Hi everyone, as per the title I am preparing for the middle achievement exam [Compimento medio v.o.], which I will take in a few months during the autumn session (the summer one is inconceivable).
I would like to try asking here for advice regarding the theory/culture exam (I chose Botti's manual, obviously on the history of the piano) and especially the interpretation part. Would you recommend tackling this exam preparation one month before the test—in this case, in August—or should I start seriously right now? Because reviewing Bach and Clementi is taking up so much of my daily practice time that I reach the end of the day exhausted, without the strength to even open that 400-page manual and/or to practice reading something new. Or am I doing something wrong in my planning? I don't even know if, since the exam consists of 7 total tests, it would make sense to prepare one day a week for each individual piece (e.g., Day 1 review Beethoven, Day 2 Chopin, Day 3 Bach, etc.)... how did you all manage everything? Thanks from a pianist in crisis.
I believe you are working well. The culture test is primarily about one's own instrument and the literature of the instrument itself. Other useful and pleasant readings: A. Casella's 'The Piano'. What every pianist must know about Finizio. Also 'The Art of Piano Playing' by Nehaus (I hope that's how it's spelled....) (but also many others like G. Sandor's manual - how to play the piano, etc...).
If I may, since the date is not so close, I would do 3 days of Beethoven, 3 days of Chopin, etc. For Bach, I would divide the work by dedicating at least 3 days to a group of 5 preludes and fugues, in parallel with the pieces and the Beethoven sonata. The same goes for Clementi.
The principle that, in my opinion, governs study is to insist on the same pieces for several days and not leave them before an additional stage of maturation has been established. Think of the metaphor of water on fire: we try to make it boil and don't always put it out first. Putting it out early could mean having to bring the water up to a new increasing temperature to get close to boiling again... with an obvious waste of energy.
Another indication, suggested by me in many posts, is to study close to performance speeds. Understanding immediately what the gestures and movements will be in the presence of the correct tempo is fundamental. At speed, one can use stops, with or without repetition, on the beat unit or the measure unit, at the right tempo. Studying slowly is not always a good thing. Furthermore, distinguish between "slowly" and "rallentando". Also, during review at a slow tempo (perhaps to clarify some passages that "won't stick in your head"), one must maintain accents and not increase them. If a lively piece is in 2, when reviewing it in "slow motion," the two accents must be preserved and not transformed into 4 or 8!!!!
Thank you Maestro for the directions, I will follow what was suggested, dividing the work into 3-day blocks, which seems to me the best solution to manage such a vast repertoire.
I have been told that rightly, at this point, I should never let the pieces rest; on the contrary, I should play them all every day (even to develop muscle memory...). The problem is that perhaps I misunderstood the instruction, because if I play every day even just half of the 24 preludes and fugues from the Clavicembalo and the 23 studies by Geadus, plus the rest, I would spend 8 hours daily just on review! Aside from the fact that they are not yet ready for the exam, so it is a 'review' in a manner of speaking. Perhaps I am losing my mind.
Thank you also for the suggestions regarding the Culture exam, I have also read Casella and Sandor, great reads!
P.S. - The study on the unit of time is too perfect, which shortens learning times. I would already like to memorize measure by measure at this stage, but with Bach and Clementi I don't remember anything, except after a thousand repetitions. Thank you
Repeating everything and never leaving the pieces to acquire muscle memory... I don't find it very right. Kinetic memory is the one you should trust the least. There are three types of memory: kinetic memory, cognitive memory, and auditory memory. We have already spoken about the first, but relying solely on this (even if useful in very rapid short passages and harmonic transitions) is dangerous. By repeating, repeating, one thinks they have assimilated the piece, but in a different emotional condition, the memory of movement could change and no longer find secure references! Furthermore, such memory deals, kinetically, with the type of instrument we encounter: another instrument that is more or less "difficult" alters the movement assimilated through many repetitions. Auditory memory can also help us, but it is not sufficient to ensure a good result. Only conscious and cognitive memory is secure. Knowing what happens harmonically with reference points entrusted to the knowledge of modulations. This allows us to perceive moment by moment "where we are" and, in case of an accident, gives us the security to cling to the next "known" passage. To verify if this exists, one must be able to pick up the piece from any beginning of a phrase or fragment. This maturation of knowledge also allows us not to "always start again from the beginning," because we "know" what we are playing. Another cognitive test is studying the left hand alone and also hands separately from memory. In the case of the Gradus, for example, there is time to repeat and repeat! The 24 hours are also useful for deepening the final phase of execution, but this happens well if the piece is well known. The same goes for Bach, who must be known not only for how the theme is treated (especially in fugues), but above all for how the complementary parts develop (countersubjects... etc.) to which one should, in performance, pay even more attention than the theme, which is now "taken for granted."
In short, know how the pieces are constructed and do not "read just for the sake of reading."
You are certainly in a middle ground situation and therefore prepare Bach and Clementi in a way that allows you to work well during the 24 hours, while for the pieces, the sonata, or the virtuosity studies, try to deepen them as if you had to play them from memory. Studying with stops simultaneously helps you overcome speed difficulties, correct kinetic movement, knowledge of fragments... but it doesn't make you lose the accentuation of the piece! Two types: stopping with repetition at the start of what is on the beat and/or bar, and subsequently, that without repetition. When you decide to go from one accent to another, NEVER stop! Come what may! Only afterwards will the errors be analyzed! And then again in speed and clarity between one stop and the next.
Many thanks for all the suggestions! I am starting to study Beethoven at the desk, I had already done the harmonic analysis of the pieces but now I am getting into it systematically. I tried playing only the left hand without sheet music and yes, I'm seeing some real struggles. Besides, memorizing it helps me a lot not to "get lost". I will start working well on Bach and Clementi now that I am starting the "review" phase and as much as I can.. Cordially
I confirm that studying with stops is ideal; it is already solving passages that weren't working in just a single study session. I might be saying something absurd, but I find it very useful also from an interpretative point of view: for example, I noticed in Scarlatti with the K 113, which I worked on this way, when I stop at the beginning of the next measure on the upbeat note, it allows me to concentrate well on it, giving the right breath before starting again on the downbeat. I don't know if what I said makes sense, anyway thank you very much!
Even if there is a tie across the beat, you must stop on the downbeat (a tied silent note... but intended) and from there start counting again (this one is for the stop with repetition, meaning repetition of the accents!). Then without repetition, arriving on the strong accent and restarting without playing the strong accent. This second one is harder to control, but truly effective.
This way of studying, coming from my School, was used by the great Francesco Bajardi, the last pupil of Liszt. My teacher Maria Pia Censi Gorini, to whom I owe everything, was a pupil of Bajardi and then of Carlo Zecchi. She insisted heavily on this method of study to easily achieve speed with control and clarity.
I would like to already memorize measure by measure at this stage, instead with Bach and Clementi I don't remember anything, not even after a thousand repetitions. Thank you
Even great performers have struggled with the memorization of Bach's works; I will never tire of repeating it: Bach was not born to be memorized... that is why it is difficult to do so
