Oh, to hear Bach in the morning!

Reprinted from the “Nurture” Journal published by the Atlanta Suzuki Piano Association

This article was written a few months after the 9/11/2001 attacks on the US. It was an attempt at that time to help families and teachers get back into the habit of listening to classical music in the house not only for their piano lessons, but also for their family wellness. The article has relevance now because the recent events although minor by comparison are still captivating.

On the morning of September 11, my husband called me from his cell phone: “You’ve got to turn on the TV!” I watched as the second plane flew into the World Trade Center. In that moment, I became a captive to the television. In the following three months, my morning routine was to check the news for the latest updates.

Recently, I turned on the disc player to listen to a piece I was teaching. In the same suddenness in which I had become captive to the TV, a feeling of deep calm and peacefulness came over me. I realized how easily and thoughtlessly that I had replaced a good habit with a bad one. In lessons that week, I asked parents: “Have you been listening?” The reply from many parents: “Not as much as usual.”

In one sense, everyone has been captive to recent events. It was interesting to me however, that as I listened to recordings less, I forgot to remind parents about listening as well. Because I was uninspired, there were no stories to tell about listening, certain pianist, or new discs to listen to.

As a child, while my parents played and respected music as an important part of life, the TV was king of the house. This was the habit learned from my childhood. As an adult, I have rebelled against this way of life to such an extent that I miss even really good programs. Still, what we learn as children is so strong that these habits can take over without us even knowing it!

Dr. Suzuki and Dr. Kataoka teach us that each day is like a life. The morning is a new beginning and a very important time to have music on in the house. This creates the habit of listening for that day. With music in the morning, the whole day can evolve from that center of calmness.

As adults, it is so difficult to get rid of bad habits! For the sake of humanity, let’s work hard to help children acquire good habits!

Congratulations

Congratulations on a great recital last Saturday. The students are really improving!
I was especially happy with the clear beautiful tone the students were making. Their concentration was very good. Keep bowing everyday before and after practice so that their bow becomes natural.

Access to Great Pianists through the Web

Reprinted from Suzuki Piano Basics Newsletter March/April 2008
Now with active links


Imagine being able to watch, listen and learn about the very best pianists including those from the beginning of the 20th century to the current day, performing music by the greatest composers of all time.

It is now possible! Imagine how happy Dr. Suzuki would be to know that children can watch and listen to the best musicians with such relatively little effort! There is so much “out there” on the web it’s hard to know where to begin. Also, the technology and options are changing even as I write this. So, this article is about how to begin your research.

Dr. Kataoka always made it clear that there was a huge difference between the “good” pianist and the “best” pianists. After you listen and watch the best pianist it is much easier to tell when the quality is not as good. This is how we educate children to have high ability-with the very best as their model.

You can listen and watch many different pianists on the web, especially on Youtube! You can also find information about composers, artists, music history, etc. Next, you can research available recordings by listening for free, buying a new or used (collector items) CD, or downloading a MP4 file directly onto your iPod or computer. With this kind of access, all of us can contribute to the ongoing job of finding and providing the best resources and environment for the students.

Following is a list of reliable websites/access points for your research:
For Information:
www.google.com
You can search by the name of the pianist. A quick search of Martha Argerich for example brings up 448,000 entries which can be rather overwhelming. The good news is that often the first few links have lots of great information. On the Martha Argerich search Wikipedia comes up as the first link (it often does) which has a biography and links to other good sites. The next link was www.argerich.org which has a catalog of recordings, upcoming broadcast and concerts. There were also links to sites with interviews, articles, YouTube video links, and even an add for Martha Argerich ring tones (now we know what to get Karen Hagberg for Christmas)

You can also search by the name of the piece. A quick search for “Chopin Ballade” brought 80,700 links.The first links were for YouTube (to watch videos) including Horowitz and Zimmerman. Next, there were Amazon.com links to buy CD’s including recordings by Rubenstein. There were also sheet music sites.

For Online Videos
www.you-tube.com
There are more incredible videos by the day on this site. Search by pianists name, filter by the composer/piece. There will be a lot of videos that come up on your search. It takes time as there is no filter that really helps pull the best videos. Still, it is an adventure.

You can start your own page with favorites, playlists, and can subscribe to others peoples’ YouTube page. For example, I have been organizing my page to include playlists of various pianists as well as collecting student performances. You can search my name on Youtube and find my Youtube channel page!

