piano issues

[Ame E.]

DS 14 is auditioning for this honor recital at the music school. He is doing this piece by chopin (I'll find it out for you if knowing the piece would help). He was in tears this morning trying to figure out a certain trill. He just says that he keeps hitting the wrong notes. He got faster and faster the more frustrated he got.

 

I told him take a break and later on (like tonight) to go over the trill (with separate hands) REALLY SLOWLY so he can diagnose what the problem is. Like what note isn't he hitting and why isn't he hitting it... So I figured if he could analyze what the problem is, might help him solve it.. Could just be he is going to fast, or maybe he's having fingering problems. I told him basically to slow down, talk to his teacher, and do the best he can. I told him it was less important that he be in this recital than he work through the difficulties with the piece and not give up even though he gets discouraged.

 

Any experience in this kind of thing out there?

 

Thanks,

 

Ame E.

[Storm Bay]

SLOWLY first. Also, he should try learning it with the other hand, even if he can only ever do it very slowly. Seriously. One of my teachers insisted I learn all my pieces hands separately, each line by both hands before ever putting it hands together.

 

Also, he's far more likely to make mistakes when frustrated.

 

That same teacher told me about seeing a great pianist (I think it was Vladimir Horowitz) in concert playing a piece he knew. He made a mistake, but improvised until he was back with the music, and unless people really knew the piece, they were none the wiser. ie no ones' perfect.

[MaryM]

Can you have him record it and play it back to hear what going amiss?

 

So hard to be under pressure and perform. My ds would often get into a cycle where he would make small mistakes in pieces he knew "cold" but his head was in the zone of worrying about performing instead of playing and enjoying.

 

Bet he pulls it off - he sounds like a great musician. Chopin is my favorite!

 

Mary

[Wildiris]

What you described does not sound that uncommon. My DD does the same type of thing, speeding up when she should go slower, but her frustration gets the better of her. It becomes a bad experience that feeds on itself.

 

The way I deal with the situation is not unlike the way you've described dealing with the situation; however, I let DD walk walk away and get herself together and come back with more focus. I don't let too much time elapse. I do persuade her to go slow, but it depends on her level of frustration and how much she is willing to hear.

 

It may be helpful to remind your son that the music school is not only looking at the how well the piece is played, but evaluators also look for general musicality. Perfection can be stale and uninspiring to listen to.

 

I also use to tell my DD that it is not the mistake that matters, but how you recover from the mistake that matters.

 

Wildiris

[Storm Bay]

It may be helpful to remind your son that the music school is not only looking at the how well the piece is played, but evaluators also look for general musicality. Perfection can be stale and uninspiring to listen to.

Wildiris

 

YES!!! This is so true. When I was 16 I auditioned for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. I hadn't played ALL summer (I'd lived away from home, no piano) so was rusty, but still got in because they could see my musicality. Too bad I didn't have the drive to match!

[Ame E.]

He went over it last night.. said he got the trills down.. Did he do it slowly, for the most part no... I don't know if he knows what SLOWLY means... The thing freaking him out about this thing is the judges so to speak have the music right in front of them.. so (even though he is very music, and REALLY GOOD AT IMPROVISING) they know when he makes a mistake.. He feels one of them is "just waiting for me to make a mistake." I told him that it does not matter whether he makes a mistake or not. All that really matters is that he tries his best and follows through. I want him to do this (it's his second one), as I think it's a good experience for him to have. His teacher will ultimately decide on Wednesday whether he will audition or not. Thank you for the advice..

 

Ame

[Wildiris]

Karin~

 

Tell me about your experience at SF Conservatory of Music. Did you go after school, summer, or some other program. What does one do with a piano background? We live almost close enough to consider going down to the city for one of the conservatory's summer programs in chamber music. I'm not sure what age is best to do this. Any advice? DD (age10, level 6) has played piano for 6 years and does quite well, honors at Certificate of Merit every year, first and second places at competitions and plays well above the level of her peers only because she is home schooled and has the time to practice. She wants to learn how to sing too. Piano is not a portable instrument, and I wonder if there will even be a future audience for concert piano music in the US.

[Storm Bay]

Karin~

 

Tell me about your experience at SF Conservatory of Music. Did you go after school, summer, or some other program. What does one do with a piano background? We live almost close enough to consider going down to the city for one of the conservatory's summer programs in chamber music. I'm not sure what age is best to do this. Any advice? DD (age10, level 6) has played piano for 6 years and does quite well, honors at Certificate of Merit every year, first and second places at competitions and plays well above the level of her peers only because she is home schooled and has the time to practice. She wants to learn how to sing too. Piano is not a portable instrument, and I wonder if there will even be a future audience for concert piano music in the US.

 

Remind me to come back. I just accidentally deleted my answer!!!!!And I have to go NOW...

[Storm Bay]

Karin~

 

Tell me about your experience at SF Conservatory of Music. Did you go after school, summer, or some other program. What does one do with a piano background? We live almost close enough to consider going down to the city for one of the conservatory's summer programs in chamber music. I'm not sure what age is best to do this. Any advice? DD (age10, level 6) has played piano for 6 years and does quite well, honors at Certificate of Merit every year, first and second places at competitions and plays well above the level of her peers only because she is home schooled and has the time to practice. She wants to learn how to sing too. Piano is not a portable instrument, and I wonder if there will even be a future audience for concert piano music in the US.

 

Okay, I'm back and ready to redo this! First off, I was a junior/gr. 11, so I went for a weekly lesson after school with one of the best teachers in the school. My dad was doing a sabbatical there, so we were just there for a year, so that doesn't mean you should wait that long for something like that. However, I was a wasted talent and quit later that year because I was devoted to theatre. That same month I also auditioned with the Center for Theater Training (it's morphed into something else now, but I don't recall the new name) and was accepted there. I went back to piano at 28, though, when I lived in Ottawa Ontario, taking some exams with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (but they hold the exams all over the country) and then started teaching. I don't know the Amercian levels. You have to find the fine line between doing enough for her and not letting her burn out by doing too much too soon.

 

There are a variety of things you can do, but not many that make enormous amounts of money. However, if music is a big passion of your dc's and she practices, I'd pursue it. Even if she's never going to be a concert pianist there's nothing like the learning involved in playing those complicated Bach Fugues, for example. It does great things for the brain.

 

I discovered around age 30 I could have been a far better singer than pianist and that I have an enormous voice. However, I lacked the funds to pursue the lessons long enough to get there. Voice is wonderful, and she is old enough to start now. However, she doesn't have to. Until she finishes puberty, you won't know what kind of voice she's going to have, and there are some things no good teacher will do with a child anyway. The chief advantages to starting early is to get performance experience and ear development, since pianists tend to develop lazy ears (according to this teacher, and I believe it, although not always.)