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Playing By Ear and Counting Aloud

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When students first begin piano lessons, one of the skills they learn is how to count basic rhythm. Meanwhile, they also learn how to read music. On occasion there will be a piece in their beginning book that is a familiar tune to them. It’s not uncommon for students to toss their rhythm skills out the window, and even their note reading skills, and instead play the whole piece by ear, (which happens to be another important skill). When playing by yourself, this seems to work o.k. However, if you try to play a duet, it falls apart.

One such student came to his lesson one day playing Alouette, the familiar nursery rhyme out of his book. He knew the notes and sort of the correct rhythm. We started to count off together to play the duet when he had a rude awakening. We were not together, at all. He was shocked. This had never happened to him before.

I told him he has such a wonderful ear that it wants to direct the whole piece, since it knows how it is suppose to sound. However, the ear doesn’t know how the duet is suppose to go, so I suggested that at home he count very meticulously and don’t let his ear direct his fingers. Instead, let his counts direct the notes.

The next week when he came back he played the duet perfectly. His counts directed his fingers rather than his ear. I was pleasantly surprised because it was unusual that such a young child could over-ride his ear with methodical counting.

A few weeks later this same student announced at his lesson, “Counting is VERY important.”

I asked him, “How did you learn that?”

“Well,” he replied, “It was Alouette. If I didn’t count aloud the duet wouldn’t work at all!”

Pound Cake and Piano?

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What does a good pound cake and learning to play the piano have to do with each other? Absolutely nothing, until I had a piano student that reminded me a lot of myself growing up.

Just tell me how to do it right, and I will do it. Before I actually do do it, let me tell you all the ways I’m already aware of where I know I won’t execute it perfectly. Then, as I actually do it and make mistakes, I will show my displeasure so that you know that I know that I made a mistake.

As I listened to this student play each week, I found a button of hers. She did not like to play forte (loud). She said it was too harsh on her ears, and just didn’t feel good. When I listened to her play, she had a very nice soft sound. It was all so nice, so soft, and so uneventful.

For some music, like George Winston in a dentist office, that is exactly the atmosphere you want. You want people to relax and fall asleep. You want to ease their anxiety. She had this sound down pat, plus another layer on top of being very careful and timid, trying so hard not to make a mistake. In the meantime the full life of the music was gasping for breath.

I thought if I could just encourage her to throw off this box of not liking to play loud perhaps she could breath some vitality into this piece.

After she played I said, “Play the whole piece forte.”

I wanted her to throw caution to the wind, take a chance and not try so hard to do it perfectly. If anything, play some wrong notes boldly.

She cringed at that thought, but dutifully complied. The resulting sound was harsh, unmusical, and unpleasant to listen to. At times she added the appropriate arm gestures, but they were an after-thought of “Oh, I should do this too.”

After she played I thought a moment and then said, “Play the whole piece with a gentle forte.”

She looked at me in disbelief and replied, “I have no idea how to do that.”

In her mind, gentle and forte did not belong together. I told her, “That’s perfect. Just make it up.”

She gave it a try and came up with something. The harshness and awkward gestures were gone, and the tone was more pleasant and full.

I knew she liked to bake, so after she played I attempted to explain what I was looking for.

“The majority of your playing is like angel food cake. It’s light and fluffy. I’m looking for pound cake with more density. That is what I mean by forte. In music you want the contrast co-existing between the angel food light and fluffy sound and the pound cake dense sound. It’s the contrast that makes music interesting.”

There was no way she could argue with a good pound cake. After all, she was the expert baker.

Even Ballet Dancers Count Aloud

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2015 has been the year of counting aloud. As I see my students develop musical independence from counting aloud, I increase my insistence with new students. Sure enough, they too begin developing their independence sooner than I ever thought possible.

