Group 4
Welcome to the NEW TWO WEEK INTENSIVE on tonebase!
"Phrasing like a Singer" at the Piano with Leann Osterkamp.
Much of classical piano music evolved historically from vocal music. Voice, naturally being the most primal/organic instrument of all, is the source from which pianists draw our understanding of dynamic contour, pacing, and phrasing. By understanding how one might coach a vocalist, one can create an organic musicality and polished phrasing on the piano. Join Dr. Leann Osterkamp He as she demonstrates how her experience coaching professional singers in both opera and lied transformed her understanding of phrasing on the piano. She will break down the basics of vocal coaching into pragmatic learning steps and fun techniques for you to use in your own learning!
Post your progress with videos and written commentary on how things are going for you!
- Course Period: October 28th - November 9th
- Class Size: ALL are welcome!
- Optional check-In via Zoom: TBD
Assignment #1
https://youtu.be/GvYcVNFby4A?si=Svu_TDAPzv98ZOl_
1. Pick 8-12 bars of a solo piano piece of your choice that has a clear melody.
2. Put in your own lyrics in your most comfortable language! No need for fine poetry, just aim for something that you think fits the character of the piece/moment. Be careful when thinking over whether every note needs its own word or if you might like to draw out a word over multiple notes (by extending a vowel). The goal is to make it sound like natural speech.
3. Now go in and mark breath marks, making choices based off of organic pause in the language, punctuation of word, physical necessity, etc.
4. Now that you have intentional breathing, identify the dynamic contour of each smaller unit between each breath, thinking of the natural inflection of speech, the range of the pitches, word punctuation, etc.
5. Share a screenshot of your score, a recording of you playing your final result, or a video of you discussing interesting elements you discovered in your work.
-
Looks like I鈥榤 in group 4.
Hi everyone and happy singing! -
Hello group 4 friends! Looking forward to this TWI!
-
Hi Group 4! Always looking forward to some singing with/at the piano! Let鈥檚 have some fun
-
Hi everyone! I am looking forward to working with you! :)
-
Hi group four friends! Looking forward to this singing course!
-
Whoopwhoop, group 4 again.. I think.. the link lead me here, the mail says group 3
Hello everyone, I am very excited to watch your videos and struggle myself :D
A funny sidenote: I had a Brahms waltz I didn't find any access to (didn't develpo any feeling for the pulse/waltz, anything, I felt so lost!), until I wrote lyrics for it.
So I know that lyrics can be an amazing tool and am really looking forward to working with lyrics again :D
-
Dagmar this waltz will never be the same again after reading your lyrics, Dagmar!
BTW beautiful playing! -
Andrea Buckland hahaha, thanks
I so much hated this thing! Usually I get a feel for every piece but Jazz haha.... and romantic pieces are in myblood. But this? I neither knew where to emphasize, nor where 1 is nor how this is supposed to be a waltz Never have I felt so helpless, my teacher lost all hope and thought maybe aliens had invaded my body and drained all musicality out of me. Until someone said "it sounds like: I mourn, I die...". After I had written the lyrics I had I in 2 weeks. -
Dagmar This was great!
-
Dagmar the lyrics are adorable! And love that gorgeous winning smile at the end!
-
Dagmar What witty lyrics, Dagmar! It was great!
-
-
Interestingly, I didn't sign up for this 2-week intensive, but received an email this morning welcoming me to the group. I wonder if Tonebase is trying to tell me something....
-
Michelle R the universe is telling you how fun this will be!
-
-
Hi everyone, I tried to sign up, submitted the sign up request, but got no email with a group number. Is it possible to still participate? Thanks so much!!!
-
Jennifer Mehta Please do join! You are very welcome in our group!
-
Jennifer Mehta I don't know how the sign-up process works but it looks like I can see your posts, so post away!! happy to have you in the group :)
-
Dr. Leann Osterkamp He thank you so very much!!!!!
-
-
I received a Google forms response last Friday.
-
Hi Dr. Leann, hi my piano friends! Looking forward to this phrasing like a singer TWI!
-
I received an email for group 3 but when I open the link it's bring me in the group 4. Lol!
I actully study the amazing Mendelssohn Song without words Op19 No 4, I am in love with that piece.
For the challenge I choose the 12 bars Mesure 9 to mesure 21
I will try to express what this music make me feel inside. The feelings I have when I play this piece of music are really strong. It's a mix of nostalgia from my childwood, and the intensity to be alive in the present moment and having the chance to play piano, if I can say that.
