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:
- Saturday, November 9th at 8:30am PT
- ZOOM LINK
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.
Assignment #2
https://youtu.be/7UsE0DRWeyk?si=NxCV1KMsWUaaEqWh
Perform an excerpt from your own repertoire. Before your performance, explain what specific vocal phrasing elements/techniques from this intensive you incorporated into your interpretation and practice.
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Hi piano friends!
I am using Modere from Ravel's Sonatine for this assignment. It is the only piece I can think of that I was playing right before being away from the piano for 2 weeks. The first theme spans 12 measures exactly.
Such a great and fun idea to put lyrics to our pieces. I tried to match up each question/sentence/phrase of the lyrics to the phrases which Ravel has in the piece.
Edited to include the backstory- Ravel composed this piece for a competition but as beautiful as it was, did not win, even though he was the only person who submitted anything. It was determined to be too long, and was disqualified for being over the limit of 75 bars! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonatine_(Ravel))
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Dr. Leann Osterkamp He thanks so much for the highlighting the interesting features in measures 9 and 10. How could I have not noticed earlier!
Perhaps it would be nice to have a second voice, or a chorus chiming in for those measures, since that looks like a pivotal moment?
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Andrea Buckland Vidhya Bashyam Juan Carlos Olite I couldn't think of anything more sensible
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Natalie Peh Cool idea!
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Hi all, here is the recording of Berceuse, first 12 measures. It was interesting trying to phrase the sub-phrases and maintain the long phrase as well. The third line which is a little more animated, had some interesting accents in the accompaniement, which I had never noticed before…… they actually helped the phrasing.
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Jennifer Mehta https://youtu.be/bD-q4J50qSU
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Jennifer Mehta beautifully played! Your breathing was very organic! brava!
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Jennifer Mehta That was lovely!
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Dr. Leann Osterkamp He Thank you so much!
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Hi everyone! Here the second assignment. In this absolutely beautiful prelude, one of my favourites, and leaving aside other questions, I think the main problem is the balance between long phrases and sub-phrases. The natural tendency is to focus on the small phrases and maybe we usually lose the big picture...
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Juan Carlos Olite This sounds like a beautiful Haiku., Lovely phrasing!
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Andrea Buckland Thank you vey much, Andrea! You're right, Chopin wrote this prelude as an instant of musical poetry.
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Juan Carlos Olite Such a beautiful Prelude! I think you have to share the whole set someday!
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Juan Carlos Olite beautiful playing! Very well done. I think you are totally right about the challenges of this piece. I could very clearly hear all of your shorter and longer phrases. I found my ear was sometimes TOO draw to hearing each sub-phrase, which usually means that they are being punctuated in too similar a way each time. I would continue exploring ways to, yes, highlight your subphrase but in different ways each time... sometimes with slight emphasis, sometimes with timing, sometimes with dynamics. You are already doing this, but I found there were just a few times where too similar of a technique was used, so it's something to just keep playing with and exploring. You are doing great!
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Dr. Leann Osterkamp He Thank you so much for the feedback! It's a very difficult piece and as you say I have to keep exploring it and look for different expressions. It's been a pleasure to participate in this intensive. Thank you very much, Dr. Osterkamp!
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Hi all! For some reason I'm stuck in the waiting room of our TWI checkin. I am creating a new meeting for those who would like to chat.
Topic: TWI Check-in
Time: Nov 9, 2024 08:40 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83113558479?pwd=hJHlIf7IvoigaGOIjP3ilvdsNvcKKg.1Meeting ID: 831 1355 8479
Passcode: 697968 -
Here is my assignment #2. I have recently been working on Schubert-Liszt Du Bist Die Ruh. Here is an excerpt from the beginning. It’s difficult to phrase like a singer- even when words are already present!
Thank you for this TWI Dr. Leann Osterkamp He . Sorry I wasn’t able to attend your Zoom earlier.
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Vidhya Bashyam this is amazingly beautiful, Vidhya!
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Andrea Buckland Thank you dear Andrea!
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Vidhya Bashyam As a real singer in your playing, Vidhya!
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Juan Carlos Olite Thank you!
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Hi everyone! Thank you Dr. Osterkamp, for this wonderful TWI. I learned a lot, and my eyes were opened to a new way of looking at music, and it helped me start to see things I did not see before. Here is my second assignment. I actually have 2 videos, the first explains some of what I saw when working with Debussy’s First Arabesque.
The second video is my playing of the Tempo Rubato section (in the middle) of the First Arabesque. There were very clear “breath:” points, and melodic lies every 2 measures or so. Then in the second 8 bar section of this, with more movement, there could be breaths every 2 beats for the triplets, although I think the overall phrase goes for 4 measures. The underlying chord structure at the end of the fourth measure of the triplet section does resolve, but there is this cool eighth note progression above it, as it goes back into the triplets. I envision a slight breath after each 2 beats for this measure, for dramatic effect. I hope what I was thinking came through, but I’m not sure.
So, thank you again for this. I truly learned a lot, and am looking at the music differently now. Thank you.
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Thanks so much, Dr. Osterkamp He, for sharing many interesting insights and comments.
p/s If possible, please could the recording of the zoom call be posted in this thread too, for those of us who missed the live session?
