David Thompson wrote:
It often seems that is has never occurred to the student to step back and view the work as a highly Romantic and lyrical one, and to try focusing on playing long, expressive lines, rather than concentrating on the short-term technical challenges.
Isn't that really quite natural for most people? I always find that difficult technical passages get in the way of being played lyrically until the technical part is mastered. Of course, I also find that "hearing" the lyrical, expressive phrase and viewing the written music that way helps to make the technical part easier (assuming the technical part is within reach of my limited skills...) . A line I've started using with my children is "play the measures, not the notes," to help them find downbeats in 3/8 and 2/2 pieces with new (to them) rhythms. That can be expanded to "play the phrases, not the measures," when they get comfortable with the rhythms.
Ted Durant Milwaukee, WI USA
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