This new website provides a valuable service in supplying information about accompanists based on location. If you're looking for an accompanist (or as many of us prefer to say, "collaborative pianist") just visit the site and plug in your postcode (or zip code) and country. The site then loads a list of registered accompanists closest to your area. It already supports location searches in 32 different countries so far!
After looking around the site a bit I decided to join it myself. Registration is incredibly easy. One can supply a profile (qualifications, fees, etc.) and have it available in a couple of minutes. See mine here.
The site was started by two freelance musicians from the Royal Academy of Music in London. There is also a discussion forum where musicians and other users can interact and discuss pertinent topics.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Find an Accompanist at PianoAccompanists.com
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Travel and Work
I'm busy at the "other keyboard" these days. Hey, it's great to have work as a performing musician.
So it's off to IRIS tomorrow for a date playing harpsichord repertoire (Bach's Brandenburg #1 and Stephen Hartke's A Brandenburg Autumn from 2006).
Isn't it amazing how composers are coming back to the harpsichord? (Even the arch-modernist Iannis Xenakis wrote for the instrument!) Funny to think how the instrument pretty much flew off of the radar for composers during the classical and romantic eras.
I bet that pesky new pianoforte invention might have had something to do with it...
More blogging will continue next week, in between Dayton Philharmonic services.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Note By Note: New Piano Documentary
A representative from Plow Productions (a New York-based film production company) emailed to inform me of their most recent documentary, "Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037". It is about the actual making of a hand-crafted Steinway concert grand piano, which can take up to a year to manufacture. I've always been interested in this subject, but quite frankly I do not know much about the whole process of what it really takes to make a piano from start to finish. This film explores the many aspects of piano-making and what it means to create something so special and unique in today's climate of cheap mass-produced products. It includes viewpoints from various craftsmen, tuners, and artists such as Lang Lang and Harry Connick, Jr. Go here to read more about the film.
The movie will open in New York on November 7th (it will also play in other cities), and it looks like a DVD will be available soon. It has already won Best Documentary Feature at the 2007 Sarasota Film Festival, and has been officially selected at many other film festivals. Check out the trailer embedded below or watch it at Plow Production's website.
Did I mention how excited I am to be contacted by someone associated with a film production company? How very cool!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Some Profiles of African Pianists
Check out these in-depth profiles of pianists of African heritage over at AfriClassical. This blog (authored by William Zick) has recently been calling attention to some worthy keyboard artists:
Glen Inanga
Ivan Kiwuwa
Girma Yifrashewa (he is also a composer)
Listen to some short samples of Yifrashewa's spacious and lovely piano compositions at his page at the AfriClassical website. His music incorporates traditional Ethiopian musical styles with Western harmonies and gestures. How wonderful it is that an African composer is channeling some of his own rich traditions into music for the piano! I hope that this music becomes available from international publishers; it would be fun and enriching to learn, study, and teach some of this new and fresh repertoire.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Respect the Pianoforte!
"Respect the Pianoforte! Its disadvantages are evident, decided, and unquestionable: The lack of sustained tone, and the pitiless, unyielding adjustment of the inalterable semitonic scale.
But its advantages and prerogatives approach the marvelous.
It gives a single person command over something complete; in its potentialities from softest to loudest in one and the same register it excels all other instruments. The trumpet can blare, but not sigh; contrariwise the flute; the pianoforte can do both. Its range embraces the highest and deepest practicable tones. Respect the Pianoforte!
Let doubters consider how the pianoforte was esteemed by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, who dedicated their choicest thoughts to it."
Who wrote this quote? (I changed one word to make the entry a little less...umm, sexist. That could be a little clue as to time period.)
To find out who (plus the source), highlight the text just below this sentence.
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)
In Three Classics in the Aesthetic of Music, Dover edition, 1962, p. 101.
Monday, August 13, 2007
...and another moment of rest...
Another vacation period commences. Blogging will be discontinued here for a little over a week.
