I love and respect art, and have found that painting a story during piano lessons is a very useful tool.
Varlery Lloyd Watts, concert pianist and teacher from Canada (she’s the performer of the Suzuki piano literature) is exceptional in her field for creating stories around the pieces she plays. Often in concert she will begin by telling the audience a story she created about a piece. She will tell the story and insert snippets of the piece so her audience is able to correlate the visual idea to the aural. It’s a great way for audience members of all musical backgrounds to get more involved with the music by providing a heightened opportunity of listening.
Valery does this also with her piano students. In master classes one will often hear her say, “When I hear that music it makes me think of…”. Then she proceeds to further her picture with the student and collaborate ideas. She is a master at this technique.
Although my stories are a bit less entertaining than hers, I love using this technique with students.
Here’s why:
1. It uses the right brain instead of the left. So often teachers say, “play forte here, add a ritard there….” Wouldn’t it be more fun to say, “play like a happy giant here who is slowing down to capture an annoying bird”?
2. When thinking a story the child’s brain focuses on the story instead of technical points, over all, creating a performance that includes more passion.
3. It helps the child get the big picture which brings unity to the entire piece. I especially love creating stories to sonatinas because of their structure. They lend themselves easily to a beginning, middle and end.
4. It gives incentive to practice. I would much rather think about practicing a piece about a princess who gets rescued by a handsome prince than think about watching my hand position, the exposition, or the diminuendo, etc.
5. It brings creativity and fun to the lesson.
6. It gives the child another tool to use when practicing. I have had students come to me with stories they created. My daughter has told me she uses the story technique when she goes to concerts and creates stories in her head while listening.
What I also like to do is start a piece with a story and then have the student finish it themselves for the next lesson. It almost always results in a more passionate performance.
So grab your paint brush and give it a go!
I love this idea! It gives the students a kind of ownership over the music – rather than focusing on getting it RIGHT, they can create their own reasons for the notes being in the order that they are, so that when they are performing they are simply honouring the story, and thus honouring the integrity of the music. Program music can get a bit undermined sometimes, by some who believe in ‘music for music’s sake’… but I think the more listening pathways we can create – for ourselves, as well as for our students – the richer our experience of the music will be. And as with stories and narratives, there are always multiple pathways into something new.
SO true! In fact, I have realized this about myself also. I can appreciate music so much more when I have a story to go with it. The “story” could even be some interesting tidbit about the composer or how the piece came to be written or even something about a particular recording — anything to give it that extra hook.
I would also add that you don’t necessarily need to tell the child to play it like a happy giant. You could simply play the phrase properly, or listen to the recording, and ask the child what it sounds like. Let them come up with the story; if it’s something they thought of it will make more sense to them and be easier to remember. (This technique works great with my daughter, anyway. She came up with a fairly complicated story about Harry Potter to go with a piece by Bach — something neither I nor her teacher would ever have thought of — and it led to huge improvements in her playing.)
Great reminder, Sandi! With this post fresh in my mind, I worked with a student today on “painting a picture” with the piece she is working on for the Christmas Recital. It made such a difference! At the end, she looked up at me and exclaimed, “I felt like I was in a different world while I was playing!”
I totally agree with this idea. When I was studying piano, I was too technical. Thanks for this tip to improve artistry with our students.
My dance teacher told me, last week, “The best way to teach yourself this combination is to create a story line that goes with it. It doesn’t have to be anything in depth, just something to move you from the beginning to end.”
I immediately thought of this post!!
You are getting in my head, Sfrack!