You can listen to many different pianists on the web, especially on YouTube! Following is a list of five pianists considered by most to be in the “best” category that have videos posted on YouTube:

• Glen Gould - There are many videos on YouTube of his recording in the studio with the engineers. Very interesting, not necessarily appropriate for children
• Arthur Rubenstein - There are wonderful performances of various Chopin pieces. These videos are great for students as his posture is perfect!
• Alicia de Larrocha - There are videos of her performing Mozart as well as Spanish music including Emanuel De Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance.
• Martha Argerich- considered by many to be the greatest living pianist. There is a wonderful video of a Scarlatti Sonata recorded years ago as well as several others.
• Marc Andre Hamelin - His Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody #2 is incredible



For Cd’s
www.Amazon.com -classical music
This is an easy site to use the advanced search for classical music. You can search by pianist and then choose disc which have the composer you are looking for. You can also search by specific piece. You can buy MP4 (AAC) to download into your iTunes on some selections as well as ordering a CD.

Often recordings go on and off the market. Recording companies will repackage CD’s with recordings off several different CD’s put together with a new title. So, collectors (like me) might have to buy a whole new CD to get one new piece for example. As long as you are getting the pianist and the piece/composer you are looking for, the name of the CD doesn’t really matter. If you want only a single piece, try using iTunes and download directly to your computer/iPod.

Also in your search to buy disc/videos, some will be live performances of several composers and others will be a collection such as the Chopin Nocturnes. Sometimes a pianist will have several different recordings of a piece over a period of time which gets confusing. Anyway all kinds of listening experiences are useful. The live performances have great energy. The collections make it easier to understand a particular style or sound.


www.arkivmusic.com
This is a great site for hard to find discs and music lovers.
iTunes – you can buy single pieces or albums to download directly to your iPod/computer.

You can use iTunes as your music library/disc player. All of your discs can be downloaded into your computer and saved there. If students are listening on their computers, it is a good idea for them to get good speakers for the computer. You can keep your CD’s for backup and listening other places. They will be stored in the iTunes library. You then access the pieces by genre, artist, and album, When you upload a CD it will automatically enter these categories. You can change the information in these categories to suit your own filing system ( right click and “Get info”.)

Next, you can make playlist of specific pieces so that you can easily play just that playlist. There is a repeat button (bottom left corner of the iTunes screen) so that you can repeat a single piece or repeat a playlist. Next, you can burn Cd’s to use in other disc players in your house and car, and can share with students. Also, You can download the music onto your iPod or iPhone.

There will be new options in the near future that will enable access with even higher fidelity. So, I personally recommend to buy mostly CD’s and then load them onto your computer for iTunes access. Then you can use the CD in another location or keep it in storage as back-up.

In conclusion:
Go to any of the listed websites. Enter the pianist as the search. Check for the composers/compositions that they have recorded. Maybe look up information on the pianist and check their concert schedule or new release. Compare buying a MP4 version to used discs, to new discs, to different collections that may be on another site. Listen to a sample, watch videos, read, enjoy, learn, support, buy, and save your bookmarks/ favorites for the next time.

If you find a great video/disc, send me the link!

Please and Thank-you

Reprinted from the studio notes of Leah Brammer

Parents ,

Please bow every day at home before and after piano practice. This is very important.

The bow has the same meaning at home as in the lesson. To bow at the beginning is to agree to work together. It is a matter of respect. Make sure that you have eye contact at the beginning and end of the bow. This connection with the other person helps establish good feelings.

To bow at the end is to say thank-you for your time and energy, and we are done.

In Japan bowing is a matter of every-day life. Children grow up with it the same way we grow up with phrases such as : “Hello, how are you?”, “Thank-you for having me” , “ please” and “ thank-you” . In every culture, it is part of education to learn to appreciate and communicate with other people.

In recitals, the bow shows appreciation and communication with the audience. To bow at the beginning the performer is saying “please listen and enjoy my playing.” When the audience claps they are saying “ok”.
At the end of the performance the bow means “Thank-you for listening to me”’ and the corresponding clapping means “Thank-you for playing.”
Performers all over the world recognize the significance and importance of the bow.

It is very simple, but also very important for pianist to learn that the bow is an integral part of the performance. Without a good bow, the performance cannot be good. With daily practice the bow will feel natural and the child will gain self-confidence from this repetition.

Please bow every day as part of practice and see how this communication between you and your child can bring good feeling to your time together.
Just like please and Thank-you.

