Preparing to Perform

This past weekend, Steve and I held a joint studio recital (our first!) at the church.  We had almost a dozen students sign up to participate and we've spent the past several weeks of lessons trying to prepare them to perform (for many, this was a first).

How do we prepare to perform?  We do warm-ups, technical exercises, and breathing exercises (for saxophone players, that is!); we practice pedaling in our shoes; we learn how to sit properly, stand properly, bow properly; we practice bringing our hands up to the keyboard and away at the end of a piece; we practice from memory; we perform in front of others; we strive to keep going no matter what happens.  I think this last item is one of the more difficult ones.  Our initial, natural response seems to be to freeze - as if to think, "Did anyone hear that?"

After many recital experiences of my own (including my 2nd grade horror story of completely blanking on Minuet 2), I feel as if I learn something new about myself each time.  There's only so much one can do to prepare for something.  Preparing to perform is no different.  As a teacher, I try to instill confidence, teach professionalism, train memory skills, and encourage students to be the best they can be.  Though, isn't it true that until we experience that rush of excitement and nerves and the flutter of muscles while playing (I have many stories of shaky hands and jittery legs), we don't fully know how to prepare to perform?  For many, myself included, it's a face-to-face confrontation with fear.  It's not about being perfect and not making any mistakes.  It's about communicating with others, sharing music, and overcoming ourselves.

How do you prepare to perform?

The Adjunct: The First Year

You're probably wondering, "What happened after that post about becoming an adjunct back in August?  How were the classes?"  Well, I'm back with a full year of college teaching experience under my belt and four classes (two each semester) on my resume.  But that's not enough for me.  I want to know what I can improve, how I can teach more effectively, and how the students perceived the class.  What better way to get this feedback than by creating an end-of-the-semester assessment!  (Dorky, I know.) The university does a course assessment at the end of each semester; however, I as a teacher did not receive this feedback until FOUR MONTHS into the next semester!  My solution: Create my own one-page assessment to give to students on the same day as the university assessments.  I had two envelopes - one for me and one for the university.  This way I get instant results... and feedback from the school in about four months.

I asked the following questions about the course itself:

1. Please state your reason(s) for taking this course (i.e. elective, interest, minor) 2. Did you have any prior experience with the piano prior to taking this course? 3. Please describe your favorite aspect of this course 4. How can this course be improved in the future? 5. Did this course meet your expectations?

Then I asked students to rate my teaching effectiveness (5-point scale: 1-Strongly disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Neither agree nor disagree, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly agree)

1. Demonstrates commitment to each student's progress 2. Seeks a good, working relationship with students 3. Selects appropriate material for learning new concepts 4. Establishes a welcoming learning environment 5. Introduces new concepts in a clear manner 6. Demonstrates enthusiasm in teaching 7. Addresses technical challenges and works to resolve them 8. Presents an extensive knowledge of musical style 9. Introduces music theory concepts in a clear manner 10. Establishes strategies for effective practicing 11. Respects the needs and goals of the student 12. Prepares and encourages students for and in performance 13. Manages class time effectively 14. Approachable; open to communication

I had 11 students submit responses.  Here are the results:

Course Assessment Question #1: Almost half stated, "Interest in improving piano skills;" about a third said, "Elective;" and only one indicated "Humanities requirement."

Question #2: Five said, "Yes;" six said, "No."

Question #3: One indicated, "Sheet Music;" one said, "How we were tested;" five students said either, "Playing the piano," or "Learning how to play;" one said, "Learning how to read music;" one said, "All of it;" and one said, "Being able to make constant strides in the understanding of the piano and how to play it."

Question #4: One commented, "Better classroom;" four students said, "More class time," or "Meet more times per week;" two had no suggestions for improvement; one suggested, "Instructor play more;" and two said, "Spend more time on important lessons rather than going at such a fast pace."

Question #5: All students responded, "Yes."

