Learning a New Piece…
One Bite at a Time.
A great new adventure Learning a new piece on our instrument is always exciting. By simply looking at those notes flowing along the staves, we can already hear melodies, chords, rhythms… and it’s all so beautiful!
But first, we have to tame the beast, and the adventure will only be rewarding if we are wise enough to use the “elephant-eating-technique”: one bite at a time. |
The way I proceed
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A very precious advice
Recently, I have found a book by Gerald Klickstein, The Musician’s Way. A Guide to Practice, Performance, and Wellness. It’s a real treasure chest for any musician, amateur, student or even professional. This book helped me greatly in developing my “elephant-eating-technique” for the mandolin. |
Where wisdom starts
The first thing we should do with our newly discovered sheet of music is to make sure it is not beyond our reach. Thinking that we can improve our playing or learn new techniques by working on pieces that are out of reach is a common mistake. We don’t learn to play duo-style by trying to play a piece written in duo-style; it’s the same with tremolo, harp-arpeggios, position playing or any other technique. We learn new techniques with appropriate exercises, chosen “études” and a carefully planned program.
So, a quick look at the entire piece, at the techniques required, at the tempo, might give us a good idea if it’s appropriate for us.
So, a quick look at the entire piece, at the techniques required, at the tempo, might give us a good idea if it’s appropriate for us.
Take it easy before you grab the banjo
Let’s remember how learning works: every time we play or try to play a piece on our instrument, it leaves marks in our brain. Our brain records without distinction the good and the bad notes, good or bad rhythms, good or bad dynamics, articulations, fingerings, interpretations, etc. So, starting our learning by sight reading the score is probably not the best choice we can make. How should we approach a new piece then? |
Let’s see an example
Some musicians can get a very good idea of how a piece will sound just by looking at the score. Sadly, it’s not the case for everyone.
Hearing the piece, or like Klickstein calls it, getting an “aural model” of the piece should be our first goal.
To do so, we can try to find a recording of the piece. If we are lucky enough, we might even find different interpretations by different performers, which is the best situation.
I couldn’t find any recording for Leone’s piece. In such a case, playing it on a keyboard is a good solution to avoid playing mistakes on our instrument. Of course, if you’re learning with a professor, he or she would probably play it for you. It’s the same if you’re learning with a website like ArtistWorks.
As for myself, I prefer transcribing the piece, or at least part of it, on a music notation software. I use MuseScore; it’s free, rather easy to use and the results are quite satisfying. This way, I can get clean music sheets, flexible Midi mp3, useful accompaniment back tracks, and all of that with variable tempo, coupled with a very good idea of dynamics and articulations.
Hearing the piece, or like Klickstein calls it, getting an “aural model” of the piece should be our first goal.
To do so, we can try to find a recording of the piece. If we are lucky enough, we might even find different interpretations by different performers, which is the best situation.
I couldn’t find any recording for Leone’s piece. In such a case, playing it on a keyboard is a good solution to avoid playing mistakes on our instrument. Of course, if you’re learning with a professor, he or she would probably play it for you. It’s the same if you’re learning with a website like ArtistWorks.
As for myself, I prefer transcribing the piece, or at least part of it, on a music notation software. I use MuseScore; it’s free, rather easy to use and the results are quite satisfying. This way, I can get clean music sheets, flexible Midi mp3, useful accompaniment back tracks, and all of that with variable tempo, coupled with a very good idea of dynamics and articulations.
Here’s how our Air by Leone sounds on a Midi track produced with MuseScore.
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Where does it come from?
Knowing where, when, how the pieces had been composed will give us precious information. Collecting all the information possible on the composer will prevent us from future interpretation mistakes: we shouldn’t play Leone like Calace!
This research is especially important when we play the mandolin since there are so many differences between eras.
We know that Leone lived from 1725 until 1790. Like Mozart (1756 — 1791) he composed during the Classical period. He was, with Pietro Denis (1720 — 1790), Giovanni Fouchetti (1757 — 1789) Michel Corrette (1707 — 1795) one of France’s Grands Maîtres.
This research is especially important when we play the mandolin since there are so many differences between eras.
We know that Leone lived from 1725 until 1790. Like Mozart (1756 — 1791) he composed during the Classical period. He was, with Pietro Denis (1720 — 1790), Giovanni Fouchetti (1757 — 1789) Michel Corrette (1707 — 1795) one of France’s Grands Maîtres.
