Thoughts on Memorizing Intermediate-to-Advanced Piano Repertoire by Ruth Slenczynska

One of my more frustrating moments as a music teacher occurred when a fine stude nt to whom I had given a memorizing assignment said, "I tried my best to memoriz e this music but it just wouldn't come!" Thinking back to my youthful student da ys, my teachers always decided when and what they wanted me to memorize, but nev er told me how. I had to succeed in this determined effort alone. By speaking to many teaching colleagues I found that few, if any, had a working technique for memorizing music above the elementary level where ear, eye, hand coordination pl us a smattering of harmony are encouraged. After that introduction, all instruct ion on memorizing ceased. And yet every young student is given excellent memorizing skills when he, or she , learns a first little piece that requires a bassline to support a treble melod y. The "tune" is first taught to the right hand alone. Then the left hand is tau ght the supporting bass line. After each hand's assignment is clearly establishe d, the teacher carefully, patiently, slowly guides the student to play both hand s together- a triumphant entry into a new world of two-hand piano playing. Perha ps the embryonic elements of a useful memorizing technique can be found in this story. Pianists over age 18 particularly need to have a memorizing technique to use whe n they become serious about learning more difficult music. At that age their kee n children's ability to absorb knowledge begins to atrophy. Perhaps that is why so many promising child prodigies fail to "mature"; they never learned a working memorizing technique. In this article we hope to present some ideas that work f or me. Perhaps some of them will work for you too. Use only "urtext" editions to insure that what you learn was written by the mast er composer; you can build most effectively from this source. Try to obtain the "big picture" of the whole composition you wish to learn. Exam ine the musical form, identify the themes, and appreciate how the composer has d eveloped them. Learn the general harmonic sub-structure. Many great pianists, Sv iatoslav Richter and Claudio Arrau among them, studied J.S. Bach's great 48 Prel udes and Fugues to learn how this music was crafted. Sergei Rachmaninoff and Art ur Schnabel studied Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas to learn about structure. Bach wrote his Two-Part Inventions and Three-Part Sinfonias expressly to teach" serio us musicians how to develop small musical ideas." Analyzing how wonderfully thes e various pieces are put together will help any pianist to think musically; this kind of understanding will help you to memorize. "Get Your Eyes, Ears, Hands Acquainted" We begin by hearing, seeing, "learning the feel" of a new piece of music. Listen ing to someone else performing it is a totally different experience, almost unre lated to making the music yourself, dreaming of how you will phrase this masterw ork. As a teenager I remember hearing songs and ballads on the radio and thinkin g, "that singer is certainly not expressing the true meaning of the lyrics as I could-if only I had a voice!" Some of the following directions will give you the "voice-in-your-hands" to express what you feel in the music you wish to play.

