If you haven’t already checked out part 1, please do so as I shared some of the practising principles that I find super important. We covered the essence of concepts like searching, listening, identifying the problems and repetition. All of these concepts are somehow a core of practising any instrument. What I would like to further focus on is again both practical advice as well as a general concept.

5. Physical Awareness

I find that physical awareness is often overlooked as a concept. Maybe more so with teaching children as they have much more natural demeanour and less self-awareness. To truly acquire a full physical awareness of our body is a very long process that needs to start with wanting in the first place, and a patient and introspective presence of that desire while playing and practising subsequently. What I would suggest to anyone looking to improve their sessions with piano is – notice your body every day. Notice it while you practise. How does it feel in your feet, sitting bones, lower back, neck, every part of your arm, palm, finger… What exactly happens when you practise different types of technique?

This is again in a listening category because it will be essential to track the results in sound or to track them in the feeling in our body. So, essentially, the cliche to listen to your body is a concept that is ever present in *any* craft

What actually happens when we become physically aware is – we can really perfect our technique and therefor our sound, phrasing and motions required to produce all of it together. We (pianists) create music with our hands. Now let’s imagine for instance, wind or brass players, or singers. The amount of understanding required for their skill… in order to produce sound they need to know their muscles, tongue, air flow, all of the inside organs involved, just to name a few. For us pianists, it is probably easier to grasp the concepts of what physically happens while playing our instrument. I find that dangerous too- as it looks like we can “see” instead of truly memorise how what physically feels + looks.

Another complicated issue in regards to physical awareness is that we don’t actually know how our anatomy really looks like. If we take a look at the anatomy manuals and someone really explains to us what goes on – even simple things like neck to head relationship, we would all think quite differently about all of it.

May this be an invitation to always feel comfortable and aware while practising.

The absence of this type of awareness is actually dangerous on every level and could result in an injury, weird breathing patterns and hence all sorts of changes.

6. Efficiency

I find that true efficiency in practising takes years to build up unless somebody reminds us daily of how to actually do something in the most efficient way possible.

What is efficiency in practising (or in general): minimum effort for the maximum result. If we build a methodical approach to practise and we really focus on the cause/consequence ratio, it still doesn’t mean that we are efficient. Efficiency in practising means that we exploited all the options, and that we know exactly what is needed for the specific problem solving. So to say, efficiency simply comes with experience and the good news is that you can start building it up just by wanting.

I find that 5-10 minutes of practicing with a great focus and clear ideas – is immeasurably better than 1 hour of senseless repetition.

The patience required for these types of practise is of course a problem.

It is physically greatly satisfying to just play and play on and on! We are all guilty of it… repeating and enjoying, most of the time hands together and with very little critical mindset. If we could divide our practise into efficiently dry & satisfying I think it would come with great benefits.
It is so important not to beat around bush when it comes to ticking the boxes of what needs to be done!

Happy practising!

Let’s first examine a little bit what practising is. When we say “I have to practise “ – we already automated the action, I have to be by the piano (or any other instrument) and do some work.

I find that some essential understanding of what work needs to be done is often lacking. Rather than give a set of advice here, I will make a few proposals and pose a question or two – in hope someone will find it helpful.

1. Identifying The Problem

Often when teaching children, I find that a problem identification is missing as a concept in their practise approach. Many students simply don’t think of identifying a problem and fixing it. This is understandable because the foreign concepts we never encountered can’t appear magically in our existence – unless we have guidance of an experienced teacher.

If a teacher draws our attention to a specific problem several times, a pattern emerges, and an attentive student will eventually be able to apply the problem/solution, or cause/consequence logic.

It is very rare to see a student – so exploratory oriented, inquisitive and search prone in practise, many students simply wait for solutions. Hence, this idea of “I have to practise” as a repetition task is what makes practise sessions unnecessary heavy and slightly boring before we even sit with our instrument.

2. Search

The concept of searching is potentially the most essential concept in practising an instrument. Many artists spent a lifetime in search of their “sound“. Many composers searched for their structures and ideas. Every artist is actively searching for ways, ideas, concepts… Eventually what search is, is just a journey to one’s satisfaction, temporary or not, paved with correction and another attempt.. a little bit like practising. I believe that search is a quality related to one’s curiosity. It is indeed easier to repeat something, but to truly search is part of an active listening qualities.

