[MusicTlk] Question for blind pianists

Fri Feb 15 12:31:54 UTC 2019

Ignasi

I watched your  video with great interest.  Am I correct in assuming, after watching the video, that you are totally blind?  I don’t want to make any assumptions about that.  Watching the video was very encouraging.  You are playing the exact type of music (classical) that I am interested in playing.  As I watched the video, I wanted to hear the whole piece, and I wished you’d have kept on playing the Beethoven.  But of course I know the video was not about playing the whole piece.  Anyway, your video was very encouraging.  You’re playing those jumps as if they were nothing.  Of course I know differently.  Still, if you as a blind player can do that, then this is just encouragement that I can do it too, and that there is a method to this madness.

By the way, I loved the tone on your grand.

Now, can I ask a few questions about when you practice a new piece?

First, do you have to take it slow so you can “get the feel of the distances in your head”?  And by “taking it slow”, I mean a methodical, measure by measure analysis of one section of the music at a time, so you can get the distances firmly etched in your mind for that group of measures.  Taking that approach would mean you have to analyze each measure in that group, because there could be jumps in each one.

Second, after you get the distance in your head for the group of measures you are working on, then you might have to practice music (and the jumps) 50, 100, however many times it takes until it becomes automatic?

Third, if you’re going measure by measure, then I’m assuming it would take you several weeks, or months, to complete a piece.

Fourth, one thing I noticed is that you don’t appear to be using any gimmicks to do the jumps.  It just looks like you’re jumping from note to note.  Let me try to explain.  For example, If I was on a G and wanted to hit the A in the next octave below, I might realize that I could put my fifth finger on the A immediately above the G I was already on.  Then, using that A as an anchor as a reference to know how to find the A in the next octave below.  In other words, the first A which is my “anchor key” is a “gimmick”, a “crutch”, that I use to help me find my next key.  In watching you, it appears that you aren’t doing anything like that.  You simply learn how far the next note is away from where you are and play it.

I know this all sounds very detailed, but I am just trying to find out what works, and what not to do.  Bottom line, this is a LOT OF HARD WORK.  I am definitely not opposed to repetition or hard work.  I’m just trying to understand what I have to do to make it happen.

Thanks so much for the video.  Seeing it happen is really a good thing.

Mike

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________________________________
From: MusicTlk <musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of Ignasi Cambra via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2019 7:33:12 PM
To: Music Talk Mailing List for Blind Musicians
Cc: Ignasi Cambra
Subject: Re: [MusicTlk] Question for blind pianists

Hello,
Not long ago I did a video about this kind of thing on my YouTube channel. Have a look see if it helps.
https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FWbM9CVZagMQ&data=02%7C01%7C%7C3e39c45604c84ee6f04508d692e5c604%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636857912892254964&sdata=5qqqcyULJKA6jhJ%2FUkLHVtTTeUeno5Hl4Tnfju%2FyiZM%3D&reserved=0

Sent from my iPhone

> On 14 Feb 2019, at 23:36, Karen McDonald via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Ella, I was going to follow up by pointing out this very fact so I'm glad you did. Another thing, Mike, is that Mr. Joplin himself notes that ragtime pieces shouldn't be played too fast. I'd rather play something a bit slower and get it right than to play it fast and be sloppy. I find Mr. Joplin's pieces haunting and beautiful and if they are played too fast, I think some of that gets lost.
>
> Peace
>
> Karen
>
>> On Feb 14, 2019 6:22 PM, Ella Yu via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Mike, I'm sorry for not finishing my response.  I think that to
>> develop this sort of muscle memory, I find slow practice helpful.
>> When I first learn a piece, I will always work on it slowly for
>> awhile and when I feel confident, I'll speed it up.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Mike Jolls via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org
>> To: Music Talk Mailing List for Blind Musicians
>> <musictlk at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Thu, 14 Feb 2019 22:47:38 +0000
>> Subject: Re: [MusicTlk] Question for blind pianists
>>
>> Ella and Karen
>>
>> Here’s a follow up question.  Ok I get the muscle memory thing.
>> How do you get the muscle memory?  A lot of repetition, try and
>> fail until you finally get it?  If that’s the answer I can see
>> I have a lot of work ahead of me.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Feb 14, 2019, at 2:47 PM, Karen McDonald via MusicTlk
>> <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Mike, I play a lot of Joplin pieces and some Gershwin pieces as
>> well.  I also play William Bolcom's Graceful Ghost Rag.  My hands
>> are small so these pieces are often a challenge for me.  However,
>> muscle memory works for me every time.  I love Joplin and I hope
>> you will find as much pleasure in playing his music as I do.
>>
>> Peace
>>
>> Karen
>> On Feb 14, 2019 3:19 PM, Mike Jolls via MusicTlk
>> <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Linda Mentink (and others), here’s a piano question.
>>
>> I’m working on some Scott Joplin – The Entertainer in
>> particular.  Of course this piece is using Stride Bass where the
>> left hand has to jump around a lot.  There are, at certain parts
>> of the music, jumps for the left hand that are two octaves.  One
>> jump in particular is from Bb right below middle C to a D natural
>> two octaves below middle C … quite a big jump.  I’m trying to
>> learn how to do this jump by feel, in other words not look at my
>> hands.  Invariably I miss the jump.  This is very frustrating.
>>
>> I’m hoping someone can give me some tips.
>>
>> Let me just say before I go on that I already know, from other
>> pieces I’ve played, that playing by feel is entirely possible.
>> Thank goodness I already know that.  Where the jump isn’t too
>> far, I can usually do that by feel.
>>
>> My question, however, is about making BIG jumps.  Do blind
>> pianists eventually (after hours and hours and thousands of
>> attempts when doing these large jumps) eventually get to the
>> point where their brain just knows how far to go?  They know what
>> they have to do and they have just learned (or rather their brain
>> has learned), through repetition, how to do it.  Or maybe they
>> take time in their daily practice routine and do an exercise
>> where they practice making jumps so that they give their brain
>> practice in doing this.  That way, when it comes to playing a
>> piece of actual music, they already know how to do this.  This is
>> all an assumption on my part, and I’m asking the question to
>> confirm it.  In some parts of the music I’m playing where an
>> octave jump is in order, I can usually do that.  My hands are
>> large enough that I can feel the octave jump.  But with these big
>> jumps, I’m trying to read the music and not look at my hands
>> (ultimately I will memorize the music).  My problem is that as
>> soon as my hand leaves the keyboard and I try to make the big
>> jump, I lose context as to where I am and I am uncertain as to
>> whether I can accurately hit what I need to hit.  Sometimes I hit
>> it, sometimes not.
>>
>> Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.
>>
>> Sent from
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