20 Piece Polishing Challenge Video #2: Bourée in F Major

For the second piece in my challenge, I chose a piece that would juggle nicely with Easter Triduum music and getting speed and memory secure in Typhoon. I picked Telemann's Bourée in F Major.

ABOUT BOUREE IN F

Composer: Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767), Germany

Source: RCM Level 7 Repertoire

Notable Score Markings: M.M. = 88 - 100 to the half note, devoid of expression and dynamic markings

Prior Experience with the Piece: I've taught this lively piece many times as it is a favourite choice amongst my Royal Conservatory students. 

Learning Challenges: Jumps, voice balance, fingering, speed

My Practice Log

Day 1: Ran through the entire piece. Reviewed patterns and structure. Identified fingering and coordination trouble spots. Did a bunch of blocked chord drills while yelling out the chords. Remembered to record practice videos to show how I drilled the trouble spots.

Day 2: Did a full run-through - cold. Tempo was just a few notches below the recommended tempo but wasn't able to maintain it during the trouble spots. Played around with ornaments and terraced dynamics. Will try a couple of different coordination and flow drills next practice.

Day 3: During my student's lesson, I showed her how I worked on her trouble spot in bars 10 - 12 using the Twice as Hard Drill. We dissected the harmonic structure in the B section.

Day 4: Did some slow run-throughs with and without the metronome, using the Every Other Bar Drill to work on flow. Decided to record a snippet of running through the second page for Instagram account. Naturally, I picked a spot where I wasn't swearing at myself for messing up.

Day 5: Did a full run-through of the piece at around while stopping to drill spots where I stumbled. Tried playing through again at a slower tempo (approximately 70 beats per minute). It was flowing fairly well. Dynamics and shaping is all there, if I can get the flow more consistently, then we're good enough to perform. 

Day 6: Played with the metronome set at 66 beats per minute to start. Got up to approximately the 76 bpm range sounding confident and fluent. Piece felt rushed and wobbly at a faster tempo.

It is important to note that most Baroque music is devoid of markings. That leaves tempo, dynamics, and expression up to the musician, based upon their knowledge of Baroque music and performance practices. Although the RCM book does specify a tempo marking, note that it's only a recommendation. 

Bourée the piece is based on bourée, the old Baroque dance. The important things to convey are the characteristics of the dance - upbeat and bouncy - along with the period characteristics of terraced dynamics and ornamentation. If that can be conveyed at a slightly slower or faster tempo than what RCM recommends, that's perfectly fine.

Having said that, I felt comfortable and confident enough with my Bourée in the the mid 70s range and decided to record. I wound up with a strong run-through on the first take. I did try for a second take in hopes of getting a cleaner performance but the magic was gone. This is still a fluent performance, so I'll take it.

Piece number #3 is in the works. I tried recording a practice video today but my camera batteries died and I wasn't too happy with my webcam and mic either. A clear sign that it's time for me to move on to practising music for this weekend's Easter services.

You can follow my progress with this challenge by checking out these two playlists:

• My 20 Piece Polishing Challenge Playlist - contains the video performances

• My Practice Videos - show how I work through some of the common trouble spots

The practice drills I have referenced are part of Maestro's Music Tricks - a deck of cards with practice drills that I have put together with my students' help. It's going to be getting a reboot later this year. Stay tuned for details.

Check back here for my thoughts and musings as I work through the pieces.

My 20 Piece Polishing Challenge

While updating my student repertoire playlist on YouTube, I noticed that one of the videos that I selected was tied to a 40 Piece Challenge. Curious, I did a little digging.

It turns out that piano teacher Elena Fortin has been participating in these 40 piece challenges with other colleagues in the Art of Piano Pedagogy Facebook group for several years. They learn one piece a week and upload a performance of it at the end of the week. 

What a great idea for us music teachers to keep our chops up. Learning pieces in a short amount of time really forces a musician to practice efficiently. 

Lately, I've been working more on collaborative music. My brother and I have had fun working on music by Pia no Jac. I played and sung at a friend's wedding recently and have been doing more of that in church choir. Then, there are the various VGM and J-Pop projects that I have been doing with my buddy, the Animal Alchemist. In most of these cases, I utilize my technical, improvisational and sight-reading skills more than anything else. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm getting a little rusty at taking a solo piece - especially a classical one - and polishing it up to performance standard.

With more of my students moving up to the upper intermediate and advanced grades, I myself need to get back into shape. Sure, I know their pieces well enough to teach them, but they are by no means polished. Nor do they need to be, but what better way to get my solo piano polishing skills back up than by starting with my students' pieces?

Setting up my 20 Piece Polishing Challenge

I set up the parameters for my 20 piece challenge as follows:

• Polish 20 student pieces between now and August 31, 2018.

• Record polished performances of the challenge pieces and upload them onto the Studio's YouTube Channel.

