Home Practice
Elvina Pearce, Editor
In this issue, the HOME PRACTICE column features an interview with the eminent pianist and teacher, Nelita True, who responds to questions about practice - both her own, and that of her students. Here are just a few excerpts from the article:
Elvina Pearce (EP) asks: As a young
child (grade school age), what were your attitudes about practicing?
Did anyone ever have to frequently remind you to practice? Were
you given any "rewards" for practicing? How many days
a week were you expected to practice? Did you have parental supervision
during practice, and if so, did you like it?
Nelita True's (NT) response: My teacher told my parents that I was a "recital pianist," which made me very proud until I realized that she meant that I practiced only before recitals! Since I tended to resist disciplinary controls, my parents wisely did not enforce a practice schedule nor did they supervise my practice (or so I recall). Far more powerful was the influence of my older brother Wes, also a pianist, whom I wanted to emulate. My young, but wise, first teacher told me to practice 13 minutes per day. That strange time length proved to be motivational. There were no rewards, except for the ubiquitous gold stars-and a look at my teacher's seemingly split tongue if I played unusually well!
EP: By the time you were in high school, what practice strategies do you remember learning from your teacher(s) that you utilize even today?
NT: The value of slow practice and practicing in rhythms
EP: Did you learn any other significant basics about practicing from your college instructors?
NT: What I learned from Helen Titus was absolutely life-changing. Everything I had done previously was largely instinctive; and I, of course, still consider instinct to be the primary musical motivation. However, Miss Titus opened new worlds of understanding, which deepened my ability to communicate at the piano. To cite just one example, she encouraged all of her students to be creative and independent in our groupings of notes within a phrase. I remember striving to discern every possible note-grouping, only to find that she could see still others. This experimentation challenged our imaginations and stretched our listening capacity. I could not wait to get to a piano after a lesson with her! My five unforgettable years in Leon Fleisher's studio heightened and further clarified this totally musical approach to practicing.
EP: In your own practice, before you begin working on repertoire, do you do any kinds of "warm-ups"? If so, please discuss.
NT: Yes, I do. This is probably due to the influence of my wonderful teacher at Juilliard, Sascha Gorodnitzki. Good pianists after all are, among other things, accomplished athletes. Like all athletes, we need to warm up the muscles in order to prevent injury .I do stretching exercises involving double notes along with scales (including double-note scales), arpeggios, part of Hanon, and etudes. As I tell my students, even Barishnikov would not go on stage without first stretching at the barre.
EP: What do you know now about how to practice that you wish you had known in your student days?
NT: Not to waste time on purposeless repetitions.
EP: What do you consider to be the most important thing you do when practicing?
NT: Listening!
EP: Do you, yourself, practice slowly? If so, approximately what percentage of a daily practice session might be spent in slow practice with a new piece? How much with learned pieces selected for future concert performances? What do you consider to be the value of slow practice if you do indeed do it?
NT: Yes, I most definitely practice slowly. I have daily proof that the old adage is true: "The slower you practice, the faster you learn." My practice of a new piece is only at a very slow tempo until I feel secure. Because the mind assimilates the music much faster than the muscles, slow practice is a must for success. Review of already-learned pieces at a slow tempo solidifies both musical conception and memory. Furthermore, slow practice makes us aware of musical patterns instead of relying on kinesthetic reflexes alone. Technical difficulties often arise when a pianist doesn't really know the patterns.
EP: What things about how to practice do you wish that all incoming freshman piano students knew when they come to you for study?
NT: How to listen critically and how to manage practice time productively. I'm speaking ideally now, for many freshmen have not yet reached that level of musical maturity.
EP: How important do you think SLOW practice is for college-level students? Is it possible to spend too much time practicing slowly? Do you ever ask to hear a student play slowly at the lesson?
NT: I believe that slow practice is a fundamental tool for all levels of piano students. Incidentally, I learned long ago that my concept of "slow" is not the same as my students' "slow." I think that the teacher must demonstrate a truly deliberate tempo so that students will learn what is necessary for positive results. Yes, one could conceivably spend too much time practicing slowly; but I haven't yet run into this problemjust the opposite, in fact! I do ask to hear students play slowly in their lessons when clarity is missing.
EP: Nelita, this brings us to the end of my list of questions for you. Is there anything else that you would like to say about practicing?
NT: As a summary, I might say that the quest for ideal practice procedures is, I feel, lifelong. Fortunately, the constant evaluation of how one is practicing is actually an important element in musical growth.