Scholarly writing and how to get it done. / And a workshop for my own ideas, scholarly and poetic
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Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Can you hear it?
I found out something significant recently: if you can't play something on the piano, it means you aren't hearing it correctly. So it is incorrect to say "I can't play what I am hearing." You should say: "I can't hear what I want to hear."
My jazz piano teacher back in my high-school days required that I sing my solos while playing them on the piano. This way I could hear what I wanted to hear and then play what I was hearing on the piano, simultaneously. This was VERY hard for me to do at first - not least because I was too self-conscious to want to sing. But when the lesson kicked in, it changed everything.
Yes. It's paradoxical because you think it is easier because the keyboard lays out all the notes for you, but you must still hear what you're going to play before you play it.
My jazz piano teacher back in my high-school days required that I sing my solos while playing them on the piano. This way I could hear what I wanted to hear and then play what I was hearing on the piano, simultaneously. This was VERY hard for me to do at first - not least because I was too self-conscious to want to sing. But when the lesson kicked in, it changed everything.
ReplyDeleteI should have written "required that I sing my *improvisations* ..." - because not all solos are improvisations, of course.
ReplyDeleteYes. It's paradoxical because you think it is easier because the keyboard lays out all the notes for you, but you must still hear what you're going to play before you play it.
ReplyDelete