All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers
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Grade 4 C1 ABRSM 2015-2016: Indian Pony Race by D.C. Glover
Please note I take quite a big liberty with my interpretation of this piece. Do give the version found in the CD a listen too.
Teaching Note
A drum passage found right at the very start of the piece can be easily messed up if students are not careful. The semiquaver RHs have to be played much more lightly than the quaver LHs. Thinking the LH as a big drum and the RH as small drums may help here. To prevent the rhythm error that is the RH coming in just a tad too early, think of the RH as upbeats to LHs. Place the RH higher than the LH and flick the wrist rapidly to play repeated notes easily; feel free also to experiment with more comfortable fingering. The RH notes should not be depressed fully lest sounding too heavy; a shallow depression near the surface is more than sufficient. The exception is during the sf notes found at the last quavers of the bars; the RH should push in those notes to get full sound. The LH should be played more strongly with full depression of the keys; push in the forearm to achieve this more easily. The drum passage appears once again at the last part of the piece from bar 27 onwards. If students decide to play this piece on the faster side, the drum passage here can be just a touch slower to make the diminuendo more effective. At the pedalled bar 30, the RH should be played with full tone to create a more effective molto cresc. Be careful also not to rush or slow down during this particular bar; maintain the momentum of the piece all the way to the end.
LH marcato notes start at bar 3 signifying the start of the race. Make sure these notes have sufficient weight to them and not played too short; the same LH motion used in the preceding 2 bars can be used here. Accenting the first LH quavers of these bars can give a stronger sense of rhythm and improve the overall feel of the piece. Combined finger technique can be used here to help achieve this; cusp the last 2 or 3 fingers of the LH together for more volume i.e. 4 5 or 3 4 5 fingering for that single A note. This same fingering technique can also employed elsewhere to produce very powerful sound more easily e.g. Bar 31 LH first crotchet. The rapid alternating semiquavers such as those in bar 5 need careful care not to be rushed. If more brilliant feel is wanted, these semiquavers could be played by thumbs only for both hands and the diminuendo could be omitted if this is the case.
By this grade, students should have no issue contrasting articulations between hands. But if they have issue with doing this at bars 11-18, then the LH staccato quavers can be practiced as semiquavers followed by semiquaver rests first slowly. Then the RH can be added before speeding up to intended tempo. The LH staccatos should be played light with just half depression of the keys to prevent it from overpowering the RH. A quick up and down flick of the wrist can be used to achieve this; the technique to play the LH of this passage is similar to the famous Burgmuller’s Arabesque. The RH should resist from doing the same motion as the LH. Maintain a smoother legato by keeping the hand still and playing from the fingers. Rotating the elbow in circular motion may be employed to help shape the quick crescendo and diminuendo found here; the LH should also rise and fall simultaneously with the RH. Resist the temptation to get faster and faster as the right hand ascends to the climatic bar 18; keep the tempo rock solid here, tapping the pulse with one feet may help.
Damper pedal can be employed strategically here to help emphasize some accented notes in this piece e.g. the sf RH note at bar 1, the RH minim at bar 10, and the final ff notes at bar 31. For these cases a quick touch and go is sufficient to give these notes extra punch. The climatic bar 18 could be pedalled too for extra resonance, but take care to cut the pedal cleanly at the concluding crotchet.
The suggested tempo here is 120 per crotchet and is perfectly suitable for a convincing performance. For a more powerful and brilliant performance, a faster tempo of 140-150 could be used, though this significantly increases the difficulty of the piece and should only be attempted by students with most secure technique.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StNc16xycMo][/youtube] -
Grade 4 A2 ABRSM 2015-2016: La Lutine by J.P. Kirnberger
One of those pieces that is easy to learn but very difficult to execute perfectly.
Errata: Upon listening again, I realised that I didn't play the first LH notes at bars 4 and 20 to their full lengths. Will update this video in the future.
Teaching Note
This playful little piece is relatively simple to learn, but there are plenty of potential pitfalls that will lead to a clumsy performance if students are not careful.
There are a lot of jumping around in this piece for both hands; it is easy to accidentally accent notes that are not on the first beats. If this happens, the piece will sound clumsy and the feeling of 2 in a bar will be lost. If students are having problem with this, I would suggest them practicing the problematic bars with the first beat notes played forte and the rest played much more softly first. Observe the hands carefully also; avoid dropping them from an exaggerated height for those off-beat notes. Students can imagine your fingers tip-toeing on the keys. Another possible pitfall that students may fall into is inadvertently rushing or changing tempo when the music encounters rhythmic change to semiquavers in the right hand (e.g. bar 3). Practice carefully with metronome to eliminate this error.