Teacher Assessment #1 - Six students said, "5-Strongly agree;" five said, "4-Agree" #2 - Ten students said, "5-Strongly agree;" one said, "4-Agree" #3 - Nine students said, "5-Strongly agree;" two said, "4-Agree" #4 - Seven students said, "5-Strongly agree;" four said, "4-Agree" #5 - Eight students said, "5-Strongly agree;" two said, "4-Agree;" one said, "3-Neither agree nor disagree" #6 - Six students said, "5-Strongly agree;" five said, "4-Agree" #7 - Five students said, "5-Strongly agree;" five said, "4-Agree;" one said, "3-Neither agree nor disagree" #8 - Ten students said, "5-Strongly agree;" one said, "4-Agree" #9 - Six students said, "5-Strongly agree;" five said, "4-Agree" #10 - Nine students said, "5-Strongly agree;" two said, "4-Agree" #11 - Nine students said, "5-Strongly agree;" two said, "4-Agree" #12 - Eight students said, "5-Strongly agree;" three said, "4-Agree" #13 - Eight students said, "5-Strongly agree;" three said, "4-Agree" #14 - Ten students said, "5-Strongly agree;" one said, "4-Agree"

I was pretty pleased with the results!  The answers to these questions are so helpful in my future course-planning.  I can self-evaluate all semester but in the end, it's the student opinion that matters the most.

If you made it this far, thanks for bearing with me!  I not only survived my first year of college teaching, I learned a great deal!  Looking forward to more opportunities like this in the future.

Westminster Chamber Music Workshop

We're starting a chamber music workshop this summer!  Keywords: FREE, concert series, local, great music, June 20-25, cookies and punch!

We've been busy these past few months with grants, applications, marketing, blogging, and planning but the Westminster Chamber Music Workshop (WCMW) is just over a month away!  It's been an exciting process so far.  Steve and I received grants from the Westminster and Ashburnham Cultural Councils, as well as support from Fitchburg State University, Academic Affairs. We have an incredible group of friends coming to perform, coach, and share presentations during the course of the week.  We have generous local venues.  We have a great group of sponsors - local businesses and gracious individuals.  We have LOTS of great music planned!

Here's what workshop week will look like at a glance:

- Nightly rehearsals for the WCMW Chamber Choir - Nightly special musical events from 8:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. - free and open to the public! - An exciting line-up of acclaimed Faculty and Guest Artists from the local and regional area - A diverse repertoire of choral music (to be performed by the WCMW Chamber Choir on Saturday, June 25 at the Final Concert) - A stellar group of sponsors - you could be one, too!  Click here for more info. - Did I mention cookies and punch

For more details and the full schedule, visit www.westminsterchambermusic.org.  And if you're in the neighborhood June 20-25, please JOIN US!

Lecture Recital: Mondnacht

Remember my posts from a few months ago titled, “The Art of Song”?  Well, just in case you don’t, you can catch up here, here, and here.  These posts were my initial outline for a lecture recital that Steve and I put together last month.

As a saxophone/piano duo, we enjoy playing transcriptions of art songs (vocal music) as much as anything else.  This program consisted of three vocal pieces – Schumann’s “Mondnacht,” Chausson’s “Sérénade italienne,” and Copland’s “Heart, We Will Forget Him” – all transcribed for tenor saxophone.  We took a few minutes before performing each piece to talk about the composer, the time period, the text, and our considerations when preparing it for the first time.  We even asked the audience for input!

Creating Practice Plans with Beginning Students

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Last year, I spent some time observing at the New School for Music Study in Kingston, NJ (read my notes here, here, and here). 

This school, founded in 1960 by Frances Clark and Louise Goss functions as a keyboard pedagogy lab: pedagogy students gain teaching experience, community members gain instruction, and new teaching approaches are constantly being tested and evaluated. 

One of Clark’s strong beliefs was that students should be taught to be self-motivated learners — this essentially makes the teacher dispensable!

In trying to develop independent learning in my students, I recently began introducing “practice plans” with my students during lesson time (an idea I observed at the New School). Practice plans are 2-4 specific items or practice strategies per piece, neatly written on a sheet of paper that they can keep out next to their books to (hopefully) better organize their practice time at home.

Think of how much learning takes place at home during the week! If a student practices 20 minutes a day, five times a week, that’s 100 minutes of solitary time spent on these pieces (as compared to the measly 30 minutes they spend with me each week).

Here is an example of what this sheet looks like:

This student (age eight) is working out of The Music Tree, Part 1. At the beginning of today’s lesson, we reviewed the last practice plan and checked off the completed items (she was very honest about what she had and had not completed!).

After reviewing the pieces in progress and performing her two recital selections, we wrote out a new practice plan together. This is not a practice notebook where I sit and scribble notes while she plays and I hope she goes home and reads them later. Practice plans are collaborative. 

*As a side note, I do keep a lesson notebook for my own purposes — mainly, keeping up with student progress and repertoire assignments.