Our piece, Est-il destin plus doux, was published in Leone’s Méthode Raisonnée pour passer du violon à la mandoline et de l’archet à la plume (p. 60 — 62). Reading at least parts of this Méthode can give us precious information. The main theme was probably a well-known “air” at the time since we found it in the Méthode facile pour la viole d’amour by Louis-Toussaint Milandre (floruit ca. 1756 – ca. 1776) (p. 16). Here’s a facsimile of the original Milandre's "Méthode" , a copy of the original score, a transcription, a transposition in the G clef, and an interpretation on the viola d’amore by Anfisa Kalinina. |
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Is everything clear?
It’s obvious that trying to learn a piece from a score with terms and symbols we don’t understand is doomed to failure. Usually, the most common terms and symbols are well known: no problemo with staccato or legato, nor with andantino or presto.
This asterisk-like sign at the clef is, of course, a sharp.
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The rest in the 8th measure is a quarter rest.
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The accent on the first D of the first variation stands for a down stroke.
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The sign over the first measure of the first variation and the same one over the first measure of the 4th variation are not relevant anymore since we play with a plectrum. Leone used to play with a feather calamus like the one illustrated on the first page of his Méthode and those signs specified the way to place the fingers on the “plume” (stretched or bent).
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The P under measure 21 of the first variation means that we can play this low A with the thumb (pouce). Since we don’t use this technique any more, this sign is not relevant either.
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The E of the 14th measure of variation 2 has two stems. This means that we should not play the note on open string but use the 4th finger.
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Number the measures.
In most modern music sheets, the measures are numbered. If it’s not the case, it’s very useful to do so. In transcribing a piece on MuseScore, like I did with Leone’s Air, the measures are automatically numbered.
Need a compass or Google Maps?
In some pieces, it might be important to “decode” the repeat signs. Sometimes, finding our way through repeat signs, “D.C.”, “D.S.”, “D.C. al coda… al fine… al nothing-since-we-forgot-to-print-a-sign” might be troublesome. Furthermore, we may have to decide if we actually do the repeats and if so, how we will manage to avoid the unavoidable boredom! Those confusing repeat signs are very frequent especially in the late 19th / early 20th century romantic pieces.
If we take a look at the original Leone’s score, we are lucky to have a rather simple path. The theme is a A / B / A form, and, of course, so are the variations.
If we take a look at the original Leone’s score, we are lucky to have a rather simple path. The theme is a A / B / A form, and, of course, so are the variations.
Let’s slice the cake!
It’s a very bad idea to practice a piece by playing it all the way through. Using a pencil, we should divide the piece into “digestible” sections; and the more difficult parts should be divided into shorter sections. We can identify sections with capital letters.
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In this example it seems logical to make sections of four measures. Since our piece is a theme—variations form, we’ll have the same four measures cuts for the variations. Later, when we start practising, we can work on each section with the corresponding variation.
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What about those very difficult parts?
If there are only a few especially difficult short sections, we might take the risk of learning the piece anyway. As those sections are identified, we can find appropriate exercises to work on alongside our practise on the main piece.
As for example, the picking for variation 1might be tricky.
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To help us master the technique we can easily transform this exercise on double stops by Herbert Forrest Odell and adapt it to our needs.
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Linking the chords in the first four measures of the theme might require special attention. It might help to work on “harmonized scales” like the ones we find in the Mandolin Companion by Alison Stephens and Chris Acquavella (p. 46)
Rhythm patterns.
Unless the rhythm patterns are very simple, we should identify the more complex ones. This way, we can practise each of them by singing them, clapping hands or simply playing them on muted strings and, of course, with the metronome. We can do so slowly at first and accelerate as we get more comfortable.
In Leone’s piece, there are no great rhythmic difficulties. Maybe section B might need a little attention and maybe the triplet in measure 20.
Analyse the musical form.
The form of this Leone piece doesn’t need to be analyzed since it’s a theme and variations. But with a more complex form, we would make sure to understand the structure of the piece before starting to learn it.
So...
We know that our piece is not beyond our reach, we have a midi mp3 acting as an aural model, we have information concerning the composer, we understand every sign on the music sheet, the measures are numbered, it’s divided into digestible sections, we have tools to help us get through the more difficult parts, we are familiar with the rhythm patterns and the structure is clear. Now and only now are we ready to grab our mandolin and start repeating the piece section by section.
Nothing more than my way!
Of course, there is not only one way we can do things. This is how I prepare myself to learn a piece. In my next article, I will explain that “repeating the piece section by section” can be done effectively to get the best results possible if we respect how the learning process works.