Here’s something I couldn’t have said better myself – why saying you don’t like a particular genre because it is repetitive is not valid. This is my 20-year-old son, who is a geology student at University and does a lot of music on the side. His musical background includes piano and theory lessons from mom, trumpet lessons from Gareth Jones in Calgary, and a myriad of other experiences through concert and jazz bands. One of his hobbies is making videos.
I guess in all those hours of cramming for music history exams, something stuck.
1) He certainly has Teacher in his DNA.
2) What an informed and articulate young man.
3) You must be so proud!
Thanks, Dave. I AM proud of him.
As one of those who is guilty of disliking some music because of its ‘repetitiveness’ I really appreciated your son’s video, especially knowing that it came from someone having an interest in both music and geology.
Joe Head
Marion, NC
Penn State, class of 1970 [B.S., geological sciences]
P.S.Started playing the piano again about 10 years ago after a 36 year hiatus. Have always loved Chopin, especially his nocturnes. After watching the Hallmark Hall of Fame version of “The Secret Garden” which featured Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 72 No. 1 in Em throughout it’s soundtrack, I decided to try and learn it in it’s unabridged standard edition. It took me over 8 months to even begin to feel comfortable with it. But now I play through it almost daily and have for months without ever tiring of it [talk about being guilty of repetitiveness!]
I think repetitiveness has gotten a bad rap! There’s nothing so satisfying as hearing – or playing – something familiar, departing from it, and returning “home.”
I love stories like yours – very encouraging for those of us who wonder how much long-term effect we’re having on our students.
That Chopin nocturne is lovely, isn’t it? How’s the 3rd page page working for you? It has a few rather nasty bits.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Joe, and thank you for your comments.
Ah, page three! When I first downloaded the free sheet music for that nocturne from the International Music Score Library Project’s website [imslp.org], I immediately realized that unless I could get a handle on the 3rd page, I would never be able to enjoy playing this piece on my own. From day one, I made a decision to start working on the hard sections of page three a little every day in addition to working my way through the rest of the nocturne starting at its beginning.
Looking back on how I attempted to learn the piece [having no piano teacher to consult], I feel I made some major mistakes. When it came to those seven difficult measures containing the fast right hand runs and trills, I decided to learn the right hand part first. I started with the easiest run and slowly plowed ahead. Some of the runs did not include suggest fingerings so that added to the challenge. After learning the right hand part I went back and started working on the left hand, not by itself, but trying immediately to add it to what I had learned for the right hand. I just couldn’t do it. When I started learning the beginning of the piece I would attempt to sightread and play both hands at the same time. Even this I initially found quite hard because of the tension between the steady triplet pattern in the left hand and the frequent ‘offbeat’ notes in the right. Listening to at least four other recorded versions of the nocturne helped me to eventually play the left hand without thinking while concentrating on bringing out the melody in the right.
I’ve enjoyed your blogs dealing with recommended books on subject of music. One of my patients [I work in internal medicine now, not geology] is a church organist. He frequently passes along great books pertaining to classical music. The first book Mr. Creekmore gave me was Carter Harman’s “A Popular History of Music.” What an eyeopener for someone who thought he was already familiar with the history of music!
In the section discussing Chopin and the concept of ‘rubato,’ Harman states: “Chopin’s own rule resembled Mozart’s: left (“maitre de chapelle”) hand steady; right (“singing”) hand free to speed up or slow down.”
When I was struggling through the nocturne the first few months I mentioned my difficulties to a respiratory therapist at our hospital. He studied keyboard under a pianist that played with the Chicago Symphony. He said that she taught him to always learn the left hand part of a piece first, then learn the right hand by itself before trying to put them together. I suspect that that doesn’t always have to be THE best approach [I also enjoyed your blogs dealing with sightreading] but I am wondering now, with pieces like nocturnes where there is a steady underlying pattern in the left hand, if that would have been a better approach for me to take, especially with page three!
Didn’t mean to run on so. You have a great website and offer a lot of musical insight. I have really ennjoyed getting your blog updates. One last thing, Mr. Creekmore gave me another absolutely fascinating book on the history of music, one which you recently referred to in a blog: Harold Schonberg’s “The Great Pianists.” What a great read for anyone who loves playing or listening to the piano.
