The Art of Listening to Yourself
2023-05-22
> no this is not a self help blog
When I’m learning to play a new piece, I tend to go through the same 4 basic steps.
- Learn the notes — read the music, listen to a recording and get the basic movements under the fingers.
- Lock in the tuning and rhythm — playing “in tune” and “at the right time” is harder than you think, I swear!
- Add the written expression — this includes articulations (short, smooth), dynamics (loud, soft), tempo markings (fast, mournful).
- Play a story - bring my own meaning to the piece.
In practice these often blend into each other, since it’s hard to know what rhythm to play if I don’t know what I’m trying to say for example. There’s still one problem though: at the end of this process, I still don’t know if I actually sound good.
Traditionally, this is where a teacher comes in. They listen to you play and tell you what needs improving and how to do so. That said, it’s horribly inefficient to practice a piece one way, only to go to your lesson and be told to do the polar opposite.
So, I have decided to become the teacher.
When I reach step 4, I record multiple takes of a short passage. Then, I listen, analyse and adjust my playing before trying again. This way I can hear what I sound like to an audience, without having to wait for the next time my teacher’s in town.
I’m currently collecting these recordings in preparation for creating a tour through the process of learning a piece. My hope is it’ll create quite a satisfying journey from fumbling and unsure to a heart-wrenching marvel of the modern world. More likely, you’ll just hear me get more and more annoyed that I can’t quite hit that shift…
Here’s a little taster of progress on Kodaly’s “Sonata for Solo Cello” Op 8.
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