3. Listening

Listening is in my opinion the biggest problem in practising and I found myself, majority of my colleagues and students, guilty of not truly listening. It is a hard pill to swallow and even though I feel myself being deep inside my professional experience I still have to actively remind myself to listen more, listen better and somehow follow objectively what I am playing. It is not the easiest, since the occupation with physical aspects can truly overwhelm us.

But that should be used exclusively as a pointer – a big (red alarm type of big) reminder that we are trying to SOUND good. This is why, if we stop active listening even for 5 minutes in our practise, we have ended up practising something we are not conscious of. Automating our hands is not necessarily a bad idea per se, since piano (any instrument) playing is incredibly technically demanding. However, the habit of focusing on the physical can often lead towards the removal of connection to ears, emotions etc and it has to be an aware and conscious choice.

4. Benefits And Dangers Of Repeating

Goes without saying that in order to perfect a motion, we need to repeat it many times. If we take for instance the basic technique types in piano playing – jumps, thrills, broken octaves, arpeggios, scales etc – repetition is the only way to tackle any of these technical (they will become inseparable to musical later on) problems. With repetition we gain finger independence, muscle strength, stamina, we learn what is needed, but that’s only if we know what we are repeating. If we don’t know, a significant amount of time is lost, as well as interest, sharpness in listening & danger of injury is much more probable. Awareness of everything yet again comes as focal point of practising.

More thoughts and ideas in part 2!

Until then – happy practising!

In part 1 we covered the essence of what listening to classical music live could mean to us- physically, emotionally, chemically etc. Here are some more reasons why it is a wonderful experience to visit live performances.

6. It Sustains Culture

Even though classical concerts might not be everyone’s favourite night out – it is certainly important to send the message that we need culture. And the best way to do so is to, of course, attend performances and show our support. Culture is holding our society together and by actively taking part in live performances (as audience) we perpetuate the presence and need for it. This applies to any performing art. The link between supply and demand has never been more obvious as from 2020 onwards – with ever changing social landscape, shaped by current political and other events on earth. If we do consider music essential, we could take an active role, and lead others towards taking a part in this – mutually satisfying experience.

7. A Quality Opportunity for Socialising

It is a great idea for a night out and many concert organisers plan the season so it considers the needs of a listener. Many organisations currently work on an algorithm that analysis data gathered around ticket buying. Factors analysed are, for instance: location of the concert venue, bars and restaurants in the area, distance to the closest station, age and sex of the performers, just to name a few. It shows that listeners like to go out, connect their experience to meeting friends, using the opportunity to gather for a meal and drink and some form of an art experience.
It is a great idea for a group planning as it centres the activity around a specific event.

8.Following The Development of Music Genres

For those more interested into the actual depth of music making and understanding of it – I firmly believe that the next decade will blow up in terms of genre combinations, blurring the lines between styles, and bolder choices in individualism in classical music. Art and music were generally always reflecting on / portraying social and personal development. Being present and witnessing how these changes are happening on stage is a beautiful experience that can tell us a lot about ourselves and general directions where we are heading as a society and/or individuals.

9. Deeper Understanding of Art in General

Many forms of expression have found their place in art. So to say – eventually, all expressive devices could lead to the same point in us, it is only the tools that are different. I firmly believe that absolutely everything is connected and it doesn’t take an art connoisseur to start noticing the patterns, devices, tendencies between the art forms, that are so solidly connected. There is extensive literature on this topic and it’s just a proof of how different directions stemmed out of the same idea just into to a different form. So much of what happened in painting is reflected in music sound and form for instance.. it is a wonderful experience to look for what causes, consequences and responses happened in classical music.

10. For Music Students!

It is essential for our progress as musicians and performers to practically be present and watch incredible artists perform. All the lessons we take across years (decades!) fall into place (or fall through) when we perform. It is a separate skill to playing and practising at home, inseparable from overall music experience. What I love about music is how it is a never ending process that keeps on giving.

I hope that this will stimulate you to book a ticket for a concert or two and discover something new. I myself, never attended two of the same experiences and always learned/felt/thought of something new.

Enjoy in music!

