Fermata – Page 2

Why live performance matters

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

The acclaimed musician, philosopher and writer Stephen Nachmanovitch writes, in his seminal book Free Play (1990):

“There is something energising and challenging about being one-to-one with the audience and creating a piece of work that has both the freshness of the fleeting moment and, when everything is working, the structural tautness and symmetry of a living organism. It can be a remarkable and often moving experience in direct communication.”

Nachmanovitch‘s comments ring true whether, like him, we improvise in front of an audience, or perform the great masterpieces of the classical repertoire, recreating and interpreting them for a live audience, alert to the singularity of the moment and its potential for connection.

It’s a simple, honest, profound truth that musicians and music-lovers the world over all understand. Live performances can be a remarkable and often moving experience in direct communication.

Contradiction and Connection

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

In her acclaimed novel Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus cleverly puts into words the observations of the character ‘Six Thirty’, who happens to be the main protagonist’s dog. Here’s an example of Six Thirty’s canine wisdom:

“Humans were strange, Six Thirty thought, the way they constantly battled dirt in their aboveground world, but after death willingly entombed themselves in it.”

A fair point! But perhaps it is our contradictions that both define us, and prove the quality of our connections with one another…

Attention to Details

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

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.

A Piano Teacher’s Foibles

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

Which of the incredible teachers in this picture would you like to sign up to have piano lessons with?

Finding the “right” match can certainly prove challenging for some. Writing in a recent issue of Pianist Magazine, Warwick Thompson sagely advises:

“A teacher is actually a human being, surprising as that fact may sound, with foibles, prejudices, blind spots, strengths, and wonders within them.
If those foibles and wonders don’t align with yours, it doesn’t mean you’ll never progress at the piano. It simply means you’ve had the wrong teacher (or rather, to spin the mirror, it means your unfortunate teacher had the wrong student).”

Relief all around, then!

The Year of the Snake

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

Since ancient times, the Chinese have followed the lunar calendar, New Year coinciding with the first hint of Spring in the northern hemisphere. New Year’s Eve 2025 falls on 28th January, which heralds the start of Spring Festival, culminating two weeks later with the Festival of Lanterns on February 12th.

The years are traditionally named after the twelve symbolic animals of the Chinese zodiac. These are multiplied by the ‘Five Elements’ of traditional Daoist cosmology to create a 60 year cycle. Following on from the Year of the Dragon, we are about to enter the Year of the Wood Snake.

Regardless of how we view ancient beliefs and customs, it does us no harm to reflect on our lives and progress using the cycle of the seasons and calendar of old traditions as a simple tool.