Throughout the school year, my students are afforded a baker's dozen opportunities to perform. Eight of these are in group classes, held once a month here at the studio, where seats are set up in rows, and students come up and perform prepared works on the grand. Three are in community-wide recitals. One is our Studio's recital and the final performance opportunity is before the Piano Guild auditioner.

At our group lessons, we practice stage mannerisms. By that I mean, how to approach the piano, how to acknowledge the audience, how to sit and adjust the bench, how to prepare one's self before playing, how to end the piece, how to leave the bench, how to acknowledge the applause and finally, how to leave the stage.

As teachers, we've all experienced the student whose hands are on the keys and who starts to play before even sitting down. Likewise, the student who bolts from the bench while still playing the final chord. And of course, the student who made a very minor error, but is frowning/frumping off the stage in obvious self-disgust. Thus, the need for constant practice on what seems to be the superficial side of performing.

Rather than just counting to 5 while sitting on the bench, waiting to play, I suggest they think through the piece in outline. Starting key, ending key, dynamics, ie, how loud should I start, where should my crescendos begin, etc. What is the form of the piece? How am I going to voice the main phrases? Etc.

So teachers, what prep do you do with your students? What important skills/preparations am I leaving off this list? What other suggestions have you?

Thanks,

John

As a singer, I focus on breathing. It's tough to teach this to pianists. It's not enough to physically breathe, but also to convey the breath via subtle hand/arm gestures and small bodily movements, such as a gentle lift of the chin or a small lift of the wrist right before playing a phrase. I tell my students that, if you do this, the audience will breathe with you.

I think your ideas are excellent. There is one other thing I'm sure you teach that I did not see: NEVER let your audience know that you have made a mistake or that you are not pleased with how things are going. At all times you must look absolutely in control, as if you have never been playing better in your life—even if you'd like to get up and walk off stage, or scream.

(In other words, if you need to kick something, do it AFTER you are off stage!)

I don't agree. I think you are talking about trying to make people hear with their eyes, and although this is a very common thing that pianists do, I much prefer seeing nothing, just hearing the music.

This is what I loved so much about Horowitz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfjbT5L99QI

There are other slow things I would have picked, but I can't find videos of them.

What do I see?

An old, old man. From his face, I might think he is bored. Or utterly cold, with no feeling.

And his hands? I can't tell a thing. He looks relaxed. I see no breaths, no phrasing, no interpretation. I see nothing.

At the end, when he uses only his RH, it almost looks as though he is sticking his LH in his pocket.

But I *hear* the breathing, and I believe for the same reason you do. You sing, I play brass. He lingers on the right notes, the melody is always right for singing (speed), and there are breaks between phrases when needed. And so on.

I love it. I love it when any pianist looks like he's doing nothing, and the SOUND speakes for itself. I'll bet Rachmaninov played much the same, though I have seen no videos of him. All the rest of it, the facial movement, the big wrist and elbow movements, all the other tics and showboating, just annoy the heck out of me and cause me to close my eyes.

By the way, there are some players I loathe to look at who still thrill me with their playing, but I can't look at them.

I think the relative lack of motion in so many of the great Russians should be a goal of all players. No one should imitate Horowitz, but just looking at a few of his videos with the sound turned off can be a real eye-opener.

Gary wrote: You're so right! First of all, 95% of your audience won't know it if you don't signal it, and anyway, 100% of your audience is pulling for you, so why make self-destructive contortions?

Other additions?

I'm just a student.

I think its great you acknowledge practicing for performing. So many times (from my experiences) the teacher I had would polish up certain pieces and throw me into an exam room. It never helped!

Its until now when I have access to different teachers where I have had insights into performing. I think some areas worth looking into are: getting into character.

The character that you are as a performer does not stop when you finish your last note. Its until you are off stage where you can really 'let your hair hang down'. I think also, too many students especially solo pianists just rush into their piece. The first few notes are a fumble to get the right ones ... they sink into character after a few phrases. One thing of noteworthy importance is the first phrase determines the audience. If it is lousy the audience will switch off.

Musicians need to communicate through the music ... not only that but really verbally. Too many times I have been to concerts and recitals of students where they don't say who they are and don't mention the piece and what it may be about.

So that's what I have to say. Its something I have learned performing and something I had gathered from teachers over the years.

Gary is clearly more on the Apollonian side of pianism, while AZN adopts a slightly more Dionysian approach! There is a taste/perception gap that divides people, and clearly the more Apollonian or Dionysian one is in their sense of what is right the bigger that gap will be.

In general, I'm on the restrained side myself, though I really don't see that AZN's advocacy of small "subtle" motions as all that Dionysian. Nothing in AZN's comments suggests a liking for Lang Lang-like mannerisms.

[BTW, if you want to HEAR the most self-indulgent and IMHO awful rendition of the Rachmaninoff G minor prelude, go listen to Lang Lang's version of it at the BBC proms a few weeks ago. I can visualize from his playing all manner of extreme gestures that he likely employed as part of his 'interpretation.' ]

AZN, your breathing comment is excellent. Performers should breath deeply several times before starting in, perhaps even setting the pulse/tempo with their breathing. Do you have your students start with an inhale or on an exhale?

