Connect More with a Piano Piece…by Doing This

We spend a lot of time doing physical work on a new piano piece while we’re learning it.

• Physical work is the actual practicing correct fingerings, correct notes, correct rhythms, playing the articulations, all in the right tempo.

These are the technical aspects of any piece or exercise that we learn on the piano.

Another aspect of any piece that we learn is the musical expression or the emotional nature of the piece.

• The emotional content of a piece is played through dynamics, phrasing, and even specific articulations.

We often think that the technical aspects of a piece are the most important and even the most difficult to master, but for many it is really the emotional content of the piece that is the most challenging for the player to really connect to.

• The emotional side of us can be a scary place just because it is unfamiliar - unless you happen to be a naturally emotional type of person. Even then, we aren’t always “in control” when we start to walk in that realm when we are creating music.

One of the best ways to open up that door and start understanding your own emotional makeup and expression is by using your imagination to create a story from the piece that you are learning.

Music often stimulates mental images when we listen to it.

• Try listening to a recording of the piece that you are learning. While you listen to it, notice what images appear in your mind and if you need to, make notes of what you see. Don’t dismiss any image…observe it, don’t judge it.
• Notice if there are people in the image(s)…what gender are they? Do you know them?
• Are the people talking to each other? Are they whispering or talking loudly?
• Notice the emotions in the image and in yourself. Do you see/feel happy things? Scary things?

Put all of this together and create a story about your piece. Then go back to learning and playing your piece and notice the difference in the expression and even the passion of your own connection to the piece.

• You may love it more or you may even (!) dislike it more, depending on what you saw while you were creating your story. Either way, you will play with more of these feelings in your piece now.

Creating a story from what you feel while listening to a new piano piece is going to help you connect more to the emotional expression intended by the composer. Notes become much more than just dots on a page. They end up connecting to each other one by one and phrase by phrase to create a whole story, rather than just random sounds.

You can experiment by doing this with any piece that you love to listen to, even if you aren’t learning it right now. Engaging our imaginations in our piano playing really opens up the door to a whole new way of connecting to our music and even in our lives.

​Stay Tuned to pianolessonsontheweb.com to learn much more and achieve your dream of playing the piano!