In the midst of my ongoing mission to teach my students to be excellent counters, my enthusiasm rubbed off on my sister who happens to be a classical ballet teacher. She saw that in her class of 10 year-olds there were some dancers ahead of the music, others were behind and a few were right on it. In a moment of inspiration she had them all count aloud as they danced to the music.

What she noticed was that when they counted aloud, every single dancer was with the music. The dancers also became aware of when they were not with the music. When the counting aloud subsided, so did their ability to stay with the music. Because they were aware, they could correct themselves.

Counting aloud has a wonderful way of sharpening the focus and bringing awareness to dancers, as well as musicians. It is then that they can fully participate and become one with the music. Try it, whether you are learning to dance or learning to play a musical instrument. You might just be surprised at what you can do.

Transcending Right and Wrong

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Do you recall being a student and always looking for the right answer to please the teacher? All of your effort was put towards finding the right answer. If you had the right answer, everything was good. If you had the wrong answer, you failed. Sound familiar?

In music lessons, there are only a few places where something is simply right or wrong. They are:

1. Notes
2. Rhythm

Music, however, is not found in notes and rhythm alone. It is found in the interpretation of those notes and rhythm, and that is where there is no one right answer.

As a student, it’s easy to get caught up in the notes and rhythm, and once you master them you think you’re done. Great musicians, however, take it a step further. Now that they can play the notes and rhythm with ease, they ask themselves, “What is the composer trying to say?” The articulation and dynamics come into play. Exactly how short is that staccato? Exactly how loud is that loud? When is it too much or not enough?

This is where it helps to be a human being with life experience. A rich life experience will give you more options on how to bring the music to life. Anyone can learn to play notes and rhythm, but it takes careful attention to detail, as well as experience in the full range of human emotion to bring a piece of music to life.

As a teacher, yes, I will correct students on notes and rhythm. However, when it comes to interpretation, I will show you how to go about deciding how to interpret a piece. There is no right or wrong answer, and oftentimes there are more questions than answers. This is the beauty of music. It is so much more than right and wrong. It is the audible expression of the full human experience, and what it means to be alive.

Counting Aloud Messes Me Up!

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“Counting Aloud Messes Me Up!”

Have you ever said this, or heard your children say this when learning a new piece? Or, maybe they don’t say anything. They just don’t count aloud. Instead they play through their piece over and over hoping it will eventually get better. However, for those students who are willing to bite the bullet and work through the awkwardness of counting aloud, the reward is great.

Over the several years I’ve been teaching piano I’ve become more and more convinced that rhythm, or lack thereof, is the root of many problems. In my early days of teaching I did encourage counting aloud. However, if the student wined enough, I would let it go and try again on another day. Today, I’m relentless when it comes to counting aloud because I see the wonderful results students can have relatively quickly if they put forth the effort to count aloud. I love to see students grow in independence because they can count aloud.

I’ll spend an entire day teaching with the same resounding refrain: “Count aloud.” If the student complains, I know I’ve found their learning spot, and I don’t let it go. I tell them, “Join the club. Everyone today has begged me not to count aloud. So you are in good company. However, everyone today is counting aloud for better or for worse. It’s ok to stumble. It’s ok to make mistakes, and it’s time to keep trying until you get it.”

Inevitably, when the student follows my precise directions, they are usually surprised to master a passage in about 3-4 tries. Then I ask, “What was the key to your success just now?” Of course, the reluctant counters seem to have already forgotten that it was the counting aloud that helped organize their playing. I remind them that counting aloud was the key to their success.

“Counting aloud messes me up,” or how about, “counting aloud gives me results that I deserve.” Give both options a try, and see which one propels you or your children forward in your music study.

Parasympathetic Nervous System and Piano

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Do you ever feel like you’re running around, trying to get everything done, and then you’re exhausted at the end of the day?  I’m sure we’ve all felt that at times.  That experience is the sympathetic nervous system at work.  It’s fight or flight mode.  Even in learning to play the piano it’s easy for students to fall into trying to get it right and putting pressure on themselves.  Again it’s the sympathetic nervous system at work.  It’s great for when you need that extra adrenaline to run for your life, literally.  Thankfully, we rarely need to run for our lives, and in piano lessons it’s not necessary at all.

