Dynamic Control

My piano teacher is giving me a lot to work on, but it's too much at once. She's never heard of successive approximation apparently. The big issue right now is dynamic control. I just don't have that much dynamic control yet. I never know if a note will come out loud or soft. Yes, I'm very out of practice. Just need to put in the practice time. My teacher keeps insisting that I put subtle dynamic shapes into phrases. Great! I love subtle dynamic shapes! But I can barely control coarse dynamics. Then she wants precise shades of legato and staccato. She wants me to "lean into" the high point of the phrase. Too much! I think this might be how a highly ranked school puts demands on their students. Keep demanding more stuff. I'm going to have to find ways to work on this in a smart way. My basic way of working with dynamics right now is to ask myself to make a coarse dynamic shape, not a subtle one. Ask myself something doable. Then practice many variations on that shape. Instead of striving for evenness in the fingers, give myself a more doable assignment--deliberate and controlled unevenness. Any suggestions about dynamics welcome. I've noticed that the basic skill of skeletal support in the hand helps to improve dynamic control. That skill seems fundamental, and it even affects how I sit at the piano, the carriage of my head, etc.

Successive approximation is great but I think you are taking it from the opposite direction. I wouldn't strive for extreme dynamic control at this stage, because trying to play very loud or very soft will undermine your structure. Try gradually expanding from very little dynamic variation to gradually add more shades and colours. I suggest you practice the first chapter from the DVD dealing with legato and over-holding. Get really secure with your standing on the keyboard and make sure that you never "fall down" into a note - you stand securely on at least one finger, which gives you hand the stability to let the other finger manipulate the key with exactitude. When I started working with Alan's DVD I completely ignored dynamics - I only made sure that each note would be connected to the next by overlapping and try to make the illusion that the piano "slides" in between those pitches rather than have 2 distinct attacks. At first all my lines had the same shape - starting at around MF and gradually decreasing. Trying to play a single note too loud or too soft would throw my bones out of alignment. With better control of overholding I learned to vary the shapes of the lines. For example, suppose you have to play a simple 5 finger patters CDEFG with the right hand. Start with holding the thumb on C, then play the D note with the forefinger while still holding the thumb and leaning into the thumb - the 2nd finger should feel more floating in the air at this stage. Listen - are both notes ringing relatively similarly? Keep holding the thumb and press the D several times (while still the thumb bears the weight of your hand). Finally when you are happy with the D, gradually shift your weight from the thumb to the 2nd finger, and eventually lift the thumb. Then, while standing on 2nd finger, do the same with the 3rd. This can be extremely slow and frustrating at first - our instincts are usually wired to lift the thumb at the same time as we play the next note - but then we lose contact with the keyboard momentarily and fall into the next note with no real sense of control. Practice this way all your repertoire, even if it should be played staccato eventually - it is a good learning experience for your fingers. The dynamic differentiation will come gradually - not by trying to exaggerate and then refine, rather by gaining better confidence with the manipulation of a key and learning more than one way of doing it. Don't practise these exercises for too long at once - maybe 5 to 10 minutes at once, ideally many times per day. I used to practice it on my desk at work - I don't get the sound but I can get the feeling of the bones supporting the structure and the "legato in the knuckles" Another problem that you might have (it's hard to know from your descriptions without having heard you play - but I am guessing based on my past experience) is that you are trying to create a line by logically thinking about the loudness of each individual note. Let's take the simple rising 5 note scale for example CDEFG. Suppose the G is the peak of the phrase and we have to crescendo towards it. Do you try to break it down in your head by assigning specific dynamics to each note? (For example C=p D=p+ E=mp- F =mp G= mf). In my opinion this is counter productive and destroys the sense of line. I suggest that you try to sing the line and imitate your singing with the piano. Playing faster sometimes help because you stop focusing on the individual notes so much and play more instinctively (but legato has to be secure before you can play faster). All that is important is that the C is softer than the G. How you get there exactly is note something you can do by predicting each individual note, and it is also part of the freedom of a live performer - each time you play these same 5 notes will be slightly different. So you need to know the general direction you are going to, but not plan every step. This is absolutely right - which is why I suggest you dedicate more practice for skeletal support (tai chi walking, overholding) and less practice specifically on dynamics. Good luck

This is great, I have more and more forum members doing my work for me, giving really spot on answers. It's exactly what I had hoped for - thanks! I would only add that both extreme, sudden dynamic variations subtle, gradual changes can either undermine structural security or consolidate it, depending on how well you attend to both the physical and aural components simultaneously. The Liszt technical exercises are largely based on doing very simple patterns (one repeated note for instance) while varying the dynamics. I found this to be an incredibly effective way to my hand structure. It really worked wonders, perhaps because the dynamics were given outside the context of a musical phrase. The physical aspect of creating the dynamic gradation was isoloated so it could be clarified. AFF

Useful replies, just let me make a couple notes. I never said I'm practicing extreme dynamics. I said coarse dynamic shapes, by which I mean phrases that vary from about p to mf. My teacher keeps asking me to make phrases that vary, say, from a little softer than p to a little louder than p. (Not even pp to mp). That's what I call very fine dynamic control. And she wants the crescendo within that range to be very even. I can't play anything evenly right now. If you ask me to play a note mp, it will come out anywhere from pp to mf. That's why coarse dynamic shapes ARE the easy way to start the successive approximation. What is easily doable is playing two notes, with the second one considerably louder or softer than the first. Or playing a rough crescendo over the range p to mf. That gets my body and ear engaged. I can make the link between the feeling in the body and resulting sound. I've noticed that I have a hard time hearing what I'm doing because the sensations in my body obscure it. My teacher was pointing out that certain notes were sticking out (too loud). Eventually I realized those were the notes where I crossed to the thumb, which creates such a different sensation (compared to using a finger) that it obscured my ability to hear. This is another reason why coarse dynamic shapes are the easy way into a series of successive approximations. They are easier to hear. Although I will practice standing on the keyboard, skeletal support, etc. I don't have the luxury of establishing that securely before learning musical phrases with dynamics, because I have to produce my efforts at next week's lesson, and my efforts must be along the lines that my teacher wants. I am dealing with some medical issues so I don't have the luxury of enough practice time to do everything.

Don't sacrifice your legato to make the dynamic gradation. Don't make forte's with your arm but with your finger. Follow these two rules and you should be able to do it in a week. AFF

Thanks Alan, that's a manageable assignment!