John Kenneth Adams has studied with many distinguished teachers including Carl Friedberg, one of the last students of Clara Schumann. A graduate of the University of Missouri at Kansas City he also studied three summers with Joanna Graudan at the Aspen Festival. At Yale he studied with Bruce Simonds, and later at the Royal Academy of Music with Hilda Dederich, both long-time pupils of Tobias Matthay. He has performed at the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Maryland Piano Festival and the Isbella Stewart Gardner Museum of Art in Boston. His international career started in 1969 with a Wigmore Recital in London, followed by more than 150 concerts in South America and Europe under the auspices of the United States Information Service (USIS). Regular performances at the Matthay Festivals in Toronto, San Francisco, Atlanta, Orlando, Pittsburgh and Richmond attracted wide notice. In 1986 he participated in the opening concerts of the Ho Am Arts Auditorium in Seoul, with nine subsequent visits to South Korea. Recent performances including the Royal Academy of Music, London, the MTNA National Convention in Seattle, and the 2006 Piccolo Spoleto Festival. He also performs frequently with Ella Ann Holding in two-piano recitals at many colleges and schools in the Southeast. He is a faculty member of the Varna International Masterclass and serves as director of the "Sundays at Lowman Piano Series" in White Rock, South Carolina.
John Kenneth Adams
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
School of Music
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
jadams12@sc.rr.com
I have long been fascinated with the development stage for young pianists as they enter into adolescence. During this period young people exhibit all the well known characteristics of personality fluxuation and rapid physical development. At the same time, they are looking for a safe harbor from all the new sensations and revelations they are experiencing. Music study can provide such a haven, as long as the teacher is aware that there are no rules for this period. In other words, it is a time for exploration and, sometimes, radical approaches to learning. Since this period is so unpredictable, teachers have to adjust their sights and expect the unexpected. For the very talented student, the demands of their repertoire suggest pieces of more length and complexity. It also means that what has been taught almost by osmosis in the early stages must now acquire labels and new connection of ideas. Students in general are approaching the main body of piano repertoire at a much earlier age. This is simply a fact, and attending most any audition of merit will see this point vividly portrayed. While one may not agree with this approach, it is out there and has to be dealt with. The question that has to be answered at this point is how do we proceed into the world of more advanced literature at a time when the student is not highly organized and emotionally volatile.
If you have taught for a long time, you realize that two principal areas will be your strongest aid when you work with this age group: your experience with a wide body of teaching materials and encountering a large number of students over a period of years. This enables you to make a plan of action centered around the individual, rather than just depending on some literature series book or graded list. Wide variances are the rule in this period, and you will find yourself working on several levels at the same time with any particular student. Weak points in technique have to be addressed, along with the greatly expanded world of harmonic complexity. Just because they may be able to play the notes does not necessarily imply that they are hearing what they are playing! Or, they might actually hear quite well, but do not yet have the keyboard mobility they need to make it happen. These are two enormous points to consider. Another point of equal importance is how the student is actually reacting to the figuration of the music. Are they seeing patterns, are they seeing musical shapes, are they hearing the harmonic underpinnings of these shapes and patterns?
For younger teachers who have only taught a short while, a path through this stage will emerge in the following paragraphs. What you have learned in pedagogy classes can be an idealized world, where adolescents miraculously develop in lock step with the graded materials at hand. Hence the overwhelming popularity of series books. It has been my experience that series books can be a mixed blessing, often consisting of the same materials printed over and over in various versions. The really gifted student is most likely ahead of the literaure in these books. The adventuresome teacher will explore the great literature and find isolated movements of sonatas and suites, preludes and nocturnes, and character pieces by the great composers. Many works by composers that were formerly very expensive are now available in affordable editions. For example, if you teach a Prelude by Debussy you should have them purchase the complete set. The same applies for Schubert Impromptus and Chopin Preludes; have the whole set in front of them so they can explore on their own the other works and their relationship to one another.
There are a lot of ups and downs during the adolescent years, but big gains can be made if you stay focused on the larger scheme of things. In taking on a longer advanced compositions after years of much shorter works, students will need a lot of structure in their work, perhaps learning a whole new set of work habits. What follows are ideas learned from many years of teaching that have stood the test of time. I am addressing both the teacher and the student throughout these maxims.
Ten Maxims
1. Learn to incorporate theoretical training into the learning procedure, constantly referring to the principal key relationships and how they affect the character of the music. There is often a disconnect between the learning of facts concerning theoretical matters and their application to the music at hand. This is often driven by fulfilling theory requirements for MTNA and other similar type auditions, matters which, more often then not, are left to the last minute. All students should learn simple I-IV-V-I chord progressions, inversions of chords and major and minor scales in four octaves by Junior High, if not before. How often do we ask them to identify these elements in the pieces they are learning? Great composers simply break the rules more often than they follow them. Learning how to identify what is usual and what is NOT usual in a composition can be a tremendous learning tool. For example, If you move from major to minor in a composition (or vice versa) this should be reflected not only in the concept of emotion implied in such a move, but also in how this affects the whole. Mozart is the great genius in the use of this device. His changes from major to minor are so heartfelt they render mere "descriptions" useless. Some changes of this kind happen quickly. Others occur at key points, for example the middle part of a slow movement, or a section within a rondo.