What’s the alternative?  Engage the parasympathetic nervous system.  “What’s that?” you ask.

The parasympathetic nervous system is everything you’re body does automatically without you thinking about it, like digesting food and breathing.  It just happens.  When you’re resting the parasympathetic nervous system is at work.  What if you could be in a rest state and learn to play the piano?  Wouldn’t that be relaxing and invigorating?  Yes, it would.

I have great news for you.  It is possible to learn and play the piano from a rest state.  No stress.  No worry.  No to-do list trying to get your attention.  Just pure relaxation that feels great, and sounds great too.

I recently had a 13-old student truly experience this for the first time.  She had been struggling to learn a particular piece.  She could do it, but she had all this stress and worry about it before she even played the first note at her lesson, even though she had practiced it at home.  (Ever had that feeling before?  You are not alone).

I encouraged her to go really, really, really slow.  So slow the average person would think she didn’t know how to play the piano.  Not the pace you would play to show off, but the pace your body needs so it has time to relax, think, and process everything it is doing as it is doing it.  So slow you can feel yourself breathe with every note without a care in the world.

She found that pace and nearly put herself to sleep.  I stopped talking.  There was nothing to say.  She played incredibly slow.  Where she struggled before, she now played flawlessly.  Her tone was stunning.  She had never experienced what I meant by slow until now.  She had a huge smile on her face and was so excited that yes, she really could play this piece.  In fact, she could probably learn the whole thing by next week simply by going this slow.

I told her, “This is how I practice.  You now know the secret.”

Truly going so slow you can feel yourself breathe takes letting go of trying to look good, and instead finding that pace where your body feels comfortable.  It takes self-awareness, practice, and a willingness to look like you don’t know how to play the piano.   Yet, the truth is, this is how you learn to play the piano well.  It is what keeps students coming back for more because it feels so relaxing.  That’s the parasympathetic nervous system for you.  Try it.  It will open a whole new world of possibilities for you.

Emotion in Music

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I once had a 7 year-old student who had been taking piano lessons for a few months.  One day at her lesson we were going over her theory book assignment she had done in pen.  When I showed her a few corrections, she realized couldn’t erase her errors.  In a gentle, whispered tone I suggested she always use pencil in piano, even when she gets older, so that she can always erase as needed.  I even showed her my Beethoven sonata book, and the piece I was working on, where I used pencil.

Somehow in this conversation she wanted to hear the Beethoven sonata I was working on.  So I told her a little about Beethoven and how he went deaf later in life, and this sonata was composed when he was deaf.  I told her the sonata had two movements, like two mini-pieces, that go together.  I said I think the first movement sounds like his anger over being deaf.  I played a little bit of it, and she agreed.

I asked her, “If this were a dog, what kind of dog would it be?”

She responded with a harsh tone to her words and a bark.

Then I played the second movement, and I said, “I think in this movement he’s at peace with being deaf.  It’s like he’s saying it’s o.k.”

As I played the gentle, delicate melody, her head tilted one way as her eyes were drawn to my hands, and she listened intently.  Seeing how mesmerized she was by the music I kept playing until it came to a natural stopping place.

She said, “That was so pretty.”

I responded, “Isn’t it just beautiful?  Now, what kind of dog is this movement?”

She gave the best imitation of a floppy puppy face, completely relaxed and at ease.

She just loved the second movement and wanted to play it someday.

I said, “Well, I’ll show you what notes you can play, and we’ll improvise on it right now.”

I gave her three keys she could play that would fit with the music, and we improvised in the style and key of the piece.  As we went along, I realized I could probably start playing the sonata movement itself with her improvising.  So I let the Beethoven melody intertwine with her improvisation.  The music that had moved her earlier, she now was participating in creating.

