We are Human

"You do feel emotion don't you?" I once asked in exasperation. I couldn't stand one more soulless note. Especially not in late Beethoven.

"No." She replied.

This student did not last long. 

We are human -- there are thoughts, feelings, and deeply felt life experiences. We carry this into art. 

Today we seem to be in the business of producing thousands of piano-robots; automatons who can play the right notes in the right order in an emotional vacuum disconnected from their own lives and experiences. 

Scriabin gave the following advice to Horowitz's mother: "Your son will be a great pianist, but please, let him be an overall cultured man, and make him understand not only music, but other important aspects of life. There are the arts of painting, of philosophy, of literature. Only then will he be an all-around musician."

Comments

[Learn to play piano and keyboard lesson series on downloadable videos]

Rightly said. It's not a big deal to instruct and impart technical accuracy such as hitting the right notes, timing & rhythm, etc. All of these are objective. The "emotion" part of it is very subjective and very hard to explain and impart to a student.

I feel that it only comes (and gets better) with age and experience as you immerse yourself into the finer nuances of music and critically analyse every piece of music with a fine-toothed comb. Young students, however brilliant, simply don't get the "emotion" part. But if they do eventually last (say, for 10-15 years), their music will sound more soulful!

[Ernie]

I thought you might enjoy the following video using 1 Piano, 2 Guys, 100 Cello Tracks.

http://youtu.be/rR94NDIfGmA

Great page.

[James Harding]

I couldn't agree more. So many students are brought up with real fear that they will "make a mistake." Rarely do they learn to be an artist - truly expressive in the style appropriate to their genre. That's one of the big reasons I fell in love with swing music. I really enjoy improvising and playing expressively. The music is "alive" - different every time!

Great post. Thank you!