play notes on the controller key-board and cause the keys of the Disklavier to move under thefingers of my student. I found that to be a very useful capabili-ty.

Nowadays times are different as we have moved beyond theera of the cassette recorder. If I were to start working with ablind student today, I would recommend that the student get aninstrument that has MIDI record and playback features. Youcan easily slow down or speed up a MIDI recording and notsuffer with a change in pitch. And, we now have all of those funMIDI accompaniments with which we can work.

Getting back to the original question, I would like to respondby recommending that any teacher:

• take an asset inventory of each individual student,• leverage those assets,• set goals based on the student rather than on any precon-

ceived curriculum,• avoid focusing on limitations and instead explore opportun-

ties,• and be on the lookout for useful technologies and deploy

them creatively. p

Tomorrow Today:

Tech TipsGeorge Litterst, Editor

Submit your questions to this column by sending them [email protected].


Firs

t Lo

oks

Closer look4(S5) The Indian Character Piece:Native American-Influenced PianoWorks from the Early TwentiethCentury, edited by Stephanie Bruning.

One of the joys of a lifein music is the knowledgethat there is always newmusic to learn. StephanieBruning’s collection, TheIndian Character Piece,reminds us of that factand offers an entirely newmusical world to many pianists. Bruninghas coupled her meticulous editing of six-teen piano solos with an extensive, scholar-ly preface, thus providing a fascinating andcomprehensive examination of her chosensubject, the Indianist Movement inAmerican music.

Indianist music was not composed byNative Americans. Instead, Bruning relatesthat this form of American art music“incorporated various aspects of Indianfolklore and music” and flourished betweenabout 1890 and 1920. The edition spot-lights Indianist compositions by threeprominent composers, all non-NativeAmericans: Edward MacDowell, ArthurFarwell, and Charles Wakefield Cadman.The book does more than simply publishhitherto relatively unknown piano compo-sitions, however. Before launching into themusic, the pianist would do well to readBruning’s introductory material: it willacquaint the reader-pianist with a move-ment which, in many ways, correlated withother progressive, intellectual, aesthetic,and ethnomusicological currents of the latenineteenth and early twentieth century.

In fact, when I read Bruning’s preface, Iimmediately thought of Béla Bartók: afterall, the Hungarian composer was begin-ning his musicological research at the sametime the Indianist composers were active.Just as Bartók traveled through EasternEurope collecting the folk melodies that hewould later use in his own compositions,American ethnologists such as AliceCunningham Fletcher (1838-1923) col-lected the Native American melodies andfolklore that would later be used byIndianist composers.

So what do these pieces sound like? Forthe most part, they are programmatic liter-ature with a multitude of tremolos, compli-cated rhythm patterns, huge leaps, abrupttempo changes, extensive embellishment,and vividly wrought dynamics. In addition,the pieces are full of large harmonic inter-vals; players with small hands will need toredistribute fingering and voicing.

The best-known of the three representedcomposers is of course MacDowell (1860-1908). MacDowell’s 1896 collection TenWoodland Sketches, Op. 51 contains “To aWild Rose” and “Will-o’-the Wisp,” but italso includes “From an Indian Lodge,”MacDowell’s first Indianist piece and,according to Bruning, “the earliest knownIndian character piece.” Like other compo-sitions in the book, the piece is filled withspecial effects and drama; it is a waltz, butof a dark, C-minor variety based on twomelodic themes from Wisconsin’sBrotherton Indians. MacDowell’s othercontribution, “Indian Idyl,” is from hisNew England Idyls, Op. 62 (1902). Thislater composition, which brings to mindboth “To a Wild Rose” and the harmoniesof Debussy, calls for both damper pedaland una corda, and Bruning further sug-gests brief use of the sostenuto pedal for a“crisp and curious staccato effect.”

Although MacDowell is better knowntoday, composer and educator ArthurFarwell (1872-1952) was a highly influen-tial figure in the Indianist Movement. Agraduate of M.I.T. and former student ofEngelbert Humperdinck, in 1901 Farwellfounded the Wa-Wan Press in NewtonCenter, Massachusetts. The press, whichwas acquired by Schirmer in 1912, special-ized in the publication of piano and vocalcompositions based on American indige-nous music, and many of Farwell’s owncompositions, represented here by the tenAmerican Indian Melodies, Op. 11 (1901),were exact harmonizations of Native-American tunes. The titles are arresting—”Approach of the Thunder God,” “Song ofthe Deathless Voice,” and “Song of theGhost Dance” to name three—and, foreach piece, Farwell wrote an introductorypoetic motto based on his research on thework of Alice Cunningham Fletcher. Scorenotation instructs the pianist to play “omi-nously, like thunder” and “swiftly, like a

First LooksSusan Geffen, Editor


Susan Geffen is a Managing Editor ofClavier Companion. She is active as an

educator, adjudicator, presenter, panelist,and writer. She is a specialist in

Recreational Music Making and has alsoworked as a composer’s assistant and orches-

tral score proofreader.


Myra Brooks-Turner entered Juilliardat age 12 and holds bachelor’s and master’s

degrees from Southern MethodistUniversity. Her piano solos and duos are

published by FJH Music Company, SchaumPublications, and her own MBT

Productions publishing venture. She livesin Knoxville.

Vanessa Cornett-Murtada is theDirector of Keyboard Studies at the

University of St. Thomas in Minnesota,where she teaches courses in piano and

piano pedagogy. She is an internationalclinician and performing artist and worksas a performance coach and certified hyp-notherapist for musicians struggling with

performance anxiety.

Carmen Doubrava is an active adjudi-cator, accompanist, teacher, and performer

who has performed in Texas, Michigan,New York, Colorado, Wisconsin, and at the

U. S. Department of State. She lives inCarrollton, Texas, and has been featured in

articles in Keyboard Companion, Clavier,and The Dallas Morning News.

Sue Collier Lewis currently serves as apreschool workshop clinician for Alfred

Publications and as a preschool music edu-cation consultant for the NAMM Museumof Making Music in Carlsbad, California.She is a former music education consultantfor Yamaha Music Education and owned

two music schools in the Dallas area.

