Interesting and informative as always!:) Any tips and or tricks for memorizing piano music? I have played the piano as a hobby for years but have never been able to truly memorize anything! Lol
Hey, Meaghan! Thanks for watching! I think I'll do at least a few videos about memorizing here... A part of memorizing is simply the amount of time spent with the music. It's always more difficult to memorize things that both haven't been practiced as much as well as things that are sight-readable, or easy. Same reason for both: they haven't gotten the necessary attention. I can think of 2 things that have been most helpful for me: First, trying to learn how to begin playing from as many phrases and measures as possible. If you can start from any phrase, you can get through just about anything. Go further and try to be able to start from any measure, and you'll be really well on your way. Second, I analyze the harmonies and remember important chord changes or progressions sometimes reciting them if necessary in the middle of practicing and performing. I use this technique A LOT for rep that's very easy and doesn't take much time to 'practice.' I also use this to help remember different progressions in different keys in forms like Sonata form, when you get similar progressions but in different keys.
Your video is really helpful but I got a question: What if there is no rehearsal time at all??? What do you suggest? I will have my audition on Feb and the college says they can provide soloist but no rehearsal. Only 20 minutes warm up time (including cellist + singer). I basically got shocked. Any ideas?
Great question! In the world of playing auditions for lots of different types of programs (degree admittance, competitions, festivals, etc) this can be a really common thing. I take it you know the repertoire you are presenting? And the college is providing soloists that also know the rep? In the best case (rare if you can, but worth it) you might get the names and contact info of the soloists. If you can contact them and find out what recordings they like, you can prepare a performance that will gel. If you don't have that opportunity to talk with them ahead of time, you just need to be sure you do your ground work *very* well: know your rep like the back of your hand, be familiar with a variety of interpretations of it, and I'd even suggest being able to "play along" with 2 or 3 different recordings that are at different tempi and where the soloist makes different choices. An audition like this is testing your ability to respond in real time just as much as it is testing your playing. That ability is one of the most important for a collaborative pianist. In your 20 minutes with the soloists, know exactly the spots that are tricky for the ensemble and hit those right away. Also, study exactly how they cue entrances and cutoffs: body language, bow placement, any types of breathing, does the vibrato on the fingerboard start before the note, does the singer hold air before they sing or do they release immediately after the in-breath, how pronounced are different consonants, and anything else you can find. The panel will know that 20 minutes will never substitute for one good rehearsal, let alone many, so show them just how much you've learned in those 20 minutes, and how you can continue to adapt during the audition itself. As you can see, to focus on those items you really can't be giving a whole lot of attention to your hands. They need to be very well practiced so your attention can shift to these things on a phase by phase and sometimes measure by measure basis. Best wishes for your audition! Feel free to ask anything further, I'm happy to help!
@@PianistAcademy1 Thanks for your reply! After I read your reply, I immediately started to listen 3 different recording with different tempo. I also play along with the recording. However, it was a little bit annoying to focus only to the main as there’s piano. Next, I will ask the college if they can provide the soloists contact details. I already got an offer from another music college(Let we call A) and the one I got offer they arranged soloists and we had rehearsal which was really good experience. But this one(B) which will happen on February, it is my dream place but I more feel I am kind of A type. Which one you will go for? In your video, you also mentioned collaborative piano is as difficult as solo, but then why the music college don’t ask same difficulties in terms of solo piece (Of course they asking to play three different collaborative pieces)when the program is collaborative piano? If it’s piano solo, they they will ask play around more that 45 minutes. But with collaborative piano, most of the cases they are asking one short solo piece. So I just feel that doing collaborative piano makes people think “ she can’t do solo”. In my life, most of the seniors in the college can play both. They can play solo well and also piano accompaniment. So I just feel the piano soloist always stronger than piano accompanists.