The suggested articulations in the ABRSM book is appropriate for the music and can be safely followed. The detached notes should be more portato and not too short, otherwise this piece may end up sounding too \"cute\". Despite what the title suggests, I would still advise a more refined and graceful approach for the piece; it is after all still a court dance. The slurs are editorial suggestions only and can be omitted without much musical impact if students find difficulty in contrasting articulations between both hands. But do attempt to play them; they definitely enhance the playfulness of the piece.
Some notes on extra touches students can add to the piece. The tempo should be kept very steady throughout the piece, though a slight ritardando at the last few notes could give a more final conclusion. A crescendo from bars 13 to 16 is effective to shape the ascending sequence that leads to the recapitulation of the opening. The notes LH broken chords at bars 8 and 24 can be held until the ends of the bars to add more punch to the cadences. When the first repeat is played, students can softer and then crescendo to bar 5 to add variety. RH dotted crotchets at bars 8 and 24 can be played one octave higher than written and ornamented with inverted mordents for more stylistic and effective endings.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awz_D1RiIuA][/youtube] -
Grade 1 B6 ABRSM 2015-2016: Dance of the Hours arr. Alan Bullard
The most catchy tunes in grade 1 new syllabus are found outside the book in my opinion. This is one of them.
Teaching Note
This charming piece is based on the most well-known melody from the popular Dance of the Hours. Despite having sparse amount of notes, this piece is actually very challenging to play precisely and demands a high level of musicianship.
The chief difficulty in this piece is executing the slur patterns here correctly. Each pattern is made up of four quavers with two consecutive two note slurs. Each of this pattern needs an emphasis or slight accent on third quavers; this often happens at the first beats of the bars. I would recommend pushing in the hand a little bit to lend more weight to the tone to avoid sounding harsh. There are two ways students can approach the shaping of these slurs. The first way is commonly employed in orchestral rendition of this piece. The pattern is treated with slight emphasis on the first note of the slur with a shaping off before the stronger emphasis on the third quavers. The second way starts the pattern with a softer note with the second note slightly more to anticipate the emphasis. This translates better on the piano in my opinion and I recommend students using this second way.
Although there are staccato markings at the ends of each slurs, I would recommend a more legato and sustained articulations instead; these staccatos may not come out well in venues with drier acoustics. Keep the fingers as close as possible to the keys and avoid bouncing the RH up and down. The left hand notes imitating the plucking strings have to be treated carefully too; I would suggest playing them portato as well to help them sustain longer in drier acoustics. LH crotchets that coincide with the accents on the RH can be emphasized slightly too in tandem with the LH.
Be careful with the dynamics here. The mf parts here just need to be slightly louder lest they sound harsh, especially when the RH is at higher register at bars 12-14. The descending pattern starting from the last beat of bar 14 can be played immediately p; these few bars are usually played this way in the orchestra version. A short pause can be employed after the bottom LH G at bar 8 is played before the return of the opening melody. The a tempo printed on the score should be executed earlier at the upbeat slurs at the previous bar.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlbMBxeoAGM][/youtube] -
Hi I am new here! DS’s teacher just had an informal recital for her students. Was a bit disappointed that many of the students didn’t play well. They looked like they were having panic attacks on stage and some were struggling with their pieces. There were just a few that did play very well and of course I’m sure not all the students took part. Does this reflect on how well the teacher is able to teach? DS son only started with her about 6 months ago but is making good progress so far.
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Kee Kor:
Hi I am new here! DS's teacher just had an informal recital for her students. Was a bit disappointed that many of the students didn't play well. They looked like they were having panic attacks on stage and some were struggling with their pieces. There were just a few that did play very well and of course I'm sure not all the students took part. Does this reflect on how well the teacher is able to teach? DS son only started with her about 6 months ago but is making good progress so far.
If your DS is making good progress, that's what matters right?
The teacher's other students performance gives an indication of the strength of her students, but doesn't say much about her ability to teach. Student's performance is dependent on many other things, eg. the amount of practice they do daily, how often they get to perform, etc. -
Hi I am new here! DS’s teacher just had an informal recital for her students. Was a bit disappointed that many of the students didn’t play well. They looked like they were having panic attacks on stage and some were struggling with their pieces. There were just a few that did play very well and of course I’m sure not all the students took part. Does this reflect on how well the teacher is able to teach? DS son only started with her about 6 months ago but is making good progress so far.
If your DS is making good progress, that’s what matters right?
