Friday, September 28, 2012

Improving Sight-Reading Skills

How I Train My Students to Sight-Read
With my students, I usually focus on sight-reading every few months, and more frequently with those who really need it. I do a "sight-reading intensive" for about a month, training them to incorporate daily sight-reading into their practice routine.  The aim of the intensive is to build good habits that they will continue, even after the "intensive" is over.

During the sight-reading intensive, I make them sight-read at every lesson for a month, about 5 minutes during each half hour lesson, or 10 minutes during each 45 minute lesson. At the lesson, I often use the "Line a Day" sightreading books.  These are published by Bastien and I can't say enough good things about them. 

For home practice, I loan out used books from my library that are 2 levels below their performance level. This is important!  Do not practice sight-reading at your performance level!  You should always practice sight-reading two levels below your performance level (and some students need to go 3 levels below if their sight-reading is really deficient).  Remember, it has to be easy enough to get it pretty much right on the first try. 

My students have to log in 2 songs a day on the back of their practice sheet. When they come back the next week, I test them on 2 or 3 songs from their log to make sure they truthfully practiced sight-reading.

Mental Preparation of the Score is Key
Yes! Mental preparation is more important than physical preparation. I learned this first-hand by observing the accompanist for our Symphonic Chorus in college.  I never saw her physically practice, but she was always tucked away in a study cubicle, hunkered over her choir scores.  She simply studied her music.  I imagine she also wrote in the chords.  And she was fantastic!  Boy did I learn my lesson by watching her.  Indeed, training them to study their music and analyze it before sight-reading is a must!  Our sight-reading exercises at the lesson begin with me asking the student many questions:
  • What is the key signature?
  • What is the time signature?
  • What is the first note in the right hand?
  • What is the first note in the left hand?
  • (for beginners) Which hand position is this in?
  • (for intermediate and advanced students) Which chords do you see in the left hand?*
  • Do you see any scales in that phrase?*
  • Do you see any possible trouble spots?
Then I ask them to hear the rhythm in their head before starting (even tap it on their lap).  I follow the procedure outlined in the Line-a-Day books because it is very effective (above list, minus the asterisk items, which are my additions)! Counting out loud is also a huge bonus if they can manage it.   

Sight-Read With a Metronome!
Next it's time to crack the whip! Translation: metronome. We count a measure out loud first, then proceed to sight-read.  Be careful to set the tempo to something slow like 50.  Here are my guidelines for sight-reading:
  • During metronomic practice, going backward to correct your mistakes is against the law.
  • Just keep one hand going if you have to! 
  • Don't panic when you mess up.
  • Just ad-lib. As long as it's in the scale, make something up if you have to.  But keep the beat going. I tell them that this is valuable training for playing with their future rock band (the music goes on, with or without you). They have to keep up!
You Must See the Chords in Your Music to Be a Good Sight-Reader!
I can't stress this enough!  As soon as chords start appearing in the child's music, you must train the child to recognize chords within his/ her music.  Chords are to music as words are to language.  Not seeing a chord is like reading the word "chord" as an illiterate person.  You only see the letters C-H-O-R-D, not a word.  The same thing applies in music reading.  If we don't see that C-E-G spells C major, our reading speed suffers.

Sight-Reading - Why It's Important

I have often felt that there are two types of musicians -- those who are readers and those who are not.  This division becomes quite striking when teaching piano.  Most piano methods introduce music-making through the process of reading notes.  And traditional piano teachers using these methods tend to reward the readers.  "Readers" are the machine-like data processors who can quickly gobble up notes and convert them into action at the speed of light.  But sometimes, those sight-reading whiz kids are devoid of emotion.  These students dazzle us with their speed and execution, but oftentimes, they don't move us. 

In the other camp are the intuitive, right-brained, expressive types (me).  Such students fall naturally into playing by ear, which leads to improvisation and composition.  They play with a soulful depth that has moved me to tears at many recitals.  For this type of student, however, the task of decoding notes is much more difficult than figuring it out by ear.  I used to think that these students just couldn't read.  But, since overcoming my own reading handicap, I believe the sight-reading failure of many students is simply the result of laziness; that, and lack of music theory training.

Why bother reading when your ear and intuition can figure it out faster?   With a little trial and error and a good ear, one can bypass the data-processing step altogether.  Reading notes is just one more chore.  And it slows us down.  We're impatient.  We want instant gratification.  Reading at our performance level, on the other hand, means delayed gratification; not something we're very fond of in a culture of microwaved meals and instant messaging.

It has long been my goal as a piano teacher to save these artist-students -- the aural geniuses -- from falling through the cracks.  But I don't want to give them a false sense of ego.  Not everyone can expect to have the success Paul McCartney had without reading or writing music (Beatles veteran and composer Paul McCartney does not read or write music).  They are going to need more than a good ear to make a living in music, should they choose that route.  My experience, for example, has taught me that sight-reading skills greatly increase one's marketability as a musician. Without my sight-reading skills (something I have worked very hard on), I would miss out on a significant portion of my income that comes from accompanying, musical theatre, and church music.  If you can only play by ear, your options as a perfomer will be very limited!  Furthermore, you won't be able to write down those great ideas you have because you don't understand the visual language of notation.  This is why it's important to train students to read well.