@@kaishunypsilantis3689 I'd ask, why do you feel you prefer to attend "A" if "B" is actually your dream school? I chose not to attend my 2 dream conservatories (both of which accepted me, one with a full ride scholarship) primarily for the sake of not being in an insane amount of debt after school. Even with a full-ride, housing and other expenses would have added up to over $100,000 over the course of 4 years. Sure, my life would have looked different than it does now, but I don't regret the decision I made to attend ASU instead one bit. I still had a phenomenal primary applied professor, met and coached with many outstanding pianists, had great performance opportunities etc. And I finished 2 degrees with extremely minimal debt. Many programs *are* what you *make* them to be as a student. Attending a dream school doesn't guarantee any difference in outcome. About the difficulty of collab music: there are quite a few ways to make a living as a collaborative pianist without ever touching the difficult repertoire: Choir accompanist, church music director, even much of the vocal repertoire doesn't tax the pianist a whole lot... But there is a very large part of collaborative repertoire that is equally technically difficult as the hardest solo rep. Piano trios, quartets, quintets... any of the Mozart or Beethoven sonatas for "Piano and Violin" (notice which instrument is first)... the Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata is famous for being far more difficult for the pianist than the cellist... the list goes on and on with countless more examples. Beginning a collaborative program doesn't require the pre-built technique and rep that a solo program does. But success later (Master's Degree and beyond into professional work) definitely requires an equal level of proficiency as the best solo pianist, PLUS, a really well developed ear, which most solo pianists actually don't have when push comes to shove. I've hired DMA level solo pianists for collaborative work in the past, only to be let down in rehearsal as they cannot, for whatever reason, change their playing in real time to match the ensemble or the director... even after 3 degree programs and 10 years of professional level study! Yet, I've worked with undergrad collab pianists who might need to practice harder, but they are super responsive in rehearsal and on stage to the ebb and flow of the ensemble. I'll always pick "responsive" over technically superior in circumstances like this.
@@PianistAcademy1 Thanks again. Your comment made me thinking all these days. Simply, the B is more prestigious compare with the A. In terms of price, as I am applying master degree, B is more expensive then A but A will give you 2 degrees. To be honest, A and B are both equally good. These days, I have contacted the school B and asking if I can have the soloists contact details so I can arrange rehearsal with them but their admission response was cold and the officer said she’s not planning to do and if I’m not happy I can find my own soloist. One of the piece which I gonna play will be Beethoven’s 7 variations on 'Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’. With only 10 minutes warm time, do you think you will be able to do it? I feel the tricky parts are the connections between the first few variations when the piano and cello need to go forward together.
@@kaishunypsilantis3689 With 10 minutes, focus on only the trickiest ensemble spots. It's great you have already identified them. If you are really listening and engaged with the soloist, you can pick up exactly the tempo based on the cue of the bow and the soloist's breath, even before the first note of the phrase. Take 2 or 3 passes across each transition, and then play one variation completely to really get on the same page, musically. You'll be great!
I'm trying to break out of my introvert shell, and share my music with senior centers, etc. during the holidays. This is such a helpful video!!!
Oooo you did a deep dive! Thanks for watching!
@@PianistAcademy1 Knowledge + experience = CONFIDENCE. I’m counting on that!
@@bunnyhollowcrafts LOVE this!
Interesting and informative as always!:) Any tips and or tricks for memorizing piano music? I have played the piano as a hobby for years but have never been able to truly memorize anything! Lol
Hey, Meaghan! Thanks for watching! I think I'll do at least a few videos about memorizing here... A part of memorizing is simply the amount of time spent with the music. It's always more difficult to memorize things that both haven't been practiced as much as well as things that are sight-readable, or easy. Same reason for both: they haven't gotten the necessary attention. I can think of 2 things that have been most helpful for me: First, trying to learn how to begin playing from as many phrases and measures as possible. If you can start from any phrase, you can get through just about anything. Go further and try to be able to start from any measure, and you'll be really well on your way. Second, I analyze the harmonies and remember important chord changes or progressions sometimes reciting them if necessary in the middle of practicing and performing. I use this technique A LOT for rep that's very easy and doesn't take much time to 'practice.' I also use this to help remember different progressions in different keys in forms like Sonata form, when you get similar progressions but in different keys.
@@PianistAcademy1 thanks Charles!
Your video is really helpful but I got a question: What if there is no rehearsal time at all??? What do you suggest? I will have my audition on Feb and the college says they can provide soloist but no rehearsal. Only 20 minutes warm up time (including cellist + singer). I basically got shocked. Any ideas?
Great question! In the world of playing auditions for lots of different types of programs (degree admittance, competitions, festivals, etc) this can be a really common thing. I take it you know the repertoire you are presenting? And the college is providing soloists that also know the rep?
In the best case (rare if you can, but worth it) you might get the names and contact info of the soloists. If you can contact them and find out what recordings they like, you can prepare a performance that will gel. If you don't have that opportunity to talk with them ahead of time, you just need to be sure you do your ground work *very* well: know your rep like the back of your hand, be familiar with a variety of interpretations of it, and I'd even suggest being able to "play along" with 2 or 3 different recordings that are at different tempi and where the soloist makes different choices. An audition like this is testing your ability to respond in real time just as much as it is testing your playing. That ability is one of the most important for a collaborative pianist.
