Group 1

Randi This is why this technique is difficult to learn. As you said, it seems counterintuitive. However, YES you will be dropping on every single note. BUT as you develop this technique, the level of drop becomes so microscopic that it is imperceptible to those watching. We learn using an exaggerated version but the end result will be incredibly minute. 

Your fingers are really just balance points for the weight you are dropping... finger movement (in connection with the weight dropping) really has more to do with the articulation and tone. Finger movement really isn't a part of the dynamic creating mechanism..... it's literally all in the weight of the arm!

Crescendo is created in controlling a gradual increase in the weight being dropped on successive notes. Each note is incrementally played with more weight, which requires an incredible amount of control. 

Over time, you will train your arm to have motor memory over how much weight correlates to how much volume, which will make crescendo easier.

Let me know if you have more questions!

Gail Starr Great question! This topic can be somewhat debated, as there are differing opinions on Bach performance practice. If we are going purely historical, we think of harpsichord and organ. Harpsichord was void of dynamics, outside of simply adding or subtracting notes from the embellishment. Organs often have the dynamic pedal that allows more or less air to be let out but does not have the "note by note" dynamic ability. 

However, if we play Bach on the piano with a monotone dynamic, it will sound pretty flat! I think the best marriage of historical performance with the modern instrument is to simply think vocally. Bach was a master of vocal writing, too. Play/phrase as a vocalist would do. That will make it natural and historically relevant. Bach is better discussed with articulation/style. :) 

Dr. Leann Osterkamp He Thank you!  I'll focus on articulation instead of dynamics in this piece, and see how it sounds.

Nina BR you are on the right track! When you first learn this concept your arms WILL feel relaxed, heavy, and less "controlled" at first. You are trusting gravity!! 

Your left hand, when it goes from right to left is creating a bit too big of an arc. As you move downward, think of your LH as sliding from the chord down to the bass note. That will help create more efficiency in your LH. With your RH make sure that you don't freeze on the longer value notes.

Otherwise, YES you made the correct adjustments. When I first learned this, I felt the same sensations... but as I refined the motions and they became more automatic, I was able to regain the accuracy, as I learned the correct ways in which to control my technique. 

Dr. Leann Osterkamp He Thank you! I will work on bringing that arc down to more of a sliding motion. I think I’m starting to get a hang of the drop. I will post another video to show progress (or lack thereof) soon. Thanks again.

Dr. Leann Osterkamp He I just watched the second video and found it very helpful. I have literally never thought about assigning percentages to each note!

I'm unexpectedly having to travel this week and don't have access to a piano so I sadly am not going to be able to practice or make a video for this second week of the crash course. However, I've been doing a lot of listening while on the road, particularly to different pianists playing the nocturne I'm working on, and thinking about the "percentages" that they are using throughout. It's been rather enlightening to say the least, and it's giving me insight into why certain recordings appeal to me more. I have never thought about the phrasing in that kind of detail. I'm looking forward to getting back to my piano and experimenting with the weight needed for different levels of dynamics.

I also want to request that you do a crash course on phrasing. If this was a glimpse of it, I know I have much to learn from you on this!

Nina BR I'm so glad the video gave you some excitement! Percentages can definitely help hold us accountable for our musical choices when we are first learning :) 

Gail Starr GO YOU! Yes, you totally are understanding the drop! What a difference. 

Once you feel the drop become more automatic, then we can have fun exploring how to apply it to more nuanced phrasing... then, bam, wonderful Bach!

Dr. Leann Osterkamp He LOL!  Yup, it’s going to take me a couple of days to make it automatic.  Pulling up and dropping down are quite opposite, but I really see how adopting this technique will reduce my arm tension.

 I think I was getting in trouble because I was trying to get the “pluck” of a harpsichord.

Marc M nice work!