I love this challenge! Thank you again to give us this opportunity to put words on the music we try to play, it's bring us in a space that I like, music, poetry, words....and love of music and life.
Here is a link for someone who want's to hear this piece of piano : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDG-PHgQWPQ&list=PLXouAvl5UicjMw7qKUNANSwdiFs5rlnf6&index=8
-
I am a terrible singer so this is for sure a huge challenge for me!!
-
Humm... I have lyrics now for the beginner Chopin waltz in A minor.
But questions... (see video)
My lyrics:
In stiller Nacht am Waldesrand
halt ich ehrerbietig deine Hand.
Sp眉re sacht im Mondenschein
deine Liebe pur und rein
Ein K盲uzchenruf schallt durch die Nacht,
Weil es 眉ber unsre Herzen wacht.
Ach, mein Herz, ich liebe Dich!
Du bist das Gl眉ck f眉r mich!
-
Dagmar You made TERRIFIC points.
First off, you are a very talented lyricist. Keep at it!
What you asked is actually the entire concept of ADVANCED phrasing that we are working towards! Phrasing is not just "phrase" breath "phrase" breath "phrase."
Instead, we have LAYERS of phrasing. We have longer phrases that are broken up into subphrases. Just like in language, we have paragraphs, broken up into sentences, broken up into clauses, broken up into word groups. They all coexist in simultaneous layers to create larger ideas and shifts.
Your video demonstrates how writing lyrics in an organic way can actually help show you the different layers that exist in phrasing. We will talk about some of this in Week 2! I fully agree that the first four bars are a phrase! Evidence to that is the chord progression underneath... we have a digestible I IV V I progression. It is subsequently divided into two smaller phrases (like a dependent clause and independent clause), mostly by how Chopin manipulates the phrasing marks and counterpoint. Those two smaller phrases are then broken up into two even smaller mini phrases that help illustrate littler words and groups.
Your lyrics PERFECTLY illustrate a parallel structure in language which is why your text fits so well in the ear!
We will talk more about the idea of harmony in the second week and larger phrase structures... but great point about how certain harmonies modify our choice of text.
I would say that when your edition takes away the phrase markings on the repeat, you can either repeat what was done earlier OR use it as an opportunity for artistry. What do you think has happened to the character since the last iteration? Why are we repeating our words? Are we more anxious, more excited, pleading, begging, whispering? How might your phrasing of the same words change to bring out a new emotional meaning? Maybe the words are almost the same except for a small change.... the CREATION of the difference is what is fun!
I would NOT play everything separated... that was not what was intended by the poor editing of the score :)
-
-
Hi everyone! What a fun exercise this is! I've been working with "Berceuse" by Georges Delbruck. It has a very clear melody. I chose the first 12 measures. It's funny, I started working on this before watching the video, and chose a "fall" theme for my lyrics. For breaths, the first one I would like is after around, as that is one phrase. However, if needed a breath could also be taken after wind in the first line. The second breath is after red, to give enough breath for the high notes, and all the words that follow through bro---wn. For the second line, The first breath will come after "here", as it will then change to predicting winter. The second breath comes after behind. The next breath after warm, as that note is high, and the music lends itself to holding it just slightly, then the final breath on that line after chocolate. For the third line the first breath is after many, the second after come down, then a breath after each down, down, and the final breath after falling down.
For dynamics, the are little crescendos ad decrescendos in the first couple of lines. The third line is marked "poco piu animato". If is also mf, no longer p. This reminds me of the agitation among leaves when the winds blow them off the trees, and blow them around. The chromatic progressions add to this tension. The last couple of measures are these cool intervals of 4ths. The fourths themselves are going up, but the progression from fourth to fourth is down.
A recording will come soon! Thanks for this fun exercise.
-
Jennifer Mehta Nice work! Your example also illustrates the beginning of subphrases within longer phrases.
Here's two things to think about with text :)
1. We tend to not want to accent "insignificant" words, like prepositions or conjunctions, unless they have importance to the text. For example, in m. 3, "and" is not really an important word. By putting it on the downbeat AND on the first note of a two note slur, it takes away some of the organicism of the language because we are "accenting" an irrelevant word.
2. On the second measure of the last line, watch out to not put two words on a single held pitch. "All the" would need to have a rhythmic reiteration or a new note.
I love the fall theme! Looking forward to the recording
-
