Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales
They say that “practice makes permanent”, and while that isn’t strictly true, the point is well made that inattention to the details when practising music can lead to long-term problems when it comes to playing, performing, or recording a piece.
Inattention to detail is often the symptom of impatience, a rush to reach the finishing-line and play the whole piece with a measure of fluency. We can’t wait! Perhaps we have listened to an inspiring recording and want our own playing to communicate the same flow of emotion and impact.
We too easily forget that such electrifying playing is typically only possible with detailed and careful preparation. And that very often, the most striking element of a performance is the clarity with which the details in the music are vividly brought to life.
Know the small
Haste can be a factor in how we approach any activity, and our lives in general. We are restive for the big moments that come our way: falling in love, the dream holiday, promotion, or relocation. But as the thought-provoking writer Deng Ming-Dao puts it,
“Big things seldom come along. One should know the small as well as the big… Most of our days consist of small things, the uneventful meditations, the ordinary cooking of meals, the banal trips to work, the quiet scratching in the garden, and it is from these small things that the larger events of our lives are composed.”
Interestingly, he continues by directly linking his reflection on “small things” to our musical endeavours:
“The master musician’s best composition is but one work in a sea of musical tones. If we want to be successful, it is the small things that we should pay attention to.”
As we settle down to practise the piano, most of us will lock into certain routines, perhaps warming up with some stretches, focussing our attention on scales and technical work, playing a piece of Active Repertoire.
But as we move away from these habits towards the core work of our practice session, it pays to be mindful about how best we spend the rest of our available time in order to make fruitful, tangible progress. Playing straight through a piece we are still working on, with little consideration for the details, is rarely productive.
A three-dimensional focus
The need to practice using our full attention is integral to our development as Three-Dimensional Pianists. We must develop our practice focus using our mind, body, and soul:
MIND:
• Am I understanding the score correctly?
• Reading the score, are there any symbols I am unsure of?…
• or details I may have missed or misunderstood?
• Have I considered the background and context of the music?
• Am I aware of authentic performance practice?
BODY:
• Am I using appropriate, comfortable fingering patterns?
• Does my fingering enhance the phrasing and articulation?
• Might any passages benefit from redistribution between hands?
• Is my pedalling effective?
• Am I breathing as I play?
SOUL:
• Am I alert to the quality of each note and sound?
• Could the dynamics be more effectively conveyed?
• Listening to a recording of my playing, what do I notice?
• Listening to other interpretations, what do I like or dislike?
• How might I change my interpretation of the music?
According to the old adage, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and any bricklayer will tell you that great care needs to be taken to align each and every brick correctly, or else the whole edifice will tumble down.
In the same way, as we lay the foundations of playing a new piece, we need to work with acute, alert attention to detail. Let’s try to be a lot more careful. We need to stop to assess the causes of any issues that arise when first learning a piece, however small, analysing the problems we spot, and finding ways to solve them before they become baked in.
Our learning and our playing will become so much more secure when we start to pay more attention to the details.
For more ideas, tips, and creative suggestions for practising, why not check out my book How to Practise Music:
How to Practise Music
Accessible and authoritative, HOW TO PRACTISE MUSIC is Andrew’s highly acclaimed book of tips for anyone who wants to get more out of their practice.
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