One of the greatest obstacles in our own piano development when we begin learning is getting to grips with the idea that we need to bring together an awful lot of different functions.
For example, both hands need to do something different. That's two things already. Now, add the fact that you can have one - sometimes two - pedals on the go. Up to four things.
But all the while, there is something that is so easy to 'let slide' as we focus on the fingering and hitting the right notes:
The art of listening whilst performing piano!
It sounds like a no brainer, granted. Music is fundamentally an audible art-form, so what do I mean specifically.
Do I mean that you may not 'hear' the music.
No.
I mean that you don't proactively listen to it.
And this is one major step towards being a better pianist as it allows us to be more self aware, self critical and also gives us a positive push towards bettering our performances.
Let's first of all, however, prove my point with a non-musical warm up:
Listening - A Warm Up Exercise
Sit down and relax.
Now close your eyes (preferably once you've read to the end of the instructions!)
Now...listen.
Take everything in. Focus on each individual sound.
Compare this to what you heard before?
What you heard before was just your brain's way of taking in a 'general overview'. Maybe you heard cars going past. Maybe the oven is on in the kitchen. Perhaps there are birds outside. But it all comes in together as one general sound.
Nonetheless, you can still vouch for all of these things when prompted...
However, by closing your eyes and focussing your attention, you can pick it apart even further. Perhaps your one bird is, in fact, three birds - now you can pick them apart. Maybe you hadn't appreciated how relentless the traffic sound was, the deep rumbling much more an irritation now you're intently listening than it was previously. Maybe you can hear a pitch within the oven fan that you didn't hear before - otherwise just considering it similar to 'white noise'.
Not to mention, of course, that you might pick up on a whole range of other things! Footsteps far away that were too insignificant to care about. Distant chatter in the beer garden at the end of the street. You may even hear the distant drums of an outdoor radio if the weather is good!
This is the difference between hearing and listening, and what we often do when we play through a piece of music / practice a piece of music - especially in the early stages of our piano learning journey - is simply just hear it, rather than actively listen to it, thus allowing for self criticism (both positive and constructive) and, therefore, development.
Listening to Piano Without Performing - A Practice Exercise
For my choice of music, I have chosen one of Beethoven's most beloved sonatas - Piano Sonata No. 14 in C# minor, better known as 'Moonlight Sonata' - because it is one that we all know how it should go.
So - have a listen to my performances of the opening bars of the first movement ('Adagio Sostenuto') and make up your own mind as to which one of these is the better performance:
Answers at the end of the blog.
This might seem an elementary exercise because, at the end of the day, we can quite easily hear mistakes. If we are learning piano, it's safe enough to assume that we have a decent enough ear to be able to pick less musical performances out - even if the errors are only slight. However, the astonishing revelation is as follows:
We don't hear the music as clearly as we did the above examples when it is us, ourselves, playing!
It's something that requires a bit of training to get into the habit of - listening - but the sooner you get into that mindset, the easier everything will be.
How to Improve Your Listening Whilst Playing the Piano
This begs the question, therefore, as to how we are supposed to improve our skill.
Luckily, there are many ways we can do it!
Listen to Your Music Independently
The first thing we need to do is establish what we are aiming for. Luckily, the majority of repertoire you could ever yearn to play on the piano is out there recorded by countless other performers and - thanks to the increasing number of accessible web based services (YouTube, Spotify, TikTok, Amazon etc.) you'd usually be hard pushed to not be able to find a few different recordings.
So - why is it so important to listen to other people? Surely we're interested in your interpretations and yours alone??
Listening to music that you wish to perform yourself can create much more familiarity with your piece anyway, but listening to different interpretations will allow you to listen to how different people perform the same music, thus widening your understanding of how you wish to perform it. Listening to a desirably performed rendition will further secure this in your mind and allow you to be more aware of when you are not achieving it during your own performance. This can help tackle any obstacle, from dynamic to tempo to pedalling!
An even more guaranteed way of getting results whilst listening is to follow the score as you listen. This way, you can really start to understand the nitty-gritty of the notation and how best you can interpret certain parts.
Record Yourself Playing
We don't need to be record producers in this day and age! Most of us have smartphones now, and even these little devices are good enough to again make this point:
You don't hear yourself the same when you're performing as you do when you're listening!
So, the simple solution here: record yourself playing through a practice run.
Then, listen back.
Consider the following:
is your tempo what you want? (performer bias or panicking often leads to too fast a rendition)
are you keeping a steady pulse (if you count along: "1 - 2 - 3 - 4" - can you keep the tempo the same or does your recording race away from your counting at times?)
are the notes even? Are some notes in melodic runs a bit quiet compared to the rest, or are some too harsh?
is the balance between left and right hand / melody and accompaniment correct?
if you are pedalling, is it clear pedalling or is everything starting to sound a bit muddled?
There may be other things you can pick out that are less than desirable for your intended musical performance, but the above is a good starting point?
Commit More of Your Repertoire to Memory
I could write a whole blog post on how to do this most effectively, but bear in mind it is more than just muscle memory.
The stronger your music and piano theory, the more naturally you will play. With a good understanding of theory you will be able to develop more natural instinct for playing, such as:
which groups of notes go together and when (e.g. if you are in the key of D major and are struggling to remember whether or not a certain group of notes is D - G - B or D - F♮ - B♭, our music theory brain may kick in and tell us it's more likely to be D - G - B because neither F♮ 'nor B♭ are in the key of D major).
developing understanding of how different intervals sound (such as a second, third, fourth etc.) will allow for the memory to better remember how certain harmonies go together. For example, a D - F# is a major third, which sounds closer and tighter knit than a fourth or fifth yet still retains clarity, unlike the second.
These are just a couple of examples and, of course, it can take time to grasp.
But having this instinctive nature of playing will allow you to actively listen more whilst you are playing. If you are thinking too hard about what notes to play, when, how loud etc. then most of your brainpower will be focussing on this rather academic output and your listening will be downgraded to hearing.
Conclusion
It is extremely important to get used to listening to yourself proactively sooner rather than later.
Of course, this is easier said than done, but start small!
Listening to music you are learning being performed by other people is a great start, providing you give it your full attention.
Then - if you haven't already - pick apart small passages of the score to focus on and consider how you can make it a natural performance. Is the left hand merely playing a broken chord? Is the right hand playing a simple stepwise melody? Once there is a little more academic understanding behind the passage, try playing it a few times but giving it the best attention you can as you do so.
Finally, record yourself playing it and listen back. How does it sound? Are you happy? What needs changing? Go back and keep trying and sooner than you realise you'll be listening to yourself much more competently whilst you play!
Answers
The fourth performance of 'Moonlight Sonata' on the video is the best performance and the one we should strive for.
Number 1 has all the correct notes but a rather uneven rhythm - something we can struggle to tighten up if we're not actively listening.
Number 2 has all the correct notes and a good rhythm, but an inconsistent balance. Some notes are harsh, some are almost inaudible, and the left hand sometimes drowns out the melody in the right.
Number 3 is note perfect, rhythmically even and has a lovely touch but is played too fast - this is a very common problem for performers who aren't aware of how their performance sounds, especially for slow pieces.
Number 4 amends all the mistakes above.
Jack Mitchell Smith is a piano teacher based in Macclesfield, Cheshire. Click here to find out more.
Weekly blogs are posted that may help you with your musical or piano journey. Click here to sign up to the mailing list so you never miss a post!
Comments