Monday, October 21, 2013

What Ever Happened to.....POISE!

It is hard to pick up a music magazine
or visit a musical website today and
not be confronted with an article about
various types of remedies for pain free
performance, no matter what the instrument.
This is a phenomenon of modern times,
perhaps aggravated by the pace of living
we must adapt to today, and by
demands of ever increasing displays of
virtuosity, speed and volume, at least for some.

So much stress does lead to physical meltdowns, both physically and mentally.
Musical stress usually creeps up slowly over a period of time, only becoming noticeable
when it has already formed into a habit. Everyone knows bad habits are hard to change, but first you have to recognize the particular habits that need attention.

The great detector in playing the piano is the EAR. The ear judges the quality of
sound you are making and makes countless assessments of tonal color, attack, duration,
volume, and endless other components in the total picture. Certainly the aesthetics of
sound lie at the heart of most physical problems that result in poor judgments and
lack of musical direction while practicing.If you have no tonal ideal in your inner hearing, then you have no direction in just what you might need to apply to get a musical result. In other words, you are probably looking for a cure before trying to identify the disease.

I think the underlying cause of so much tension in musical performance today results from failing to differentiate musical tension from physical tension. Musical tension is the result of endless study of the ebb and flow of the harmonic structures and formal considerations that give the music at hand its very life.Translating all this information to the actual execution of the music is a long process, and one that most are unwilling to go through. Many times pianists get so caught up in the music emotionally they fail to address the physical side properly, and this leads eventually to real physical problems. I have often observed still wrists, stiff arms, and stiff shoulders, yet students can be bound and dtermined to play the most demanding music at any cost. Often they are so use to that tense state of being, the introduction of any new information about relataton techniques can be viewed with suspicion.

Physical tension is the initiating of effort to physically bring force (weight) to bear upon the action of the keys. As in all things physical, tension has to be immediately followed by a release of tension. Injury and distress results from misdirecting the timing of basic motor impluses in trying to bring the musical ideas to life.In basic piano technique this can be noted when one fails to aim for the "tone Spot" in the key, resulting in continuing to press against the bottom of the key...a fault commonly referred to as "keybedding". It is important to discover that nothing happens after the initial contact of the hammer with the string (other than a slow decaying of the sound).. hence the ability to time one's attack to just that initial point of sound means that a physical cessation of impluse must occur the split second the intended sound is heard. All it takes to keep the key down is just the smallest amount of finger pressure.

Learning to listen to oneself is a lifelong project. In musical terms it means the most exact attention to connecting one sound to the next sound, and making sure what you are hearing fits into the overall direction of the musical phrase.


Real life teaches us the basics of tension and release with our every waking moments. Just to breathe means you let the lungs tense to inhale and relax to exhale. The foot has to make the effort to move forward and make contact with the ground, yet automatically relax instantly after impact, ready to strike again. There is no going forward without the joint effort of tension and resolution.

Preparation is the key to good habits at the keyboard. This means one will need to go
through the process of continually sorting out just what actions will result in a good result, and vice versa, just what actions will lead to distress. This is where taste and discrimination enter the scene. What are the demands of the score? What decisions about mood, character and tonal effects have to be considered? What technical challenges leap off the page, whetting your appetite to find a way to conquer them? What physical endurance questions need to be sorted through? Indeed the challenges are great, and a road map might get you where you want to go, rather than just ambling along, hoping for miracles en route.

What is so disappointing today is that so much information about developing a stress free,resilient and lasting technique has been around for a long time. Tobias Matthay was a genius, no doubt, in that he made great discoveries in the theories of relaxation. His problem in getting his ideas down concisely was partly the result of a rather stilted Victorian style of writing, so tangled and confusing for many readers today. I made an intense study of Matthay's "The Act of Touch" many years ago when I first started teaching. Under the thickets of dense language with many repetitions was the bones of
a deep understandment of the laws of tension and resolution in all their many forms. He later successfully condensced all this into the more concise "The Visible and Invisible in Piano Technique", one of the touchstones of piano pedagogy.