The teacher’s other students performance gives an indication of the strength of her students, but doesn’t say much about her ability to teach. Student’s performance is dependent on many other things, eg. the amount of practice they do daily, how often they get to perform, etc.
I suppose so. I guess most of them must be having panic attacks. Having to perform in front of a group isn’t an everyday affair. -
Kee Kor:
Hi I am new here! DS's teacher just had an informal recital for her students. Was a bit disappointed that many of the students didn't play well. They looked like they were having panic attacks on stage and some were struggling with their pieces. There were just a few that did play very well and of course I'm sure not all the students took part. Does this reflect on how well the teacher is able to teach? DS son only started with her about 6 months ago but is making good progress so far.
The feeling of playing in front of many strangers is totally different from playing in front of teacher or taking an exam. So it is possible for a student who is scoring distinctions or merits to unravel completely when it comes to a performance in front of others.
In the informal recitals or performance classes that I organise, I encourage as many of my students to present their pieces. Now obviously there will be some not so good performances because the students will be at various levels of readiness and performing experience, but I think it's important to encourage students to share their music continually to others.
Public performance is another story though and for this I will try to monitor the quality of the program presented. Remember when you attend a teacher's or a school's public performance that is very good, what you are seeing is normally cream of the crop students who already have substantial performing experience.The not so good and not very experienced ones of course we don't put out for public lar. -
Hi I am new here! DS’s teacher just had an informal recital for her students. Was a bit disappointed that many of the students didn’t play well. They looked like they were having panic attacks on stage and some were struggling with their pieces. There were just a few that did play very well and of course I’m sure not all the students took part. Does this reflect on how well the teacher is able to teach? DS son only started with her about 6 months ago but is making good progress so far.
The feeling of playing in front of many strangers is totally different from playing in front of teacher or taking an exam. So it is possible for a student who is scoring distinctions or merits to unravel completely when it comes to a performance in front of others.
In the informal recitals or performance classes that I organise, I encourage as many of my students to present their pieces. Now obviously there will be some not so good performances because the students will be at various levels of readiness and performing experience, but I think it’s important to encourage students to share their music continually to others.
Public performance is another story though and for this I will try to monitor the quality of the program presented. Remember when you attend a teacher’s or a school’s public performance that is very good, what you are seeing is normally cream of the crop students who already have substantial performing experience.The not so good and not very experienced ones of course we don’t put out for public lar.
So every teacher does have their fair share of the strong and weak students. -
Kee Kor:
Yes, this is the case with most teachers and schools. Even NAFA Young Talents program have quite a number of students dropping out halfway because they can't pass internal exams. The only exception I can see is when a teacher is popular enough to afford to select and audition only the best students.
So every teacher does have their fair share of the strong and weak students. -
Grade 4 A3 ABRSM 2015-2016: Bourree by G.H. Stolzel
In my opinion this is the easiest piece so far in the grade 4 new syllabus.
Teaching Note
Although the score may appear rather complex, this piece actually fits under the hands very well. As long the fingerings are worked out carefully this piece should not pose much technical difficulties.
Musically, this piece should not pose much issues too. The texture is mostly in straightforward contrapuntal 2 part writing; both hands should be played more or less equal throughout the piece. The exception is when the RH clearly splits into two parts e.g. at bars 4-5. The notes with the stem pointing down should be played softer in this case. Elsewhere, the RH should be treated as single line even if there are occasional brief splits e.g. bar 3.
The articulations for most of the notes here should be mostly detached. The quavers should be played legato as suggested by the editor, but I would suggest the slurs to be extended to incorporate one more note at the ends to end them more gracefully. Slurs can be added also to the RH dotted rhythms e.g. bar 3. So using this guideline, for example a single longer slur can be placed from the RH dotted G at bar 3 all the way to the D at the second beat of bar 4.
The dynamics suggested by the editor is appropriate for the piece and can be safely followed. For added variety the passage starting on the upbeat note found at the end of bar 4 can be played slightly softer first at mf and crescendoed to its conclusion at bar 8. The same approach can be applied too at similar passage starting at end of bar 16. Ensure also the strong first beats are always clear by slightly emphasizing them; treat all the upbeat notes here with care and do not accent them accidentally.
The only ornament specified here is a single trill at bar 15, but there are a few more places where ornaments can be added with negligible increase in difficulty. At bar 23 RH first beat B can be ornamented with an inverted mordent and the dotted A at second beat can be trilled; these can be further coupled with a ritardando towards bar 24. The minim chords at bar 8 and 24 can be arpeggiated as well. If students wish to, some additional mordents can be added to the piece but be warned this may complicate the fingerings.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuCGwIrAIn4][/youtube]
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