Dynamic Shadings

First year piano students really don't have adequate control over their fingers to spend much time shaping melodies using more sophisticated dynamic colorings.  But, within the second year some work should be done to create a more singing line and include dynamic shadings.  Repertoire and sight-reading materials studied will provide increasingly more sophisticated dynamic shadings.  Students should also be given a few exercises for crescendos and descrescendos within a phrase.

Phrasing, legato and staccato, balance between hands and dynamic shadings should be included in the repertoire at this juncture.  Melody should "sing" over the accompaniment.  When a melody is a sequence (repeated melodic motive) it should become slightly louder as it ascends (dynamic shading).  It is important to point out these features to students before they begin to practice the pieces, as it will help to avoid one week of incorrect practice.

Careful adherence to correct application of phrasing, legato, staccato, and balancing the hands with dynamic shadings will produce a musical sounding performance.

For more information about piano classes Bedminster, contact Barbara Ehrlich Piano Studio.

Inventing Variations on a Melody

After learning a piece, have beginner to intermediate students find the same hand position higher and lower on the keyboard and play the melody in various octaves. Let them discover in how many places on the keyboard the same phrases may be played. What different effects result from playing in different octaves? Imagine a particular effect and find the octave most appropriate to produce it. The piano teacher may play keyboard phrasing and the student try to find the octaves he has heard. The phrases may be divided between the two hands and played in different octaves; occasional hand crossings may be used.

Have the student transpose the composition into different keys. Change a major key to a minor key and see what the effects are.

The variations are almost limitless in their possibilities, and the imaginative and inventive teacher will find this a fertile ground for stimulating creative practice.

This activity is great for

1. Encouraging creativity and playfulness by inventing new combinations and effects
2. Stimulating the imagination to find new effects
3. Clarifying spatial relationship of the keyboard, and developing the muscular consciousness of the extensive proportions of the keyboard
4. Promoting freedom of arm movement and to learn keyboard facility

For more information about piano instruction NJ, contact Barbara Ehrlich Piano Studio.