Step 1. Read the new composition ten times slowly, all the way through (if the w ork is short enough) with the right hand alone. Set a "credit card" type metrono me at a slow pace to keep you steady as you perform mistake-free. If there seems to be an awkward passage Isolate it Examine and re-work the fingering until you find a practical solution Spend time working at the new solution Restore the corrected passage to the context of the music Lower the metronome level by five or ten numbers and try again for a mistake-fre e performance from beginning to end with the right hand alone. Use a pencil and pad to monitor your progress; give yourself a check for every g ood performance. False starts don't count, nor do readings with errors. (Too man y of these mean that you must lower your metronome level by another five or ten numbers.) You are aiming for ten consecutive mistake-free performances, each one metronome number higher than the last. After successfully climbing this "ladder ", you will begin to feel in your right hand, and to "hear" with your inner ear how the new piece will sound. Step 2. Follow the same procedure with your left hand alone, but lower the metro nome level by at least five, perhaps ten numbers. It takes longer to become fami liar with left-hand sound. You will hear supporting material that you might not recognize without the melod y. Most peoples' left hands are less highly skilled than their right hands, and It takes more time to learn ear-left-hand coordination. Look and listen especially for the lowest bass line the highest notes played by the left thumb, and perhaps a middle inner voice Often what appears to be a simple accompaniment becomes a valuable addition to t he master composer's harmonic plan. When you understand every detail try to achi eve a first left-hand mistake-free performance. Monitor your progress as the lef t hand climbs your ten-performance ladder. Step 3. Now you are prepared for your first two-handed reading. Psychologists te ll us that the left side of the brain guides the right hand, and the right side of the brain guides the left hand. Use plenty of time to slowly encourage all of these newly educated parts of you to coordinate seamlessly. Set your metronome level at ten numbers below that of your left-hand's first successful reading. You will be" listening with a microsc ope" that will open your ears to lush harmonies and complex details. You may eve n feel a tiny "click" as the left and right hands' newly learned efforts come to gether. This can be a thrilling moment whether you are studying a Bach Prelude, a Chopin Mazurka, or a section of a Prokofiev Sonata. Continue to monitor your progress as you climb your ten mistake-free performance ladders. Keep raising your tempo level by one number until you reach your goal, ten metronome numbers higher than where you began. Steps one, two, and three might take you a day, three days, a week to complete, depending on how much practice time you can put in. You will gain skill as you r epeat these steps several times. Every few days begin all three 10-time ladders two numbers higher, and end them two numbers higher. Your music will grow within you; your inner ear will" sing" parts of the music while your fingers will" tin gle" appropriately. Your perception of the composition will change to" almost co mfortable". Soon "musical shapes" will emerge that will set you thinking, "How c

an I build long musical lines?" Think about the music. Are you observing all the composer's phrasing and articul ation markings? Dynamic signs? Where there are no composer directives you might test a few basic ideas: a crescendo where you think the music asks a question, a decrescendo where you think a phrase ends an idea. Should these repeated motifs be fp, or pf? Should there be a crescendo where there is an ascending progressi on? A decrescendo where similar motifs descend? Experiment! Breathe life into yo ur music. You can always change an idea you don't like. The important thing is t o musically speak! One day a small mistake occurs during your hands together "ten-times ladder." Yo u examine the area with each hand and with both hands; nothing seems to be wrong . Yet another mistake happens in another area; again nothing seems to be really wrong. Your new accomplishment seems a bit like an eggshell cracking in many pla ces because the baby chick is fighting to be born. Your new music is asking to b e memorized.. Wait for this signal. Most people try to memorize too soon, before the piece is sufficiently ready. Because the composition isn't really in your m ind yet, results will be marred by inaccurate notes and note values. Articulatio n and dynamic marks may be overlooked. All of these musical details must be at l east partially in place prior to beginning your determined effort to memorize. "What's all this about learning everything each hand alone? I'm a good sight-rea der and have read everything both hands together for years!" Quite commendable Bravo! "And working with each hand alone seems to be wasteful of time and effort . My teacher wants me to learn quickly; every assignment must be memorized for e ach lesson." Sadly, there are many non-performing teachers who make this cruel a nd unnecessarily punishing requirement. "Concentrate!" say parents and teachers in a chorus. "The trouble with you is that you don't concentrate!" Not true; con centration, or lack of it, is not the problem. No one can make his or her mind " concentrate!" on demand. Good readers are often poor memorizers; they coordinate eye, ear, and kinetic sk ills without getting their minds involved. Think of an expert typist who looks a t the information she is typing but has no idea of its content or meaning. A goo d music reader has a wonderful skill, extremely helpful to any pianist. But memo rizing is a mind-directed art. Be respectful; this art requires a thorough knowl edge of every musical detail in the score while the mind supervises every move m ade by each of two hands simultaneously planning beautiful results - all this on demand! You need to train your mind for that task. You must be aware of what each hand i s doing because: The left hand plays half the music but this music is far more obscure. The left hand needs to be strengthened to be as dependable as the right hand. During performance the mind sometimes focuses on the beautiful line of one hand or the other, and Each hand must be in a position to function "on automatic" if need be for a few seconds. This kind of thorough learning cannot be done both hands together in a hurry. Th ere is genuine reward for patient effort.

