Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Piano Compositions with Fifth Graders

I have just returned from the Memorial Day long weekend, and I am very excited about the project for the fifth grade music students today.  The past three weeks we have been learning to play songs on the piano in C position: CDEFG in the right hand and CDEFG in the left hand.  These students have taken the piano lab by storm!  Many students have learned to play notes at the same time with both hands, others have learned to play chords in both hands, and several of them have learned to play in other positions for their hands.

So today we are beginning to compose pieces of music for the pianos.  They know the C position notes, so they will  I told them that it is like when you are planning to give a party at your house.  The notes we know well, the c position or the g position represent your closest friends, and you would use them in your compositions, and invite them to your party because you know them really well.  Other notes and symbols you would leave for another time, because if they represent people you don't know, they could really wreak havoc on your party, you are taking a real risk to use those notes, or to invite those people.  For example, they might not sound good together, they might create chaos in your song, just like if you have them at your house they might break things or throw things or eat all your food and leave a mess.  It is a little bit confusing, but once you understand this analogy, and you understand where you are going with the song, you can think about where to put silence, (rests) where to hold notes longer, (whole notes, half notes) and where to skip around the piano quickly, (eighth notes.)  It is a wonderful process.


I am also assessing them this week on asking questions that help them further their growth in music literacy.  This works well with the piano lab, because everyone needs a little bit of help when they have never composed a piece of music ever before.  Many students are afraid to ask questions with the fear of looking not so smart, so this is a great way to give them license to ask any question they want and need to have answered.  I encourage them at the beginning of the hour also, to help them believe that it is always all right to ask questions, even if I just explained something.



I am thrilled that my students this year have not only taken so naturally to playing music on the piano, but also are willing to take risks to use what they know and transfer it to a higher, more creative level of thinking.  And then, after they have finished their sixteen measure piece, they will run to the piano lab to play it, and continue to "fine tune" it, as it were, as they learn to play their own compositions.  This will set them up for next fall when they continue their exploration with musical ideas and vernacular to compose songs for an opera story that they have created.  Never a dull moment!


Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Requirements to become a performing artist

One of the standards I will be working on these last 25 days of school is from the more personal experience of students of music.  Here is the standard: M35E4.a. Students understand the relationship among the arts, history and world culture, and they make connections among the arts and to other disciplines; to goal setting, and to interpersonal interaction.  The substandard is: Identify the various roles of and requirements to become artists.   Yes, that needs to be un-packed for sure.  I think it means that a student should understand what it takes emotionally, psychologically, and professionally to become a working and successful musician or artist.  So- I am giving them an example to study, and then I will ask them that question:  What is required to become a famous musician or composer?  Let's talk about Aaron Copland, as a great example.



Copland was born in 1900 in New York to a large immigrant family.  He was the youngest of five children, and his siblings were given piano lessons.  He was not afforded this luxury until he begged his parents to get him lessons.  He practiced all the time, and decided he didn't want to go to college, he wanted to go to Paris and study music.  He saved his money from a part time job at his father's store so he could go and study abroad.  He got a scholarship from Fontainebleau and studied with the famous Nadia Boulanger.  She encouraged him to compose an organ symphony for a concert she was playing in, so he got his first big break with this piece.  He said later that this was the most important meeting of his whole life, as it secured his future as a composer.  The wonderful and legendary conductor, Serge Koussevitsky also also supported Copland for the rest of his career by premiering many of his compositions.
    Copland was very influenced by the music that was being written at the time; he worked on many compositions with twelve tone rows, and he used jazz elements in his work between 1925 and 1935. However, he felt that his music was not reaching as big an audience as he would like.  He realized that his audience had been weaned on radio and television, so he changed his style to meet his audience.  For example, "Lincoln Portrait" uses simpler chord structures and tonal elements, as well as using narration as a way to reach the public.  He began to compose movie scores, as well as ballets, such as the famous "Billy the Kid", "Rodeo" and "Appalachian Spring".  These ballets told
quintessential American stories, which helped him to become one of the most beloved American composers of the twentieth century.

Copland, Bernstein and Koussevitsky 

Now you may ask, how do I get the answer to the "requirements" question from all this information?   Let me help you with this question..If you want to be a musician, you have to find a great teacher or several.  If you want to become a successful composer you need opportunities to have your music performed.  If you want to be a famous composer, you need to find your own voice and you need to be able to read your audience.  Finally, if you want to be a great musician and a great composer, you have to stick with it, you need grit, perseverance, and you need to be obsessed with all of those important elements of music.  

