Sometimes a student musician’s performance comes off as “wooden.” The right notes and right rhythms may be there, but the playing lacks life and expression. How can you draw out the music from a student who already plays well, but hasn’t been able to take this next step?
Piano teacher Natalie Wickman recently offered some suggestions at her blog. Reading through them, I was struck by how well these ideas can apply to brass pedagogy. Wickman’s list of 5 things to try are:
- Start small
- Emphasize natural flow and design
- Less is more
- Lead the students to an experience that convinces them of the value of the movement
- Dig deeper
To which I’m going to add,
6. Exaggerate all expression
Which would seem to contradict #3, “less is more.” Wickman’s advice, in context, is about the physical movement needed to play expressively, where I’m advocating exaggerating the sounds.
One analogy I like to use is to liken an expressive musical performance as being like a stage actor. If a film or TV actor wants to communicate an emotion the camera is going to be able to zoom in and the audience will get a good look at the actor’s facial expression, movement, etc. Compare this style of acting to a stage actor, who needs to not only project his or her voice to the back of the hall, but also project every emotional nuance. The stage actor can’t just project “happy,” he needs to project that he’s “HAPPY!”
With a student, I’ll try to get him or her to emote so much musicality into a phrase that I have to stop and get the student to back off. It can make for a fun game, and rarely does the student actually get to that point right away. The resulting benefit from this exercise, though, is sort of like running with weights strapped on your ankles – when you take them off you feel lighter and stronger. Practicing by over-exaggerating the musical expression makes it so much easier to play musically when you back off. Gradually, “normal” playing edges towards always playing with expression.
To read more detail about each of Wickman’s points, go to her blog. There’s plenty of interesting reading there for all music teachers, particularly if you teach piano.