"Divide and Conquer" Learning a long poem by heart can be daunting, but extracting the true meaning o f a single line can be satisfying, pleasurable.

Divide the whole composition into many small segments, each no longer than a fou r-to-six bar phrase. Slow your tempo level; count by eighths instead of quarters. Find the appropriat e slow metronome level to properly focus your "aural microscope." Play the first phrase with the right hand alone; you've heard this phrase many times. Now you must listen to it at this slow pace. Musically, what does this phrase say to you ? Play it many times in various ways; what is the underlying quality? Hopeful, a uspicious, happy? Can you put words to the melody, or imagine a setting? Have yo u a picture or a story for the whole composition? Many of the composer's tempo m arkings can help: Grave = serious Calmado = calm Tranquillo = quiet, tranquil Sostenuto = sustained, hopeful Andante = moving Andantino = moving a little Allegretto = a bit light-hearted Allegro = happy Allegro Assai = quite happy Vivace = with spirit Use whatever the composer wrote as a starting point for your imagination. Settin g a mood does not depend entirely on tempo; use tone quality and color to give t he musical message during this learning period. You can certainly "move a little " (Andantino) with slow grace, or sound "Happy with Fire" (Allegro con Fuoco) st ill playing slowly. Meanwhile, create a glorious shining mental image of how you wish to present this composition so that an audience will "fall in love with it ", this beacon will keep you working through the memorizing hours. How do you play the first note? Fingertip, finger pad, weight touch from above, push toward the fall board, side of little finger, side of hand, two fingers tog ether? Try each possible way many times; identify the sound you want. Does the o verall direction of your phrase express a crescendo? Are you making every long a nd short melody note contribute to the crescendo? My wonderful teacher, a poet a t the piano, Alfred Cortot, said, "Never waste a note!" If there is staccato do you prefer clipped finger pizzicato, or wrist directed "quick up," or arm "slowe r-up"? Which staccato best contributes to the musical line? Listen to the last n otes of the phrase; do they end the musical thought softly or does the first phr ase lead into the next phrase, or is the first phrase the beginning of a musical paragraph? Do you leave the last note slowly, wrist highest? Or slowly wrist do wn? Or is the last note accented or staccato? Many musical decisions can be made at this very slow level. Now is when you test ideas that will make your interpr etation unique. Make many mind-directed carefully-listened-to musical repetition s. You are memorizing! When you produce ten consecutive carefully guided memorized performances of the first phrase at ten slow-tempo levels, you must study the next phrase in the sam e meaningful way. The slow tempo invites mind participation.

After musically mastering four phrases in this way, you might have a memorized s entence. Return to the earliest slow metronome level and try to contain the enti re memorized sentence mistake-free. Your thinking and your breathing are changin g; your musical line is growing! If an error occurs in one of the already-learne d phrases, correct it with a "ladder" and return to the musical sentence. Again master this sentence at ten extremely slow tempi. You've made a strong step forw ard. Your left hand needs to memorize the first phrase in the same careful way. Play the lowest bass line. Beethoven called this voice "a second melody". Brahms' fat her played the double bass, and this composer wrote a marvelous bass melody into all of his piano pieces. After you've memorized the lowest melody, use your lef t thumb to play all the high notes; memorize this little supporting voice. Next, make chords of the thumb melody and inner notes to hear the harmonic progressio n. Listen to each little change; name the intervals made by your thumb and index finger; "major third, perfect fourth, minor third, etc." Feel with fingers and know with mind what you are doing. After this preparation, begin your ten mistak e-free performances with your left hand guided by your mind. Your left hand must not depend on kinetic reaction, repetition, or clues from your right hand. When you work with both hands together, lower your metronome tempo level to ten numbers below that of your first successful left-hand alone number; you're count ing in eighths. Listen to each finger in each hand contribute to the musical con tent of your first phrase. This sensation is a bit like watching a sunrise: slow , majestic, and quite marvelous. Does your melody sing? Does the "second melody" in the bass contribute? Is there an inner voice that enhances the music? Contin ue on your ten-time perfectly memorized performance ladder. You are on your way! Why all this slow practice? You are building memory circuits in your mind, ears, and hands that must work reliably under pressure from nerves, unusual circumsta nces, or unmanageable pianos. As a competition jurist I have compassion for the highly gifted candidates whose insufficient preparation cause performance mishap s. Part of every fine artist's workday is invested in building memory circuitry. When an artist performs, the mind anticipates where the hands will go. Performa nce is often so rapid that if the mind is on the hands, the mind is too slow; th ere will be a breakdown. Slow steady mind training will encourage comfortable he althful anticipation.. This is your great goal. To over-simplify, most potential ly great piano students practice far too quickly and insufficiently thoughtfully too much of their time. Professional artists work much more slowly and build mu sicality into every note. I've heard them! On a trans-Atlantic ocean voyage in the mid-30'sRobert Cassadessus could be hear d by fellow passengers as he quietly practiced in his stateroom Daquin's Le Couc ou slowly, staccato. During a busy concert season in the early 60's Rudolf Serkin and I crossed paths in San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel; we were both performing in that city at diff erent venues. He graciously invited me to share breakfast with him in his suite. There was a console piano. On it was an old triangular metronome. He was painst akingly practicing the left hand alone of the Rondo from Beethoven's Opus 26 Son ata. Before I first met Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1934, I stepped off the elevator in th e Hotel Villa Majestique in Paris, and heard a piano. "What a slow student," I t hought. When my father knocked at his door the music stopped. The Master answere d the door in his shirtsleeves. No one else was in the room... Our next memorizing approach works in a different way.

