Competition – Pianodao

Too Shy to Perform

Pianodao’s weekly series of reflective blog posts
Written by ANDREW EALES

My recent article The Pianist’s Humiliation offered the following advice, courtesy of my wife (an advanced practitioner in child and adolescent mental health, with more than 30 years clinical experience.):

“Never FORCE students to play in public, take exams, sing, or expect them to learn music which is beyond their present level. Reject any coercion. NO always means NO, and we should all be attentive and unquestioningly respectful to our students’ wishes.”

As teachers we might find this advice surprising, even unsettling. Many of us do our level best to encourage students to perform. But there is a thin line between encouragement and coercion, and it pains me that on occasion I have misjudged this with students.

There are many reasons why some players don’t want to perform, not least of which is the fact that some people simply have shy personalities.

The Pianist’s Humiliation

PATHWAYS FOR TEACHING

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by ANDREW EALES

WARNING: The following article discusses and includes accounts of humiliation which might trigger distressing memories or thoughts for some readers.

Louise Eales is an advanced practitioner in child and adolescent mental health, with more than 30 years of clinical experience. I am grateful for her insights and collaboration in the writing of this important article.

Humiliation is a deeply painful emotional state caused by public exposure of a person’s mistakes or weaknesses. Recognised by psychologists as one of the most potent of emotions, it can have a long-lasting impact on a person’s self-esteem, wellbeing, and mental health.

A mounting body of research shows the connection between humiliation and social anxiety disorder. Additionally, it is associated with episodes of clinical depression and linked to suicidal ideation or acts.

Humiliation is fundamentally done to us. In his Psychology Today article The Psychology of Humiliation, Neel Burton M.D. explains,

“Whereas shame and guilt are primarily the outcome of self-appraisal, embarrassment and humiliation are primarily the outcome of appraisal by one or several others, even if only in thought or imagination. One critical respect in which humiliation differs from embarrassment is that, whereas we bring embarrassment upon ourselves, humiliation is something that is brought upon us by others.”

Most piano educators, from local teachers to adjudicators, examiners, and conservatoire professors, would balk at the suggestion that we would ever humiliate a student. But realistically, many of us will have inadvertently done so, and will likely also have experienced humiliation ourselves.

We have fostered a culture around piano playing that leaves players of all ages and abilities precariously vulnerable. I find many adults returning to playing recount painful episodes in their piano journey where they have felt humiliated and debilitated.

From the Inside Out

THE FERMATA SERIES

Pianodao’s weekly series of reflective blog posts
Written by ANDREW EALES

The Easter weekend is a time at which Christians around the world reflect on rebirth. If Good Friday addresses our alienation from God and one another, Easter Sunday affirms the power of forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal. A fresh start with a clean slate is possible, a “pure heart” restored.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

The Beatitudes, Gospel of Matthew, 5:8

I am not a church-goer. Nor can I claim to have seen God. And yet, whether we are believers or not, the powerful imagery of the Easter story can prompt our desire to reconnect with the spiritual, the eternal, and with each other.

Running in place of horses

THE FERMATA SERIES

Pianodao’s weekly series of reflective blog posts
Written by ANDREW EALES

This striking passage from a classic of ancient Chinese wisdom offers many analogies and images that are worth pondering:

“Don’t run in place of horses,
or you’ll exhaust your strength.
Don’t fly in place of birds,
or you’ll wear out your wings.
Don’t act before others,
so you can observe their examples.
If you stir, you lose your position;
Be calm, and you’ll spontaneously succeed.”

Guanzi, attributed to Guan Yiwu (725-645 BCE), translated Thomas Cleary
The Way of the World: Readings in Chinese Philosophy (2009)

Humility and Wonder in Play

THE FERMATA SERIES

Pianodao’s weekly series of reflective blog posts
Written by ANDREW EALES

Running across the fields, the sun shining on the horizon, the world is ours. Until we run out of breath, that is. As Ian Bogost puts it,

“Play cultivates humility, for it requires us to treat things as they are rather than as we wish them to be.”

Bogost’s book Play Anything (2016) is a rich feast of insight. Even so, the above statement stopped me in my tracks when I first read it, and you may want to take a moment to read again and ponder his point.

Competition & Conflict

THE FERMATA SERIES

Pianodao’s weekly series of reflective blog posts
Written by ANDREW EALES

We are frequently presented with the spectacle of competing pianists pitted against one another by an industry that would have us all believe that there is no other way to launch a career (despite so many high-profile examples to the contrary).

A lot of people seem to love this stuff, and certainly we can always look forward to some fabulous performances. But personally, while perhaps not as outspoken on the subject as the marvellous Maria João Pires, I have long felt uneasy with the whole idea of piano competitions.

In an interview in International Piano, January 2014, Pires pithily noted,

“To compete always damages your soul.”

The climax of any competition is the victory of the “winner”. Everyone knows what the opposite of a winner is, and competitions usually produce lots of them, too. Mitigating this, multiple medals and accolades might be awarded, but when players are divided into good, better and best, they have still fundamentally been divided.

The Pianist’s Motivations

PATHWAYS FOR PLAYING

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by ANDREW EALES

What is it that motivates us as pianists?
Why did we start learning to play the piano? ..
And why do we continue to play?
What are our piano goals for the future? ..
And how do they excite us?
How can we motivate and inspire our students?

Ask these questions to a hundred pianists, and there’s a good chance you will hear a hundred different answers, but common themes will likely emerge.

In this article I am going to consider the many and complex motivations we all experience in life, and how they pertain to our piano playing.