Blog 20: Exit Interivew

Content:

(1) How can learning various playing styles and techniques best prepare you for mastering classical music for a performance?"
My answers are:

• Learning various playing styles and genres help you to really listen to music and understand it for what it is and what goes on within it, especially when it comes to music periods from the Baroque era to 20th Century, where the composer's intents are explicitly described in each measure and phrase of a piece
• Learning various styles and genres help you when Exploring multiple methods of practice and playing can really assist a pianist for when it comes to performing classical music in a way that gets them to continue repeating basic knowledge while also learning something new along the way.
• Learning various styles and genres help you with creating your own way of expressing yourself in music by influencing your musical style so that you can be unique with your own musical interpretations. 

 Best Answer:

• Learning various styles and genres help you when Exploring multiple methods of practice and playing can really assist a pianist for when it comes to performing classical music in a way that gets them to continue repeating basic knowledge while also learning something new along the way.

 (2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

I took as many routes to finding this answer as possible. I looked at the few answers I currently had and then decided to delve further into what goes behind making a classical piece successful. What helped was to practice different methods myself, and also asking other musicians what practice methods worked best for them when they were preparing classical music.

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?
Some problems I faced were having unclear answers and also not being specific with what I was trying to convey. I already had my answers and everything, I just needed to find a way to explain it while still making sense. I tend to have a habit of confusing others.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

Two most significant sources I used to answer my essential question were:

Johnson, Daniel. "Music Listening and Critical Thinking." International Journal of the Humanities, Vol. 2, No. 2 (2004). Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Chueke, Zelia. "Stages of Listening During Preparation and Execution of a Piano Performance." University of Miami (2000). Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

They helped me find what I needed and gave me detailed insight on how listening and practice really help.

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) Statement saying: “I, Alyssa Casey, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

(b) Sources:

• Stacey Ulmer, mentor 
• Thomas Nalbach , 4th Interview
•  Lammers, Will. "Factors Affecting Performance Proficiency: A Case Study Involving Intermediate Piano Students." Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education, Brock University (2006). Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
• Schoenberg, Arnold. Style and Idea. New York: Philosophical Library, Inc., 1950. Print. Pgs 153-180.
• Chueke, Zelia. "Stages of Listening During Preparation and Execution of a Piano Performance." University of Miami (2000). Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

(c) Provide a digital spreadsheet (aka log of the 30 hours).  

Posted. 

(d) For my independent component, I did three pieces for the piano. They were for the Talent Show, which was April 1st, and they were rather varied. One was a classical piece, another was an accompaniment for my own voice, and the other an accompaniment for another vocalist's voice. The thirty hours of work were mainly daily practice, especially with the accompaniment piece that was for another vocalist besides myself. That last piece I took different ways of playing it: by ear, by the written, set-in-stone sheet music with the notes, and also with the chord names that were written above the sheet music on the same page. I took to simply using the basic five chord pattern for that particular piece. As for the others, I mainly went by how they were written, and may have added more thematic elements when I performed them with more vigor and excitement.
 
INTERPRETIVE 
Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  

The work I did was mainly practicing and finding different methods of how not to become nervous while onstage. I took time to try listening to my material on the go repeatedly, so that if there were to come a moment that I forgot a passage, I could simply improvise because I would know what that passage was supposed to sound like. I tried different methods for multitasking, especially for when it came to accompanying my own singing voice. Playing as an accompanist for another singer or even as a classical soloist was very different than from what I was preparing for. At times, I felt that this self sustaining performance of me playing along with my voice was more difficult than executing Beethoven. I managed to perform well at the talent show, and received good reception overall.




A phrase from "Let It Go" by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, composed for the movie "Frozen."



Lyrics from "Let It Go."




Here's me (figuratively) hoping that I was confident enough about it. 

"Read All About It" by Emeli Sande




First page of the sheets I found that thankfully had the guitar tabs and chord names (letters above the graph things that have letters such as Bm and Gmaj7).

Finally, there's this delicious piece.




Here is a passage where the first set of mordents is shown. The mordents force the pianist to move the right hand over the left as you are to play the staccato bass notes before jumping back into treble clef.



The part where the grave set piece becomes devilishly fast, with notes that play like sixteenths.




Second set of mordents after the fast bass notes that lead to the trills. This is in a different key than the first set of mordents.



Here is a part where the fast paced main theme leads into a slower paced passage with half notes that seem to quiet down, but then get louder, and get softer once more. You now are in the second set of mordents in E-Flat.





Here's a fun part where the first set of mordents dissipates into the slow, longer held half notes that builds up to the wrist rotating staccato parts that get louder each time, as mentioned where it says "cresc." meaning, get louder.




This page here, this very one was the most fun and the most painful. That sudden natural key change and then the melody shifting to the left hand. You gotta love it. Oh, the markings with "tr," those are the really fast and painstaking trills. Totally fun. Oh, they were played with my pinky and ring fingers.




My hand moving over for the first mordents that appear in the piece. Notice that my left is crossed under, playing the softer harmonic rhythm while my right hand is playing the melody.




My hands here are playing the Beethoven at the actual speed it was written at, which was Allegro di molto e con brio, which means "fast, with fire." Left me plenty of room for expression. 

Talent Show pamphlet, with all three of my performance numbers under 2, 6, and 13.


APPLIED

How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped.