So how do you keep the mini-Mozarts from melting into a puddle of tears over their reading challenges?  First, convince them of the value of sight-reading.  You remind them that Beethoven and Chopin did not just compose; they could read and write music as well.  In fact, they wrote their own music without the help of notation software or an orchestrator.  A healthy dose of reality doesn't hurt either.  So I always share the hard-knocks tales of several "by ear" players I taught who thought pretty highly of themselves until they unsuccessfully tried out for jazz band or choir accompanying at the local high school.  Little did they know that their director would expect them to read well.  Yes, even the jazz band director wants good readers!

See my next post to learn how I teach sight-reading.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The Bench and Stand - Why Height Matters

You Mean I Need a Bench Too?
We focus so much energy on choosing a home piano or keyboard that we sometimes neglect the importance of seating and keyboard stands.  To my horror, I recently discovered that several of the children I teach are sitting on everything from ottomans to beds while practicing!  Some have even reported putting the practice keyboard on the dining room table or bed.  Upon receiving this distressing news, I realized that most of my clients don't know they are doing anything wrong.  I immediately felt compelled to address this issue!

Proper Seating Height When Playing the Piano
What is wrong with using the dining room chair?  Proper piano technique is dependent upon seating at the proper height, especially in relation to the keyboard or piano.  Piano benches are quite a bit higher than your average chair, thus boosting the torso to a height that makes playing comfortable and promotes proper technique.  Here is the test:

Sit on your bench or stool and outstretch your arms, elbows hanging loose by your sides, with wrists level and above keys, as if you're ready to play a song. Ask someone to tell you if your forearms are level and parallel to the ground. When seating is at the proper height, the forearms will be level and parallel to the ground.

 
When seating is too low (the most common error), forearms will sag below the keyboard.  The student will appear as if s/he is reaching up for the keys.  The inadequate height will make practicing difficult and unpleasant.  When the teacher is telling the student to keep his/ her wrists up, the student will find it extremely difficult to do so.  With lack of arm and upper body weight to transfer into the fingers,  the student will not be able to have a strong tone when needed.  Volume will tend to be weak.  Fingers, which are supposed to be curvy, will go flat, and a sloppy execution will result.  Thumbs of these students tend to fall off the edge of the keys and the student is constantly wondering where the thumb is when it's needed.  Students with low seating also tend to raise shoulders as they try to reach the keys and keep their wrists up, resulting in upper-body tension.  Any pianist knows that upper-body tension is a no-no. 
 
When seating is too high (a possibility when the keyboard stand is too low) or students are sitting on chairs, the posture suffers.  The back should be straight when playing the piano, and posture should be either 90 degrees to the ground (perfectly vertical), or a little less than 90 degrees, as the student leans slightly in toward the keys.  
 
Do I Need A Stand for My Keyboard?
Yes.  Do not put the keyboard on the bed, your lap, or the dining room table when practicing.  If you don't have a stand for the keyboard they are practicing on, get one.  Musician's Friend has a lot of stands like this:


If you are practicing on a starter keyboard (< $1000), you will need to rest your keyboard on one of these.

What's in a Bench?
Every piano student should have a piano bench, whether playing on a keyboard or piano.  Here are some considerations when buying a piano bench:
  • Are two people in the family playing?  If so, duets are a possibility. You will want to make sure your bench is a "duet bench" that seats two. 
  • Would you like storage space in your bench?  Even some of the adjustable benches offer storage.  Many people store books and sheet music in their bench.
  • Will a young child be playing?  Do you have a short torso yourself?  You will need the extra height of an adjustable bench.
  • Do you play on a keyboard with a separate stand (like the above photo)?  If so, I would insist on an adjustable bench because these stands are sometimes too low. 
  • Do you want the bench to match your piano's color?  Benches come in many different wood stains, from polished ebony to walnut and mahogany.  I like this site because they allow you to select your color:  http://www.grandpianobench.com/.
Why I Recommend an Adjustable Bench
I recommend adjustable benches for everyone, especially for small children.  The reason is -- by and large, most benches tend to be too low.  Maybe this is because I am long-legged and have a short torso, but that is just my experience.  Children always need the extra height.



As of the date of this blog, you should be able to find a decent adjustable bench for under $150 (I found the above model at Sam Ash for $119.99).  I really appreciate the thorough descriptions and staff opinions on this site, however:  http://www.grandpianobench.com/.

You should look for benches with 4 sturdy legs as opposed to X-shaped legs.  Keyboard suppliers often try to sell these kind of benches to go with their keyboards.  I find that those with the X-shaped legs are either too low or tend to topple over sideways.  Adjustable benches will clearly have a knob on the side which allows you to raise and lower the bench.  High-end adjustable benches called "artist benches" are heavier than standard benches and quite expensive ($450 - $1000).  These are more appropriate for the concert stage than the home, and certainly not essential gear for a young piano student.  The other problem with most artist benches is that they only seat one person, making them poor choices for duet teams.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Playing By Ear

I have a gift.  Or maybe not.  Maybe it is just the result of decades spent honing my skills.  Maybe it is the result of my daily immersion in music-making.  But I recently find that I am able to just sit down a play a tune, completely by ear, and with relatively little error.  Isn't this what we all want to do?  Wouldn't it be wonderful to bypass the dreaded labor of decoding notes on a sheet of paper?  What if you didn't even need to read music in order to make music?  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just sit down and play a popular tune by ear and artfully arrange it on the spot; even improvise around that song? 