Core Education

Following is a short outline of the principles I am developing and will be writing on through this blog and integrating into my book. I am using this format because I am very interested in having comments on these ideas.

Core Education is the development of the framework or “intelligence” upon which all learning occurs. Core Education promotes the growth of this organizational capacity upon which learning takes place and understanding and awareness are built.

Core Education is learning how to learn. It is the development of life ability. Life ability forms the macrocosm of how we live, interact, create, adapt, and grow. It is based on Dr. Suzuki and Dr. Kataoka’s principles of Talent Education and learning through the senses. It is evolving from my own research, introspection, and perceptions from living, breathing, and teaching Suzuki piano over many years as well as my life experience raising two children. I have not invented anything new, but am seeking to identify that which already is.

Principles:

1. Life Ability
Core Education develops life ability which is the ability to live life optimally.

2. Natural Learning
Core Education utilizes and preserves natural learning, which is direct learning from the environment.

3. Pattern recognition
Pattern recognition and the forming of relationships between these patterns can be developed through repetition for optimum learning. This is the basis for the traditional idea of “intelligence”.

4. Integral Learning
Core learning involves recognition and support for the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of development in combination with mental/cognitive learning to form life abilities.

5. Whole Learning
Children learn through absorption of the total environment rather than part by part. This is sometimes called ”right-brain learning” Whole learning is a better way to describe this absorption as it involves both the right brain (learning through the senses/intuition and left brain (analytical) types of learning working together.

6. The Basics Principle of Skill development
This principle is that the most fundamental aspect in a child’s learning must always be addressed rather than focusing on the content of what is being learned. This is the balancing concept of whole learning and involves the understanding of learning in relationship to sequencing and the development of ability through the acquisition of foundation skills.

7. Positive affirmation
Core education involves affirmation as a critical component of feedback for the child. Using verbal acknowledgement of that which is correct will accelerate learning. It is not a judgment such as good or bad, but is a positive statement of fact to the child about how they are learning.

Through understanding and applying these principles teachers and parents can recreate the concept of education from the learning of facts to the development of ability.

“I want - if I can - to get education changed from mere instruction to education in the real sense of the word - education that inculcates, brings out, develops the human potential, based on the growing life of the child. That is why I am devoting my efforts to furthering Talent Education: what a child becomes depends entirely on how he is educated. My prayer is that all children on this globe may become fine human beings, happy people of superior ability, and I am devoting all my energies to making this come about, for I am convinced that all children are born with this potential.”
Dr. Suzuki

Andras Schiff concert review

Welcome to my blog!

Andras Schiff creates his legacy and brings Beethoven to life.

Last year Andras Schiff embarked on the project of performing all of Beethovens 32 Piano Sonatas in a series of 8 concerts over a 2 year period. So far I have seen all 5 of the concerts he has done, with 3 remaining.

The most striking feature of the concerts is their clarity of expression. No doubt Schiff's expertise in playing Bach comes into play as every note has a horiontal line as well as vertical placement. Because of this transparency in the texture, the true Beethoven jumps out.

Last nights performance included the Sonatas 16 in G major, Op. 31#1, Sonata no. 17 in dminor, Op. 31#2, Sonata no. 18 in E-b flat major, op. 31#3, and after the intermission the Sonata no. 21 in C major, Op. 53 (Waldstein), and an encore performing Bach's Italian Concerto.

The Sonata #16 with it's major key and lightness was the perfect opener. The Tempest followed with all three movements blending together in one kind of sound/tone which was still clear, but decidely more distant and introspective. The third movement of the Tempest is one of my favorite pieces, and one I have been practicing lately. Naturally therefore I have stronger ideas about interpretation. The opening motive begins on the upbeat and ends on the first beat.He played the first beat with an up motion and sound which made the piece sound weak and lacked the rhythmic continuity that is crucial for this piece. He seemed most comfortable in the Sonata #18, and the audience went to intermission very up.

After intermission, I felt him become tired on the Waldstein-an incredibly difficult piece to sustain. It was apparent in the amount of sound he was making as he still managed the clarity. The Italian Concerto seemed a piece of cake for him. So much so that he blew through the second movement even improvising some of the RH as if he had spaced out. Not to matter though the third movement was the best I have ever heard by anyone - even Glen.

It is such a great lifetime opportunity to hear a pianist performing on this level.
The sound stays inside you a long time. I practiced as soon as I got home!
Leah Brammer