The component helped me answer my EQ because it helped me understand how much practice can really make a difference in the way a final performance goes. Although I admit I didn't do as much practice as I wished, the times I did made me realize that for most cases, it is best to get secondary help from others and to actually communicate with those you are working with, even if you have yet to complete your end of the deal. That is something I realized after not practicing with my partner for the song "Read All About It." The reason I didn't exactly meet up my partner was because I didn't want them to feel I wasn't ready or capable enough of assisting them. 

Extra Post: March

For the duration of this month, I have been focusing more on accompaniment mainly because I am doing two accompaniments for talent show on April 1st. These two are songs from different genres, one being a soundtrack piece from the film Frozen and the other a pop/R&B song by Emeli Sande. However, I have also been studying my Beethoven piece, and have that ready to perform whenever. As of now, I am to start a piece for iFest, also an accompaniment. This accompaniment is a song from the popular musical Wicked by Stephen Schwartz, and the song is Defying Gravity. I hope to be prepared for talent show as it is approaching soon.

Blog 18: Third Answer

Learning various playing styles and techniques can best prepare you for mastering classical music because performing more often can reduce your anxiety when you have recitals.

• Knowing different musical styles can help a pianist be more comfortable with what they are performing in front of crowds because they have the skills to improvise if they forget a phrase or are nervous when playing
• Performing in group ensembles can take away from some of the anxiety because the perfection of the performance depends on the consistency of the entire group's musical aptitude
•  When playing classical, it will seem easier because most of the piece is applied knowledge that is often used

  Allen, Robert. "Free Improvisation and Performance Anxiety Among Piano Students." Psychology of Music, January 23. Vol. 41, No. 1. Pgs 75-88.

Blog 17: 4th Interview

Ten open ended questions.
1. What do you know specifically about your style piano playing, and how did you master it?
2. Has piano taken up a lot of time, and if so, has it interfered with other musical aspirations?
3. Has there been a specific influence in your musical career, and if so, how have they impacted your style of playing?
4. What pianists have you seen that have also worked on the same kind of pieces as you and how did their interpretations differ from yours?
5. How precise are you with rhythmic music and how long did it take you to become good at it?
6. What specific composer's music has helped with understanding musical structure of any piece you've learned and what about their music was useful?
7. What theory books have you used in the past and how can these theory books help other classical pianists?
8. Can listening to other pianists interpretations of one specific piece useful and what benefits would it have?
9. Can collaborating with other pianists boost the desire to do even better and if so, in what ways?
10. Can learning how to accompany vocalists help a pianist understand chords and eventually memorize them, and if so, does this also help keep consistent rhythm?
11. Can the way a pianist studies music influence the way they learn, and if so, can they learn a piece incorrectly?
12. What determines if a pianist is ready to take on classical music, and does this qualification have to do with them knowing how to play a variety of genres and styles?
13. Can classical music be learned effectively in a short amount of time, even if the person has no prior musical experience, and if so, can it take longer than average?
14. When should a pianist start studying classical music and how would this help them expand their knowledge?
15. What benefits can come from mastering classical music, and are they enough to push a pianist to want to compete?
16. What kind of preparation does it take for preparing oneself for a major piano competition and how much time does this require?
17. Which composer's music is most difficult to learn and why is it so?
18. What era of music history has the most technically challenging music, and how can studying the music from this period help improve technique?
19. What is the importance of theory, rhythm and interpretation in classical music and how does it impact the piece?
20. Can teaching another how to play piano help improve a pianist's knowledge, and if so, in what ways?

Extra Blog: February Post

This month, I have started an easier Beethoven piece, of which I am doing for my second independent component. For my answers to my essential question, I am going to have each answer just focus on one aspect of performance, and how it relates to succeeding at learning classical music. These answers are going to be based on theory, pitch, interpretation, and rhythm, and will go into detail about each and how important they are to classical music endeavors. I should have this piece finished in a month or less as I have already played this before, and I simply need to review it. My research from here on out will be focusing on the importance of theory, rhythm, pitch and interpretation, and I hope to find good sources soon with my research. I'm hoping to find books on each, or will ask assistance of my mentor.

Blog 16

EQ

Answer #2 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*

Learning different genres help a musician test their capabilities by forcing them to think about a piece and learn how to approach music differently, whether it be by listening to how music is played by a technical standpoint or by playing something in sections slowly until they have each section fully memorized after utilizing what they already know from past experiences and apply that knowledge to playing that specific piece.

3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)

• For example, if I were being given a piece that I had never seen before and was an intermediate classical piece or so, I would have most likely looked at the entire score before I even decided to attempt playing it myself without practice. Most often it is helpful to scan the score and mark in places that prove more difficult or demanding of technique, such as sudden jumps from octave to octave or ornamentation.
• I would listen to a recording of it to better understand the rhythm of the piece, then I would proceed to begin using a metronome to work on it. Most often, listening helps also with interpretation and understanding the emotion of the piece itself.
• I would play through it until I got better, starting out slow then going gradually faster. Most of the time, this forces a pianist to look at approaching score differently, and if needed, learning how to shift their hands in a different way whether written in the score by numbered fingerings indicated on page. 

Conclusion

Through listening to recordings, taking a piece apart after scanning it and changing the way you play certain notes, you are in a sense challenged to improve your skills and therefore become a better musician in doing so.