Seven Pianists Teach Phrasing

[@fortissimoX]

Wow, amazing effortless technique at 7:20 Edit: and she's also amazing singer! Lol, some people are truly blessed with talents.

[@psforrest1]

I'm very excited that on September 28, Chelsea, and two other winners of the Young Concert Artists International vocal Competitions will perform on the concert series of which I'm the artistic director, Ames Town & Gown Chamber Music Association in Ames, Iowa. For part of the program, Chelsea will sing and accompany herself!

[@EazyP_Z]

I had to watch it back a few times because of the weightless way in which she's playing. At first glance I didn't think she was actually playing the notes!

[@Bobo-ye7dq]

Very touched by Chelsea's playing!

[@maksimivanov5417]

8:17 This is really gorgeous! What a clever and beautiful experiment.

[@michaellazar6419]

When Chelsea started singing my jaw dropped ❤was not expecting that!

[@sostenutopiano]

Interestingly, I was once admonished by a bassoonist who stated he hated working with pianists because we "play too much like vocalists." There was a bit of a language barrier so he wasn't able to explain exactly what he meant, but I believe he was referring to the use of timing, dynamics and voicing through which we are indeed taught to shape phrases like a vocalist would as Ms. Osterkamp, Huanci and Guo demonstrate 4:17-9:55. Seeing as this practice is so common, I recounted the exchange to my teacher at the time to discuss. It didn't end up being much of a discussion, as he was *horrified* by such an objection, insisting the other musician had no clue what they're talking about. I respected both people, so didn't know what to think. I still scratch my head over this years later; now a piano teacher myself, I ponder whether there's any merit to this criticism that we play-and teach-too much like vocalists.

[@T3hMarz]

That's such a strange critique of pianists, shouldn't we as musicians play naturally as possible? Perhaps when playing with pianists he wanted to be the only star, leaving the pianist to be solely an "accompanist" in the background only supporting and not being an equal partner. Unfortunately, many professional musicians performing with pianists barely consider them more than a CD playing backing.

[@sp1704]

There is the old joke that vocalists "can't count," so I think they may have been referring to this brand of stereotype. Sometimes large ensemble musicians become frustrated with soloists because their free sense of time can make their performances hard to follow. When I'm a member of an orchestra, my job is to stay together. And a big part of how I do that is to COUNT. So when the soloist breaks out of the ensemble, and the rest of them have to now follow the conductor who is following the SOLOIST, I imagine it can make their job feel a lot harder. "Why don't they just count it precisely?" they may wonder at the sky, shaking their penciled fist in the air... Conversely, idk when the last time that bassoonist had a nice big romantic, rubato bassoon solo, but there clearly needs to be more in the repertoire. So this poor soul can change the paradigm and one day say, they love how pianists and vocalists all play so much like BASSOONISTS. ❤️

[@BarnieSnyman]

Let's take a moment to appreciate how fantastic the sound-recording in this video is!

[@thomasdequincey5811]

I like Chelsea Guo. She's great.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci. I am too much of a beginner to really appreciate all these techniques, but I don't think it will hurt. Great video.

[@FromG2eminor]

Never too early:)

[@hatomugi_tea8425]

8:17

[@ИМельниченко]

Очень интересно! Спасибо!

[@FingersKungfu]

I like the analogy of a brush stroke (painting or caligraphy). It makes sense aesthetically.

[@TheQuartetAlchemy]

Good video!

[@Mariannepiano]

Nice to see a lot of woman in that video!! Congrats for great editing, interesting content, everything!!

[@SpartanL599]

I cried at 8:16

[@iluvanimetts7993]

What’s the song at 11:17

[@cadriver2570]

This should be emphasized early on, over mechanical technique.

[@matsao1313]

I recently went to two master classes at a nearby music conservatory and was very disappointed by most of the students (ages 17-23) who played. It was obvious that they had not been taught much about phrasing/voicing. Although very technically proficient, they had no idea about shaping the music. With coaching from the two master teachers, they were able to improve tremendously. So why weren't they getting that guidance from their own teachers?

[@jonathanm.9801]

I feel like both work in tandem. Having good technical control and finger strength can help the player play a phrase exactly the way they want it musically

[@dwacheopus]

I'm good in phrasing but not really good in technique :(

[@Ciaccona255]

Absolutely

[@leandro_sta]

No, its very important to have the technique mastered First, thats also the way chopin teached his Students

[@davcaslop]

8:00 other little experiment you can do and anyone can tell you anything wrong with it is actually sticking to the phrasing lines that are in every bar so far. They are called that, namely, phrasing lines, for a reason and the composer didn’t simply put them because they looked nice on the page once drawn.

[@ko9602]

Take care with hand and finger tension, the middle part could injure your hands

[@jaypeej7830]

Schubert's phrasing is undoubtedly based on his talent as a songwriter.

[@ABCABC-gv1gc]

Which chords and base note is used in the phrase at 0.12? Its really funny.

[@martymac4815]

Ab major with an Eb in the bass. (Also the first chord in Elton John’s “Someone saved my life tonight”). 😊

[@lucasgust7720]

0:03 Actually I expected a minor chord.

[@ms2606]

I did too

[@yvesjeaurond4937]

1_”When singing, where I naturally breathe.“ ?!? But singing, piano playing are art-ificial (sic). 2_The idea that music ”communicates ideas“ is so false. It impresses upon the senses of the listener, who feels whether or not the impressions align with their imagination, their feelings, their memories. Music is an emotional trigger, not a communiqué :-) 3_No one made the ”how to“ connection between phrasing and rhythm? Nothing concrete? Only abstraction? Terrible lessons. Descriptions and analogies closer to literary criticism, that do nothing to help/guide beginners, intermediate or advanced performers with a practical, pragmatic algorithm for making a phrasing decision. Phrasing isn't even defined. No notion of echo, bird song, repetition? Sorry for being so negative, but it's a confusing mess of opinions and descriptions of how they feel, nothing about how to do. I would contrast this video essay with Northrop Frye's _The Educated Imagination_ (1962, Anansi) that explains, illustrates and clarifies such confusion about art and nature. There's also Gaston Bachelard's _The Formation of the Scientific Mind_ (1938) which lists the many obstacles that such vague approaches produce in students who want to know ”how to”, not guess or be mislead.

[@lumitic774]

omg... piano plus singing, beautiful. I won't though :D

[@fanach]

where is the ben guy

[@Kindoxinda]

He left tone base. He has his own youtube channel now.

[@davcaslop]

6:40 real historically documented rubato DOES NOT apply to the accompaniment. In Chopin’s words: “the left hand is the choir master.” The left hand sticks in tempo stricto while the right hand flies over the keyboard now faster now slower. I am seriously wondering if these teachers have ever read something about the past or are simply making all this things up because they feel it that way or someone has taught them like that. Once you start reading you cannot listen to modern performances anymore. I am completely devastated.

[@sp1704]

(((hugs)))