2. Keeping key structure firmly in mind, note unusual modulations and harmonic patterns. How many times in a lesson do we stop and tell a student to listen to what he is doing. More often then not the problem is they don't hear the implied harmony underneath the figurations they are playing. The teacher should reinforce the student's listening at this point by playing the progression as a duet to the students part. You will be amazed how the student lights up and responds. And the teacher will get some practice in keyboard harmony! Difficult modulations and harmonic patterns should be simplified so that the student plays just an outline of the passage, for instance the top and bottom lines. You might go so far as to copy out in their notebook the exact pared down progression. This can save hours further down the line. A student is never secure with what he doesn't hear correctly.
3. Note unusual changes in scale patterns, especially the rapid interweaving of harmonic, pure and harmonic minor scales within the same pattern. This is why we study Bach. He is the greatest genius of counterpoint who ever lived. Students often forget Bach Inventions so readily because they have learned them on automatic pilot. One lesson going over the various scale patterns will be enlightening for the student and teacher. Beethoven often starts scale passages in 16ths on the second 16th, preceded by a 16th rest. Take a quick breath on the 16th rest and head for the next pulse. This applies to an anacrustic entry in all scale passages, now matter where it starts in the bar. Otherwise the accent falls in the wrong place and a pile up is just around the corner. What goes into the mind incorrectly at this stage is almost impossible to correct later. Both these examples stress the need to both know all the scales, but also to know how the composers use them
4. In passages that expand over many bars, begin to search out inner patterns in the figurations that outline the harmonic movement. An example is continuous 16ths or 8ths that run without a break for many bars, especially in Mozart, Schubert and Bach. This area of teaching is one of the most challenging, as it means working across bar lines as patterns don't always start automatically on the down beat. What was so easily accomplished in earlier stages by just organizing the music by two, four, and eight bar bits, now means that overstressing of the downbeat goes at cross purposes with the musical sense of the music. Of course, one must always note and feel the downbeat, but the overstressing of it will kill the flow of the music more readily than anything else. All long phrases are the sum of many parts. Breakdowns occur because of the long attention span required. Solving this type of problem is a key to understanding longer compositions as a whole. Everything in music is a pattern. These patterns are reflected in the figuration and spell out the progressions involved. This sounds almost trite, but is needs to be said at every lesson. It will enlighten the student to the true nature of rhythm and how it grows like a mighty river FORWARD towards the ultimate climax of the whole.
5. Learn to break down difficult technical passages into small fragments. Don't be a slave to the fingerings recommended in the score. Always look for a pattern, no matter how small, so that you learn a series of physical sensations, not just a lot of accents. Nine times out of ten a mistake occurs BEFORE you actually make the mistake. Failure to recognize pattern change, not noting modulations, poor fingering, inaccurate rhythm…all these contribute to that mistake waiting to happen. If you find yourself continually breaking down in certain places, copy those places out into your notebook, number them, and practice them at odd moments. I often stop while walking past my own piano and play just one or two bars, so that I can say I know them DEAD ON! Of equal importance is the habit of practicing parallel passages, for instance passages that might be almost the same on repetition, or may be quite different Place these passages side by side so you learn their differences, and how to anticipate those differences while you are playing. Learn to think like a race car driver, that is think ahead far enough to avert a mishap.
6. Avoid repetition practice that numbs the ear. Most problems are actually listening problems. TECHNIQUE IS LISTENING! If you can develop the patience, stop after you play a section and critique yourself. This takes time, but it actually saves far more time further down the road. Just repeating a passage over and over is not secure practice. You end up practicing the same mistake over and over.
7. Go from broad strokes to more detailed investigation over a period of time. Don't pile on information before the student is comfortable with the basic physical and technical skills required. Put the main emphasis on rhythmic stability and physical comfort in the early stages. Learn to sometimes practice UNEMOTIONALLY so that your energy is directed to the solving of layers of problems. I repeat again Nadia Boulanger's great maxim: "Do not appeal to the emotions until the intellect has been thoroughly satisfied."
8. Constantly refer to the metronome to ensure you stay within the same tempo for the whole movement. Never practice with the metronome ticking away through the whole piece. Use it as a prop to test yourself against.
9. Always think of the mood of the piece your are playing. This is your greatest aid in determining the color and nuance you want to bring to the music. Be aware that you need a variety of touches to make music truly come alive. Experiment with how you approach the key. For instance, if you take hold of the key just as you might clasp an object, coning in to the key from above, you will be in touch with the key as it makes its decent to the tone spot for a longer period of time, enabling you to judge the resistance of the key more readily. The result will be a more controlled and beautiful sound.
10. As you approach performances, have enough sessions playing in front of people so you are comfortable with all aspects of the piece. Try to remember a performance is just that and nothing more. It is NOT the end of the world. Let your feelings guide you so that you are in a communicative mood. Avoid all last minute cramming, as all this does is make you more nervous. As a rule of thumb, you should be at performance standard at least a month before the event. Set deadlines for memory work.
One last thought students. One has to take a chance to make a big jump. Things will not be as predictable as many risks are involved. Keep you ambitions geared to the big picture. You are laying down a deep foundation for the years ahead. Just think. At age fourteen you still have four more years before college beckons. Spend your talent dollars wisely now and reap the bigger rewards later.
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