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#931915 - 04/28/08 11:08 AM
advice please re ornamentation
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Full Member
Registered: 08/12/07
Posts: 53
Loc: kent, england
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When approaching a new piece of early music do you advise learning the ornamentation from the start or learning the piece and then adding the ornamentation later?
I don't have a problem introducing a simple appoggiatura or turn from the start but when it comes to frillier trills etc. I find it harder to maintain rhythm and speed.
I'd welcome any advice you experts can offer.
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#931917 - 04/29/08 03:24 AM
Re: advice please re ornamentation
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3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 08/07/07
Posts: 3589
Loc: Orange County, CA
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It depends on the level of the student. For my youngest students, I obliterate all the ornaments completely except for simple appoggiaturas, which I can write out on the score.
For my intermediate to advanced students, I teach them the ornaments from the beginning of learning the piece. If it's simple, I will just write out the letters above the ornament. If it's complicated, I might use another piece of paper or use my computer notation program to write out the realization, which is very helpful for learning the exact rhythm and for finding out which note matches with which note on the other hand.
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Private Piano Teacher and MTAC Member
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#931918 - 04/29/08 10:19 AM
Re: advice please re ornamentation
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Full Member
Registered: 08/12/07
Posts: 53
Loc: kent, england
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Thanks for the feedback. I don't normally have a problem with sight reading and starting HT on anew piece and managing to maintain rhythm. When I've tried tackling the ornamentation from the start things go a bit pear shaped so I think I'll try taking a step back and learning pieces thoroughly before adding any ornaments.
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#931919 - 04/29/08 11:25 AM
Re: advice please re ornamentation
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4000 Post Club Member
Registered: 03/17/05
Posts: 4683
Loc: boston north
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Just wanted to say that I love your name! Could even be Iamallfingersandthumbs!!! And aren't we all? 
_________________________
Let the people who think that life is a race get to the end ahead of you.
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#931921 - 04/30/08 02:38 AM
Re: advice please re ornamentation
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3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 3673
Loc: Pretoria South Africa
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It can help to be provided with a visual diagram of the linear shapes of the various grace notes ... there aren’t many ... Acciaccatura "Crushing in" Mordent "Biting" Turn ... 4-note preparation Shake ... alternating notes Appoggiatura "to lean" web page
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#931922 - 04/30/08 04:18 AM
Re: advice please re ornamentation
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Full Member
Registered: 08/12/07
Posts: 53
Loc: kent, england
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Thanks all for your replies.
lilylady, I have occasional moments of genius but otherwise the name says it all!
keyboardklutz, it's reassuring to know that CPE didn't expect pupils to use ornamentation from the start.
btb, thanks for the link to the diagram. I've saved this to study later. It's going to take some pretty fancy fingerwork to fit all the notes to the correct timing but that's my next challenge! I'm always amazed at how Horowitz played ornaments as his fingers barely seemed to move.
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#931924 - 04/30/08 07:19 AM
Re: advice please re ornamentation
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7000 Post Club Member
Registered: 12/11/07
Posts: 7440
Loc: Canada
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Btb, can you explain "mirrors"?
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#931925 - 04/30/08 11:22 AM
Re: advice please re ornamentation
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Full Member
Registered: 02/11/08
Posts: 83
Loc: Windsor, Ontario, Canada
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for me it just depends on the student and the age and skill etc...
i teach mostly RCM, and for the lower levels ornamentation is optional. I usually say "lets give it a go from the start" and after a few weeks if it's just not meshing we drop it and then try again later after the piece is learnt. Otherwise, for my advanced students and for myself i learn the right away. i think it's easier to learn it "right" from the start than to add it in later.
_________________________
Love is a friendship set to music.
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#931926 - 04/30/08 01:34 PM
Re: advice please re ornamentation
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6000 Post Club Member
Registered: 03/18/06
Posts: 6125
Loc: Olympia, Washington, USA
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I follow the same general guidelines posted by AZNpiano. The ornaments are part and parcel of the music of the period, and if your student doesn't learn it immediately, or at all, it's like teaching them a simplified score. It's cheating the student(and parent) out of essential learning.
_________________________
"Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn." -- Richard Henry Dann Full-time Private Piano Teacher offering Piano Lessons in Olympia, WA. www.mypianoteacher.com Certified by the American College of Musicians; member NGPT, MTNA, WSMTA, OMTA
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#931928 - 05/01/08 02:02 PM
Re: advice please re ornamentation
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3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 08/07/07
Posts: 3589
Loc: Orange County, CA
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Originally posted by btb:  In going along with John’s conviction that the grace notes are a vital part of the music and can’t just be left out until you are ready ... the strange anomaly of the universal system should be pointed out ... namely that the smallest notes look the most bulky, carrying as they do the most "flags" ... strictly speaking the acciaccatura (“crushed in” notes) should carry a weighty three flags or more ... this is obviously not possible within the limited measure space ... thus the convention of brief symbols to convey the various racy grace notes ... most of us add the grace notes outlines as we progress. [/b] 
_________________________
Private Piano Teacher and MTAC Member
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