This morning I found myself a Horowitz clip, looking for a particular thing, and found it. His entry and beginning to play look natural, but if you examine it, there are stages to his entrance, and each one has at one time been worked out, practised, and are as deliberate as the notes that are played - and I would think, need to be practised as such. (I only wanted to see how he sits down. )

In his Japan performance, he walks purposefully to a certain spot, where he stops to acknowledge the audience. He takes the time that he thinks he needs, and then purposefully continues to the piano. He takes the time he needs after sitting down to adjust the bench, his clothing, before he plays. Once he is seated he is where he wants to be, how he wants to be. When he finishes playing, he rises, picks up his handkerchief which he has placed there at the beginning, turns to face the audience, acknowledge applause, turns deliberately to the side and walks out. Each thing he does is deliberate.
Horowitz in Japan

His Carnegie entrance is brisker, each stage shorter - is it to suit the character of the audience and the culture? All the steps except the handkerchief are the same.
Horowitz-Carnegie
I would think that in the latter stages of practicing for a performance we need to rehearse each of these stages in the same way that we practice playing itself.

I'm wondering - do you teachers have after-performance discussions in the lesson following a performance, where your students can also relate their experience, ask questions etc.? I have found these invaluable.

Thanks for that Gary. hat a beautiful thing to see, talk about inspiring a generation. The sinc was better in this copy though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS5LRRsNYZk&feature=related

I've always had enormous difficulty playing in front of others, so this summer I attended a two day adult camp. The thing that made the greatest difference to me was the opportunity of a full rehearsal a few hours before the final performance. The entire process, from walking out, bowing, sitting down became familiar. We ran through our pieces and duets, and could get used to the acoustics of the room and feel the action of the keyboard and pedals. Normally, if I hear or feel something unexpected it always throws me off. I was thrown off in the dress rehearsal and actually couldn't even see the music in front of me - couldn't even think to get to my next entry point .... but a few hours later, the actual performance was fine ... all because I had fewer new things to adjust for - there was just enough familiarity with the piano and the space. Eating something and drinking a lot of water probably didn't hurt either.

I keep it short, simple, and consistent:


1) Walk to the right of the bench, turn to the audience and bow.

2) Adjust the bench and sit down.

3) Find your place on the keys.

4) Count "1-2-ready-go" and play.

5) When the sound is gone, get up and bow.


For competitions that allow a warm-up, they play the scale of their piece up and down slowly. Forte going up, decrescendo coming down.

I do the exact same when I play.

Two things about the link Kreisler provided:

Horowitz always has his hand on the top of the piano before sitting down: to steady himself, or guage correct distance?

The first time I watched my ear phones were not plugged in (no speaker) and it looked like he was brushing off a light speck of dust and had to give it two tries - yet the fingers of his other hand were moving. Now, with sound on, I can hear he is playing two soft notes with his right hand crossed over the left. But so lightly and easily that it looks as though he were brushing dust from the keys.

Apologies if this has gone too far OT.

Not at all - I suspect that the reason many students quit piano is because of the excruciating experiences of playing in front of an audience ONCE per year, generally at a recital of 35 students and 150 strangers. If performing isn't a pleasurable experience, why would you want to do it?

I've noticed over the years that the more students perform, the more it becomes a natural activity, not a stressful one.

Our local retirement village, a rather large one, Panorama City, is building a performing arts center. When it is finished next year, I plan to take my students there at least monthly to play for retirees.

Almost always inhale. But I think there may be a few pieces that would sound better starting with an exhale, mostly stuff marked "Lento" or "Grave."

You have no idea how many kids (boys) absolutely refuse to do any lifting of the wrist before playing a piece. Or, if they do lift, it looks unnatural. Practice, practice, practice.

Oh, yes I do!

Seriously, I review with all my students flexible wrists. We "finger paint" the keys, etc. I also teach them to touch the keys before playing a note.

So you've read "The Birth of Tragedy"? If you see me perform, you might say I'm Dionysian, but not on the extreme end. My back is always straight. If I move my back at all, I start from the base of the spine. Most of the movement is in the arms. I don't discount the "above the neck" movements.

And--no--I am not anything like Lang Lang. No grimacing. No staring at the ceiling. No 180-degree turns of the head. No clowning.

Whether you like it or not, the great majority of the audience is interested in seeing someone who seems "connected" to the music being performed. Breathing to the phrases helps the audience to breathe along with you, thus internalizing the phrasing. The stoic, motionless approach to playing the piano only works in certain pieces that warrant such solemn gravity.

More tongue in cheek (can't resist!) but a bit seriously - look how this man suddenly straightens his posture and carefully places his fingers before playing his broccoli. Angels we

I usually suggest that students invoke the ear before playing.

ie, place hands, close eyes, and enjoy 2-4 measures of the piece in your mind. With this strategy, one can almost feel their fingers playing...almost like practicing.

When ending, I teach to keep the concentration at least 2 measures after the final note. A serious danger lies in the removal of one's concentration in the last few measures. "I'm almost done...I did it!!"

-P-

John, would you be encouraging your students to rehearse doing just that starting a few days at least before their performance in their practicing? I like "holding" the piece to myself as I wait my turn and find it helps me to know ahead of time when it will be my turn so that I can relax into the other performances and even get engrossed in them until perhaps one or two numbers before mine.

This is the way I like students to play their run through for me, before we start working on a piece at a lesson, and it's also the way I like to practice, on my initial run through.

Jeremy, that's an excellent way to phrase it - to invoke the ear. Of course, that's why we do ear training at our group lesson, so students begin to listen! But of course, any performer should hear in their mind what they intend to play before playing it, just as you do when reading!