Jerry B. Shefelt Blogs: February 2019

Friday, February 22, 2019

The World’s First Piano Recording

Today I’m featuring an interesting piece of history, highlighted just this week on the Pianist Magazine’s excellent blog. The world’s first (or oldest) piano recording took place precisely 131 years ago. During this period, Arthur Sullivan (1842 – 1900) was Britain’s foremost composer, and a piano and cornet version of his song ‘The Lost Chord‘, which had been composed eleven years earlier, was the piece of music recorded to capture this moment.

This event took place at a press conference in 1888, hosted by American Civil War recipient George Gouraud, who was introducing the phonograph, a new device for mechanical recording and reproduction of sound, which was created by American inventor Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931). Invented in 1887, the phonograph was the first device of its kind to be able to record and reproduce sound, and it heralded the beginning of a new age for the music industry. Sullivan commented rather ominously on this subject:

“I can only say that I am astonished and somewhat terrified at the result of this evening’s experiments: astonished at the wonderful power you have developed, and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music may be put on record forever.”

You can read Pianist’s full article and listen to the recording here, but, as might be expected, the sound quality is less than ideal!

Many musicians and composers were quick to explore the phonograph’s possibilities, including Hungarian composer and pianist Béla Bartók. Bartók (1881 – 1945) was renowned for collecting folk music, alongside his colleague and fellow countryman Zoltán Kodály (1882 – 1967).

From 1904, Bartók embarked on an extensive programme of field research, travelling around Hungary and Romania, collecting a substantial selection of folk songs, frequently employing the phonograph to reliably record villagers singing and playing their folk melodies. Often considered the father of ethnomusicology, Bartók went on to write down and arrange many of those recorded tunes, and quickly became known as an expert in this field. His subsequent compositions are full of folk melodies, and this music became a fundamental influence on his work.

You can hear one of Bartók’s recordings using the phonograph by clicking on the link below:

A History of the Phonograph: Image link

The Béla Bartók Memorial House and Museum

My publications:

For much more information about how to practice piano repertoire, take a look at my piano course, Play it again: PIANO (published by Schott Music). Covering a huge array of styles and genres, the course features a large collection of progressive, graded piano repertoire from approximately Grade 1 to advanced diploma level, with copious practice tips for every piece. A convenient and beneficial course for students of any age, with or without a teacher, and it can also be used alongside piano examination syllabuses too.

You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.

from Melanie Spanswick https://ift.tt/2GYGwc3

Monday, February 18, 2019

Weekend competition; the winner

Many thanks to all those who took part in my weekend competition. I always enjoy reading the comments. The prize this week is a copy of Nancy Litten’s new publication for singers and accompanists; Choral and Vocal Sight Singing.

The winner is…

AmyPianist. Congratulations! Please send your address via the contact page on my blog and your book will be on its way.

If you’d like to find out more about this book or purchase it, please click here.

My publications:

You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.

from Melanie Spanswick http://bit.ly/2SbzzXl

Friday, February 15, 2019

A Weekend Competition! Choral and Vocal Sight Singing by Nancy Litten

As pianists most of us have, at some time or another, accompanied the school choir, a vocal group or the local operatic society. If you’re like me, you’ve probably been a church organist too.

I was organist of Bray Church (in Berkshire, UK) for around five years during my student years, and this was a wonderful introduction to many satisfying musical endeavours. It may sound like a fairly repetitive, undemanding job, but in fact, a certain level of skill is most definitely required beyond a basic keyboard grasp. Accompanying psalms, sight-reading endless hymns, spot transposition, and improvisation, all feature in the organists tool box, and that’s aside from negotiating the pedal board (necessitating a level of foot athletics which sadly I never really mastered).

An oft-forgotten element to the church organist’s job is the accompaniment of the choir. They are prone to all sorts of antics during services, and, if left unsupervised, can have a tendency to become a rather unruly bunch. The church organist frequently takes rehearsals, and on these occasions it would have been most useful to have had access to Nancy Litten’s new book, Choral and Vocal Sight Singing, published by Alfred Music, which is the second to be penned by Nancy on this subject (you can find out more, here).

According to Alfred, Choral and Vocal Sight Singing serves a ‘dual purpose’:

‘It aims to give choirs and solo singers gently graded sight singing practice whilst at the same time encouraging the pianist to accompany them from chord symbols. Many examples of the possible realisations of the chords are given and the number of different keys and chords increases gradually. One chord per bar is used at first with more rapid changes in the later chapters. Each stage includes exercises for the singers, (to be practised, not just sight-read) and songs to be accompanied. Pianist edition includes chord examples and practice routines, and at the back, a chord compendium.‘

This is a very beneficial volume for the pianist as much as the singer (indeed there are two versions, one for the singer and a second for the pianist). Most choirs need plenty of sight singing practice, and the carefully graded exercises both encourage and allow for a steady progression. Nancy takes us through basic step-by-step vocal exercises, enabling singers to learn how to pitch notes with confidence. In the pianist’s volume, singing exercises are set alongside those for keyboard, beginning with simple chord patterns and progressions, graduating to various accompaniments for the vocal exercises.

Sound advice is offered on how to ‘flesh out’ accompaniments using some improvisatory ideas and suggestions, leading on to developing the necessary keyboard harmony skills to accompany singers relying entirely on chord symbols for a structured harmonic outline. A ‘chord compendium’ is featured at the back of the book, and those who take the time to work through from the beginning will certainly find this a flexible yet didactic approach. The repetition of such exercises proves vital in obtaining fluency and speed, and this is a crucial component when devising convincing piano accompaniments.

I have one copy to giveaway to one lucky reader this weekend. To be in with a chance to win, leave your comment in the comment box at the end of this blog post. I will announce the winner on Monday evening (British time). Good luck!