In your 20 minutes with the soloists, know exactly the spots that are tricky for the ensemble and hit those right away. Also, study exactly how they cue entrances and cutoffs: body language, bow placement, any types of breathing, does the vibrato on the fingerboard start before the note, does the singer hold air before they sing or do they release immediately after the in-breath, how pronounced are different consonants, and anything else you can find. The panel will know that 20 minutes will never substitute for one good rehearsal, let alone many, so show them just how much you've learned in those 20 minutes, and how you can continue to adapt during the audition itself. As you can see, to focus on those items you really can't be giving a whole lot of attention to your hands. They need to be very well practiced so your attention can shift to these things on a phase by phase and sometimes measure by measure basis.
Best wishes for your audition! Feel free to ask anything further, I'm happy to help!
@@PianistAcademy1 Thanks for your reply! After I read your reply, I immediately started to listen 3 different recording with different tempo. I also play along with the recording. However, it was a little bit annoying to focus only to the main as there’s piano. Next, I will ask the college if they can provide the soloists contact details. I already got an offer from another music college(Let we call A) and the one I got offer they arranged soloists and we had rehearsal which was really good experience. But this one(B) which will happen on February, it is my dream place but I more feel I am kind of A type. Which one you will go for?
In your video, you also mentioned collaborative piano is as difficult as solo, but then why the music college don’t ask same difficulties in terms of solo piece (Of course they asking to play three different collaborative pieces)when the program is collaborative piano? If it’s piano solo, they they will ask play around more that 45 minutes. But with collaborative piano, most of the cases they are asking one short solo piece. So I just feel that doing collaborative piano makes people think “ she can’t do solo”. In my life, most of the seniors in the college can play both. They can play solo well and also piano accompaniment. So I just feel the piano soloist always stronger than piano accompanists.
@@kaishunypsilantis3689 I'd ask, why do you feel you prefer to attend "A" if "B" is actually your dream school? I chose not to attend my 2 dream conservatories (both of which accepted me, one with a full ride scholarship) primarily for the sake of not being in an insane amount of debt after school. Even with a full-ride, housing and other expenses would have added up to over $100,000 over the course of 4 years. Sure, my life would have looked different than it does now, but I don't regret the decision I made to attend ASU instead one bit. I still had a phenomenal primary applied professor, met and coached with many outstanding pianists, had great performance opportunities etc. And I finished 2 degrees with extremely minimal debt. Many programs *are* what you *make* them to be as a student. Attending a dream school doesn't guarantee any difference in outcome.
About the difficulty of collab music: there are quite a few ways to make a living as a collaborative pianist without ever touching the difficult repertoire: Choir accompanist, church music director, even much of the vocal repertoire doesn't tax the pianist a whole lot... But there is a very large part of collaborative repertoire that is equally technically difficult as the hardest solo rep. Piano trios, quartets, quintets... any of the Mozart or Beethoven sonatas for "Piano and Violin" (notice which instrument is first)... the Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata is famous for being far more difficult for the pianist than the cellist... the list goes on and on with countless more examples.
Beginning a collaborative program doesn't require the pre-built technique and rep that a solo program does. But success later (Master's Degree and beyond into professional work) definitely requires an equal level of proficiency as the best solo pianist, PLUS, a really well developed ear, which most solo pianists actually don't have when push comes to shove. I've hired DMA level solo pianists for collaborative work in the past, only to be let down in rehearsal as they cannot, for whatever reason, change their playing in real time to match the ensemble or the director... even after 3 degree programs and 10 years of professional level study! Yet, I've worked with undergrad collab pianists who might need to practice harder, but they are super responsive in rehearsal and on stage to the ebb and flow of the ensemble. I'll always pick "responsive" over technically superior in circumstances like this.
@@PianistAcademy1 Thanks again. Your comment made me thinking all these days. Simply, the B is more prestigious compare with the A. In terms of price, as I am applying master degree, B is more expensive then A but A will give you 2 degrees. To be honest, A and B are both equally good. These days, I have contacted the school B and asking if I can have the soloists contact details so I can arrange rehearsal with them but their admission response was cold and the officer said she’s not planning to do and if I’m not happy I can find my own soloist. One of the piece which I gonna play will be Beethoven’s 7 variations on 'Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’. With only 10 minutes warm time, do you think you will be able to do it? I feel the tricky parts are the connections between the first few variations when the piano and cello need to go forward together.
@@kaishunypsilantis3689 With 10 minutes, focus on only the trickiest ensemble spots. It's great you have already identified them. If you are really listening and engaged with the soloist, you can pick up exactly the tempo based on the cue of the bow and the soloist's breath, even before the first note of the phrase. Take 2 or 3 passes across each transition, and then play one variation completely to really get on the same page, musically. You'll be great!