Speaking the Piano: Reflections on Learning and Teaching

280 Pages·2018·8.671 MB·English

by  Susan Tomes

S
S In Speaking the Piano, renowned pianist
P Susan Tomes turns her attention to
USAN
E teaching and learning. Teaching music
A encompasses everything from putting
K a drum in a child’s hands to helping
TOMES an accomplished musician unlock the
I
N meaning and spirit of the classics.
At every stage, some fundamental issues
G
keep surfacing.

T
In this wide-ranging book, Susan Tomes
H
reflects on how her own experience as a
E learner, in different genres from classical
to jazz, has influenced her approach to
P
teaching. She tells us how her performing
I
A career has given her insight into what
SUSAN TOMES is a multi-award-winning
N young performers need to know, and
pianist who grew up in Edinburgh and was
how discussions with students have fed
the first woman to take a degree in music O
into her own practice. She describes the
at King’s College, Cambridge. Her career
brilliant and intriguing teachers whose
encompasses solo, duo and chamber
masterclasses opened her ears to the
music playing; she was awarded the 2013 S
This is a lovely, wise, elegantly What the reviewers have said about many ways in which music can be brought
Cobbett Medal for services to chamber U
written book, filled with tips Sleeping in Temples (Boydell Press, 2014) alive and communicated.
music and has been at the heart of the S
internationally admired ensembles Domus, and anecdotes which could Rare insight. Susan Tomes illuminates at A This is a book to appeal to a wide range
the Gaudier Ensemble and the Florestan be helpful and encouraging the piano and on the page. N of readers – pianists of every level from
Trio, winners of a 1999 Royal Philharmonic for any pianist, whether a BBC MUSIC, MUSIC BOOKS CHOICE beginner to professional, piano teachers,
Award. She has made over 50 CDs, beginner or a professional. Fascinating essays by the celebrated T musicians of all kinds, and the broader
many of which have become benchmark Above all it is a book in which pianist. THE GUARDIAN O community of music-lovers. In a passionate
recordings. Her lecture-recitals have one senses constantly the A book that exudes the same warmth and M contribution to the ongoing debate
enabled many listeners to engage with the about the place of music in education,
deep love the author has for passion for her subject, and life in general, E
classics on a new level. which shines through her much-admired Susan Tomes argues that this most
music itself, for its ability to S
She is the author of four acclaimed work as a solo and ensemble pianist. inspiring of arts can play a unique role
inspire, touch and, indeed,
in personal development.
books about performance: Beyond the THE SCOTSMAN
change lives.
Notes (Boydell Press 2004), A Musician’s A captivating reverie of a book.
STEPHEN HOUGH, PIANIST
Alphabet (Faber, 2006), Out of Silence INTERNATIONAL PIANO Back cover photograph: Masterclass at Bowdoin
(Boydell Press, 2010), and Sleeping in College, Maine, USA. Courtesy of Robert Philip.
Temples (Boydell Press, 2014). In these Author photograph: Robert Philip.
books she reaches out from a performer’s JACKET DESIGN: SIMON LOXLEY
perspective to ask questions about the
musician’s role, their relationship with the
audience, the nature of music itself and of
An imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
‘classical’ music in particular. REFLECTIONS ON LEARNING
PO Box 9, Woodbridge IP12 3DF (GB) and
668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY 14620–2731 (US)
AND TEACHING
Speaking the Piano

Speaking the Piano
Reflections on
Learning and Teaching
Susan Tomes
THE BOYDELL PRESS
© Susan Tomes 2018
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Susan Tomes to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2018
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
ISBN 978 1 78327 325 6
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620–2731, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or
accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to
in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
Section One: Teaching
Enlisting the imagination 7
Pretending to be other people 17
Why don’t people play better? 23
Grappling with the instrument 27
Words and signs 33
Tempo is character 39
Connecting the beats 43
Sensing the style 47
Imagery, positive and negative 55
v
Different physiques 61
The inescapability of one’s own nature 67
What we talk about in lessons 71
The benefit of hindsight 79
Fusion cooking 83
‘You’ll find the black notes play louder than the white ones’ 95
‘For me this is like jazz’ 107
Is playing the notes enough to reveal the music? 111
To sway or not to sway 119
How important is it to hear the sound? 123
Section Two: Learning
Beethoven among the Alpine flowers 131
Not all those who wander are lost 179
The sound of two hands clapping 213
Music lights up the brain 235
Epilogue 247
Index 253
vi
‘You must speak the piano’
Theodor Leschetizky to Artur Schnabel,
as reported by Clifford Curzon

Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to my husband Robert Philip and to my friend
Deborah Valenze for reading the manuscript of this book at various
stages and giving me wise advice as well as encouragement. Michael
Middeke at Boydell Press gave valuable editorial guidance. I am
grateful also to the members of my Piano Club, who have stimulated
useful thoughts about how much one can learn from playing the
piano. Most of the great teachers I’ve written about – György
Sebök, Sándor Végh, Jaki Byard – are, sadly, no longer with us. But
the performers of Alba Flamenca are as large as life if not larger. May
they go from strength to strength!
ix