Comments on: What’s A Good Way To Incorporate More Emotion In To My Piano Playing?

By: bass_bar

bass_bar — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:13:59 +0000

As a teacher I try to explain to my students that playing the piano is not about the keys on the keyboard, the notes & rhythm on the page or the dynamics written on the music. If you follow all the instructions perfectly you will still be stiff & the music will sound stiff.
Music is a living breathing expression of one’s self. Once you learn the notes you need to throw it all away & visit the music with a different perspective. Picture a singer & an actor & let the music be an extension of your heart & soul. 15 actors & singers can read the same lines & music but it will be different in every case. I suggest watching some great artists sing… & I don’t mean Pop music, watch the classical singers… listen to how they will caress a legato line & provide a fireworks display in coloratura scales & watch how they sing a final cadenza. If you watch closely you will see that they don’t follow the music exactly… they approach the cadenza & then let the music stream out like hot chocolate over a sundae or a 4th of July fireworks display little by little before the climax at the end….
I also suggest watching a Puccini Opera…. no composer was better at making music breathe than Puccini. Each musical phrase had its own breath & pace….and each character has their own unique characteristics…
Remember Music isn’t about the notes written on the page… it’s about your interpretation of the music that was written by the composer & making that musical interpretation you own. Forget everything you have learned & remember that performing isn’t about you…..it’s about the audience… the people that have come to see you perform. Make a connection with them. Tell them the composers story from your heart.
Please know that this ability doesn’t happen over night…but… it does get better with life experience. This is why certain music shouldn’t be played until you have the life experience & ability to interpret that music.
Break a leg … & go out into the world & experience life as if you have just been reborn!

By: Natalie

Natalie — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:36:04 +0000

run your hands through your hair like you are emotionally spent when there’s a pause & act like you’re nodding off while you’re playing. It will be mistaken for emotion.

By: Bailey

Bailey — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:34:47 +0000

I suggest wearing funny sunglasses… It worked for Elton John….

By: {fiyerae

{fiyerae — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:55:45 +0000

analyze the music. ask yourself ‘what’s this dude trying to get across? anger? calm? intensity? is it a picture? a story?’ get involved. make it mean something to you. then, let that emotion or picture play through you brain & convert itself into dynamics. loosen up your arms, shoulders, & hands. it’s fun (not that i’m any good at piano, but it IS fun… lol)

By: Artman

Artman — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:42:43 +0000

As an artist I can tell you that you cannot put emotion into something if you don’t feel it. That would be like telling “I love you” to a boy you don’t like. May be the kind of music your are playing is not the kind of music you really love. Find music that move you, like if you see a movie & you like the music; some movie scores are sold on cd, & others you can buy or download the sheet music. Also try different styles, maybe the pieces you play are not for you, try Charles Ray’s, Elthon John’s, Alisha Key’s, or Jerry Lee Lewis’s piano, the point is that you need to find what you really love in music. Piano is not only for clasical music, try something you really like. Do not try to please others.
Buy & listen all the piano music you can, soon you’ll find something that you really like.
The first step to put emotion into something is to find something you like.

By: muedprof

muedprof — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:12:25 +0000

Fall in love. Get your heart broken. That will make you deeper in front of the piano. Seriously.

By: aidan402

aidan402 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:38:43 +0000

To play with feeling is something that can’t be learned. I know this isn’t the answer that you want, but its true.
It could be that you are too new to playing? Have you taken lessons for less than, say, a year? If this is the case, then right now you are learning the mechanics of it all, the technique, & that’s what is absorbing you. I suspect this might be the case. You use the term “stiffly”, which is something all beginners feel. Also, playing out of books, well, that’s normally for beginners, also. though I can’t for the life of me figure out what you mean by themed characters.
If not, & you truly are motivated by what you call the “technical” aspect then to play with emotion is something you may never learn. You’re right, you can’t “just get into it”…it is something that comes form inside out…not something that you can make happen with good technique.
IF, as I suspect, you are a beginner, then just relax a bit. While learning technique is essential to playing, it is not something to stress about. The more you practice, the more familiar you become with the melding of the notes on the paper & the motion of your fingers, the more confident you become that your fingers will be where they are supposed to be, then, you will let yourself begin to feel the music.
Sorry, seems like this is a negative answer, I’m sure…but this is very near & dear to my heart.
Well, thats answers a lot! You can lose feeling for music with a teacher like your original one. And your age, well, thats a factor too. Appears you didn’t start playing until your teens? About 12/13? Well, thats a rough time in anyones life, & emotion is just something you aren’t sure about yet…though your parents would tell you thats all you are!
As to the pieces you are playing now? Well, ti sounds like you have a good teacher, & that he/she is aware that you feel, well, stifled & unsatisfied because of your past teacher. It also sounds like he/she is trying to get the technique straight, & thats a VERY good thign. though you may not like the pieces you play, you can find some emotion in them. think back to childhood. Ever have a music box with a ballerina that spun when you opened it? Did you love it? How about a favortie pet? Put yourself, not INSIDE the music, but standing BESIDE of it, & see what it is…through younger eyes. That might be the key. You, at your age, aren’t emotionally mature enough to even begin to try to play with angst, longing,, all-encompasing love. That will come…if, IF, you loosen up, stop castigating yourself, give yourself time to let the music find a path TO YOU! All music, from Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to Beethoven is MUSIC!

By: i_am_ler

i_am_ler — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:21:45 +0000

I have trouble with emotion as well. Except when I am doing something I really love. Are you sure this is what you want to be doing? If so, find a song that you’ve heard on the radio that really pumps you up or makes you cry. Find the music for it & play it. If that doesn’t work consider playing a different instrument.

By: Kelly H

Kelly H — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:44:18 +0000

I’ve been playing piano for a long, long time…since I was five, & am now teaching it. Anywho…I sometimes have this problem as well, don’t worry about it to much. If you try to hard the piece will sound even worse. I suggest slowly adding in any written dynamics, such as stacattos (sp?), crescendos, decrescendos, & any pedal work. It also helps to lean into the piano on accenuated notes to get more feeling into them. If it’s a slower piece (or not, depending on your taste) you can slowly begin to improvise some pedal & dynamic work…it takes practice though, so don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get it right away. Slowly start to experiment more & more & soon enough you will be adding dynamics without having to think about it.
One last thing that I’m always having to remind beginning students of is to relax your shoulders, if they are pulled up to your ears you can get some major arm, wrist, & hand cramps. If you need to have a friend or someone stand next to you while you play & put their hand on you shoulder when they notice you doing it. This is a terrible habit to get into, since it can cause many problems later on.
Hope that’s kind of the answer you were looking for

By: Fagal

Fagal — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:14:23 +0000

i’ve been playing piano for almost 6 years now, & i was like that too, i never wanted to move around (feel emotion) cause i thought i would look like & idiot. all i have to say is you need to LOVE what your playing, imagine yourself in the desert with no one around you. it’s just you & your music that you love.
hope i helped you!