• Pieces must not be ones I have previously learned and polished up to performance standard (that will be another self-imposed challenge).

• Pieces must be between Grade 7 - 10 level in the Royal Conservatory or Conservatory Canada (Traditional or Contemporary Idioms) syllabi.

• Repertoire must be for solo piano.

• Memorization is optional.

As I have to juggle this project with the rest of the repertoire I'm working on, I'm not going to pin myself down to spitting out a piece a week. I have had plenty of practice speed learning pieces and getting them to "good enough." I need more practice getting things to a much higher level. Some pieces will take me just a few days to polish while others will take several weeks.

Perhaps I'll participate in the 40 Piece Challenge next fall but for now, this seems like a good way to get back into shape while being able to help my students with their repertoire even more.

20 Piece Challenge Video #1: Disco Visit

About Disco Visit

Composer: Mike Schoenmehl (b. 1957), Germany

Source: RCM Level 8 Etudes

Notable Score Markings: Einleitung, MM ♩ = 84 - 92, straight eighths at the start. "With a heavy groove!" at bar 5.

Prior Experience with the Piece: Minimal. I sight-read it when I first bought the Etudes book at the beginning of the school year and immediately thought it would be a perfect fit for one of my students. I was right and she's going to start working on it later this year.

Learning Challenges: syncopated rhythm, leaping bass, repeated large chords and octaves, hand coordination, speed

My Disco Visit Journey (AKA, "Practice Log")

Day 1: Ran through the entire piece. Reviewed patterns and structure. Identified rhythm and coordination trouble spots (bars 9 - 12 and bars 17 - 19). Drilled them by tapping and counting out the rhythms, playing hands separately and then hands together several times. Got the first spot clean and consistent. The second? Still working on it. #awkwardchords #syncopationproblems

Day 2: Checked to see if I could get the easier bits up to 84 beats per minute before drilling the fingering fingering on bars 17 - 19 and 21 - 24 until I had better consistency than the previous practice. Drilled the trouble spots at the piano with and without the metronome. Did full run-throughs with and without metronome at 60 - 69 beats per minute. Holding steady.

Realized how easy the patterns were to memorize and began to memorize the music in four-bar chunks. Tempo shot up to 72 - 80 beats per minute as the memory improved. Did periodic memory and speed drills in between bookkeeping and errands, getting obsessed with the idea of reaching 84 beats per minute by the end of the day. Stopped after realizing that trying to get two pieces with large chords up to speed was beginning to take its toll on my right hand and arm. Will need to rest my arm and break things down slowly to memorize "release all tension" spots. So much for practising the big chordal section in Typhoon today.

Day 3: Rested the piece. Worked on Typhoon instead as I performed it later in the day at the studio piano party.

Day 4: It was a light practice day as I wound up suffering from a bad case of eye strain from using the wrong glasses at work the night before. I simply ran through the trouble spot between bar 17 - 19 by memory slowly, and in a darkened studio (which really forces your aural and tactile memory to kick in). I made a point of really relaxing my forearm during those eighth rests. I even tried with my eyes closed.

Day 5: It's my lesson prep/housecleaning day, so I alternated between drilling my memory stations and cleaning my house. I recorded my final round of memory and tempo drills to show how I worked on the hardest part of the piece (click here for the practice video).

Then, it was time to record. Here's my video performance of Disco Visit:

I've got Easter Triduum music to focus on and Typhoon to finish learning this week, so it may be a couple of weeks before I get another challenge piece up to snuff. You can follow my progress on by checking out these two playlists:

• My 20 Piece Polishing Challenge Playlist - contains the video performances

• My Practice Videos - show how I work through some of the common trouble spots

Check back here for my thoughts and musings as I work through the pieces.

Professional Development for Music Educators

Music educators who teach privately often work in isolation. Continuing education and professional development can re-energize one's teaching and musicianship.

Private music teachers wear a variety of hats in addition to teaching, such as: administrator, guidance counselor, mentor, coach, amateur-psychologist, marketing and salesperson, computer IT troubleshooter, webmaster, bookkeeper, ensemble musician and collaborative pianist.

The private music teacher faces the unique challenge of developing curricula tailored to each student. In addition, the studio music educator needs to learn how to switch gears and approaches quickly. The first student of the day may be a hyper five-year old, but the next student may be a serious 15 year-old, followed by a self-conscious 53 year-old. Each student requires a different approach, teaching and communication style to keep them engaged and progressing at a steady rate.

This rapid pace often leaves little time to practice scales, much less commit to professional development. However, by dedicating time for ongoing professional development, the private music teacher can learn about new techniques, tools and ideas and return to their studios re-energized by a fresh perspective.

Independent Professional Development Ideas for Music Teachers

Establishing personal learning goals for the term is one way music teachers can keep their own musicianship and technical skills in shape. For instance, piano teachers can decide to work through Bach's Inventions one by one or a set of character pieces by an unfamiliar composer. Voice teachers could work through a song cycle by an emerging composer.