Shifting Accents

Every composition at the advanced level includes technical passages of consecuti ve sixteenths or thirty-seconds that cause you to stop, slow down, or otherwise interrupt the flow of the music. Select the most annoying of these passages, wor k on it with one hand alone slowly, and experiment with various fingerings and h and positions until you've found a workable solution. You are ready to use "Shifting Accents", a versatile practice tool that promotes evenness and fleetness by accenting every note in turn. "Shifting Accents" are effective on an entire Chopin Etude, or an octave passage in a Tchaikovsky Conce rto, or to produce a limpid or crisp Scarlatti Sonata, or to improve a small orn ament or long trill. Following is a sketch of how to use "Shifting Accents": >.>. >.>. .>.> .>.> ..>. ..>. ...> ...> .... >... .... .>.. .... ..>. .... ...> or if the passage is written in triplets: >.. >.. .>. .>. ..> ..> ... >.. ... .>. ... ..> Mme. Isabelle Vengerova, the legendary Russian pedagogue who produced many fine pianists at Curtis Institute, taught a similar practice technique that featured "shifting rhythms".. LONG short LONG short, etc. short LONG short LONG, etc We prefer "Shifting Accents" because there is no LONG that can tempt the hand an d mind to rest. This would be counter to building the steady pace we need. Ten t imes with each "shifting accent" will, over a period of time, give your passage clarity and assurance. Meanwhile, the kinetic exercise will reinforce your minddirected memorizing and bring the tempo up to performance level, perhaps a littl e beyond! Conquer all the right hand's difficult passages in the composition with "shiftin g accents". Then start at the beginning of the piece and as you reach each passa ge use the "first accent" on it and continue in this way until the end; repeat m any times. Then do the same with the "second accent", repeat many times. Continu e until you work through the entire composition with all eight "shifting accents " many memorized mistake-free times. Go through the left hand work in the same way. An Alberti bass will improve afte r using "shifting accents".. Is the bottom note of the Alberti bass a sixteenth, or a quarter that must be held? Use your knowledge of basic harmony: "C Major T onic four times, dominant twice, Sub-Dominant twice, etc." Know the key where yo u are, the key where you're going, the progression the composer is using to go f rom one key to the next. Can you consolidate the Alberti bass into chords? Can y ou play the lowest notes alone? The highest notes alone? Can you play the thumb and index fingers together and name all the intervals? With your left hand start at the beginning of the composition; as you reach each short or long sixteenth-note passage use "first accent" on it until you reach t he end of the piece. Repeat many times. Proceed in the same way with "second acc

ent", repeat many times. And so on until you've conquered the entire memorized c omposition with all "eight accents". You need to be more meticulous with your le ft hand than with your right because most "derailments" originate with a faulty left hand. Continue to monitor your progress. When you put both hands together there will be places where only the right hand will "shift accents", other places where only the left hand will "shift accents" and still other places where both hands will "shift accents" together. Work on each of these passages with all "eight accents" before negotiating the whole com position as you did with each hand alone. One "accent" may take a few extra time s to master than another. Stick with the work; you will master it; you are const antly learning and succeeding.

