What is the effect of concerto playing on adult students?

 

I’m sure by now you have noticed that this year’s focus in Adult Piano Study has been motivation . Research shows adults are intrinsically motivated — they like to form their own direction of study. My adult students continue to amaze me with the directions they have asked me to take them. Presently they are working on the RACE (Royal American Conservatory Examination). I never would have thought adults would want to take on this rigorous examination — however, not only are they taking it on, they are extremely enthusiastic about doing so!

When one teaches adult students, one has to leave his/her ego behind. There is an attitude adjustment we must make when working with our older set of students. We have the responsibility of letting them choose their direction, yet we also have the responsibility to re-address their direction and help them make adjustments if they’ve set the bar too high. Ultimately, “let go” should be your mantra.

Lily Friedman has a set of students who decided to set the bar really high — they chose concerti to perform with an orchestra! With this in mind, Ms. Friedman developed Summertrios — a program opened to amateur musicians giving them performance opportunities in chamber groups and with orchestra.* I was inspired to read about her students’ experiences, and I am excited to know performing is not restricted to only professional pianists.

The following article by Lily Friedman represents a group of adults who pushed themselves to heights I personally had to read to believe! There are two conclusions I have drawn from this article:

1. Adults can accomplish unbelievable feats when motivated to do so; and
2. Adults need to be given opportunities to succeed beyond the lesson time.

Accompanying this article is a list of concerti (see below) that Ms. Friedman uses with her students. I would love to hear from you about other concerti that may be even more accessible that you may have used with your adult students.

* For more information on this program, go to www.summertrios.org, or call 212- 222-1289.

A great challenge spurs impressive growth

by Lily Friedman

Recently, in my studio, there has been a remarkable and unexpected “upheaval” in the piano study of my adult students. It came about because of the Summertrios Concerto Program, which was started in 2000 to give amateur musicians a chance to play a concerto with a professional orchestra. The program has stimulated impressive spurts of growth, showing me the surprising power of a self-set challenge.

After hearing a pre-program run through of the Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor , in one of my performance classes, my 83 year-old student Evelyn* asked me meekly, “Can I do a concerto?” Evelyn played fairly well at this point, but although we had worked repeatedly on rhythm and tempo, she definitely preferred “lolling along,” unhindered by the pressures of a steady pulse that was up to tempo. I replied that she would have to achieve a respectable tempo and impeccable rhythm if she expected to play a Mozart concerto with an orchestra. Undaunted, she learned the first two movements of Mozart’s Concerto No. 26 in D Major, K. 537 , conquering my minimum requirements of counting aloud, using the metronome, and playing with a sprightly steady tempo.

The first day she was to play with the orchestra she said to me, “I can’t do this.” Naturally, I responded, “Of course you can!” Later that day, when she finished playing, before even acknowledging the audience’s applause, she turned to me and said, “I did it!”

Evelyn’s playing has been transformed since then. She handles rhythmic and tempo issues early on and has developed a real flair and confidence in her playing. She loves the thrill of being surrounded by that rich orchestral sound, and more than ever before, she enjoys the process of preparation. Having completed Mozart’s Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414 , and the first two movements of Beethoven’s Concerto No. 1 in C Major , she is currently — don’t forget, at age 86 — forging ahead on Mozart’s Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488.

Esther was 80 years old and a long-standing student when, motivated by Evelyn’s success, she too told me she wanted to play a piano concerto. I emphasized the “steadiness and tempo” mantras, and, for starters, sampled some Mozart concertos for her to hear. Somehow they didn’t speak to her. I tried Beethoven and she immediately fell in love with the first movement of his Concerto No. 3 in C minor .

I knew Esther’s technique was not adequate to accomplish this monumental piece, and I wasn’t sure I could expect enough growth. At first my fears seemed justified. She cried through every lesson and practice session for the first six weeks. Then, in the seventh week, she arrived and said to me “You know what, I think I can do this.” The crying ceased. She worked prodigiously all season and emerged sounding much more confident than ever before. The next season, she conquered the first movement of Schumann’s Concerto in A minor in record time, despite being ill for several months.

In the middle of the third year, my student Laura appeared at a lesson with the slow movement of the Chopin Concerto in E minor, Op. 11 . Laura is an excellent reader. I have heard her play through an entire movement of the Schubert Sonata in B-flat without losing a beat, but with a running commentary all along of “sorry ... sorry ... sorry” as she sailed through one infraction after another. But she never actually stopped playing. When she heard the opening of Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4 in G Major , her eyes lit up. No further choice. It was as if a giant magnet had appeared between her and page one.

Only then did she tell me that never in her life had she played fast — that is, really fast — as in, “Beethoven concerto passagework” fast. No teacher had ever demanded this, and she wanted to assure me before we got started that she couldn’t play fast, was scared to death to try, and what’s more, she wouldn’t play fast. “You’ll have to accept the concerto in a slow version,” she said. I answered “No more sorries, ever; and indeed, you will have to play fast!”

Laura worked for over a year, counting aloud (with subdivisions) and using the metronome assiduously, neither of which she had been willing to do consistently before. After she played her concerto with the orchestra, I never heard “sorry” again. As for speed, she got there. To accomplish this, she must have practiced some of those passages at least 200 times, which I am sure she had never done before in her life.

In just the five weeks after the performance of the Beethoven, Laura traversed two entire movements of the Mendelssohn Concerto in D minor . Even all the “two against three” passages were correct. We had worked on this rhythmic problem in other repertoire for at least the previous four years and it seemed to be an unsolvable problem. In complete amazement, I said, “Laura, the two against three passages were wonderful! How did that happen?”

“Oh,”she chuckled, “the Beethoven did that.”

For all these students, such intense and careful work influences the rest of the repertoire they play, and the post-concerto difference in their playing is dramatic. I also find it fascinating that I never actually initiated a single one of these decisions. These students pushed themselves beyond what they thought possible to meet the necessary high standards. In the process they demanded from me a more relentlessly intense teaching experience than I had ever known.

I believe the big motivators are the lure of the wonderful orchestral sound combined with a high level of fear! But I also believe these students are so inspired because they have an enormous goal at a time in life not usually associated with growth and reaching new heights.

When Esther was working her way through the Schumann concerto last year, she reported to me, “I don’t think I’ll go through this again. My friends I play bridge with keep asking me why am I doing this to myself, why am I knocking myself out so? After all, I am 81.” I told her, “Esther, you can always stay home and polish the doorknobs.”

But I think the real answer came from her husband, who, at the conclusion of our last concerto concert, took me aside and whispered to me, “You must be sure she does this again.” “Why?” I asked. “Because it is a new lease on life.”

* The names have been changed to protect the innocent!

In the next issue: What keeps me coming back to piano study? The views of two adult piano students.

 

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