http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yimmUStxpZQ
Claudia has made significant gains this year. She’s shaping her phrases more, and becoming ear-attentive and physically responsive to the music she plays.
Today, she made additional headway with J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C minor, BWV 847.
Coming into her lesson with two introductory readings, she was bobbing her head up and down, reinforcing beats which impeded the bigger flow of phrases above and beyond these metronomic impulses. (The playing was initially VERTICAL and without direction)
In the video attached, Claudia had a bigger conception of the work, playing it more HORIZONTALLY, with an ear toward melodic contouring AND harmonic rhythm. To play this composition requires at least a two-tier understanding of their interaction, not to mention an absorption of form or structure.
The interluding ad lib sections, are in marked contrast to what unfolds in between, requiring sensitive tempo shifts.
In this arena, Claudia is developing her sense of a Baroque rubato without going overboard.
***
It’s always valuable for a teacher to sing various sections of a composition while the student plays, and to conduct, or use body language to help shape phrases along.
The big challenge on the day of the big event is for the student to have the presence of mind to communicate all that she has learned along the way.
Videotaping allows examination of what needs improvement, while simulating performance conditions as best as possible.