Jeremy Siskind has performed at manyof the world’s foremost venues, including

Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Asa composer, Siskind has been honored by

ASCAP and Downbeat. Siskind receivedhis bachelor’s degree from the Eastman

School of Music and just completed his mas-ter’s degree in English and Comparative

Literature at Columbia University.

Additional contributors listed on the next page

New Music, CDs & DVDs, Pupil Savers, News & Notes

blinding flash” (“Inketunga’s ThunderSong”) or to produce a “Double drumbeat” (“Approach of the Thunder God”).The tenth piece of the set, a chorale, con-tains a melody reminiscent of “Nearer, MyGod, to Thee.” The left-hand accentedoctaves, however, lend the piece a characterquite different from the standardProtestant hymn. Nevertheless, comparingFarwell’s chorale to the chorales of Bachwould make an interesting repertoire study(and comparison with the Chorale fromthe first volume of Bartók’s Mikrokosmoswould provide further perspective).

The title of the collection’s last set ofpieces, Charles Wakefield Cadman’sIdealized Indian Themes, Op. 54, is signifi-cant. Cadman (1881-1946) most certainlydid idealize the Native-American melodiesthat he borrowed, and Bruning describeshis musical style as “sentimental.” AlthoughOp. 54 is often reminiscent of salon music,the composer’s interest in Native-Americanmusic was sincere. In fact, Cadman andmezzo-soprano Tsianina Redfeather, whowas of Cherokee and Creek descent, pre-sented numerous lecture-recitals ofCadman’s Indianist compositions.

The first piece in Op. 54, “The PleasantMoon of Strawberries,” is filled with char-acteristic Indianist arpeggiated chords,large intervals, tremolos, and tempochanges. The left-hand broken chordsoften span a twelfth; this is not music forbeginning students. Advanced studentsmight enjoy programming Cadman withChopin, or—perhaps even better—withDebussy. The second piece of the set,“From the Land of the Sky-blue Water,” isnotated in three staves, and the ripplingintroduction reminds the listener that theIndianist composers were contemporariesof—albeit quite different in style from—their European Impressionist cousins. Thethird Cadman composition, “The Sadnessof the Lodge,” once again contains left-hand broken chords, and notation on thescore instructs the player (in best salonstyle) to execute passages “with feeling,”“with passion,” and “with longing.”

The last composition in Op. 54, “TheReturn of the Braves: March Fantastique,”is a showpiece. In the first section, gracenotes and anticipatory sixteenths in theright hand are set against a left-hand stride

composed of dissonances that could havebeen written by Thelonius Monk. As thepiece unfolds, interval size and keyboardrange increase, and the piece becomesalmost Wagnerian in its dramatic chro-maticism. This music is not shy: the finalsection, to be played “with increasing timeand tone,” is full of large leaps, consecutiveoctaves, clusters, and tremolos. Cadmancomposed operas, cantatas, and even aradio play, and his dramatic streak is evi-dent in this fourth piece of the set.

At times, the pianist might be uncertainabout performing this newly discoveredstyle: how much is over the top? No needto worry. Bruning’s careful footnotes andediting clarify questions of articulation,fingering redistribution, interpretation,voicing, pedaling, phrasing, and—for wantof a better term—special effects. Further,the creative pedagogue would have manyopportunities to teach interdisciplinarily,and a lecture-recital would work beautiful-ly. The student could combine investiga-tions of Native-American history and artwith a performance of these pieces, or per-haps a study of similarities between folkmelodies of disparate cultures would pro-vide both musical and anthropologicalinsights to the performer.

Bruning has done us a double favor. Shehas cast light on a genre that has long beenout of fashion, and, in addition, she hasgiven us a view into a fascinating era ofAmerican history. Indianist music may notbe what twenty-first century ethnologistswould consider authentic, but this musicoffers an intriguing view of a country thatwas at long last beginning to recognize thehumanity of its aboriginal citizens.(Ludwig Masters Publications, $19.95)

—Susan Geffen

Guide to new musicreviewsGrade levels1 Beginning: five-finger patterns and

simple rhythms2 Easy: scales and simple syncopation3 Intermediate: beginning

counterpoint and complex rhythms(Bach notebooks, BartókMikrokosmos I-II)

4 Late intermediate: technical andrhythmic sophistication (Bachinventions, Bartók Romanian FolkDances)

5 Difficult: for competent pianists(Mozart sonatas, Brahms Rhapsody,Op. 79, No. 2)

6 Very difficult: for advanced pianists(Chopin etudes, Beethoven Sonata,Op. 57)

CategoriesS-Solo, E-Ensemble

Quality ratingReviewer’s Choice: music that may

become part of the standardrepertoire

Check-rated 4: repertoire that ishighly recommended


Krista Wallace-Boaz holds a D.M. in pianoperformance and pedagogy from Northwestern

University and teaches class piano and peda-gogy at the University of Louisville.

Lynette Zelis is the owner of Noteable NotesPiano Studio in Wheaton, Illinois, where she

teaches private and group piano lessons andmaintains studios for nine other teachers. Shewas one of only five teachers in the country towin the 2001 Group Piano Teachers Award

from the MTNA and the National PianoFoundation.

New music(S, E1) Piano Recital Showcase: Sum-mertime Fun by Bill Boyd, PhillipKeveren, Carol Klose, and Jennifer Linn.

In the springtime ayoung student ’s fancydoes not necessarily turnto thoughts of studyingpiano in the good oldsummertime. These fourcomposers thoughtfullyremember this fact andoffer a collection of twelve pieces—withtitles such as “Gone Fishin’,” “Chill Out,”“Teeter-Totter,” and “Down by theLake”—that remind the student of funsummer activities. The selections, all ofwhich were previously published in a vari-ety of sources, are divided into three earlyelementary pieces and nine elementarypieces in C-major and are written in C-position, Middle-C position, or C extend-ed-hand position.