Whether this is a gift or skill, I have developed this ability in response to needs.  On the way to church some mornings, I am not always sure what I will play for my prelude music.  This is because I am very busy with three children and a thriving music studio.  There is little time for physical practice at the piano.  Fortunately, God always plants a song in my heart on the way to church.  And, purely through mental preparation on the car ride over, I can be ready to sit down and play, arranging the song on the spot.  How does this work?

STEP 1 - SING MELODY IN SCALE DEGREES
First, while in the car, I figure out the scale degrees of a melody by ear and sing the melody in scale degrees (each note of the scale is numbered from 1 to 8).  For instance, I sing the first phrase of  "Amazing Grace" by singing the numbers 5-1-3-1-3-2-1-6-5.  Those are the scale degrees, or notes of the scale that make up Amazing Grace.  This is a skill I was first exposed to in a Sight-Singing and Ear-Training class at George Mason University.  Since my only training was private piano lessons, this was a completely foreign concept to me!  But I began to listen for the tonic (or the "1") when I was listening to music on the radio.  It's easy to find, because it really sounds and feels like home.  It sounds like the melody note you would end the song on.   A good test is, "If I ended this song right now, what note would I sing?"  That note is the 1!  Another test for finding the 1 of the scale is locating the 5.  The 5 has an inevitable sort of pull toward the 1, and often precedes it in a melody.  The perfect example is "Amazing Grace." Clearly, you can hear the "A" in "Amazing" is the 5 and the "maz" is the 1 because that sounds like the note you would end the song on.
   
Once you can hear where the 1 is in the context of your song, you can determine the scale degree of every other melody note in terms of its relationship to the 1.  In addition to being able to sing scales, it's pretty essential to know what your different intervals sound like (an interval is the distance between 2 pitches).  Your trained ear can identify an interval by matching its sound to the beginning notes of certain familiar songs.  Here is the most comprehensive list I've ever seen of songs that help you recognize intervals:

http://www.people.vcu.edu/~bhammel/theory/resources/macgamut_theory/songs_interval_recognize.html

PICK A SONG YOU KNOW FOR EVERY INTERVAL!  AND KNOW WHICH SONG GOES WITH WHICH INTERVAL!

STEP 2 - DETERMINE CHORD PROGRESSION
Once you can sing the whole melody in scale degrees, you need to figure out the chord progression that goes underneath that melody.  These are the chords the band/ pianist/ guitarist plays with the singer/s.  This takes experience and practice playing by ear.  Yes, you have to practice figuring out tunes by ear, not just reading notes!  You can start by listening to songs on the radio or on your iPod and seeing if you can guess the chord progression.  Then, when you sit down with your guitar or piano, see if you guessed correctly.  The melody notes will also suggest a chord.  For instance, if the melody note is E and you are playing in the key of C, it is highly probable that you have a C chord (the I chord) underneath that melody note since E (the melody note) occurs in the C major chord (C-E-G).  Of course, your other possibilities will be the iii (E minor...E-G-B) or the vi (A minor...A-C-E), but the probability is higher for a I chord since it is the most popular in all of music.  Remember, most songs consist of what I call the "holy trinity of chords" -- the I, IV, and V.  If you don't know what that means then come to my studio for lessons and I'll teach you!  Chord progressions do not occur in completely random order.  There is some logic involved, and you can use logic and probability to boost your chances of figuring out a progression by ear.  For instance,
  • I = HOME
  • V or V7 = LEADS TO HOME (I)
  • IV = TYPICALLY FOLLOWS I
  • I-IV-I-V (or V7)-I is a very predictable, common progression, but also rather boring to harmony nerds like me.
  • If it doesn't sound like a I, IV, or V, it's probably a ii, iii, or vi chord.  The sad sound of the minor chords will clearly indicate this, and the melody notes should give you a clue about which chord you're dealing with.
Most popular songs (as in soft rock, top-40, rock, country, bluegrass, blues) are going to be made up of the I, IV, and V (or V7), which are also known as primary triads.  They are literally the songwriter/ composer's primary colors.  Of course, if you're a little more imaginative as a songwriter/ composer, you learn to blend those primary colors to create beautiful shades and tones, which would be manifested as a greater variety of chords in your music -- chords such as the ii, iii, vi, and vii diminished chord.

STEP 3 - EMBELLISH, IMPROVISE, ARPEGGIATE, AND HAVE FUN!
This will be a topic for another post.  But if you want to learn how to get to step 3, just come to my studio for lessons and I'll teach you how!  We're at www.madmusiclab.com and our e-mail is info@madmusiclab.com.  Our phone number is 540-338-SONG (540-338-7664).