tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6793416312761166484.post6147801395397377886..comments2023-12-30T12:41:21.450-08:00Comments on Piano Practice Tips: PLAYING BACH (BAROQUE MUSIC)Mr. Richard Kant (B.Ed)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02608477709108566401noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6793416312761166484.post-66515211753210716842020-03-01T07:36:14.950-08:002020-03-01T07:36:14.950-08:00Thank you for sharing this! What you have shared i...Thank you for sharing this! What you have shared is very helpful and informative. Would love to see more updates from you.<br /><br /><a href="http://hirebirdsbasement.com/" rel="nofollow">Hire Music Venue in Melbourne</a>Nina Athenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11942457078940283392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6793416312761166484.post-90735403367525493102019-10-18T12:51:15.361-07:002019-10-18T12:51:15.361-07:00Playing strictly in time to me does not mean playi...Playing strictly in time to me does not mean playing metronomically. It means keeping the beat so that syncopations, which Bach is always using to avoid "arriving" at the tonic before the piece is over, have the feeling of being consonant tones accented rhythmically in an exciting way one beat before the harmony changes. This is exactly the same technique used by everybody in the jazz tradition since Scott Joplin. So, to my ear, when classical pianists play Bach with the usual legato touch and beautiful tone, they end up with many homogeneous nothings that are tedious and downbeat-centric. At the other end of the spectrum, of course, is when the entire composition becomes a sound sculpture that would be appreciated by Pierre Boulez, and this is achieved by playing the music so fast that it cannot have any comprehensible melodic content at all.<br /><br />I believe the key to the best Bach playing is when the player characterizes each of the voices in the manner that a human being would sing and dance his own part artistically: with a fluid give-and-take with the rest of the ensemble to make the whole piece engaging.<br /><br />The Bach family was inbred for musical ability the way your favorite Cannabis strain is inbred for THC. Since I am not inbred, I do not have the four speech/singing units in my brain (I only have one) that can take a four-voice fugue and bring out the full beauty. So, I use a psychological workaround to get my meager brain to emulate the great brain of Bach. If, while playing, I can't hear the tenor part even though I am supposedly playing it, I abruptly fire the tenor and instead I hire Elvis because I know he can put the part across. (At this point my brain creates a little circuit that can somehow make my fingers imitate Elvis.) If the tenor then becomes actually audible but maybe poorly executed, I say "Let Elvis learn his part! He always ends up being good! The people always love everything Elvis does!"Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01237465111190530578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6793416312761166484.post-41151036906694250862019-04-23T13:17:46.717-07:002019-04-23T13:17:46.717-07:00Yet another Pianoforall affiliate pretending that ...Yet another Pianoforall affiliate pretending that he is not making commission off his recommendation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6793416312761166484.post-19344277710247354652016-12-19T13:12:04.474-08:002016-12-19T13:12:04.474-08:00I learned piano without any help from anyone, I do...I learned piano without any help from anyone, I downloaded the videos and guide from one of the website, it teaches me step by step and it is easy to follow, within few months I learned piano like a master, <br />I recommended to all, check here( http://tinyurl.com/h599dms ) if you interested to learn piano easy.Halin Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01106673379211814697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6793416312761166484.post-29733463096467034742014-02-10T17:30:44.808-08:002014-02-10T17:30:44.808-08:00The only person who could say ," the piece mu...The only person who could say ," the piece must be played absolutely like this...." is the composer of the piece.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11006562303374897563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6793416312761166484.post-39385416414240320852012-07-03T14:24:43.838-07:002012-07-03T14:24:43.838-07:00A very interesting article! I myself have often he...A very interesting article! I myself have often heard people say Baroque music must be played strictly in time and it was the idea that accentuation must be rhythmic on an organ or harpsichord that brought me to this article. Now, to research what exactly a clavichord is...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6793416312761166484.post-85793556337544285302012-02-19T19:32:10.494-08:002012-02-19T19:32:10.494-08:00"We all know how a foreign language is learne..."We all know how a foreign language is learned. By analogy, Baroque music is for us a foreign language, since we obviously do not live in the Baroque period. Therefore, as in the case of a foreign language, we must learn vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation—musical articulation, the theory of harmony, the theory of phrasing and accentuation."<br /><br />Hi Mr.Kant, great article. Do you have any tricks on how to learn the vocab,grammar,n pronunciation of Baroque music, esp Bach? what is the better approach in learning to play Bach practically? Thanksiven23https://www.blogger.com/profile/14185243112762080734noreply@blogger.com