Jennifer Linn and Philip Keveren pro-vide the early elementary selections, one ofwhich is written in 3/4, the other two in4/4 (one with lyrics). These three composi-tions would be appropriate for five-to-six-year-old beginners (probably not four-year-olds). The remaining elementarypieces, all written in 4/4, are probably bet-ter suited for a child at least seven years

old. Jennifer Linn contributes the onlypiece which contains eighth notes, and, inaddition to the new note value, her “PinkLemonade” has words and a da capo al finenotation.

Bill Boyd contributes two unique pieces,“Rockin’ the Boat” and the aforementioned“Chill Out.” These compositions, withtheir boogie bass and suggested rock-stylerhythms, will likely entice the studentaspiring to be the next Justin Timberlake.If you are the owner of a digital piano,these two would be fun to orchestrate,allowing the student to choose one of therock styles and split the keyboard into oneimaginative voice for the treble and a dif-ferent clean sound for the bass. Needless tosay, teachers will need to guide the stu-dent’s selection of voices.

“Gone Fishin’,” by Carol Klose, is a win-ning duet, which could be a delightfulpiece to perform for a summer recital.There are plenty of important teachingpoints covered in both primo and secondoparts, such as articulation, phrasing, play-ing in different registers, and hand cross-ings. Both parts are written for the samestudent keyboard accomplishment level.This piece would be the perfect summerproject for two students who enjoy theirpiano.

Phillip Keveren’s “Accidental Wizard”conjures up thoughts of a Harry Potterfilm, and has a truly mysterious feeling the

student is asked to convey to the listener.There are some nice challenges presentedfor the student, including hand shifts, stac-cato notes with accidentals, and a chordcluster topped with a fermata for a dramat-ic finale. The teacher accompaniment addsa wonderful contemporary sound.

I would love to see the publisher includesome imaginative illustrations to enliventhe appearance of this collection.Otherwise, let your students enjoy thissummertime musical experience. (HalLeonard, $7.99) S.C.L.

4(S2) Preludes in Patterns by KevinOlson.

I know a book is goodwhen, as I ’m playingthrough it, I can picturestudents who wouldenjoy playing the pieces.That ’s what happenedevery time I playedthrough Olson’s collec-tion. These preludes are easy-to-read, two-page compositions that would be perfectfor recitals or supplementary performancepieces. All are written to fit smaller hands,using mostly five-finger patterns, triads, orone-octave scales.

Because of the large number of eighth-notes, chords, and accidentals, the preludeslook and sound difficult. Students at thislevel however, can easily master these care-


fully written works. Each piece focuses ona different rhythm, harmony, or melodicpattern. For example, the first prelude, inC major, concentrates on repetitive eighth-note patterns juxtaposed with open-fifthharmonies. In the Prelude in F Major, theright hand plays constant chords in a quar-ter rhythm as the left hand plays a synco-pated bass line, while the Prelude in DMajor has a flowing ascending eighth-notemotive reminiscent of constant gentlequestions or short thoughts. There is agood balance of expressive and flowingpieces and rhythmic or staccato pieces.Pedagogically, these pieces will offer stu-dents a good chance to play in a variety ofkeys and key signatures—C, G, D, F, andB-flat majors and A, E, B, D, and Gminors. The preludes are arranged in orderof the Circle of Fifths, with relative minorkeys following each major key. (FJH,$5.50) L.Z.

(S3-5) Cool Songs for Cool Kids,Volumes I-II and The Music MotivationGoal Book by Jerald M. Simon.

Jerald Simon states thephilosophy of this series inthe first volume of CoolSongs for Cool Kids:“[These books] areintended to inspire stu-dents of all ages tobecome motivated to learnmore about various stylesof music [and] to encour-age and inspire students tolearn how to create musicof their own.” This pas-sionate philosophy isindeed evident through-out these two—soon to bethree—volumes, witheach piece presenting abriefly described technicalor theoretical skill. Thebook’s introductory exer-cises coach pentascale pat-terns and intervals, teaching a language thatwill not only help the student learn themusic in the collection, but will also developa foundation for improvisation and composi-tion. In addition, most of the pieces includechord symbols that would further inspireimprovisation.

Simon sometimes pairs a piece with a“Music Motivation Challenge.” Thesechallenges ask students to improvise aright-hand melody with a given walkingbass, transpose, or write in chord symbolsor dynamic markings. Each piece has afun, catchy title such as “Beat-cha to it” or“Rocket Man,” and in lieu of tempo mark-ings there are motivational phrases such as

“Shoot for the stars” and “This is yourmoment.” The pieces are based on easilyunderstood intervals and rhythmic pat-terns, and, when new rhythms are intro-duced, Simon supplies written-in countsfor several measures.

The Music Motivation Goal Book isdesigned for all instruments and could beadapted to any program of study. Thisweekly lesson assignment book discussesgoal setting and provides tools to developplans and habits in seven “goal areas oflife”: mental, physical, family, social, spiri-tual, career, and financial. Simon alsoincludes an extensive rubric for achievingmusical goals such as learning repertoire,key signatures, modes, and arpeggios (per-haps more useful to the instructor than tothe student). Thorough checklists andjournal pages are also available, as are dailypractice goals. The pages challenge stu-dents with questions that encourage criti-cal thinking, such as “What have youlearned this week?” or “What are your per-sonal goals for next week?” This collectionof assignment sheets would prove extreme-ly effective for any student pursuing anymethod of study. (All available atwww.musicmotivation.com. Cool Songs for

Cool Kids, $10.95 per volume; MusicMotivation Goal Book, $9.95) K.W.B.

(S5) Mancini: T he Songs of Henr yMancini, arranged by Melody Bober.

Many of Henry Man-cini’s songs have becomeas emblematic of Holly-wood film of the 60s and70s as the elegant stars ofthe silver screen. In hernew Mancini collection,Melody Bober takes fif-teen of the composer’s best-loved songs,bathes them in subtle stage lighting,applies eyeliner and mascara, and makesthem the stars.