Music is not consumed just for fun as it might seem now, at the present time. Netflix, cinema, a night out… Music has changed its role drastically, in this century specifically. If we try to imagine our life without it – at first it wouldn’t seem that bad.

Maybe it would be strange to exercise without music, or we frequently wouldn’t understand the context of a specific movie scene as many movie directors heavily rely on music to tell us the emotion of the scene. Imagine weddings, celebrations, birthday parties… the fact that music is everywhere and in so many forms, tells us how deep our need for this phenomenon is.

I can claim with certainty that our society would fall apart without it. On every level, structurally, spiritually etc. Music was driving the biggest societal changes and influenced the world in every way. We have had the need for it since before we had language. That is, in my opinion, a miraculous force at work.

Comparison and Stimulation

As we are all performers, still educating ourselves about music and our instruments – we are very likely to assess someone’s skills during their performance. It is our job, and we all strive to be the best version of ourselves in it. While listening to live music, we can sometimes experience some exhilarating feelings or thoughts: “How did they do that!?”, “I can do that” or “I wish I was there, on stage”. Likewise in the negative way: “Why did they choose that instrumentalist instead of me” or “I find those music choices just triggering” etc. In both cases, it is possible to take this as a stimulation for our further development. If we were impressed, there is as always, so much more to strive for. If we didn’t like it- it again helps us with our direction. Comparison can be both healthy and very toxic. Since it is happening anyway, it is probably wise to use it consciously.

Mental Health

Numerous researches have shown that while listening to live classical music, our cortisol levels are lowered. Cortisol is associated with stress and there are extensive research materials both online and offline about the correlation of live music and relieving anxiety symptoms. There is also data on dopamine release while listening to live classical music- hence experiencing huge spikes in what we perceive as pleasure! Essentially I could have titled this number “chemistry”! How fascinating it is, that we hear something and that through our ears it travels further inside, doing all sorts of wonders with our senses, body chemistry and mental health.

Emotional Health

It has to be said that perhaps in today’s society we are not frequently welcomed to show our emotions in the manner we would want according to our needs. In fact, it is possible that we live in a society that looks on emotions as weaknesses, signs of lack of control, or any other derogatory idea that tends to keep us functioning at a high pace. When we attend a live performance and experience a high emotional reaction, we are much more likely to embark on a journey of feeling / allowing / being connected and understanding that state more frequently.

It’s Fun!

It is absolutely fun to go and listen to a symphonic orchestra perform. There are so many instruments, so many genres, a lot of people expressing themselves through various media on stage. It is a complete experience for all your senses and spirit.

This is an open invitation to challenge yourself and go to different performances and try to let go while listening!

Happy practising!

This is a very interesting topic that could dictate a lot on how we progress and how we discover our strengths and weaknesses.

Many performers today have chosen to stick to performing works by one or just a few composers. This allows a complete dedication and sinking into the depths of a specific language and style. On the other hand, we have performers who like to discover as they play – as they grow as musicians, finding new pieces and challenging themselves by immersing themselves into the unknown.

What I find interesting is how the repertoire we chose shapes us. Different aspects of our playing require various degrees of care at different times in our growth.

For instance – for the very beginners it is incredibly important to nurture technical aspects and finger independence. Playing piano is a lifelong journey and providing the technical background that can healthily grow and change over time – is crucial. This unfortunately does mean a lot of etudes and technical exercises as well as continuity in practice. Being in shape and focusing on different aspects of technique is a condition number one when playing any instrument.

At a young age- going through a lot of pieces is incredibly important. Getting the sense of styles, structures and forms can only be done by experiencing them with our hands and listening to recordings.

What is wonderful about music is that we can simply choose so much…
In my teaching I find that it is very beneficial to give to a student two pieces with different speeds of work in mind. one piece that requires a long layering and investment, practise that is “for the long run”, where the process is prolonged and the satisfaction / feedback feels at a slower pace too. The other piece in return, provides more instant gratification and the sense of completion and achievement happens sooner. This is psychologically very important, that we have a sense of reaching for understanding of what we are doing.

