United We.....

 

Welcome

Welcome to the first issue of Clavier Companion, a “new” magazine firmly based in the tradition and legacy of two storied and significant publications: Clavier and Keyboard Companion. We apologize for the recent delay in both publications, but we are excited to unveil this magazine that we feel is well worth the wait. In merging these two publications, it is our intent to bring you the best of both worlds – the best of the practical teaching advice, ideas, and solutions that you have always expected from Keyboard Companion, and the best of the in-depth interviews, features, reviews, and columns that you have always expected from Clavier.

Who We Are

First of all, we are the same people that have been producing Clavier and Keyboard Companion. Within these pages and the pages of future issues you will find content written by contributing editors and authors from the pages of both magazines. In addition to keeping current staff and adding some new writers, we are also welcoming talented writers from the history of both magazines “back” into the pages of Clavier Companion. You’ll now find the regular, focused departments of Keyboard Companion and the reviews, columns, and features of Clavier all under the same cover. Everything you loved about both of those magazines is still here.

Much of the focus of Clavier Companion will be on piano and keyboard teaching and learning, at all levels of study. We will strive to offer useful ideas and a variety of viewpoints that will help teachers (and students) of all levels be creative and productive in their practicing, instruction, and performance. In addition, we will continue to offer articles of general interest about performing artists and teachers; reviews of new music, books, and recordings; directories of summer camps and festivals; and other relevant content.

Working Together

Our readers include teachers, performing artists, collaborators, composers, students, and pianophiles. While many of us may appear to have different roles and specialties within this wonderful world of keyboard music, I can’t help but think that ultimately we’re working towards the same thing, and that by joining together with each other, we can achieve more than we can individually. It is our intent that this magazine can serve as a true Companion for all aspects of the profession, and through it we can share and exchange useful ideas and insights.

Like all professions, we face unique challenges in the 21 st-century: How can we continue to promote and increase the presence of the arts in our communities? How can we keep piano and music study relevant to the youth of today? How do we cultivate the audiences and music consumers of tomorrow? In a society increasingly influenced by mass-media, how can we maintain and transmit standards of quality, individuality, creativity, and artistic integrity? How will advances in technology affect our teaching and performing? I maintain that our best chances at answering these questions will come when we join together—artist, teacher, student, patron, and consumer—to share insights and work towards common goals.

An Old Idea

The origin of the phrase “United We Stand, Divided We Fail” likely goes back over 2,500 years to the Greek author Aesop and his fables. In one of those fables, often titled “The Father and His Sons,” the following story is recounted:

A father had a family of sons who were always quarreling among themselves. Frustrated with his inability to heal their disagreements, he asked them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they did so, he asked each of his sons in succession to break the bundle into pieces. They tried with all their strength, but they were unable to do so.

The father proceeded to open the bundle and remove individual sticks. Placing one stick in each son’s hand, the sons were able to break them easily.

He then addressed them in these words: "My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this bundle, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."

Many Levels; One Goal

Take, for example, the humble C Major chord. This C Major chord may represent a lot of different things to different readers – it may be a fundamental topic for a beginning lesson, the first five finger pattern, or (unfortunately!) the opening chord of Heart and Soul. It may be the springboard for a simple jazz improvisation, the basis of a difficult arpeggio drill, or the start of a complicated harmonic sequence. It may even be a chord to be avoided at all costs in certain atonal compositions. This chord is simultaneously the foundation of a simple method song, Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata, and Godowsky’s transcription of the first Chopin Etude. Wherever you find yourself on the technical, creative, harmonic, or stylistic spectrum, that simple chord has meaning to you and serves as a fundamental block of music. And, whatever you’re trying to do with that chord as a teacher, student, performer, composer, or even listener, it all comes back to one fundamental principle - SOUND. How can we make meaningful, artistic, significant sounds with this chord that has been played billions of times by millions of fingers?

We all want to create, teach, listen to, and disseminate SOUND of the highest quality. This is the shared goal that unites everyone who sits down to play or listen to piano and keyboard music.