It’s hard to say if the composer or thearranger deserves more credit for the styl-ish success of each of the collection’spieces. On the one hand, Mancini ’ssongs—ranging from “The Pink Panther”and “Baby Elephant Walk” to “Days ofWine and Roses” and “Moon River”—aresuch clear winners that they don’t requiremuch treatment. On the other, just as askilled director accentuates the talents ofher actors, Melody Bober adroitly arrangesthese songs into lovely and pleasurably


playable forms. In “Charade,” a nostalgicwaltz with Johnny Mercer-penned lyrics(each piece includes the song’s words), thespartan arrangement recalls the tinkling ofa music box. “Days of Wine and Roses”begins with a lonely melody lamentingabove lightly pulsating chords that arereminiscent of a French horn. It then mod-ulates into orchestral expanse. Thearrangement of “The Pink Panther” doesn’tbreak new ground but captures the piece’sbrassy essence in a way that will please itsperformers, young and old. The collectionas a whole has a few too many syrupywaltzes but is otherwise well balanced andattractive.

Throughout, Bober refers to the pieces’orchestral origins while keeping thempianistically interesting. She’s not afraid toexplore the different registers of the pianoin order to recall the sound of soaringstrings (“Sometimes,” “How Soon”) or toutilize staccato notes to recall pizzicato(“The Inspector Clouseau Theme,” “BabyElephant Walk”). Bober does seem intenton raising the book’s difficulty level byincluding flourishes that occasionally lendan overly “loungy” flavor to the music, butshe does an admirable job of capturing thevarious jazz styles in which Manciniwrites, including stride piano for “Le Jazz

Hot,” boogie-woogie for “Baby ElephantWalk,” and walking bass lines for “You andMe.”

Give credit to both composer andarranger for creating an extremely enjoy-able collection. With these new treat-ments, Mancini’s songs are—once again—ready for their close-ups. (Alfred, $12.99)J.S.

Romantic character pieces

(S3) Album for the Young, Op. 39 byPyotr Il ’yich Tchaikovsky, edited byAlexandre Dossin.

Students do not fre-quently associate Tchai-kovsky’s name with thesolo piano repertoire. Yetthe Romantic mastercomposed several collec-tions of short characterpieces for solo piano,including Opp. 19, 21,and 51 (six pieces each); The Seasons, Op.37b and Op. 40 (twelve pieces each); andOp. 72 (eighteen pieces). In fact, Album forthe Young, Op. 39 was originally titledChildren’s Album: Collection of Easy Pieces forChildren in the Manner of Schumann, andSchumann’s influence is apparent in thisset of twenty-four intermediate-levelminiatures.

This set contains various folk tunes,dances ( Waltz, Polka, Mazurka), andpieces based on children’s toys, includingthe well-known doll pieces (“The NewDoll,” “The Doll’s Illness,” “The Doll’sFuneral”). These short works would beexcellent as lesser-known recital gems, assupplementary lesson pieces for the inter-mediate student, or as good practice forsight-reading or analysis. Tchaikovsky’stextures tend to be orchestral at times,sparking the imagination of both studentand teacher.

The pieces in this edition have beenedited and recorded on CD by Russian-trained performer Alexandre Dossin. Theinclusion of incipits in the table of contentsis a welcome addition. While Tchai-kovsky’s original dynamics and articulationmarkings have been retained, Dossin hasadded fingerings (which would generally,but not always, be comfortable for a small-to-medium-sized hand), metronomemarkings, and some good suggestions forredistribution of notes between the hands.Unfortunately for most students andteachers, the editor almost completelyavoids adding any pedaling suggestions.Dossin’s helpful performance notes are

descriptive, containing interesting histori-cal background or comparisons to thecomposer ’s great orchestral works.(Schirmer/Hal Leonard, $12.99 book withCD) V.C.M.

(S4) 18 Characteristic Studies, Op. 109by Johann Friedrich Burgmüller, edited byWilliam Westney.

It is always a pleasureto discover good per-formance editions ofexcellent teaching pieces.This attractive edition ofBurgmüller’s Op. 109 isedited by veteran educa-tor and performer Wil-liam Westney, who also performs thepieces on the included CD.

An outstanding German performer andteacher, Burgmüller published several setsof studies for the piano. Opp. 68, 76, 100,105, and 109 are student-friendly etudeswhich also function as audience-pleasingcharacter pieces. The 18 CharacteristicStudies of Op. 109 are more difficult thanthe 25 Progressive Studies, Op. 100 (a col-lection which includes the popularArabesque and Ballade), but are not as dif-ficult as the compositions in Op. 105.

Op. 109 contains popular miniaturessuch as “Les perles” (“Pearls”) and“L’orage” (“The Storm”) as well as charm-ing recital pieces such as “Les bohémiens,”“La cloche des matines,” and “Les sylphes.”Although often written in a light, Frenchsalon style, some of the pieces in this col-lection are reminiscent of Schumann(“Confidence,” “Berceuse”) or Mendel-ssohn (“La sérénade,” “Le réveil dans lesbois,” “Refrain du gondolier”). The compo-sitions address technical skills such as pas-sagework, rotation, voicing, and staccatotouch in a style that is gratifying to bothstudent and teacher. In this edition, theoriginal French descriptive titles for eachpiece are retained.

Westney’s thoughtful performance notesfor each work contain helpful practice tipsand excellent technical suggestions. Hisadded fingerings are astute, metronomemarkings are appropriate, and pedalingsuggestions are subjective at times butalways effective. Further, Westney’s artisticand flexible performances elevate theseworks to a level beyond that of studentetudes. This well-edited collection, partic-ularly combined with the CD, makes anexcellent addition to any teaching library.(Schirmer/Hal Leonard, book and CD$12.99) V.C.M. p



CD & DVDReviews

Steven Hall has a widerange of performing expe-

rience as an orchestralsoloist, recitalist, and

chamber musicianthroughout the United

States, Europe, and Tai-wan. A German reviewerwrote, “He proved that he need not fear compari-son with the greatest in his field.” He has released

two compact discs featuring the Ibach piano onthe ACA label. Hall completed his D.M.A. in

Piano Performance as John Perry’s teachingassistant at the University of Southern Califor-nia and is a founder and faculty member of theBrandeis Piano Conservatory in Dallas, Texas.He is the president of BPC Recording Companyand serves on the boards of the Lennox Interna-tional Young Artist Competition and the Dallas

Music Teachers Association.