Understanding of Styles

Many traditional schools decided the set way for understanding music styles through centuries. This means that in each grade you will be examined on the usual – one baroque piece, classical sonata or sonatina, a romantic piece and something “later” than romantic period. This, in addition to technical exams consisting of scales and arpeggios, provides the most common structure at which we as society raise musicians. The idea behind this is of course to glance over the history of music in deeper and deeper layers as we go through education. Only later in life can we actually start programming in the manner that fits us as people and our characters.

I tend to programme at least one of the 3 leading groups of composers – German, French, Russian. I always combine it with something that personally feels right.

Knowing What We Like

Different epochs had different focal points in music communication. It is not until the romantic period that human emotion and state of spirit was in the central aspect of music making. That coincided with piano sound becoming the star of the show too, as opposed to previous aesthetics. This is naturally due to instrument development too- the piano as we know it is relatively young and all the previous instruments had a lot to offer though they were all limited in their own ways.

In baroque for instance, it wasn’t relevant which keyboard instrument was used. In classical period likewise – the appeal of piano was based on its practicality rather than the beauty of the sound. The multi-practical usage of keyboard instruments included many things.. replacement of orchestra, for composing, handy sized keyboards were used for travelling and performing too.

We could say that different styles had different aesthetics at heart and this could maybe be a point of attraction for us.

We all have different tastes and characters and music truly does offer enough for everyone.

What’s incredible about an interesting repertoire combination is that one piece can shine a light on another one, and thus show us the sides that could be seen only in terms of context.

I will write a few practical proposals just as one of many ideas – in hope that they might be useful to some!

• I frequently like to “sandwich” centuries: take something very “early” and something recently composed. That provides a satisfying sense that time has passed, that piano changed so much and that there is a link that we have to find and feel. Some unbelievable combinations are Bach & Berg, Schoenberg or Rameau & Ligetti, Scarlatti & Scriabin. We get to see how harmony travelled, how the concept of sound changed, how form changed. It can be really magical!
• We could take the same form and travel through centuries with it – for instance Sonatas. They existed as a constant form but varied in length, structure etc. Choosing different composers and making a journey out of it is a wonderful idea.
• We could choose pieces from the same style but match them based on the content and the character. Many people combine Brahms and Schumann as they so beautifully fit. Here also, the possibilities are endless.

1. Character matching – if we opt for several pieces that we individually like, that don’t necessarily have a strong link between them, it could be a good idea to watch for the contrast of characters / keys / narratives of the pieces. It is nice when pieces give us a lot of opportunity for expression, hence variety is always welcomed. Sometimes it is hard to sustain attention if the expression tends to linger around the same point. It makes it easier to have different worlds within different pieces.
2. At the end of the day – it is not really relevant how you programme your performance. If the music you chose reflects your desires and your inner needs, it is more likely you will be an invested performer and draw your audience in. That is more important than intellectualising over the external structures.
3. Maybe the most important one: choosing what will benefit our growth, what will be of technical / musical benefit to us. Every single piece contributes to our development and understanding and growing through performing is the only way forward in understanding music!

Happy practising with an open mind and heart!

Hello music lovers! In part 1 of this article, I wrote about the importance of composing and improvising on piano. If you haven’t yet – check it out. We discussed the very beginnings of structured improvisation. It is easy and anyone can do it. It might not be the most comfortable at first but it is definitely beneficial, fun and progressively better the more we do it!

I suggested that the first steps of structured improvisation could be through imitation of what we hear and variation of some of the components in that material.

In this article, I would like to discuss further steps in improvising, as well as a little bit more on free versus structured improvisation and the beginnings of composing.

Now, I am in no way an experienced on stage improviser – I have taken an improvisation course and I frequently do it in the comfort of my practice room. I am not yet comfortable with improvising on stage and I don’t feel a particular appeal in doing so by myself – perhaps it is easier with a group of people. My music cravings are satisfied with me being on stage, solo or not.

However, I have managed to reach something special with improvisation, another layer of myself where letting go had to happen. From that moment onwards I knew that this was something that is benefiting me both musically and personally. I would like to share a few more tips with you.

Free Improvisation!

This means absolutely no structure. A completely blank canvas of nothingness! Is that more terrifying than having structure?

How to start?

There are no rules so we don’t need to create any. You can use all your musical devices… melody as you like, chords if it feels right, rhythmical patterns, just one musical line.