Useful Tips 1. Listen carefully. Young Clara Schumann was inspired by the "pearls on black v elvet" quality of Franz Liszt's scale work. How do you obtain this "sheen"? It i s not speed! Create a musical line that will crescendo as you descend; use wrist or arm and elbow to direct your downward motion and help you to avoid a "notey" sound. Think of a coloratura soprano. At a comfortable-to-fast level use a twen ty-performance ladder many times. You will recognize the special sound of "liqui d silver" as your tempo advances. 2. Always keep the score open in front of you and refer to it whenever you have the slightest question. You might not be looking at it any longer but the score contains all the answers.. You never outgrow the need to refresh your memory. Ta ke the score with you on walks, review the music in your mind. When you "hit a s nag" open the score to find the right answer. Take the score to bed at night; me ntally review the music; open the score for the correct answer. When we both liv ed on the Rue Faraday in Paris during the 30"s, Shura Cherkassky went "wild" abo ut the great International Exposition that was held in that city. He visited the re almost every day, always with a score in his pocket of some music he practice d at night. In airplanes between concerts, backstage from Bombay to Buenos Aires I would refer to the score. Many times during a performance I would follow an i nspiration to make a crescendo or a ritardando and look at the score during inte rmission to learn if it was "legal" (either written by the composer or left blan k),On some occasions my inspirations were "illegal"(counter to the composer's wr itten indication); in every case, the score was my teacher. 3. Know your intervals. There are times when one hand or the other lifts off the keyboard (at the end of a phrase or musical section). Recognize the harmonic in terval formed by the note you left, and the note where you return your hand to t he keyboard to play. Often the interval is simply an octave higher or lower, or a perfect fifth -- whatever it is, you must know it. Sometimes the lift is in th e right hand, sometimes in the left, sometimes in both hands. In every case, kno w your intervals.. One year I opened my programs with the great Frank Martin Pre lude No. l. During performances my ear would tell me one thing, but my trained m ind knew the intervals, kept me safe from disaster! Classic composers often chan ge keys in their sonata "recaps". You must know your intervals in the exposition s as well as in your recapitulations. Know in what key you're playing at all tim es. Derailments happen unexpectedly. Trying to remember harmony in a split secon d is too slow. But "planting" an interval in your conscious mind is nimble, reli able. 4. Classic and Romantic composers often repeat motifs, each with a small differe nce. Beethoven particularly liked to write groups of three "almost repetitions", each with its own small variation and color. Many middle movements in Mozart an d Haydn Sonatas are themes with small variations. Chopin's Nocturnes sometimes w

ill include as many as six repetitions of the same small musical idea, each with its own special ornament or bass harmony. Give each repetition a number: "One", "Two", "Three", "Four", "Five", Six". Work many times on each one. Then call ou t loud at random, "Four", play it, "Six", play it, "Two", play it, etc. The grea t Spanish pianist, Alicia de Larrocha works in this way, exasperatingly calling out the number in Spanish. This is a useful "numbers" game! 5. Always count to yourself as you play. Often there will bean important small c hange, an interesting chord, or an ornament on a second, third, or fourth beat; note these situations as "landmarks" to look forward to. 6. Contrary DynamicsAll master composers present pianists with melodic material th at calls for a simultaneous crescendo in the right hand and a decrescendo in the left hand. To master Contrary Dynamics: R.H.: CDEFGABC CBAGFEDC L.H.: CBAGFEDC CDEFGABC C D E Slowly count: 1 and 2 and 3 and, etc C B A as you "Listen with two ears." Keep the two dynamic lines smooth, gradual, and a ccent-free. Lengthen the scale to two octaves and make your two dynamic lines lo nger. When you feel, hear, and comprehend this special skill, transfer to slowly creating this special sound to the context of the music where it is needed.