This issue’s contributors:Charles Asche is Senior Lecturer in Piano at the

University of California at Santa Barbara. Hehas performed as a recitalist, concerto soloist, andchamber musician in the United States, Taiwan,

South America, and Russia.

Sarkis Baltaian has gained an internationalreputation as a concert pianist, chamber musi-

cian, recording artist, and pedagogue. Currently,he is Assistant Professor of Music at theUniversity of Alabama at Huntsville.

Pianist Minyoung Lee has performedthroughout the United States, Europe, and Asia

as a soloist and collaborative artist. She iscurrently Assistant Professor of Piano in

Residence at the University of Connecticut.

Denise Parr-Scanlin is an Assistant Professor ofPiano at West Texas A&M University and

teaches piano and chamber music at the LutheranSummer Music Festival. She has performed and

adjudicated in the U.S., Europe, and Asia andappears on the Naxos recording of the Sonata for

Cello and Piano by Sam Jones.

Roberta Rust is an American musician whoenjoys a global career as classical pianist and ped-

agogue. She serves as piano department head atthe Conservatory of Music at Lynn University in

Boca Raton, Florida.

Sin-Hsing Tsai is U.C. Foundation AssociateProfessor of Music at The University of Tennesseeat Chattanooga. She has performed and taught in

Taiwan, China, Korea, Germany, Argentina,and the U.S., and her playing can be

heard on the AUR label.

To link directly to the respective websites of these recordings, please click anywhere on

the text of the review

COLLECTION

Touch: The ToccataProject, Vol. 1Philip Amalong, pianoAlbany Records Troy 1142[Total Time 57:00]

This CD showcasesthe infinite character and color palettes of nineteenAmerican toccatas written after 1900. Amalong dis-plays total command of the keyboard, exhibitingboth effortless bravura and subtlety of expression.The glittering miniatures by Rorem, Fine, andLiebermann prove to be a stark contrast to therelentless toccatas by Hoiby, Lees, and Bastien.Cleverness and wit abound in Lewenthal’s para-phrase, Toccata alla Scarlatti. Along with the fre-quently recorded mainstream toccatas of Menottiand Muczynski, those of Antheil, Sowerby, andLehman receive their premiere recording here. TheDiemer and Harris represent performances exhibit-ing assurance and exquisite flexibility, whileAmalong superbly choreographs the interplaybetween action and pauses in Persichetti’s threeToccatinas. Riegger’s Toccata, although the shortestpiece, deserves the longest applause for its pro-pelling force and satisfying power. This is an inspir-ing project, enticing listeners to join Amalong in theexploration of this uniquely varied repertoire. S.H.T.

COMPOSER

Piano Music byManuel de Falla Jason Cutmore,pianoCentaur RecordsCRC 2952[Total Time 68:10]

Mr. Cutmore performs a great service in restor-ing to prominence this somewhat neglected musicwhile showcasing his own colorful and refinedartistry. Throughout these works, the wide spectrumof nuanced dynamics and colors is impressive. Thewarhorse “Danza ritual del fuego,” unfortunately,almost always eclipses the other movements of Elamor brujo. Yet the enticing moment at the transi-tion from “The Magic Circle” into “Ritual FireDance” is particularly effective. Cutmore is a pianistcapable of evoking atmospheric and sonorousworlds in conjunction with the energetic dancerhythms inherent in this music, and these elementsculminate in his definitive performance of CuatroPiezas Españolas. Although an impressive collectionoverall, one might wish for a deeper understandingof the elusive and ineffable Andalusian-style recita-tives of cante jondo; the declamatory and impro-visatory aspects of these soulful and dramaticutterances seem a bit understated. C.A.

COMPOSER

BrahmsMurray Perahia, pianoSony Classical88697794692[Total Time 1:18:44]

Murray Perahia makes an authoritative state-ment with this all-Brahms CD featuring the HandelVariations, both Op. 79 Rhapsodies, and the latePiano Pieces, Opp. 118 and 119. Perahia deliversperformances fueled by technical prowess, yetcombined with a sensitivity of touch and a remark-ably engaging musical vision. Although the instru-ment’s sound is recorded toward the transparentside, Perahia demonstrates ultimate pianistic con-trol, his textures in the Handel Variations rangingfrom the clean Baroque style of playing in the Ariato the darker, richer sound in Variation Thirteen andthe culminating organ approach in the closingfugue. His symphonic handling of the Op. 79Rhapsodies is robust, managing to create an utterlydifferent world in each contrasting section, andPerahia’s rendition of the lyrical Intermezzi in Opp. 118 and 119 is magical and completely intouch with the humanity of Brahms’s music. S.B.

COMPOSER

Franz Schubert:The Last ThreeSonatasCraig Sheppard, pianoRoméo Records 7283-4[Total Time 1:58:18]

Sheppard leads us on a breathtaking journeythrough Schubert’s great-sonatas trilogy. Ratherthan overstate emotion with deep despair or under-state it with lighthearted merriment, Sheppard trulycaptures Schubert’s innocent spontaneity andmelancholy through impeccable pianism and musi-cianship. From the music’s propelling rhythmicthrusts to the most sensitive and delicate rubato,Sheppard’s rhythmic maneuvers reveal the infinitepossibilities without any hint of mannerism. Hissubtle yet intriguing changes in articulation andpedaling keep listeners constantly engaged, even inthe extended last movements of these sonatas. Theshifts in mode and subsequent character changesare so clear that the music unfolds like a kaleido-scope. The B-flat major sonata in particular is filledwith truly transcendent moments. As an experi-enced guide, Sheppard carefully selects tempos foreach movement, and masterfully executes hisorganic transitions to make these drawn-outsonatas structurally tight, with the A-major sonataespecially convincing. M.L.