OK, how about some recommended reading offsite? Here you go:
Jason Heath on This Crazy Business (3 parts, all about musicians and our mindsets).
Chris Foley's posts on piano practice (quite a few under this path).
Alex Ross on music education (July 2006).
An interview with Randall Scott Faber (1999), co-author of the famous "Piano Adventures" piano method.
Why not learn something about musical acoustics? Or maybe the Baroque Suite?
If you're tired of reading, watch something instead. Below is a video of Vladimir Horowitz playing some rather bizarre and thunderous Scriabin ("Poem Vers La Flamme").
Monday, July 23, 2007
Music Teachers UK
Music Teachers UK is another great website that I learned about via Chris Foley. The "Resources" page is probably the most useful section from my point of view; it contains links to many interesting PDF documents on sight-reading, piano teaching, perfecting practice, and other topics of interest for students, parents, and teachers. You can also download manuscript paper for free in both portrait and landscape formats. I will provide a link to this page in my sidebar under the "History - Literature - Pedagogy - Theory" link list.
By the way, if you have not seen Chris Foley's amazing site (The Collaborative Piano Blog), please do yourself a favor and link/subscribe to it. I have done a lot of research on piano blogs over the past few months, and I firmly believe that Chris's site is still the BEST place to find relevant resources for pianists of all persuasions.
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Three Pedals of the Piano
The three pedals of the piano are some of the most intriguing devices piano students encounter at the instrument. Playing the piano with authority requires thorough knowledge of what these pedals do and why we use them to alter the sound.
There is a nicely detailed overview of the functions of these pedals at Jeffrey Chappell’s website. I also inserted a link in my right-hand sidebar to the same page for future reference (located under the “Information on Pianos and Piano Repair” link list).
Read these brief clarifications about piano/keyboard pedals and then head over to Chappell’s article to get more details. (I actually do give a bit more information on the sostenuto pedal below. I also give some indications of how pianos and digital instruments may have different or missing pedal functions.)
Regardless of the type of piano one has, the right-hand pedal is always reserved for the production of sustained sounds that reverberate within the framework of the piano. All of the dampers are lifted from the piano strings so that any played piano tones ring freely and resonate. When the right pedal is pushed down, the keys do not have to be held down to sustain the tones. It is the most commonly used pedal and its use is required in virtually all piano music.
If you buy an electronic keyboard, it is absolutely necessary that you get an electronic footswitch that functions as a sustain pedal. On most of the larger electronic/digital pianos the pedal comes attached in exactly the same place it would be on an acoustic piano. (See an example of the Yamaha Clavinova.)
This pedal is only found on acoustic pianos and a few of the electronic models. Located on the left, it is used to change the quality of the piano tone to a more muted and veiled timbre. Una Corda means “one string” and tells you how this pedal works on a grand piano. When depressed, the soft pedal will move all of the dampers (and the keyboard!) slightly right so that only one or two of the strings assigned to each note are struck when you depress a key. This results in a different tone quality (or “color”). It is usually employed for extremely soft passages, though it is often overused by pianists who lack the technique to play softly. (OK, I can admit it, I’ve been known to “cheat” myself…)
The soft pedal works a little differently on upright (console) pianos. In these pianos pushing the soft pedal moves the hammers closer to the strings. This makes the key action produce a softer strike than when the pedal is not engaged because the hammer has less distance to travel (and thus less overall force).
The sostenuto pedal (located in the middle) is often confused with the damper pedal because we also call the damper pedal the sustain pedal (which is what sostenuto means). Confused yet? I wouldn’t blame you. The point is that it has a completely different function from the damper pedal. You can selectively sustain specific notes while leaving the rest of the keyboard “dry”. For example, if you play a C major chord on middle C (the other tones being E and G above that C), and then press down the sostenuto pedal, only the dampers for C, E, and G will remain off of the strings. As long as the pedal is held down, those specific notes will ring freely when they are played. If you play any other notes on the keyboard, they will not ring freely (in other words, when you let go of the key the sound will be damped). It can be used by a skilled pianist in conjunction with the other two pedals. You can sustain as little or as many notes as you want with it. It is a stunning piece of mechanical engineering.