The piano is a big instrument – using its full capacity can be an incredible experience. Try knocking on the wood, tapping, and opening it and touching the strings, plucking them, rubbing them, imagine it’s a guitar, combine it with pedalling. If you press the keys silently while holding the pedal and touch the strings – you can get incredible effects. There can be hundreds of sound worlds created from just playing around.

People sometimes wonder: “what am I doing“… The point of these sessions is not in creating a masterpiece. If I try writing a few pages I am certainly not a writer, let alone a good one. But in reality, continuity with this type of experiment is proving to do wonders.

People end up enjoying themselves, finding out so many things! One day you might hit the wall and have absolutely no creative drive, the other day you can get lost inside the sounds as if you are meditating. It is almost a spiritual experience while being liberated of all the structures and visiting the sound world that you are creating for yourself.

It is important to feel safe with yourself – that you feel that an act of improvisation is not stupid or pointless, that the end game doesn’t count. That way it actually ends up being so inspired – and this is a fact: many amazing pieces of art came out of that state, state of flow and experimental state of being. Some musicians find it helpful to turn the voice recording application on, later revisit the recording and then use the materials that they assessed sound good.

Free improvisation challenge for you to try:

Seven Days of improvising

Let’s say you spare 20 minutes each day to play around your instrument. Explore whatever feels like that day. Sometimes just a few minutes will end up sounding amazing. What is important is that you either journal after each session or that you record the sessions – it will be an incredibly interesting experience. You can then compare how day 1 felt compared to the last day, you can scan what changes happened in your mindset.

Structured improvisation challenge! – improvising on piano!

Day 1 – Mozart tune

Pick a melody by Mozart and do something with it. Change registers, chords, the anatomy of melody, find what feels good!

Day 2 – Song of your choice

Pick any song you like, this includes any style of your preference. Just playing it on the instrument is already a nice achievement presuming you used your ears only and not a pdf download. Apply any changes to it!

Day 3 – Folk tunes from different countries!

Try any song from Balkan. YouTube has an extensive source of various folk tunes. For this challenge, I would encourage you to tap the rhythms on the piano lid, table, your thighs! This can only improve your sense of rhythm, groove and instincts. There is nothing to lose and much to gain, plus you might end up dancing!

Day 4 – Repeat rhythmical patterns

This is more of an invitation to stay alert that day, try to repeat the rhythm patterns that you hear that day!

Day 5 – Music style you never heard

On day 5, I would like to invite you to listen to a music style you never exposed yourself to! This can be anything from the beginnings of music until today. Let your imagination fly. My suggestions are reggae, Indian music, various types of jazz, even renaissance chanting. Use this exposure to create a mood that is the base of your improvisation that day.

Day 6 – Romantic melody improvisation

Try improvising on a melody by Chopin, Brahms, or any other composer from the romantic period in classical music. Don’t forget to keep the improvising units short and structured, stick to 2 bar phrases or a little more if it feels right!

Day 7 – Total nonsense!

Day 7 could be the day when you don’t have to make any sense in the way you sound. Actively forget the conditioning to make sense. The only structure could be the bar numbers but even that is not relevant.

I hope that this challenge and improvising, in general, helps us all open our minds. It is a wonderful way to set ourselves free and try and touch the sense of creativity without the pressure to achieve or climb up to any level.

Let’s not forget that even the best improvisers in comedy, acting and other forms of art – failed miserably on stage, multiple times (before reaching excellence). Continuity in improvising is the key, we simply get more and more free. It is a beautiful way to embrace a possibility of “failure” (in this case, something that sounds funny…). It is a rare opportunity to find something special in ourselves and often a very nice musical material that is truly ours!

Happy improvising!

When we mention improvisation and composing to an averagely educated instrumentalist, both of these concepts sound scary, to say the least.

The problem with music education is that it focuses on the bare minimum so to say: it provides music literacy and basic knowledge of playing a specific instrument. It takes a long time to become a healthy-sounding performer- so it is no wonder that this is the case.

When we combine other activities in life; obligatory education, homework, commitments of all sorts – practising the piano every day seems plenty as it is.

The difference in the level of music understanding is evident when we compare children who grew up in a household focused on music (usually a musician parent or a grandparent), to those who rely only on their music sessions for their education.