Steven Hall, Editor

COLLECTION

Twelve Nocturnesand a WaltzRobert Henry, pianoMuuz RecordsB003HQ47SA [Total Time 74:24]

Robert Henry’s debut CD presents a collection ofsome of the best-known and beloved nocturnes aswell as a few less familiar compositions. This recitalof twelve nocturnes includes three by Chopin and asampling of the genre by Field, Liszt, Respighi,Fauré, Grieg, Barber, and Liebermann. The CDnotes state that the disc contains two world-pre-miere recordings: an overlooked beauty from theearly-twentieth century, Alexei Stanchinsky’sNocturne and the surprising thirteenth track, a tran-scription by Mr. Henry of Waltz for the Lonely byrenowned guitarist Chet Atkins. While the CD titleand context may more likely prepare the listener fora closing waltz by, say, Chopin or Schubert, theinclusion of this tune by a country-music icon is afresh turn and a fitting close to the program. Mr.Henry’s performances are finely nuanced andpaced, and the Fauré is especially appealing. D.P.S.

COMPOSER

Haydn PianoSonatasAndrew Rangell, pianoBridge Records Bridge 9313[Total Time 68:17]

In this assortment of Haydn’s cherished sonatas,Rangell’s laudable performance of the Sonata in CMinor, No. 33 projects both an intimate and overtdrama present in the work—both clothed within acrystalline shell. This CD was recorded in two ses-sions, and there is a remarkable difference in thesound quality of the Hamburg Steinway and therecording techniques utilized for No. 33 comparedto the 2008 recorded sound quality of Sonatas 32,50, and 56. Throughout, Rangell strays from apurist approach, evidenced by his abundant use ofpedal and unusual accents. Sturm und Drang-relat-ed and artistic liberties occasionally lead to somerather indecipherable metric moments. Additionally,there are some fascinating personal interpolationsand alterations to the score in the other sonatas;most notably in the second movement of SonataNo. 56, where Rangell integrates a reverse parodyof themes from Beethoven’s Op. 10, No. 3. C.A.

COMPOSER

Got Gottschalk?Solo Piano Music of Moreau GottschalkAnthony Olson, pianistHestia ClassicalRecords HCR 1452[Total Time 74:37]

Gottschalk’s music ranges from tediously repeti-tive banality to wonderful entertainment. On thisdisc, Olson has organized the works into four chap-ters, beginning with Influences of New OrleansAfrican-American Rhythms. The West Indian piecesfrom Syncopations of the Caribbean Sea are con-vincing. Standout works in Music of the AmericanFrontier are The Banjo and The Union, a paraphraseof patriotic panache in which Olson sensitively ren-ders the national anthem. Performances of notefrom Concert and Salon Music include the polkaRayons d’Azur and nuanced lyrical sections in TheCarnival of Venice. Overall however, Olson frequent-ly lacks the spontaneity and vigor necessary for thisrepertoire to fully take fl ight, and his l iteralapproach to the score does little to dispel the pre-dictability of this music. The ill-tuned piano, with itsweak upper register, creates an aural ambiencethat Gottschalk’s audiences may have experiencedat his concerts in nineteenth-century America.R.R.p


News & Notes

MTNA award goes to 3-D PianoThe DVD Series 3-D Piano: The Three-Dimensional Pianist is

the 2011 recipient of the MTNA Frances Clark KeyboardPedagogy Award. Created by filmmaker Richard Breyer and artist-teacher Fred Karpoff, the six-disc series in documentary style pres-ents Karpoff instructing twelve piano students in “interdependenttechnique.” According to the program’s website, “3-D Pianodescribes the graceful, efficient usage of the whole body to play thepiano in three-dimensions” and presents concepts including theQuiet Hand, Rotational Mobility of the Hips, ContinuousAlignment Adjustments, and Three-Dimensional Shaping. Formore about the program, visit the program’s website at http://3-dpiano.com/.

The Achievement Program debutsCarnegie Hall and The Royal Conservatory of Music have joint-

ly announced the Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory AchievementProgram (The Achievement Program).

The program is based on the curriculum and assessment systemof The Royal Conservatory and offers instruction in repertoire,technique, musical literacy, and musicianship as well as pedagogicalresources.

Teachers and students can participate in The AchievementProgram anywhere in the United States. Assessments for studentsof all ages are currently available in ninety American locations,with the number of locations expected to grow as the programdevelops. For registration information, including details of fees,materials, and locations, visit www.theachievementprogram.org.

Summer is hereTraveling? Looking for concert, opera, or ballet tickets? The

website music-opera.com provides a database of over 48,000upcoming performances. At the site, the busy traveler can booktickets, learn about 800 venues in forty countries, receive personal-ized booking advice, read about composers and artists, and more.Fo r m o re i n f o r m a t i on a b o u t t h e s e r v i c e , go t o www.music-opera.com.

Going to New York?If you’re traveling to the Big Apple this summer, be on the look-

out for free concerts. Multiple venues offer chamber music, opera,symphonic music, and jazz at no cost. For more information, visitwww.newyorkled.com/nyc_events_Free_Concerts.htm. p


Pupil SaversMusic that will stick with your students

Peanut Butter Rag (Alfred) by CatherineRollin is an addictive intermediate-level solo.

Students are immediately intrigued by thetasty title, and once they hear this easygoingrag in C major they are hooked. Rollin packsgobs of lighthearted fun into only two pages.

The opening pattern of straight eighthnotes in melodic sixths prepares the hand andthe ear for the main theme. A poco ritard andfermata set off the introduction, measures 1-4.

The left hand never spans more than an octave, so there are noneof the worries of missing the large jumps often associated with rag-time music. The right-hand syncopation is repetitive, but neverboring: it easily fits the hand and is a snap to memorize.

Notice the clever use of a descending C-major scale in the topvoice of the right hand, as seen in measures 5-8.

The eight-measure B section beginning at measure 21 uses thesame material as the A section, but centers on F. Busy studentsappreciate having the da capo with a short coda instead of a third orfourth page of music to learn.