This pedal is found almost exclusively on the larger grand pianos. It is the least used of the pedals and the most misunderstood. The sostenuto pedal did not become incorporated into the grand piano until the late nineteenth century. It is used chiefly in more modern music and for special effects. Piano composers are beginning to use it more, which of course requires that performances occur on adequately functioning grand pianos.
On some smaller grand pianos the middle pedal acts as a bass sustain, whereby only the dampers below a certain note (such as bass C) are released from the strings. In other words, it acts as a kind of half-sustain pedal.
To make things even more confusing, sometimes upright or console pianos also have a middle pedal with yet another different kind of function. Usually the middle pedal on these pianos acts as a “silencer” by moving a piece of felt cloth onto the strings. This mutes the sound to such a considerable degree that one can play the piano without disturbing sleeping neighbors, disgruntled roommates, etc. The piano will often have a sideways slot at the bottom of the pedal’s movement so that the pedal can be locked into down position without needing to hold it with the foot. (I’ve always thought it would be interesting to write music specifically for a muted piano. Maybe I’ll do it someday…)
For additional information check out the pedals section for the Wikipedia entry on pianos.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Resource on Musicians of the African diaspora
(via On an Overgrown Path)
(Update 7/11: This post was quoted in its entirety at On An Overgrown Path, an important UK music blog I’ve admired for months [and from which I got the original idea for this post]. It’s awesome to get some link love from such an established site of the arts blogosphere. Thanks to “Pliable” for the recognition! Most importantly, though, this "re-blogging" will foster broader awareness of musicians who merit more attention - it makes the blogging project so much more meaningful.)
AfriClassical.com is a wonderful resource that presents information on classical composers and musicians of African heritage. It includes men and women from diverse populations around the globe, including Africans, African-Americans, Afro-Latin Americans, and Afro-Europeans. A broad historical range is covered from the 1700s up to the current day.
Many people do not realize the breadth of these contributions to the concert music tradition. It is true we often focus quite heavily on the “Dead White Guys” of the European art music tradition such as Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss, Mahler, etc. But all through this history non-whites have been composing, conducting, and performing music. Sometimes their art got noticed, many times it did not.
Today it is becoming increasingly important for the concert stage to present and embrace more diverse programming from outside the standardized canon. I’ve felt quite strongly about this since I decided to become a professional musician and am happy to see that performance institutions are evolving towards inclusion of quality musical products from lesser-known composers and musicians. AfriClassical serves as a great introduction to some of these musicians. There are biographies, audio samples, and links to other pertinent sites and information. (As an example, check out an excerpt of the cool performance of Margaret Allison Bonds' "Troubled Water" by William H. Chapman Nyaho,
Not least important is the fact that many of these composers wrote great piano music. Over the years I’ve played some terrific pieces by African-American composers George Walker, Duke Ellington, William Grant Still, Scott Joplin, and Hannibal. Even though some of these are household names (like Joplin and Ellington), their solo and ensemble concert music is often unfairly overlooked. (Who knew Ellington wrote a piano concerto?) It is great that AfriClassical is out there to help raise awareness about their repertoire as well as the music of more (unfortunately) obscure black musicians. Many audiences would appreciate more attention paid to it.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Studying piano with other instruments (Part 1)
Over the years I’ve been asked more than a few times if a young student should learn the piano as well as other musical instruments, or just piano, or just other instruments. I believe strongly that a completely inexperienced novice should start out with just one instrument at first (especially if they are younger than about 8 or 9). So I usually answer that the potential little musician should pursue whichever instrument fascinates them the most. Hopefully that initial fascination will (over time) slowly morph into a desire to begin a real “relationship” with the instrument, one which allows them to experience true and meaningful gratification from general musical improvement on that particular instrument.