A few things to focus on:

1. Yes, some of the fingerings are not great for your hand. I could do a whole workshop on fingering (let's ask Dominic if that is of interest)... do NOT feel obligated to just go with what is on the page. In general, we want to try to avoid doing too many places with too much focus on the bottom half of your left hand (the 5, 4, 3). Obviously, we will use those fingers a lot... but when you think about it, the tendon that runs over those fingers makes stepwise fingering in that part of the hand much less comfortable and controlled. (lay your hand flat on a table. Try to lift your 4th finger alone... feel the resistance!).... so there are some hacks to avoid putting too much reliability on that part of the hand.

2. In general, you are not actually dropping with your LH. You are dropping on some larger beats but then playing almost exclusively with your fingers for the passages. Although it seems impossible, you need to drop on EVERY single note to have complete control. This requires a step back to work in very small sections and at a more controlled tempo to slowly rewire this into your arm. Over time, when your arm learns to do VERY efficient tiny drops on every note, you will only need to feel the larger drops at the beginning of passages... but it takes a lot of time to build that in. That is one of the big reasons you are not able to feel great about how it feels in the arm AND you are not able to go faster.

Dead giveaway that your are playing with finger? Watch your pinky! When the pinky curls, that is a clear indication that you are playing exclusively with fingers. Also, the distance your fingers are from the keys.... it should look like no individual fingers ever come OFF the keys. At true efficiency, fingers will (at their highest) just be on top of the keys, not above. 

3. In addition to the lack of drop, you are also trying to stay in a pretty straight track on the keys from west to east. However, this piece requires us to know how to also incorporate motion from North to south! The LH will need to have a path that weaves in and out in conjunction with side to side. Staying in a strict horizontal line will actually force your hand to play with finger, exacerbating the problem. 

Hope this is helpful! sorry that some of these topics are too expansive to fully cover here! 

Dr. Leann Osterkamp He Thank you so much for the feedback! I have a lot to work on now, haha. When we drop on each note, do we drop with the whole arm, or do we pick and choose which lever to drop (e.g. just the finger and hand dropping, vs finger-hand-lower arm, vs finger-hand-lower arm-upper arm, if that makes sense)? I’m curious how the drop-stay-move approach interacts with Boris Berman’s Economy Principle, elsewhere on ToneBase, where he says to use only the smallest body part needed to do the job…summary of that and the related extension principle here: https://tonebase-piano-client.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/enrichment/outlines/Berman_Motion_and_Mechanics_Lesson_1_-_tonebase_outline.pdf

I understand your responses can’t be exhaustive in this setting, but I appreciate your thoughts regardless!

Sheetal Patel good work!

It is definitely NOT easy to write in the % signs! That is what is so powerful about the exercise... it requires you to really think about EVERY note and how it fits into each individual phrase and the larger structure! 

Looking at your attempt: I would say that it should be RARE to ever have two identical % next to each other. Even if the change is minute, try to avoid putting the same number in a row. 

Also, even if the melody is more or less in a similar dynamic, try (initially) using a broader range for your numbers, just to make things more pronounced at first. That way, you also have broader ranges to work towards in your technique practice. 

YES, you will need % for your LH too! Not only do you have to think of the horizontal phrasing of the LH but you also need to challenge yourself to think of how it must balance with the RH.

I believe in only playing hands separate ONCE, exclusively to get the fingering. After that, ALWAYS practice hands together. If necessary, practice only half a measure at a time to familiarize yourself with the correct rhythms, etc. 

I should have specified, yes, make sure you know the correct rhythms first before your simplify. You will kind of do both in tandem... but yes, you should work out the score in very tiny increments hands together first. 

You go back to what is written in the score when you can consistently do an accurate 50% with every drop being identical. See if you can do what is written with the same 50% being identical on every note. THEN start working on the other percentages. 

Dr. Leann Osterkamp He thank you so much for your comprehensive reply. The steps all make sense. I will rework the % so it’s not the same one after the other and include more broader ranges (attempt to work in the LH %). Given there are sections in the piece I have not learnt - will be good to use the these strategies from start to end! Totally agree the % is powerful as it allows you to quantify the dynamic which works pretty well with the way my brain functions and allows some consistency and much easier to tweak repeated sections to make them more interesting too. 
 

I have the same struggles as some of the other members in terms of using the drop with runs. I think it will be lots of practice and patience!
 

 Thank you