This spirited rag is a delight. Students truly find this piece hardto put down, and I enjoy playing it as much as they do. p

—Carmen Doubrava

The Piano as Orchestra

When I first listened to pianist TinaFaigen’s CD performance of “Soave sia ilvento,” I thought the Mozart transcriptionwas played by two pianists. When I askedarranger Robert Schultz about this phenome-non, he said, “Look at the music.”

The Così fan tutte aria is found in the sec-ond edition of 24 Piano Transcriptions ofClassical Masterpieces (Alfred). Providingadvanced students and concert-level pianists both recital repertoireand an opportunity to develop strength of technique, expression,and musicality, Schultz has succeeded in his aim of producing anorchestral sound from the piano. Swirling, soaring thirds set thescene in the first three measures of the Mozart:

The pianist must use the right hand as two dynamic entities todelineate an undertone of churning sounds that depict stringswhile bringing a deep tonal presence to the melody in single notesand then in sixths. Schultz briefly switches the undertone to theleft hand, then moves into a filled-octave melody in the right. Atmeasure 22, the steady background movement divides itselfbetween the lower fingers of the right hand and the upper fingersof the left hand.

Masterful, technical, and demanding, this Mozart piano tran-scription, well done, will be a delight to all who are fortunateenough to hear it. Each transcription in this collection is tasteful,as is Faigen’s accompanying CD. Hats off to Alfred MusicPublishing for giving advanced pianists and audiences the opportu-nity to have this collection in their music libraries and their per-formance repertoires! p

—Myra Brooks-Turner


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Keyboard Kids’ CompanionCreated by Teachers Approved by Kids


Crossword Puzzle—Summery SummaryR eview the past school year’s issues of Keyboard Kids’ Companion to solve this puzzle. See the solution on

page 69.

ACROSS3. Theodor Leschetizky was impressed by Julius

Schulhoff’s smooth ____ sound. (May/June 2011)4. In 1768, J.C. ______ gave the first solo piano per-

formance in public. (Sept/Oct 2010)6. Winner of the first International Tchaikovsky

Competition. (July/August 2011)7. “Father of the Modern Symphony.” (Nov/Dec 2010)8. Researchers at Northwestern University report play-

ing a musical instrument can help kids stay on_______ in school. (Jan/Feb 2011)

11. Best way to review pieces: as though they are_______. (March/April 2011)

12. Inventor of a recording machine; invited 4-Down tomake first piano recording. (Sept/Oct 2010)

DOWN1. ________ of crickets chirping changes with tempera-

ture. (July/August 2011)2. Baroque composer of The Four Seasons. (Nov/Dec

2010) 4. Invited by inventor in 7-Across to make first piano

recording. (Sept/Oct 2010)5. Tel Aviv Medical Center says premature babies who

hear music can ____ faster. (March/April 2011)6. Leschetizky worked to copy this sound from Julius

Schulhoff. (May/June 2011)9. Austrian composer who studied with Beethoven. He

also taught Liszt and Beethoven’s nephew. (Jan/Feb2011)

10. Eighty-three percent of adults who earn $150,000+had some _______education. (Sept/Oct 2010)

Antonio Vivaldi Carl Czerny

J. S. Bach Leschetizky

1. 2.

3.

4.

7.

8.

12.

10.

9.

11.

5.

6.


Keyboard Kids’ Companion Helen Smith Tarchalski, Editor ©Clavier Companion 2011 Reprint permission granted exclusively for Clavier Companion subscribers and their students July/August 2011

T his phenomenon, called Dolbear’s Law, was discov-ered by American physicist and inventor AmosDolbear in 1897. The Snowy Tree Cricket

(Oecanthus fultoni) is the most accurate weather predic-tor, but any cricket will help you do the job.

Here are the tools you need for this summertimeweather experiment using music in nature: stopwatch orwrist watch with a second hand, pencil and paper, a chirp-ing cricket.

1. Listen for a chirping cricket. Count how many chirpsyou hear in 15 seconds.

2. Add that number of chirps to 37. This number will bevery close to the temperature in Farenheit.

Bonus Experiment: Listen to the crickets chirping sev-eral different times during the day and night. Each timeafter you calculate the temperature, make a sound orvideo recording of the chirping, and announce on therecording the time and temperature. When you play backyour recording, think about the following:

l Are the cricket chirps slower or faster when the tem-perature drops?

l When crickets slow down, is the pitch of their chirplower or higher?

l Using the music tempo indications Largo, Allegro, andPresto, tell a friend how fast the crickets chirp at eachtemperature!

Did you know...that the music of crickets can tell us about theweather?

Happy Birthday!Vladimir Ashkenazy . . . . . . . . . . . . .July 6, 1937 . . . . .Russian pianist and conductor Gustav Mahler . . . . . . . . . . .July 7, 1860 . . . . .Austrian composer and conductor Harvey Lavan “Van” Cliburn . . . .July 12, 1934 . . . .American pianist who won first Tchaikovsky

International Piano Competition Claude Debussy . . . . . . . . . .August 22, 1862 . .French composerLeonard Bernstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .August 25, 1918 . .American composer, pianist, and conductor Itzhak Perlman . . . . . . . . . . .August 31, 1945 . .American violinist born in Israel