Children with a more of a musical background are naturally more likely to develop deeper musical skills, they are exposed to more frequent music listening, they are more likely to practise better, having a professional supervising you is, of course, a great advantage.

For all the others – just attending your instrument lessons is simply not enough to understand music.

If we take a look at the way children learn any language for instance…

It is through imitation, making mistakes, repeating what they hear, and of course through games and playing with other children. It certainly is not through a factual reasoning, organising verbs, conjugations, adjectives and consciously worrying about structures.

e could easily call all this a form of learning through improvisation and composing.

It is the earliest form of trial & error and in the case of young children, it is an adult who provides feedback.

As we grow older, we learn to provide that feedback for ourselves as we get better in our respective skills.

One thing that comes with ageing is the sense of more responsibility.

Sometimes, this can prevent us from being free to make mistakes and experiment openly.

For example, let’s take an educated adult, 35-year-old, learning a new skill.

The chances of this individual being free to make 100s of mistakes publicly and openly are small.

Even though that would be a quicker way to learn – for instance with new languages etc.

We live in a society that doesn’t embrace failure as a part of success, and where end results count much more than stepping stones necessary to get to our goal.

In music, this could be detrimental. It is important, if not crucial (!) to experiment.

This is how all the music came to life.

I believe that there are so many reasons why it is important to improvise and compose.

Above all of them, it expands our knowledge, understanding, emotional depth and creativity in music.

It also strengthens our sense of assumption in music flow, our sense of music structures, it awakens an imaginative world inside us. It will also translate to other structures in other forms of art. So many structures in art repeat and reinvent themselves.

Below I would like to share a few ideas on how to start your improvising & composing journey. It would be fantastic if you could try as many different ways as possible – without any music scores!

Imitation: Try imitating a certain style.

Let’s say you heard a few Mozart Piano sonatas, and you decide to listen to a specific recording.

You can always go as general as you want: concluding which tonality we are in, what is the time signature of the piece, trying to sing exactly what you hear.

You can also try to hear a few bars, stop the recording and try to continue your own material.

This can be a very small unit – let’s say two bars.

It won’t feel natural immediately and in fact, won’t be beautiful either but very soon it will feel so easy and the quality will develop.

You could try this with any song or piece. Some jazz classics such as “Autumn Leaves” could be a great start.

It is a song that we all know, that has a somewhat predictable harmonic progression but is so brilliant that it leaves enough space for everyone to find their own language and expression.

Simply imitate what you hear, and try finding it on the keyboard.

A good start would be just to play the melody with your right hand. I find that working “in layers” helps.

That means, listening to a small phrase once, trying to play as much as you can, then repeating… eventually you will pick up quite a lot of what you heard.

I would leave the left hand for the 2nd step of your imitation, but of course, this is optional!

I could have titled this article “Learning through imitating & inventing” and all of this would still apply!

In Part 2 of the article, we will discuss more ways to improvise & compose.

I hope you will have some great benefits from trying to think both inside and outside of structures!

Listening to a lot of music is essential, but so it is to be creative and have your own ideas expressed.

Anxiety can manifest itself in variety of ways. Nuances range from lighter symptoms such as elevated heart rate, sweaty palms, to the more severe ones; muscle spasms, hyperventilation, experiencing blackouts, puking, just to name a few.

I would like to discuss some ways that helped me tackle my performing anxiety as I personally experienced many layers of it – total absence of it, to a rather severe panic attacks followed by muscle spasms, (and some sleepless nights prior to performances)

1. Memory and Memory Slips

Perhaps the most common anxiety: fear of forgetting what is coming next.
It is not easy to memorise pieces that are long and have various complexities (our brains are different so it’s very important to know, that what we struggle with is 100% happening to many other people too). I like to analyse the piece, specifically, what is happening structurally, harmonically, and then memorising the key points of where music “turns”. It is essential to know the style and harmonic motion of the piece. Strengthening my memory usually happens in several attempts, I run through to my friends, to my mentor, and not all of those run throughs are successful. I always have memory slips in different places, in every single one of those runs, so I make sure I do at least a few until all of the weak links are strengthened. It is incredibly different to play through to someone else as oppose to oneself only… try it!

