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How do you teach rubato?

I was over at the beginners' forum just now, and someone had been wondering how you can learn to play stylistically Romantic without ruining his own interpretation of the piece by watching other performers.

I thought it would be an interesting discussion for teachers:

(a) How do you teach rubato?

(b) Is it possible for a beginner to interpret a piece of music entirely on his or her own? (I.e. No demonstrations of the piece, no videos, etc.?) Why or why not?

That's interesting.

I have found that some students will use rubato quite naturally without me having to say anything at all. Its a musically expressive thing to do with the right kind of piece and I love it when it happens spontaneously in an appropriate place!

Must admit it is rare though.

Teaching rubato is about awareness of style and also about balance. Rubato literally means 'robbed' time. And what is taken must be paid back. A lot of phrasing will have a gentle push towards the climax and then relax towards the end. Balance.

What I do insist on is that students can play exactly in time first. They need to fully understand the rhythm. Then a useful technique is to play a phrase with a metronome, get a little ahead but then end up back in time again.

I start with pieces where the effects of rubato are quite subtle. If its understood then the same thing can be applied with other works as and when required.

There are many of us who grew up learning pieces by playing them. The written music "told" us how the piece sounded. The only time music was "demonstrated" was if we repeatedly got it wrong, and were completely unable to decode the written page.

Typically, we did not preview any piece by listening to it, and we certainly did not see anyone performing it. Unless we were learning a piece by ear, the "sound" was on the paper.
Ed

I asked my professor about this and he said "No."
Not to say you're wrong, but there are different opinions about this.

I have found that in most cases it is necessary to demonstrate rubato at first. After a while they can do it without demonstration.
I also find that showing them something one time will not produce an exact copy of your performance anyway.

I have had several teachers for two instruments. I agree that the gist of the music is on paper. You get melody, tempo, dynamics, and if you understand the nature of the genre, this will guide you as well. I was able to, and expected to play the basic music from notation. Nonetheless there are finer points of musicianship which a trained musician will know of, and the student won't. Rubato, fine points of phrasing, special nuances brought out by the nature of the instrument - these did get demonstrated. This was not for imitation but for hearing what was possible, and refining the ear. Recordings can be used the same way. You have studied the music and seen possibilities, now you hear various interpretations. You are not just hearing what was done, but asking, why did this performer make those choices? Does this give additional insight into the music?

Of course there are different opinions!
There are also different definitions and interpretations of rubato.

It's not an exact science and probably something that you can't really teach. You can give advice and guidance but no two pianists will use rubato in exactly the same way so it's very much an individual response to the music.

I try my best to keep things simple.

I am doubtful of this translation of the word rubato

Actually, the translation is correct. The word literally means "robbed". But as a musical term, it means much more than that.

Absolutely! That is what makes the trained musician a musician, and the student, well . . .


Encore -- assolutamente! I should have completed my thoughts with:
Learning the music of the piece first, by working on it from written notation, is a wonderful learning experience, although we never thought of it as that. And then, whenever one had the opportunity to hear that same MUSIC come to life in the hands of a professional, it magnified and solidified and enhanced that original learning all the more! It infused one’s original learning experience with all the possibilities that the student had left out. And in so doing, the better student became a trained musician. Then, when faced with new music on a page, the individual knows how it sounds without pressing a key, or drawing a bow, or placing mouthpiece to embouchure.

In my opinion, going through the steps in a different order, ie. hear the professional rendition, then see the written music for the first time, then hear the professional play again, then fit the notation on the page to what one hears, then play it on the instrument, then hear the professional play again, then put the finishing touches on the student’s playing -- this loses much of the development of the musician. While it might help the ear, it weakens the independence of reading and interpretation.

Look in an italian dictionary and see whether it says anything about stealing time ... or about giving it back.

part. pass. di rubare ¨ agg. [f. -a; pl.m. -i, f. -e] nei sign. del verbo ||| agg. e n.m. [f. -a; pl.m. -i, f. -e] ( mus.) indicazione sul testo musicale con la quale si prescrive un’esecuzione svincolata dalla rigidità del tempo: eseguire un rubato; una battuta in tempo rubato.

Knock yourself out reading your dictionary.

I'll be playing my piano.

All'ora - Questa problema consistera dei significa della parola ||svincola||. Si noi crediamo che 'svincola' indicata "completely clearing the rigidity of the previous meter", poi il tempo nuovo é libero. Ma, in contrasto, si noi crediamo che 'svincola' indicata "suspending the rigor of the previous meter", poi quella comporta una torna al tempo primo.

But Chris, will you be playing in Italian? Playing Rubato??

Haha I doubt it since it seems I don't understand a word of it!

I'll stick to the speedy up, slowy down thingy.

Chris,

Definitions aside, I believe I have always thought of rubato, at least subconsciously, as a give-and-take proposition, where I would play slightly faster here, only to exagerate slowness there. In that sense, if we are not writing about precise durations of time, I tend to agree that the ebb and flow of rob-and-pay-back, rob-and-pay-back does fit my conception of rubato.

Ed

I have found it to be a good starting point and something that can be introduced quite early on. Being expressive is complex but you have to start somewhere.

I have tried explaining that you need to be 'flexible' or 'take liberties' with timing but inexperienced students don't really get that. They need something more to go on. The rob and pay back method works for me when applied to the right piece. I often write in push and pull on the score where appropriate for those who don't feel it naturally.

One important point I haven't seen mentioned is that the use of rubato should never be allowed to distort the rhythm. Some students use it so much you can't tell what the rhythm should be!

That's how most of us are taught, but I never thought of it that way. I think it's more of a "being in the moment" and stretching the music to its limits. If that means moving quicker in some places than others, and slowing when you feel it, then so be it.

Definitions aside (haha) how do you guys teach rubato?

I suppose by first teaching them to understand rhythm and to play in time. Also by teaching control of tempo, making sure changes are gradual when they encounter accelerando and rallentando etc. They are more likely to find tempo changes marked in the score before experimenting with rubato. Good use of rubato will draw on this experience. It all takes time.

Some students will be able to play rubato very naturally with no direction. Others .. not so much. For these students, I find that conducting them as they play can help, or singing, or counting.

I only have beginner students right now, so I'm not teaching a lot of rubato, but I do have one student who has trouble with even a ritardando at the end of her piece. To illustrate the slowing down, I just counted out loud using 1 + 2 +... so she can hear the subdivision of the beat and how notes still need to have their full values as the tempo is slowing down.

Speaking of note values -- sometimes when a student first starts to play around with rubato, they play with 'bad time' instead of 'robbed time' . I feel like the counting helps with this.

I once attended a presentation given by composer Dennis Alexander. He draws forward arrows in the score where the music should move forward, and backward arrows where the music should slow down.