“What are two ways you can practice this new piece?” I asked today. 

Erin made a suggestion, I made a suggestion, and I made sure she could demonstrate whatever it was we were writing down. After all, writing “tap/count” is great, but if she doesn’t know what it means when she gets home, it’s not a real practice item.

The exercise of talking through a practice plan for each piece doubles as an assessment tool for me: by having students make suggestions for their practice time (setting their own goals), I have a better understanding of what they’ve learned and how they are applying and reusing ideas and strategies from previous pieces we’ve studied. Also, I find students are more accountable to me the next week when they have to report on the effectiveness of their practicing — they take more responsibility for their progress.

For more information on Frances Clark, visit the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy website.

Matthew's Lesson

Every Monday night at 6:30 p.m., seven-year-old Matthew comes for a piano lesson.  Some days, these lessons are 80% discipline and 20% playing but this week’s lesson was an exceptional contrast. In preparation for our lecture recital, Steve and I had moved the piano from it’s usual front right position to front and center (and rotated 180-degrees).  This change to our normal lesson scene made an immediate difference with Matthew.  The curly-headed, wiggly child sat right down and flipped his book open to our newest page.  “Are we starting with this piece?” I asked, pointing to the first of the two.  Without a word, he brought his hands up to the keyboard and began to play.  He meant business!  I sat to the side and observed until the end of the piece.  Matthew has an excellent sense of rhythm so generally it’s just fingering and tonal patterns that we need to review.  This performance, however, required no review!  He played the song in it’s entirety while chanting the text.  I was impressed!

We moved on to the second piece on the page by reviewing the rhythm/text.  After tapping and chanting, I asked him to find his hand position.  Again, he played straight through, while chanting the text with no issues!

Normally, by this point in the lesson, I would be kindly asking him to take his feet off the pedals, sit still, play with only fingers 2 and 3, etc.  Since he was so focused and playing so well, I encouraged him to explore the change in sound when adding a little pedal.  He played very gently – adding about half of the sustain pedal throughout.

At the end, I asked, “How did that change the sound?”  He had an immediate response.  “It stays,” he said simply.  “Yes!” I replied enthusiastically.  “It makes the sound last longer, doesn’t it?”  “Yes, and if I were just playing notes like this-” he stopped to demonstrate a pattern of steps “then I wouldn’t need the pedal.  But if I were playing here [high register] and then I wanted to go down here [moving to the mid-low register] then I would need the pedal.”  What an insightful response!  It became clear to me that Matthew not only recognized the sound difference but knew how he would use it in the future as a way of connecting patterns in different registers!

Having recently learned about 2nds, playing on white keys (this book starts on the black keys), and dotted half notes, I asked Matthew to improvise a piece that incorporated all three things.  He thought for a minute before beginning.  Thoughtfully, he played a stepwise melody with a repeated rhythmic motive.  He used both hands and a wide range of keys.  The piece ended rather abruptly but from the look on his face, this was intentional.

“That was beautiful, Matthew!”  I said.  “What’s the name of that piece?”  “I haven’t decided yet,” he said in a matter-of-fact way.  “Let’s ask your grandma what she thought,” I suggested.  “I thought it sounded whimsical,” she said.  Seeing the perplexed look on Matthew’s face (“What the heck does that mean?!”) she quickly added, “Like playing with toys.”  “Hmm, what do you think, Matthew?” I asked.  “Toy Days,” he stated.  And “Toy Days” it was.

We moved back in the book to review his recital pieces – “Inchworm” and “Playing Frisbee.”  We work on text from the very beginning of learning a new piece but in preparation for the recital, I’ve been working on having Matthew think the words internally instead of speaking them out loud.  We reviewed this for both pieces and as I joined him on the bench to add the duet part, I reminded him about bringing our hands up to the keyboard at the same time and lifting our hands off the keys and back to our laps at the end of the piece.  His grandmother was very impressed.

I had one more piece to review – “Merrily We Roll Along.”  This is a great example of knowing/singing a song one way and reading it another.  This elementary piano book carefully presents this song within a 3-note range for each hand and with only basic rhythms (for instance, no dotted rhythms).  I believe that reading is important, but I also know that Matthew knows this song with a different rhythm.  I’m not going to correct him with the simplified version when he can hear and play the more complicated version.  All I had to do was turn to the page and he began to play.