I’m working my way through “The Great Pianists” – it is a great read. Unfortunately, I tend to always have several books on the go so unless it’s a novel that I can’t put down, it takes me awhile to get through them. An adult student of mine just gave me Daniel Levitin’s “This is Your Brain on Music”. Have you read it? Not quite as fascinating (for me) yet as Schonberg’s – but that’s probably not a fair comparison.
A post about rubato is in my list of draft posts – I’ll have to get on it at some point.
There certainly isn’t any definitive way to learn nasty passages with irregular rhythms. I just wish my students would approach it as systematically and persistently as you seem to! Kudos to you!
I used to work out irregular rhythms in my head as I walked to high school – just walking was too boring and that was before listening devices in the ears (and reading while walking just wasn’t practical).
Thank you for taking the time to comment and for reading my blog. I loved reading what you had to say.
LaDona,
Thank you for the kind reply to my ramblings. The current book that I am reading is Steve Turner’s “The Band That Played On,” a biography of the lives of the eight musicians that went down with the Titanic. The most recent piano piece that I have gotten through is the first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata,’ also learned from the standard manuscript in four sharps! At least, there are fewer ‘offbeat’ notes in the right hand this time. I play through the three pages most every day focusing on sightreading rather than committing it to memory yet. I’ve found that when I can finally play a piece [the notes anyway] as the composer originally intended, that I feel somewhat connected in time [not in any mystic way] with the composer himself. I’m starting to enjoy some all time favorite music on a different level. Will be heading up to Canada [Toronto] in a few weeks for a medical conference. I have relatives on my mom’s side in both Mississauga and Tiverton. Hope to visit the home of John McCrae ["In Flanders Fields"] in Guelph, as well as the grave of Joseph Scriven ["What A Friend We Have In Jesus]just north of Port Hope, Ontario.
Let me know what you think of “The Band That Played On.”
Have fun in Toronto, Joe – let me know if you’re ever in Alberta!
Thanks again for all your comments.
LaDona
I continue to enjoy your blog posts. Am intrigued by the “This Is Your Brain On Music” book even if some of the author’s subsequent writing has met with mixed reviews. Just finished Steve Turner’s book on the eight musicians that went down with the Titanic. The only other book of Steve’s that I have read is “Amazing Grace [the story of America's most beloved song." You have to really love both music and history. He really goes into a lot of detail that most people might find boring and consider 'overkill,' but I appreciate his thoroughness. He uncovered about every fact and photograph known to exist relating to these musicians. There will always be unsettled controversy regarding the very last song the band played, but the evidence still leans most heavily towards "Nearer My God To Thee." Interestlngly, the book ends with the recent discovery of what might well be the violin and music case that band leader Wallace Hartley had strapped to his body when it was recovered from the Atlantic about 10 days after the sinking. It looks like it ended up in the family of his fiancee. Included with the violin was sheet music for an arrangement of "Nearer My God To Thee" written by an Australian composer, Lewis Carey. It was written in 1902 and dedicated to a popular singer of the time who made it her signature song, maybe like Kate Smith [ in the US] did with “God Bless America” during WWII. Here’s the web address where you can download the sheet music free:
http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.mus-vn35551275-s3-v
I don’t know how to get it to come up as simply a link that you can click on. I need my college aged daughter her to help her tech challenged dad. By the way, does your son want to do something with his geology? Is he interested in soft rock or hard rock geology? When I graduated [1970] the only jobs available were in petroleum geology. It was either that or go to grad school.
Just tried that link and got an error message. Try this web address instead, it should work. By the way Carey dedicated his arrangement to a Miss Ada Crossley. Haven’t done a google search on her. Her name is unfamiliar, but apparently she was quite popular on both sides of the Atlantic and researchers think that that is why many people of different church backgrounds all would have thought they heard “Nearer My God To Thee” played that night. Here’s the link:
nla.gov.au/nla.mus-vn4232887
So here’s what’s interesting – the sheet music link you sent has a version of Nearer My God to Thee that is different from the version that was played on the movie version of the Titanic, and different from the one I know (which is the same as on the movie). The melody is similar, but definitely not the same. Hmmm… any insights there?
The reality of living in Alberta is that most geology grads end up in the petroleum industry – and my son is OK with that (it gets a bad rap in the media, but he’s also seeing the other side). He’s heading to Utah in a couple of weeks for a 5-week field school. He’s enjoyed most of what he’s done so far. Do you work in the industry?
As always, thanks for your comments, Joe. Have a good week!
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