The new music student should spend some time on one instrument to establish a good foothold on the basics of music (rhythm, pulse, note-reading, dynamics, basic technique, phrasing, etc.) Usually this takes at least a year, but the appropriate amount of time varies among students due to differing abilities and maturity levels. After they feel comfortably acclimated to music study, the student can think about learning another instrument. Students should pursue more than one instrument if they so desire, provided they can meet some minimal conditions:
1) the student can properly prepare lesson or rehearsal responsibilities set by the private teacher/band/orchestra, and
2) the lessons (and instruments) can be afforded comfortably by the student’s family.
There’s nothing worse than pushing a kid too hard so that the money investment in multiple instrumental study seems “worth it”. No offense intended here but I have to say that parents can be really bad judges of this sometimes: If you need little Johnny to sound like Joshua Redman after six months of saxophone lessons because you’re going broke from the combined fees from sax, drum, and piano lessons, chill out and drop an instrument or two. Not everybody can be Mike Oldfield. (Besides, it’s better to accomplish good training on one or two instruments rather than be a total hack on five!)
Sometimes parents ask me which instrument (or kind of instrument) would be good to study alongside piano. I can’t speak for every instrument because I don’t play them all, but I do think that an especially effective possibility is to choose an instrument that contrasts with how the piano makes sound. In other words, the instrument should be non-percussive and be able to produce sustained tones that can vary dynamically over time (this would include all the wind instruments, string instruments, and brass instruments). Learning how to use a wide variety of fluid motions to make sound (the breath in wind and brass instruments, the bow gestures in string instruments, the use of arm weight in piano) can help a student’s music making immensely. (Yes, this sounds a lot like the Feldenkrais Method, which teaches how better awareness of physical movements can improve our activities and experiences.) For example, playing a nicely rounded phrase on a wind instrument can help a musician play more musically at the piano, because awareness of the “natural” musical flow from the breath can affect how one hears and plays the phrase on the piano. The weaknesses I hear in most piano students when attempting to phrase smoothly are “bumpiness” and uncoordinated physical gesture. Generating better musicality at the piano can be helped by finding out about other ways of making sound and then “projecting” those ideas to the movements used at the piano. (I really like to use analogies of various instrumental sounds or gestures in my piano teaching because it can be rather effective with imaginative students.)
So, some examples of good instruments to pair with the piano would be, in no particular order: flute, trumpet, clarinet, viola…you get the idea. (By the way, I played trumpet and piano when I was a pre-teen. I tried guitar but utterly failed!)
Now this doesn’t mean that it would be worse to have a piano student learn the drums or guitar, or another percussive or plucked type of instrument. By all means, if that is what the student really wants to try then go for it. But I do think that learning a wide variety of ways to make sound can be a truly stimulating discovery in musical study.
I realize that other teachers and musicians (and also parents whose kids study multiple instruments) may have a different outlook on this topic than myself, so these people should feel free to express alternative views through the comment option if they think that could be helpful.
This is the first installment on the topic of varied instrumental study (hence the “Part 1” in the title). My next post on this topic will focus on the benefits of piano study versus other instruments.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Jazz Resources by Tony Caramia
Piano pedagogue and performer Tony Caramia has a nice substantial article about jazz resources on the website Keyboard Companion Online. Any pianist (student or teacher) who has an interest in jazz, blues, and other pop styles could benefit from taking a look at it. Mr. Caramia widely covers resources and repertoire on the web, how to choose jazz repertoire for students, interpretation issues, style concepts (like swing), and method books.
Some of my students absolutely LOVE playing this music. If you are reading this and you love playing jazzy things, have a look at Mr. Caramia’s article (maybe with Mom or Dad) and let me know if you’d like to dig into jazz and blues more deeply.
By the way, I took my first piano pedagogy course with Mr. Caramia while I was getting my bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music way back in the 1990’s. He’s a terrific teacher and I am glad I got some pedagogical training with him (though I did not realize this until later, when I actually started teaching!)