I had turned for just a minute to make a comment to his grandmother about practicing but I could hear him working out this song by ear.  He was looking at the book but we both knew he wasn’t really reading it.  He was singing to himself and when he played a wrong note, he would say to himself, “Wait!” and then begin the phrase again and again until he figured it out.  He didn’t stop until he could play all the way to the end.  I thought this was excellent and praised him for using his ear to self-correct.  I played my accompaniment for him and we sang the melody together (with the familiar dotted rhythm).  After that, it was much easier to play both parts because he already had an idea of how the two parts fit together.

We ended our lesson time with a few preparation steps for a new song – reading the text in rhythm and tapping while chanting.  We discussed the implications of the title (“Parade”).  “Have you ever marched in a parade?”  I asked.  “No, but I’ve seen a parade before,” he answered.  “Well, what do you think would happen if you were marching in a parade and suddenly, you decided to stop?”  “You would get run over!” he replied with big eyes.  “Probably so!”  I said.  “That’s what this song means when it says, ‘Keep the step!’”

Lessons like these remind me why I love teaching.  The creativity, the innocence, the playfulness, and the imagination make music so much more fun!  Can we all be a little more like seven-year-olds sometimes?

Tax Season

After three years of doing my own taxes, you'd think I'd have this figured out by now.

My biggest problem seems to be staying organized during the year.

• save receipts

• keep pay stubs

• collect statements of various accounts

• record mileage

• keep track of self-employment income

It's bigger things — professional development, health receipts, donations, gig money, and business expenses (phone, internet, etc.). Having W-2s, 1099s, and self employment from two different states doesn't help.

After a full Saturday of sorting papers, crunching numbers, and cursing the software that kept "not responding" (without real curse words, of course), I completed my federal return and two state returns.

I wasn't quite ready to file them, however. I like to wait until Steve does his taxes so I can correct my mistakes. "Did you answer 'yes' to question #43?" He asked. "Yes," I answer, tentatively. "You shouldn't have." He says, then explaining the rationale. By the time I get back to my taxes a few days later, I have a list of things to correct. Sounds pretty foolproof, right?

I am happy to report that as of this weekend, I have filed my federal return and one state. I will mail in my MA return this week.

Maybe next year I will avoid this hassle and buy myself the luxury of a real accountant!

A Trip to the City

To contrast my travel post from Presidents' Day Weekend, here is a quick summary of our day trip to Boston last week:

Christian Tetzlaff, Starbucks, good friends, shopping, city walk.

Here is the long summary:

• We drove 45 minutes to the nearest T stop, paid $7 for parking and a $2 fare per person to get to Downtown Crossing (i.e. shopping). This was so convenient and much cheaper than riding the Commuter Rail from Fitchburg all the way into North Station (over an hour ride and $15 each way per person).

• We shopped the new spring collection (and the sale racks) at H&M with a gift card from Christmas and stopped at Starbucks for a chicken salad sandwich, greek yogurt parfait, and sweet tea lunch (again, with gift cards from Christmas! Can you tell we don't get out much?)

• It was a sunny day (though, a little cold and windy), so we decided to walk from Downtown Crossing to Symphony Hall (45-60 minutes). I LOVE walking in cities.

• We were greeted at the door of Symphony Hall by men in black vests. We settled into our second balcony seats, perused the program book, and watched people pour into the hall for the 1:30 p.m. concert. (1:30 p.m. on a Friday - what an innovative idea!)

• We sat, mesmerized by Christian Tetzlaff and the BSO in a program of three (count 'em three) violin concerti: a short, sweet musical "appetizer" by Mozart, the second performance of a world premiere by Harrison Birtwistle, and the last, an exciting, virtuosic finale by Bartok.

• We decided we were bold enough to make the walk back to Downtown Crossing (though, we did make a coffee stop at Starbucks on the way. Yes, more gift cards.)

• Since we were in Downtown Crossing with time to spare, we decided to visit a few more stores and made the walk down to Chinatown and back.

• We met some good friends from Eastman and a few new friends at Green Street Grill in Cambridge for drinks, homemade chips and dip, and good conversation.

• We had a quick dinner at Life Alive (delicious three bean chili and bowl of Udon Noodles, tofu, shitake mushrooms, kale, onions, carrots, sesame seeds, and a sesame ginger marinade)

• We had a great time.

Little Carnegie of the South

It was Friday, July 13th, 2007 - a hot summer day in south Georgia.