ACROSS:3. LEGATO4: BACH6: CLIBURN7: HAYDN8: TASK11: NEW12: EDISON

DOWN:1. SPEED2: VIVALDI4: BRAHMS6: CANTABILE9: CZERNY10: MUSIC

CROSSWORD ANSWERS

3-D Piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

www.3-dpiano.com

Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

www.alfred.com

American School of Piano Tuning . . . . . . . 70

www.piano-tuning.com

Burt & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

www.burtnco.com

FJH Music Publishing. . inside front cover, 39

www.fjhmusic.com

Faber Music Piano Adventures. . . . . . . . . . 13

www.alfred.com/fabermusic

The Frederick Harris Music Co., Ltd. . . . . 51

www.frederickharrismusic.com

G. Henle Verlag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

www.halleonard.com

G. Schirmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

www.halleonard.com

Gina Bachauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

www.bachauer.com

Harmony Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

www.harmonyroadmusic.com

Hutchins & Rea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

www.hutchinsandrea.com

Kawai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside back cover

www.kawai.com

Keys To Imagination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

www.keystoimagination.com

KITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

www.keynotetheory.com

MTNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

www.mtna.org

Music Bag Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

www.musicbagpress.com

Music Educator’s Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . 72

www.musicedmarket.com

Music for Young Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

www.myc.com

Music Perceptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

www.musicperceptions.com

MusicLearningCommunity.com. . . . . . . . . 38

www.MusicLearningCommunity.com

Nat’l Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. . 71

www.FrancesClarkCenter.org

Nazareth College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

www.naz.edu/music

The Novus Music Group . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

www.NVmusicgroup.com

Piano Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

www.pianoexplorer.net

Piano Life Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

www.pianolifesaver.com

Piano Steps to Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

www.pianostepstosuccess.com

Piano Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

www.pianostreet.com

Piano Wellness Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

www.pianowellnessseminar.com

PianoArts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

www.pianoarts.org

Pianofonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

www.pianofonics.com

The Royal Conservatory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

www.theachievementprogram.org

Steinway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . back cover

www.steinway.com

Teaching Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

800-873-3043

Well-Balanced Pianist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

www.WellBalancedPianist.com

WholeMusicLessons.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

www.WholeMusicLessons.com

Yellow Cat Publishing, LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . 54

www.yellowcatpublishing.com

Zenph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

www.zenph.com

Advertiser Index

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TEACHING SKILLS: A complete guide for piano teachers. Topicsfor teaching beginners through preparing an advanced student to pres-ent a solo recital. “How to” strategies. Major authorities of piano peda-gogy cited. Forward by Dr. Paul Pollei, founder of the Gina BachauerInternational Piano Competition. $15.95 Intellectual Pub. Co. 800-873-3043 Fax: 936-271-4560


Q. I understand that you believe in swinging, clapping,and tapping as methods for developing rhythmic securityin young students. Please suggest the ways in which youuse each modality in your own teaching.

A. All three methods are invaluable ways in which to developrhythmic security in young students. All are equally important,but each has its own special value and purpose.

Swinging is a sure-fire way to develop students’ awareness ofsteady pulse. When students allow their arms to become pendu-lums, swinging with what we call a “free-arm swing” from as highas they can reach on the right side of the body to as far as theycan reach on the left side of the body, they are experiencing pulsewith their entire bodies. As this arm-pendulum becomes free andsteady, you will notice that students unconsciously begin to movewith their whole bodies, shifting weight from foot to foot as theyswing. Later we change to “swing and count,” swinging the pulsewhile counting the rhythm.

Aside from walking, running or dancing to rhythm, swinging isthe largest physical activity students can have, and we always goback to it when a new note value or rhythmic pattern is intro-duced. In all swinging, the arm keeps track of the metric pulse,not of note values or rhythm patterns.

In clapping, the pulse is felt while the note values or rhythmicpatterns are clapped. Clapping, therefore, is the next step inrhythmic refinement; because students feel the rhythmic patternswith their hands, it is muscularly one step closer to playing.

Clapping is always done while standing up, so the pulse can befelt in the whole body—arms hanging loosely, elbows free,motions large. When clapping a rest, students separate theirhands with a rhythm gesture of opening, while they whisper thecounts.

Tapping is very much like clapping but is yet another stepcloser to actually playing. Again the pulse is felt, while the notesor rhythmic patterns are tapped. Tapping can be done on a table,keyboard cover, or piano bench. The hand and arm should befree, and the tapping is done with a light bounce of the fingertips.

Right-hand notes are tapped with the right hand, left-handnotes with the left hand; staccato notes are tapped as short as

possible, legato notes as smoothly as possible; accents are tappedwith extra stress; moves up or down the keyboard are actuallytapped on a higher or lower part of the table or keyboard cover;and dynamic levels are expressed with greater or lesser pressure.

Whereas clapping is an important preparatory step in learningnew rhythms, tapping is a basic practice tool in working out newmusic. Tapping is one of the best aids I know for developingcoordination between the hands, and I consider it one of themost essential rhythm practice steps.

Q. One of my students is an intelligent boy who under-stands rhythmic notation, yet he seems unable to play hismusic with real rhythmic security. I never assign a pieceuntil he has proved he can point and count the rhythm,both accurately and with a feeling of strong rhythmicpulse. Can you tell me what step I am missing?

A. Without knowing your student, it is impossible to speakwith real certainty about this difficulty. But here are four ideas,which may help you find the answer to his problem.

1. Understanding an element doesn’t necessarily mean beingable to perform it.

2. The first playing of a new piece is the most important step inthe learning process.

3. It is easier to feel the rhythm of a piece at a moderately fasttempo than at the slow, secure tempo required for a first reading.

4. Rhythmic control is closely related both to reading and totechnique.

To apply these four ideas to your student’s problem, I suggestthat when you assign new music, you not only hear him count therhythm out loud, but also ask him to play and count (at least partof the piece) so slowly that there can’t be any errors.

In this first very slow reading, you may make one or more veryimportant discoveries about your student. He may be unable tofeel the rhythmic relationships at a slow tempo. You may findthat the music you have assigned is too difficult for him to readwith real rhythmic security, even at a slow tempo. Or, you maylearn that he can read the notes and rhythms, but he lacks thenecessary technique to play the piece. In this case, what seem tobe rhythmic problems may actually be technical problems.

The only way to be sure which of these issues is your student’sproblem is to work out new pieces with him at the lesson so thatyou can observe what goes wrong in the first reading. Perhaps thesolution will lie in selecting easier music, or in emphasizing someskill you may have been neglecting. p

Louise L. Goss is a co-founder, along with Frances Clark, of The NewSchool for Music Study in Princeton, NJ. She is an author and editor ofthe Music Tree series and the Frances Clark Library for Piano Stu-dents. She currently serves as the Chair of the Frances Clark Center forKeyboard Pedagogy.

Questions & AnswersLouise L. Goss


Clavier Companion Vol.3 #4

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