The photograph above tells the last part of this story.  At the end of his career, Copland mentored many composers and musicians and gave them opportunities for performances, as well as helping them with orchestration, and other essential composition techniques.  This photograph shows Copland with his mentor Koussevitsky as well as Leonard Bernstein with his mentor, Aaron Copland.  Everyone knows one of the biggest requirements for a successful career as a performing artist is a great teacher/coach/mentor who can follow you through all the rough patches in the life of a musician.  And the best musicians know that they would be nowhere without their mentors so they always mentor young musicians later on in their careers.  
Nadia Boulanger and Aaron Copland 
Nadia Boulanger- famous pianist, composer, teacher

So- in summary: it takes teachers, mentors, time, practice, determination, love of the art, perseverance, some luck, and once again, PRACTICE!



Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Inspiration

"Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy".  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky  This was the quotation of the week on Thursday, May 7th, the birthdate of the famous composer of The Nutcracker and other delightful ballets and symphonies.  He was an extremely diligent worker, sitting for hours and writing and re-writing and never being quite satisfied with his work.  He lived this quotation, as far as I can understand from reading the history.  My sixth grade advisory and my fifth grade general music classes discussed this quotation.  They said, "It means you have to work at being inspired, it doesn't just come to you."  I explained that the author of the quote turned "Inspiration" into a person, a "visitor", a "guest".  If someone is a "guest" it means they need to be "invited"..

But let's go back.  What does inspiration mean?  "A divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation." That is Merriam Webster.  Another definition, on the other hand, says "the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something; especially to do something creative.  Also a force or influence that makes someone want to do or create something. " If this influence is "divine" then the best way to invite this guest is perhaps to pray.  But if it is a force from anywhere, which Ryan said, "Inspiration can come from anywhere, even your best friend, even the view!" then it may not be enough to pray, it may mean you have to work at it.

You do have to force inspiration sometimes.  You have to think of your favorite hero, or superhero, or those who have influenced you over the years.  Your sports hero, your parents, your older sibling who has gone to college and told you to get there you have to do all your homework and get good grades.  You might have to conjure up a picture of an influential figure in history who has fought hard against all odds to be successful.  I saw a program about a young African American ballerina who is the first African American Soloist ballerina at the American Ballet Theater, and she got there through sheer grit, growing up in a motel room with her five siblings, no money, single parent home.  Misty Copeland began to dance at thirteen, old for a ballerina to start, but she managed to get to the top, with the influence and support of her dance teachers and coaches along the way.

                                                           This is INSPIRATION!! 




So I spoke to my piano classes about this idea of inspiration being an invited guest.  That to get better at the piano you cannot just sit there and wait for divine intervention.  You cannot just look at the music and stare into space.  You cannot play all the bells and whistles on the piano to make yourself sound good.  It takes time, time and practice, practice and more practice.  Sometimes practice creates inspiration, because as you go from page to page in the piano book, and all of a sudden your are playing songs with two hands, you look up and are inspired by your own hard work!!!  Your own hard work and grit, and diligence and the joy of making real music!  The joy of doing something that is creative, and then going further with that.  Knowing enough notes to then turn around and make up your own songs!  So invite that guest into your fingers, your brain, your heart, your soul, and don't let the idea of hard work keep the door locked the that guest, your inspiration!!!




                                                Where does your inspiration come from?

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Music that soothes the soul

I want to talk one more time again for the first time about the power of music to soothe our souls.  I am about to be a part of a premier of a piece of music called "Alzheimer's Stories" by Robert Cohen.  I sing with the Choral Arts Society of Portland, Maine, and several times a year we present beautiful pieces to the public, choral works, sometimes great ones like The Messiah or Faure's Requiem, but sometimes we present new and unknown works as well.





We have been rehearsing all year and preparing in many ways for this experience.  On Saturday, May 9th, The Choral Arts Society will present this piece as part of a large symposium where there will be poetry by Alzheimer's patients, art by Alzheimer's patients, and a panel discussion before the concert as well.  This will be at the South Portland High School Auditorium, beginning at 6:45 for the symposium and 8pm for the concert.  There will also be a display in the lobby with information for all to peruse, as well as professionals who can answer questions.



This will be a meaningful experience for many people.  It will also inform those who know very little about the disease, and it may connect many people who are struggling either with the disease or with a family member who has been diagnosed with the disease.  There has been a great deal of research recently and new and improved ways of helping those with the disease, but there is never enough attention paid to this type of situation.  We are all hoping that it will help some, inform others, move everyone, and bring emotion to the forefront.


 The music is very accessible, and it has not been difficult to learn.  It is all in English, and tells the real stories of those who have struggled with Alzheimer's disease.   The music is very emotional, and the soloists are heart-felt and realistic in their portrayals of the people.  I think this is an experience not to miss, I hope anyone who reads this blog will go to the concert and the symposium.  I leave you with an article about the piece and the concert, be sure to check it out.

Article about the piece and the concert