Revolving Learning Techniques "Mind-control memorizing" and "Shifting Accents" each have certain advantages. I n recent years, when I've had too little practice time due to a multitude of oth er obligations, I've combined the two techniques with good results: 1st practice session: Right hand mind-control 2nd practice session: Left hand mind-control 3rd practice session: Both hands mind-control 4th practice session: Right hand sifting accents 5th practice session: Left hand shifting accents 6th practice session: Both hands shifting accents Revolving in this way you enjoy a change of pace, different sound, a fresh and u seful approach at each practice session! When I practice every day I receive an "insight"--like a precious small gift--every ten days or so. These six-way pract ice sessions can revolve as long as you need them. When re-learning, this revolving technique is especially effective. For this pur pose the first three mind-control sessions need to be almost as slow as they wer e at first learning. After three six-way revolving cycles you can move the begin ning and ending numbers of your ladders up four numbers each time you revolve. R e-learning will be a happy experience; you'll reach greater heights musically an

d technically. Your musical lines will be much longer, elevating your understand ing of the work!

About Pedal Pedaling is an ear-controlled art. Its purpose is to enhance what your hands, in ner ear, imagination want the music to convey. I lack the writing skill to tell about pedaling. Such diverse pianists as Julius Katchen, Jorge Bolet, and Dinu Lipatti pedaled the same composition differently every time they performed. One piano will sound better with a lot of pedal; the next will sound better with very little pedal. In a living-room a little pedal will go a long way; in a "dry" hall you'll need a lot of pedal. When you play a composition slowly, you can enhance it by pedaling every melody note. When you p lay that same composition quickly your pedal can enhance the harmonic structure with long strokes while your good fingers take care of the melody. Most recordin g studios ask a pianist to use as little pedal as possible. I never practice wit h pedal because it feels good to get into the keys and make every sound and colo r "myself", then add enhancement when and if my ear requests it. I use "una corda" pedal sparingly because pressing it down changes the quality o f sound on most pianos. When a composition begins very softly, put the "una cord a" pedal down before you play and lift it on an accent or a strong beat where th e change won't be heard. Cultivate a good pianissimo without "una corda". Vladim ir Horowitz practiced on his fully opened concert grand in his normal sized "pia no room" until he was happy with his sound without "una corda". But know that it is there just in case you need it! Here are a few primary colors with which to experiment: Use pedal (1) to enhance every melody note, especially those your fingers can't connect. First try to achieve your long musical line, then enhance with pedal. Use pedal (2) to enhance harmonic structure; think "bottom to top". Break all ch ords with the lowest note on the beat so that the pedal catches all the harmony. You must be clever with fingering and ear- hand-control to keep the melody note s legato. Use pedal (3) to enhance rhythmic accents and add "bounce" or "lilt" to dances s uch as waltzes, mazurkas, polonaises, gavottes, ethnic songs. Often short pedal strokes on accent scan help the music. Use pedal (4) to enhance orchestral color in chords to amplify high-register long trills to enhance cadence chords Use pedal (5) when the composer writes it into the score. There are so many different kinds of pedaling that a pianist can use at the nece ssary time and place: Pedal re-claiming (very useful especially in French impressionistic music) Quarter pedaling (to enhance "sheen " on scales) Half pedaling (in a "dry" hall) Flutter pedaling (useful when playing a legato in one hand and staccato in the o ther). Sostenuto pedaling (very useful in Liszt and Busoni transcriptions of Bach, and in impressionist music) Walter Gieseking's early master classes on Debussy ignored sostenuto pedaling un til his first U.S.A. tour in the thirties when he discovered the sostenuto pedal on the American Steinways! (European instruments didn't include this pedal, Gie

seking experimented with it, liked it, later advocated its use.) When in doubt, pedal less rather then more. Make your legato, and fingering , an d strong hands take the music as far as they can. Your ear and experience will g uide you. Experiment! Vladimir Horowitz tried to imitate the sound and phrasing of a "bel canto" tenor with hands only! Pedaling is best learned after memorizing. Create long musical lines, give motio n to your musical shapes first. Enhance with pedal.