It is unfortunate that so many teachers and performers distrusted Matthay's ideas, somehow not able to bridge the gap between understanding the laws of tension and resolution and their application. Just like the study of ballet, or anything thing related to physical effort, you have to place yourself under the guidance of a teacher who knows how to transmit all this information into practical solutions. The transmitting
of these ideas is based on the absorption of the SENSATIONS felt physically when one does them correctly, as judged by the highest laws for musical taste and feeling. In other words, Word has to be made Flesh.

I personally remember vividly when I returned to the USA after two years of study with Hilda Dederich, who went to Matthay when she was eight years old and remained with him until his death half a century later. When I mentioned Matthay, pianists would say things like "I suppose you play with the floating elbow", or "How do you find the energy to play if you are supposedly so relaxed?" What they failed to recognize was the
fact that relaxation is a BASIS, not a movement superficially applied. What ever happened to that wonderful word "POISED". Once you start your car motor, it is poised for action. You don't have to restart it at every street corner (unless it is a clunker!). Relaxation is a state of being poised for action. I guess if I said the snake is poised to strike I might get your attention! If I said I was POISED to play DOUBLE FORTISSIMO you might jump back is anticipation of the blow. IN sum, you must be poised
physically to do anything correctly at the keys, and it is this state of poise that allows you to apply just that amount of energy you need to bring your musical vision to light.

Having taught my share of talent the past decades, I can say that few students arrive with any organized way of thinking about how they are going about their craft. That is not to say they are not musical, or lack a sense of direction. The most talented have drive, practice for hours and without doubt want to play the hardest pieces right away. They have PASSION in other words. Such zeal is often the culprit unfortunately. It drives one to only play with all systems on full steam ahead. I fell into this category
just as I entered high school. It took a long time to realize I had to learn how to separate my head and heart, otherwise I spent all my energy going in circles. One revered teacher told me quite pointedly that I must learn to practice part of the time UNEMOTIONALLY! At first I thought that was a terrible piece of advice. Time has taught me the wisdom of it, and it changed my whole approach.

With the door opening on a whole new vista, I realized i could spend quite a lot of time playing at a greatly reduced volume and speed. This allowed me more space, and I could begin to attend to so many musical details. I began to plan instead of just reacting to my gut emotions all the time. I think real listening begins at this stage. You begin to notice the smallest details, and how they fit into the whole. You learn also how to feel your way into difficulties that need to be sorted through. I found sound became something
mallable in my hands, arms, and back. I began to sit up at the keyboard, which also helped me to have a sense of taking everything in, instead of sitting with my head in the keys. I remember vividly something Myra Hess said in a conversation with me in 1960. She said if I played a chord with great force, there was a reaction not only towards the keyboard, but an EQUAL one coming back towards me. I had to learn to deal with that. She illustrated this by having me push against the piano as if I wanted to move it. I felt what she wanted immediately. It was a big effort, and I had to release my tension
immediately or just fall over half paralyzed. She ended up saying that she always felt the piano key as an extension of her body, and not just an obstacle to overcome.

Archimedes said, "Give me the proper leverage and I can lift the world". Perhaps in the final result, piano playing is all about the correct use of leverage, doling out just the proper amount of energy to do the job at hand. If you fill your lessons with observations of what we do naturally with our bodies all day long, perhaps you will find just the right kind of descriptive language to make it clear to your students how to play the piano.



Thursday, August 15, 2013

Playing for Chedworth August 2013

It had been sixteen years since I played in the old Norman village of Chedworth, Gloucestershire.The beautiful Saint Andrew's Church was the setting for a benefit concert for the recently established Chedworh Society, raising funds for the fabric of the church and other preservation goals of this ancient village. I played a program of Brahms, Schubert Debussy and Jerome Kern for a full house of very appreciative listeners. Afterwards a reception was held in the garden of the Manor House, in full mid-summer bloom. I had quite a few friends from London and one couple from Scotland,recently relocating to Cirencester, just a few miles away.