All teachers could work their way through the repertoire for the conservatory system(s) they have adopted in their studio (e.g. Royal Conservatory/National Conservatory of Music of America, Conservatory Canada, Canadian National Conservatory of Music, London Conservatory of Music).

In larger city centers, there are community and professional musical clubs such as the Musicians' Support Group or Piano Diploma Association (both in Calgary, Alberta, Canada). These groups meet once a month for members to perform for each other.

Other performing ideas including joining a community ensemble, such as a choir or jazz combo, playing at church, as well as performing at events such as weddings, funerals, social and corporate functions.

Music educators can learn about new techniques and tools by reading professional publications. The American Music Teacher, Canadian Music Teacher, Clavier and Keyboard Companion are examples of print publications.

There are also online discussion forums for music teachers, such as Teachers.net, and the can-pno-ped Group on Yahoo Groups to discuss music pedagogy, studio administration and life/work balance.

Continuing Education Courses for Music Teachers

Studying with a teacher who is more experienced is another way to keep for music teachers to keep growing. Every teacher's training and "pedigree" is unique, making it possible to learn new approaches with each teacher.

Learning a new style from a teacher who is more experienced in a that particular genre can re-energize a music teacher's own playing. It is far easier for a classically-trained musician to teach bossa nova, improvisation and jazz after signing up for some coaching sessions.

Taking up a new instrument as an adult may sound daunting. However, one's overall musicianship stands to benefit from doing so. By learning new technique on the new instrument, music teachers may come to realize where they have been unconsciously storing tension developed from having poor posture or learn how to play more expressively on their primary instrument.

Music teachers can continue their education in their field. Graduate courses for teachers are available in Music Performance, Conducting, Composition and Pedagogy. Some universities, such as the University of Ottawa, offer online education for music teachers. The Royal Conservatory of Music is one of several conservatories worldwide that offers a Licentiate program.

Music teachers can benefit from taking continuing their music education in a related field, such as the Feldenkrais method, the Alexander Technique, general pedagogy or psychology courses. Even learning new software to use when teaching or to improve office processes would be beneficial.

There are numerous workshops, conferences and seminars on music performance, music pedagogy, composition, collaborative music and theory. The Music Pedagogy International Conference, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the Music Teachers National Association and the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations host conferences on an annual or bi-ennial basis.

The Banff Centre for the Arts, the Eastman School of Music, the Calgary Arts Summer School Association and the Heifetz International Music Institute offer courses and workshops annually.

Music educators can also gain new ideas and build a support base by joining a professional network, such as the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations (CFMTA), Alberta Piano Teachers' Association (APTA) or the Alberta String Association (ASA).

There is a Japanese proverb that says, "To teach is to learn." Music teachers can re-energize their teaching and develop their own musicianship by dedicating time to professional development. Through independent study projects and reading, music teachers can maintain their own playing skills. Music teachers can keep their performance chops up and stay in tune with the performing challenges their students face by performing regularly.

Through courses and professional associations, music educators can learn about new techniques and tools to incorporate into their studio and build a support base. By getting involved with the musical community, the stresses and frustrations that come from working in isolation can be diminished.

Sources

Canadian Piano Pedagogy

Music Teachers' Helper. "Skill Upgrades for Music Teachers" (October 30, 2009)

Suite101.com. "Teacher Professional and Personal Development" (December 21, 2009)

Originally published on Suite101.com on January 20, 2010. Updated March 24, 2013.

On Scaring Classically Trained Music Teachers with Contemporary Idioms

Earlier this month, I presented improvisation and various elements of Conservatory Canada's Contemporary Idioms syllabus to The Piano Pedagogy Group. This was a group of bright yet frightened classically trained piano teachers. After years of being told "Play what's on the page," the sight of a chord chart or a lead sheet drew looks of puzzlement and various states of uncertainty. Conservatory Canada has recently updated their Contemporary Syllabus in such a way that makes it easier to crossover to the "fun zone". I myself haven't gone through all of the changes yet (You can find out all about the syllabus changes here). What I did touch upon was my experience delving into contemporary idioms on a deeper level. Much deeper than playing through popular arrangements by Dan Coates, Bill Boyd and Phillip Keveren.

I began by sharing my experiences taking jazz piano lessons with jazz pianist, adjudicator, clinician and examiner Derek Stoll. Then, I walked them through various elements of preparing for my Level 7 Contemporary Idioms piano exam.

The bulk of my presentation was on sharing the resources I commonly use when teaching contemporary music, in addition to my approaches to teaching technique, improvisation and learning music that isn't in standard notation. This is rather huge, I will go into each area in more detail in subsequent posts. Hopefully, this will open up a dialogue between music teachers and students who would like to delve into the "fun zone".