2. Meaning

Playing on “auto-pilot” mode at home and expecting a meaningful performance in front of an audience is pure insanity, sorry to say it. I learned that as a child, when I spent hours repeating things and then would go on stage and realise “oh! I have no clue what I am doing”. Our subconsciousness will get us through many situations but in order to have an aware performance, practice must be full of intention and even more important – meaning. Giving every bar, note, or chord, a meaning based on music knowledge – is the key aspect in looking forward to a healthy performance. It is not easy to stay sharp while practising in pajama and checking messages every 5 minutes but having an aim and sharpness that we will have on stage is something we can also practice, or at least imitate.

3. Letting Go

Letting go on stage is a big source of performing anxiety. How to attempt to fully let go but not let go of what you are doing properly… it is a very fine balance and I am not going to pretend I know the answers.

4. Experience

One of the biggest violinists of all time David Oistrakh said: “If I perform less than 3 recitals a week, I consider myself out of concert shape”. This is of course a privilege that only established artists have but it does say that continuity in performing is the key. Building experience is of course a long process but the only way to do something well is to keep doing it and learn from the nuances of what went really well and what could be better.

5. Separating Self

For those of us who grew up performing, sometimes it’s tricky not to attach our self-worth to our performance. The sense of “succeeding” in a particularly tricky or a big performance is often related to feeling like you yourself succeeded as a person. The truth is, it is our job to perform , and also our hobby and our love, the sense of accomplishment is natural. Keeping an eye on “if I don’t play well I am a failure” is very important. For my LPI students it might be different, most of them grew up doing something else and approached music purely from a place of pleasure and joy, which is a fantastic start and most of the time keeps things strongly in perspective.

6. Strong Support System

Performing industry is harsh and very frequently not based on quality. Having a strong system of support is simply essential. For instance, a teacher that has your best interests in their heart, guiding you and sharing all their knowledge. Mentors who will advice you on how to decide your next steps. Family members and friends encouraging your artistic path and unconditionally being there. It makes things easier knowing you are not just a performer and it’s not prosaic entertainment for strangers, it is an essential part of our culture and what makes our society civilised. It nurtures soul and being reminded that we are all taking part in this, has to come externally, at times.

7. Embracing Failure

It simply won’t be great every time. Just like anything else. Learning from my own mistakes and mistakes of others, was the most important thing in carving out the path of security in my mindset. Share, exchange! (Talk to your friends, colleagues, everyone finds different things challenging – exchanging ideas is a beautiful way of staying connected to how complex performing actually is!)

8. Self-esteem, Self-love, Self-reliance

I was, at times, finding it easier to relay on others than to trust myself. My performance anxiety was stemming from being afraid of sharing my own opinion, sharing what I have to musically say and frequently believing that it simply isn’t good enough or even interesting enough. I was so insecure about what I am doing on stage that I did not even know if the problem was psychological or is there something about music that I am not understanding. The answer was both… going deeper into matter was giving me stamina and confidence as I knew more and more. But loving myself better and trusting myself better helped too. Being self-critical is a daily life of performers, it’s how you make things better, buy carefully examining absolutely everything you do. That is dangerous as well, so again this is a matter of fine balance.

9. Staying Connected to The Essence

At the end of the day it is not about us. Sharing music is a form of a duty, fun… in any case it involves others, always. Making it into a beautiful experience for everyone is a nice aim. Staying connected to the music first, it can help us liberate from the claws of fear.

10. Some Right Ways to Practise

Securing things at home, that’s all.

11. So What!

This is a mindset that can sometimes help! “So what if I stop and start crying and everyone stares at me ?” That one always make me laugh and I remind myself not to take my life so seriously. Or “So what if I mess up everything, the only person who suffers is me, others will forget it tomorrow”.

12. Know Your Strengths

It is nice to chose the repertoire that we feel connected to. Usually it also reflects our strengths, some music is more passionate / intellectual / physical than other.. it is at the end of the day a matter of taste and finding those things that we feel natural ease with, is a big part of being comfortable.

Happy and joyous practicing and see you all on and off stage!

In the previous article we have covered how to start developing your sense of sound and aware sound production. I also shared some practical tips that personally helped me and some of my colleagues. Please do consider this article inseparable to part one!

Just to refresh the previous topic – practical tips included the following:

recording yourself, mindfulness, visualisation, among many other advice.