It is our sincere hope, dear reader, that this magazine, a new creation firmly rooted in strong traditions of the past, can help us ALL explore musical topics like the C Major chord on levels that are meaningful to everyone and inspire us all to pursue higher qualities of sound in our playing, teaching, and listening. United in this purpose, there is much that we can learn from each other.

It is important for the advanced performer to know what is happening in elementary pedagogy, which is shaping the students and audiences of the future. By the same token, it is important for those in elementary pedagogy to see what lies ahead for their students by hearing from the leading artists and performers in our field. Those of you who are passionate about the profession yet are neither teachers nor performers offer an important balancing perspective.

A Lonely Profession?

We are blessed with instruments that can present complete solo performances with melody and harmony, but we also operate in a lonely landscape – lots of practice time alone and lots of one-on-one teaching. Unlike other professions, we don’t often have colleagues down the hall to debate with at the water cooler. This point was stressed by Richard Chronister, the founder of Keyboard Companion, and it was the basis for his use of the word Companion in the title – he wanted the magazine to serve as a friend, colleague, and sounding board for people who often work in solitude.

We want to continue this spirit in Clavier Companion, and we hope that you will come to love and treasure these issues as companions to whatever you do. We want you to find new ideas along with the affirmation of established ideas you use regularly. We sincerely hope that you will read some points in this magazine and disagree with them – this simple act can help you solidify and reaffirm your own ideas while potentially opening up new horizons. There is much talent and wisdom in all corners of our profession, and it is healthy for us to share this wisdom with each other. Like any profession, we need to come together as a whole to promote and support each other, thereby advancing the entire profession and all of its facets.

While we hope that Clavier Companion will provide a forum for all of us to unite and exchange ideas, we also strongly encourage you to take this concept beyond the pages of a magazine. Making more efforts to unite with other teachers, performers, artists, and educators will strengthen your own talents and contribute to the community. Uniting with other generations of teachers, whether they be older or younger, will help to open up dialogues and provide perspective to our work. Uniting with businesses in your community – particularly music retailers, instrument dealers, and performing arts venues – can help open up opportunities and create useful exchanges. Open up the doors of your studio and let the world in – together we can do great things!

 

In This Issue

Our team of writers and editors has worked hard to put together a fabulous first issue. We have the second installment of an interview with one of the greatest living pianists of the 20 th century, Leon Fleisher, who coincidentally appeared on the covers of the final issues of both Clavier and Keyboard Companion. In addition, there is an interview with Lang Lang, one of the most commercially successful pianists of the 21 st century and an important figure in a younger generation of performers. Both of these interviews provide personal insights, ideas, and advice on repertoire, practicing, learning, and teaching.

You’ll find some of the regular departments of Keyboard Companion providing practical solutions to common teaching problems, including the teaching of polyrhythms, helping beginning students read notes on ledger lines between the staves, and finding practical solutions for the audio recording of lessons. All of your favorite Keyboard Companion departments will continue to appear in every other issue of Clavier Companion on a rotating basis. We will also welcome some new departments – this issue features a Career and Professional department that tells the stories of two young teachers looking for the right teaching setting to meet their needs. We do want to provide a voice for young teachers and performers, so in addition to this article, you’ll also find the winning entry from Keyboard Companion’s first Collegiate Writing Contest. Clavier Companion will continue this contest in 2009 ( see ad on page xx).

Thought-provoking columns have always been an important feature of Clavier, and we are so pleased to bring back two of the best column writers – Bob Weirich and Barbara Kreader, who will both be regular contributors to Clavier Companion. The great tradition of Questions and Answers in Clavier was started over xx years ago by Frances Clark, and nobody could carry on that tradition better than Louise Goss, who will be a regular contributor to this feature. You’ll also find Keyboard Kids Companion, a fun and informative page for students that you are allowed to reproduce for your entire studio.

From all of us at both Clavier and Keyboard Companion we extend a warm welcome to you, and we look forward to seeing you in the pages of each issue of Clavier Companion for a long time to come. We also look forward to you being an “active” companion by sending us your thoughts, ideas, and questions. Please write to us at editor@claviercompanion.com and let us know what you think of the new magazine, and what you would like to see in future issues. Your opinions are important, and your input will help make this magazine an active and interesting forum. United, we can achieve great things.

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