After we finished she took the three keys I had given her:  e, b, e, and said the following after each key:  (e) “I“, (b), “Am“, (e), “Deaf“.  Then she started creating something new all by herself.  She switched one of the notes and the pattern became minor.  I was about to interrupt her doodling on the piano, but I saw her focus in what she was doing, so I sat back and let it unfold.  After a few minutes she was done creating.

She looked at me and said, “Was that sad?”

I responded, “What do you think?”

She replied, “It’s sad.”

It’s wonderful to see a young pianist, just starting out, begin to understand and experience emotion in music.  It’s the emotion that reaches out and touches us and moves us.  It’s why we still hear Beethoven’s music today and understand what it means to be alive and a human being.

To hear a recording of the Beethoven sonata mentioned above, click here.

Mastering Counting Aloud

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Learning to count aloud can be challenging. Try these tips to help you go from a novice to a seasoned musician:

1. Count a full measure before beginning.
2. Make your counting is big and loud so you can hear it. Don’t hold back.
3. Get as much of your body feeling the beat as you can while you count aloud. This can include bouncing your wrists, tapping your foot, and even bobbing your head if you don’t get dizzy. Feeling the beat in your body as well as counting it, is key.
4. Take a dance class of any kind. It will help you learn to move your body to a beat.

Learning to count aloud and being comfortable with it takes time and practice. Allow yourself to struggle and stumble around. You will eventually get it, and you will be rewarded. Your music will start to play itself. When the beat and rhythm are solid, your notes will sit on those beats and rhythm. Your music can then flow naturally, and you will enjoy the experience of playing.

Need help getting there? Contact us about lessons.

Counting Aloud

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Raise your hand if you like counting aloud while you are playing. If you are a singer, wind or brass player, you are lucky. You can’t count aloud and play your instrument at the same time, but for everyone else, like pianists and string players, counting aloud is a tool that will transform your playing.

I have never had a student jump up and down excited when I suggest counting aloud a passage while they play. That is my clue that that is exactly what they need. They can’t do it, and therefore, would prefer not to do it. I remind them that the purpose of a piano lesson is to gain new skills. This is one of those skills.

If you can count aloud with ease while playing then you have the skill and you can decide when and where to count aloud to help you learn the music. But first you have to learn the skill.

When you go to count aloud the first time, it will be awkward and you may feel clumsy and inadequate. That is o.k. and normal for everyone. You have to stumble around several times to work it out. That is the learning process. That is how you gain the skill. Allow yourself to feel clumsy, but keep trying until you get it. If you find yourself getting frustrated, stop. Ask your teacher for help.

When applying counting aloud to your practice, try these ideas. Master each one before proceeding to the next:

1. Clap and count the rhythm of each hand alone.
2. Play and count each hand alone.
3. Tap and count the rhythm hands together. (Your right hand taps the right hand part while your left hand taps the left hand part).
4. Play and count hands together.

Need more help? Contact us about lessons.

Breathing

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Breathing. We’ve all been breathing since we were born. We never learned how to do it. We just do it. As we age it’s not uncommon to subconsciously start holding our breath when trying something new. In piano, I call it holding your breath and praying your way through a difficult passage of music. On occasion you’re successful, but it is a wholly unpleasant experience.

Try it sometime. Hold your breath, maybe even hold your shoulders up a little, and then do whatever you’re wanting to learn how to do. How long can you keep it up before you get tired and your shoulders ask to be let down?

The good news is life and piano don’t have to be that hard.

Now let your shoulders hang, like coats on a coat rack. Go slow enough so you are aware of your breathing.

Which way feels better to you?

Breathing fully allows your body to relax. When it’s relaxed, your skeleton can articulate how it was designed to articulate. In this state you will find ease in playing. It is fun and rewarding. Frustration and tension will melt away, and you will be immersed in the art of playing the piano.

Schedule an introductory piano lesson by calling (360) 527-9626, or email me with questions.