I first came to Chedworth in 1969 as a guest of Ruth Croome, a longtime London friend. I dedicated the concert to her memory, and tried to select music I knew she would love. Ruth was a great friend of the village, and took a particular interest in the local school, knowing well it was important to keep such a good school going in such a small place. Now the Cotswolds are world famous, and much of the property is owned by people who come down for the weekend. But it is still basically a farming area, and when I was there they were just beginning to harvest the huge grain fields on the surrounding hills. The village has a wonderful community hall, and supports a choir, a brass ensemble and a bell ringing group at the church. Although just an hour and a half from London by car,the area seems far more remote, and rather lost in time...a valued virtue in this day and age.

A local resident remarked that I had been coming to Chedworth longer than many in the audience, which gave me rather a start. I managed to raise 1200 British Pounds for the
Chedwoth Society, much to the delight of the organizers. It was my great pleasure to do so. Ruth would have been proud.

PHTO: Christine Matthews, Copyright by permission



Sunday, June 2, 2013

Carolina Spring 2013

If you garden in this climate one thing is certain: UNCERTAINY! This has been a double barreled spring this year. A rather damaging frost in early April did more damage than at first ascertained. The result was many small trees and shrubs had to gather forces and produce a second wave of leaves. Natural pruning was the result, and Japanese maples seem to have thicker foliage than normal, plus a much darker leaf color. Azaleas bloomed here on Horrell Hill at unusual times, one bush blooming twice, making for May azaleas. My rhododendrums were spectacular, the best in 25 years. They take some care in this area, our being just outside their zone. But wilh regular watering they can and do survive. We are also about 450 feet up, so we are a micro climate that tolerates plants like this.

I found the spring to be just as erratic on a visit to London this May. When I arrived on May 15 the trees in Green Park were just coming out, and lilac trees were in full bloom. London parks are always feasts of color whatever the season, and flower beds aong the paths were particularly colorful this year. The Chelsea Flower Show finished this past Saturday, and I saw people carrying home plants of all sizes down Kings Road, one lady carrying a rose bush of huge porportions onto a bus. No doubt the passengers ducked. London always amazes me in the sense that it is a collection of villages, and village life in one of the largest cities on earth is thriving.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Charleston MTA Upcoming Event with John Kenneth Adams

I will be visiting the Charleston Chapter of MTNA on April 12. The program is entitled
"Stop - Look- and LISTEN". I will explore ways to increase listening skills at the piano, looking at compositions by Bach, Beethoven and Debussy. In the Bach "French Suite in C minor" I will show how pattern definition can result in a musical articulation that reveals the character of the piece. In the slow movement from Beethoven's Sonata in C minor Opus 10, No.1, I will present various ways to conquer a very, very slow tempo which contains many quick and tricky rhythmic passages that decorate the line. In the Passepied from Debussy's "Suite Bergamasque" I will show how the piece as a whole is influenced by such a work as the Bach Corrente from the above French Suite. I will also show how to approach the pedal in Debussy in general, since no pedals are indicated in the originals.

I often find that teachers are very interested in Baroque ornamentation, but far less interested in the articulation. And the fact that most just use pedal to cover over a general dislike of holding any notes to create the necessary suspensions and resolutions within the line, points more to a technical problem then anything else. I will offer first the Allemande and Corrente without pedal, and then illustrate how just a very small dose of pedal can aid the performer in performance without blurring the line. So, many students play what I call Un-Holy Bach...they don't HOLD anything!! Just the addition of a few suggestion of how to play two melodies in one hand should carry a lot of interest for most.

This all takes place at Fox Music House, starting at 9:30 AM. If you might be interested you can email me for more info. www.jadams12@sc.rr.com