Article (1992) by Miriam Byler
ubato is a nuance in music with all elusive
definition. It is at best learned experientially through listening,
analyzing, observation, and imitation, but not necessarily in
that order. Even composers editors, and performers have a problem
with exactly how this "device" should be used. The "bending
of time" will probably not be interpreted the same way by
students, teachers, or even advanced performers.
How then, can it possibly be taught? It would be impossible to devise rules for the introduction of rubato for all students or predict when the first magic moment of stretching for expressive purposes might occur. However, there are those "compositions espressivo" which lend themselves to laying a foundation for that moment to occur.
Recently, Sondra played a beautifully expressive performance of Lynn Freeman Olson's Forever True to You from Pop Goes the Piano, Book I (Alfred), with lovely melody, flawless pedal, and even with an unwritten pause before the last note. It was the pause that "only real musicians know about!!" Following abundant affirmation and discussion about the effectiveness of her performance, we made the decision for her to play it as an offertory for chapel at her parochial school. Sondra is a reserved perfectionist, almost afraid to make a mistake, but with this piece she began to experience rhythmic flow, shaping of a phrase line, and the "pause" at the end of the piece, all early stages in the development of tempo rubato.
Enter David, a wiggly 5th grade transfer student and potential piano dropout. David has great finger dexterity, is very opinionated regarding counting and fingering, but who sat still long enough to listen to my play-through of Glover's The Great Smoky Mountains (Belwin Mills). A slightly-built student, he became so involved with the feel and growth of the arpeggios, that "off the bench" was a temptation and "on the bench" a challenge! He observed the dynamics well, along with the ritard-a tempo, loved the cadenza-like section with LH octaves on the second page, and ended the piece with great attention to shading. While he expressed the musical and technical elements of this piece well, the most rewarding was his interpretive involvement with the rhythmic flexibility offered in this piece.
A "magic moment" of rhythmic nuance could involve the written/unwritten ritard at the end of a piece or even a slight fluctuation of tempo, e.g. before the return of an A section in a piece. Frequently I ask young students how they plan to end a piece. We compare sounds of finality with/without a slight pause. "Keep me guessing when the last note will sound, then give it a little extra hug!" They love the end result!
Words I use as "tools" for introduction to rhythmic nuance are hug, stretch, flexible, tenderly, love, bend, elastic, etc. Reflections of the Moon by Olive Dungan (Belwin Mills, Inc.) was 4th-grade Margaret's favorite piece. The title, the beautiful melody and lush left hand harmony, as well as sequential growth, provided the setting for a rewarding experience with tempo rubato. Our discussion did not dwell on the word rubato, but on the enthusiasm and restraint, the give and take so evident in this piece.
A valuable teaching tool for introducing tempo rubato is the teacher's own demonstration. As we "dissect" the piece and the music is within their grasp, I frequently play with my students on a second piano. This provides them an experiential learning experience and a pattern to follow. Sometimes we pretend they are my orchestra and I "conduct" their performance, with large and small gestures.
Our task is easier and certainly more enjoyable on all levels because of the fine work of many educational composers. As teachers in the 90's, we have rich treasures of "compositions espressivo" which assist in laying the groundwork for true rubato of the Romantic Period.
MIRIAM K. BYLER is an independent
piano teacher in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She was a college teacher
of piano and piano pedagogy for 23 years in Kansas and Virginia.
ubato is not a mathematical concept and cannot
be taught by mechanically adding to one note and subtracting from
another. The purpose of rubato is to add expression to the music.
The key for teaching this concept is the imagination. Each
student has different life experiences, background, exposure to
the arts, and level of sensitive listening. These either help
or hinder the student's ability to imagine. As the teacher, it
is my job to stimulate the student's imagination so the slight
holding back or the gradual winding down will sound natural and
not contrived.
There is no prescribed time frame in which the student is expected to produce a naturally felt rubato. The repertoire being studied is the important factor in determining when this expression should appear. A good example is found near the end of Frances Clark's The Music Tree, Part B, in a piece entitled The Modern Dragon.
The lyrics, from a poem by Rowena Bennett, stimulate the student's imagination as the piece is studied. The "modern dragon" is a train that speeds through the night and the "one yellow eye" is the train's headlight. Rubato might occur in the four measures which start with the words "And all the earth trembles." Feeling this drama, the student takes time to convey the depth of feeling to the listener. But the train never slows down, and the performer must then move along with the words "as he rushes by." This music has a teacher duet which gives me an opportunity to feel the rubato with the student. The signs rit., fermata, and a tempo are further guides to this dramatic experience.
If the intermediate or advanced student is to perform a convincing, natural rubato in an abstract piece of music, the student must first experience rubato at the elementary level. Not all elementary pieces have words to guide the imagination, so when I find a piece that needs rubato I use various teacher-directed experiences: 1) direct the student's playing through the section, 2) play along with the student, 3) sing the melodic line with the student, or 4) give the student a picture of the music by story-telling or comparison of an experience. For example, in the piece Circling Gulls from my Honeycomb, Book 3 (Alfred), the music evokes pictures of gulls in flight and circling. At the climactic point of the music, one pictures the birds soaring up the keyboard and then gliding gently down to circle again. Since most students have seen birds do this, the music allows the student to feet that movement. I use any one or all of the above four steps to create a natural feeling of rubato at the climactic point in this music.
Early in the student's musical development, I call attention to the composer's title and all the signs and words the composer has written in the music. I want the student to relate the music they play to the experiences of life they have seen, heard, and felt, as well as the stories and poems they have read. I also expect the student to count and feel a steady pulse on every piece played, and only on those special pieces like The Modern Dragon do I want rubato in which neither the basic pulse nor the imagination is lost!
SUE SHANNON, a nationally certified
MTNA teacher in both piano and composition, is the director of
her own School of Piano in Saratoga, CA. She is the composer and
author of Music Starts Early for the young pianist, the Honeycomb
performance series, and Composing at the Keys (Alfred).