In part 2 I would like to focus on the physicality of piano playing – specifically in relation to sound production, more than any other correlation (articulation, stylistic approach, or technical issues… those topics will be explored in further articles).

In order to explore with your sound, you have to get to know your own body, in the best way you can. Most of us who started playing an instrument at a young age – lacked awareness generally. Some musicians felt this more than the others. Physical awareness as well as emotional one, sound & technique approaches are all categories that require a great care and development, but most importantly – they require very personalised solutions.

Hence, for me personally, it was difficult to feel comfortable with piano as I didn’t know exactly what I was doing, so to speak. I lacked awareness for instance – when I feel tension, I could focus on my shoulders going down, or make sure I am breathing out (and also breathing in, in regular intervals) or any appropriate solution that comes to us so much more naturally with age, and well, method if you like. This is why I believe that physicality of sound production is always dependent on the tension – relaxation awareness, knowing your body, breath and having clarity in music intention.

I would like to invite you to experiment with your playing apparatus as much as possible. So let’s start with:

Fingers, Palm, Wrist, Elbow, Arm and Shoulder Blades.

Experimenting with your sound can be super fun. What’s most fascinating to me is how much changes with a tiny adjustment of an angle or “focus”.

Fingers

There is some music that requires a super “fingery” approach. It is certainly an asset to be able to use just your fingers but most music requires a combined usage of all arms to an extent of your preference. If we talk about curved or flat fingertips you will find many opposing opinions on this topic.

I find that both are good for specific types of sound, and luckily we don’t have to choose one. They are not mutually exclusive, the only thing to truly avoid is your knuckles collapsing inwards.

Try changing the angle of your finger tip depending on what sound you are trying to achieve- some cantabile melodies that are legato can really become alive once you relax the focus of your finger tip and involve more arm weight. Some glittery passages could sound absolutely crystal clear if you focus your palm and really have a quick finger reaction. The possibilities really are endless.

Playing chords beautifully together – of course requires different balancing between the voices, this is exactly where you can see how the ratio of arm versus hand can be fun to experiment with!

Wrist and Upwards!

One thing I am 100% certain about – the wrist can not and should not be tight, ever. In general, tightness is a sign that something in technique is dysfunctional. Other parts of the arm can handle “more” tightness whereas a tight wrist will immediately result in unrefined and sharp sound, and likely in an injury.

Wrist relaxation exercises are crucial from the very beginning, being able to “actively relax” your wrist while you are playing even very intense sections – means that you are definitely gaining a form of physical control in your performing technique. Simply stop yourself every other minute and double check – can you move your wrist up and down while holding the keys.

Another advice I found helpful was to truly keep my arm and forearm active and moving, as I am moving away from the centre of keyboard.

It is really an art not to move too much and unnecessarily while being super efficient with your energy. It is important to supply your sound with enough motion but not too much movement – as it will also negatively affect your playing.

Shoulder / Armpit

Try to focus on your armpits and see what comes up for you. I found that when I am moving away from the central part of the keyboard – it really helps to sense what my under arm and armpit area feels like. As well as the whole space between my arms and lower ribs. Very frequently I found that I am not exactly expanding my lungs / ribs when I inhale and that I am “squeezing” in shoulders, underarms etc. Tension can truly sneak in l, and that’s something we have to almost police ourselves with.

Neck

Neck may seem like an irrelevant part to your sound production but always, and I mean always relax it.

Shoulders

Keep them always down and relaxed. You can achieve stability without tension. If you manage to really keep your tension levels low – your entire playing approach will change!

Shoulder Blades

Specifically for Russian music – if you can get a healthy and big sound from your shoulder blades, it means you are using everything from your finger upwards.

The sound we produce can be anything – heavy, light, crystal clear, it can sound like a consonant or a vowel, anything you imagine. Now my favourite – parallels In tennis, someone like Federer or Djoković certainly experimented with changing angles, adjusting things slightly and then focused if that change will bring a better performance. I invite you to truly experiment with everything in your playing, from your finger tips all the way up, with special focus on neck, back, lower back, well even legs. It’s a beautiful journey inwards and it will certainly result in progress on many levels.

Enjoying yourself is a good starting point to every practise session! Good luck!