You can find out much more about this book, here, and can purchase your copy, here.

My publications:

You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.

from Melanie Spanswick http://bit.ly/2SSMH82

Friday, February 8, 2019

5 Stage Presentation Tips Part 2

My most recent article for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter features the art of stage presentation. This often forgotten topic is rarely highlighted, yet it plays a significant role in every performance. This is the second of two articles on this subject, and you can read the first one, here.

In my previous article on stage presentation, I discussed how to foster the necessary ‘thought-process’ required for performing, as well as the importance of repertoire selection, and attire on stage. Today, the discussion turns to the actual act of going on stage itself. How we might traverse the concert platform in order to capture and keep our audience’s attention.

1. When we walk to the piano to play our concert, how we approach the instrument might indicate our level of anxiety. If you can cultivate an assured sense of confidence before the concert begins, you will instigate that same confidence in your audience, and they, in turn, will relax and start to enjoy your presentation right from the outset. You don’t need to stride – but rather stroll purposefully and with a certain conviction and realisation of the occasion.

2. Perfecting the bowing technique. A pianist must show gratitude to their audience, and this involves bowing conscientiously and with grace. This element will be highly visible to your audience, so aim to take time to bow with dignity and appreciation. It is probably a good idea to smile before you commence playing too, and try to appear relaxed and in no hurry to start.

3. How we sit at the piano will determine our comfort level. Take your time to adjust the stool, ensuring the correct height. Rest your feet on the pedals, making sure you can play them easily, and relax your shoulders; if you can rest your hands on the keyboard whilst keeping your shoulders relaxed, then you have probably found the perfect height for your stool.

4. Take a few moments to ‘breathe’ before you start. This might make the difference between a smooth, rhythmical opening to one with a few unexpected errors. Try not to rush into your piece; it can help to focus for at least ten seconds, and then, in order to establish the correct tempo, count a couple of bars (in your head) at the desired speed before you start to play. If you can do this, you will be able to exude polish and control.

5. Some pianists tend to move too much at the keyboard. There must be a certain level of movement in hands, wrists and arms when playing, to help with flexibility and comfort when circumnavigating copious note patterns. However, it isn’t strictly necessary to move the whole body as this can prove a distraction to your audience. Aim to keep movement to a minimum and try to minimise facial expressions too!

At the end of your performance, remember to acknowledge your audience. If you can learn to enjoy performing, this will bode well for all future endeavours and the improvement of your piano playing as a whole.

My publications:

You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.

from Melanie Spanswick http://bit.ly/2GycYBZ

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Etude op. 97 No 1 by Anton Reicha

Some readers will know that I write a regular ‘how-to-play’ article for Pianist magazine; If you’ve yet to discover this magazine, you can find out much more here. My article focuses on elementary level pieces for students of around Grade 1 – 3 level. It’s actually called a ‘beginners how-to-play’, but in reality few students start with such repertoire. Our audience is mainly adult amateurs, teachers and students, and I always appreciate your kind comments (and there are many!) regarding the magazine and my articles when I visit various parts of the world, adjudicating and giving workshops.

Around 900 words in length, my column aims to shed some light on the style of each chosen work whilst offering some detailed practice ideas. Pianist magazine ensures that readers can listen to and play each piece, and every edition contains the score of the piece and a recording, which is played by Chinese pianist Chenyin Li.

A particularly wonderful aspect of my brief is that it has brought me in contact with the music of a myriad of lesser known composers. In this respect it has been a real education. Magazine editor Erica Worth and I are constantly searching for suitable material and this has led to the discovery of whole collections of various educational piano pieces. Always mindful of the level and difficulty of the piece, occasionally we unearth a composition which may be slightly trickier than the expected level, but which we feel just must be included. The featured piece in Pianist magazine edition 105 was one such piece.

Etude Op. 97 No. 1 (see above image for the manuscript) was written by Anton Reicha (1770 – 1836), who was a friend and contemporary of Beethoven; the two composers studied at the University of Bonn together. Reicha is probably best known for his wind quintet literature and the important role he advocated as a teacher, numbering Liszt, Berlioz and Franck amongst his pupils. He wrote treatises on various aspects of composition and theory, but due to his apparent aversion to being published, his music largely fell into obscurity soon after his death, and his life and work have yet to be studied in detail.

Reicha contributed to the piano repertoire via a series of fugues and etudes, as well as larger scale works, including a set of variations lasting over 45 minutes in length. Inventive and imaginative, he was an early advocate of polytonality and asymmetric meters. Reicha’s fugues were also renowned for breaking the usual strict rules. However, his music is predominantly tonal, with a spontaneous quality, and his scores are relatively free from the ubiquitous composer’s musical directions, leaving interpretation solely to the performer.

The Etude Op. 97 No. 1 is an extremely beautiful, contemplative little piece; the melody largely floats serenely above a series of repeated left hand chords, and then roles are reversed later in the piece. This Etude is an exercise (or a study) in balance between the hands, chordal balance and cantabile. Yet ultimately, it’s all about developing an elegant, personal reading with a depth of colours via a rich sound and judiciously balanced phrases. Irrespective of your level as a player, I urge you to consider playing this piece, if only to revel in the delectable harmonic twists and turns combined with a simply delicious melodic line. You can enjoy pianist Ivan Ilic’s performance by clicking on the link below. To subscribe to Pianist magazine, click here.

You can read my ‘how-to-play’ article on this work here:

Etude Op 97 1a by Anton Reicha

If you would like to purchase and download the music for this piece, click here.

My publications:

You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.

from Melanie Spanswick http://bit.ly/2GihnZE