Controlled Dynamics This is especially helpful to the budding professional who must adjust to any in strument. Use a medium tempo ten-speed-metronome-ladder: right hand loud, left hand soft left hand loud, right hand soft both hands nicely balanced with attention to long musical lines and motion. Perform your composition these three ways at each of ten tempo levels. Playing i n these ways can be challenging at first but after you master your hands you wil l become fearless of bass-heavy or shrill upper-register instruments. Your sound will be in your hands!

Weaning It is normal and natural to be apprehensive of a "first performance". Seasoned p rofessionals deal with this by playing "interesting encores" in smaller towns! A ll good teachers should have "recital classes" where young pianists can grow ine xperience, stretch their imagination, encourage their peers. Here are some ways to alleviate the "painful edge." 1. During one week go through the new piece from beginning to end three times af ter every practice session. Make note of all the "mishaps". You'll learn where t o do special remedial work. 2. Begin your practice session with as many performances as you need to obtain a mistake-free conservative performance with attractive musical lines. Listen and look for ways to make these lines longer. On some days you may need ten tries; on other days perhaps you'll succeed with three. Give this practice at least a w eek during which the way you perceive the composition musically should change. 3. Open the piano and give the new composition your "Carnegie Hall up-to-tempo-b est!" You may find that it sounds and feels "different" in many ways that you'll want to think about while consulting the score. You will become musically flexi ble, discover colors, and experiment with new "insights". Do this several times daily for at least a week. Keep up your routine practice, especially on "new pit -falls" which you might notice. 4. Turn on a talk radio or TV show, sit uncomfortably high or low as you go thro ugh your composition many times with distractions. Violinist Sir Yehudi Menuhin practiced standing on one foot with the other straight out in front of him! 5. Every few days make an "unbreakable date" with a tape recorder for a "one-per formance-only." Listen to these tapes as you follow the score. Examine the playi ng critically as if you were a "rival pianist in the next room" (Moritz Rosentha l quoting Liszt.) Can you "hear" longer lines? Are your musical lines persuasive

according to your story or setting for the composition? Does your music flow to a climax? Have you discovered a "shape" for the whole composition? 6. Explore the local schools and churches for uprights on which to play your new piece whether there are people around or not. 7. Visit your local music store and play on every piano there. By now you should be crossing a fine line from "trying to get through this piece as well as I can ," to "Isn't this composition elegant with its long lines and magnificent climax !" The music store people will love you and invite you back! 8. There is often a piano at a health rehabilitation center for elderly people w ho will love a small performance at which you can feature your new composition. It probably feels "almost seasoned" and you may be planning your next new acquis ition for your repertoire!

Postlude Arthur Rubinstein said that he never walked on stage without "taking chances." As a compliment he would ask me, "Did you take a chance in the finale of your fo urth ballade last night?" and wink approvingly. Conductor Leonard Slatkin always says before walking onstage, "Enjoy yourself!" Vladimir Horowitz's idea of a compliment: " I heard many beautiful moments." At every lesson with Sergei Rachmaninoff he would say "Small musician, small mus ical line. Big musician, big musical line!" Advice to fill a musical lifetime! But my favorite is Rodgers and Hammerstein; " A song is not a song until you sing it." Sing your heart into the music. You lov ed this composition a lot to give it life; now it is yours to love always, to en joy, to share....

 l l W @ W @ r V

SS @ fo

q _ Z@ @

r Lc

KV WN@ V cb

W rS P S p c W P S W ] rg W }@N f ]N s O

@ rg r X C

@ PNN c g

Q u ^@B y\ ^E @V W

c m z _ o t

81 q{ BY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaU6Zihf7S4