I pulled into the driveway of the southern house off Forsyth Street, known as Little Carnegie of the South for my first piano lesson with Louise Barfield. On the phone, Louise (with a southern drawl) asked me to prepare all major and minor scales, four octaves, for our first lesson. I was cordially ushered in off the wide front porch by a tall woman, truly delighted to see me. Her hair was tied back in a loose bun and she wore cowboy boots.

I took a seat at one of the two grand pianos in the long living room and she took hers at the opposite end of the room, settling in comfortably at the end of a row of velvet chairs.

I began with C Major. I played four octaves up, four octaves down and stopped. "Why are you stopping?" She asked. "Play them in sequence." I began again. C Major, C# Major, D Major. All the while, Louise stood at the back of the room shouting, "Louder! Faster! Pretend you're in Carnegie Hall - you have to play to the whole room!!" About the time I approached F Major, my arms were burning. My fingers felt stiff and uncontrollable but I could not stop. She would not let me stop. I dragged my hands up and down four octaves until I finally (somehow) managed to arrive back at C Major. A few minutes later, we did this again. Louise took out a piece of paper and wrote down these questions (the answers I gave are included below):

On a scale from 1 to 10 - rate your performance - 10 being the best. 6 - tempo was fairly consistent, fingering needs work, need more endurance.

Why is it important to practice scales? Physical strength, endurance. Awareness of keys and key signatures. Strengthens fingers. Tempo consistency.

Why is fingering important? Ease of playing. Scale lines in music. Consistency.

Describe what you know about the technique of scale playing. Finger position must be curved, wrists and arms must be relaxed, elbows must be used to broaden control, tempo must be consistent.

My notes from this lesson read:

- curve fingers more - lead with body - lift fingers off key - don't touch key first - tension only permitted in 1st joint of fingers - "free the music from yourself" - energy is all mental - watch dropping fingers on keys - play in the air - the energy plays the keys - watch follow-through for each finger - be aware of our physical inhibitions - don't let them constrict the music - every action is plotted mentally - "you are your own teacher" - be aware of ego and laziness when practicing - fingers do the playing - support with strong body muscles

We began a few more technical exercises that day:

- drop: one finger at a time, up and down the scale line - drop/release: scale fingering (watch follow-through) - stretching/finger independence: C-Eb-Gb-A-C (or B), Bass C and Treble C position, hands separately. Play all notes together then lift/play one finger at a time, 4x each (straight fingers, not curved). Strengthens thought. Other fingers should be relaxed and resting. No finger, hand, arm, or shoulder strength - use diaphragm and energy from inside. Finger combinations (4x each): 5+3, 4+2, 3+1, 5+4, 3+4, 2+3, 2+1, 5+1.

July 13th, 2007 was a humbling day and one that marked a turning point in my understanding of music. We spent the rest of our lesson time reviewing one scale - note by note, finger by finger, muscle by muscle. For me, it was overcoming fear, being completely vulnerable and taking a step toward playing with confidence. It was a day I will never forget.

The Art of Song - Part III

Where would this lecture recital sketch be without Robert Schumann's "Mondnacht" with text by Joseph von Eichendorff? In addition to providing language contrast, the title (translated "Moonlit Night") is consistent with the celestial theme (sun, moon, and stars - see?) From the 1840 song cycle, Liederkreis, Op. 39, this piece may be most famous for its embedded code. Schumann used the pitches E-B-E repeatedly. The significance? "Ehe" is the German word for "marriage" and in German music, B-flat=B while B-natural=H. This song cycle is from the year Robert and Clara were married. The text reads as follows: It was as though the sky had softly kissed the earth, so that she, in a gleam of blossom, had now to dream of him.

The breeze ran through the fields, the ears of corn gently swayed, the woods rustled faintly, the night was so starry and clear.

And my soul spread wide its wings, flew over the silent land, as if it were flying home.

Beautiful text yet it leaves us to wonder - who is the girl? Who is he that appears in her dreams? Where does this story take place? What time of day is it? Where is home, as mentioned in the last line? Where is the character who is speaking? Listen to Hans Hotter and Gerald Moore in this stirring rendition.

In conclusion, three composers: Copland, Chausson, and Schumann. Three languages: English, French, and German. A rough celestial theme: sun, moon, and stars (or at least nocturnal with all texts taking place at the end of the day). Three scenes portraying love: love lost, love found, and love eternal.

Previously: The Art of Song - Part I The Art of Song - Part II