Seymour Bernstein: Chopin & Pedagogy (Interview)

Watch Seymour Bernstein teach the music of Beethoven, Schumann, and more - exclusively on tonebase!
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From his nest on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, legendary pedagogue Seymour Bernstein is joined by tonebase Head of Piano Ben Laude for an interview at his faithful Steinway.
Bernstein shares his thoughts on the role of teachers in a student’s personal journey with music and offers simple but powerful insights into natural, effortless use of the arm in piano playing.
In the closing minutes the interview transforms, and Seymour offers Ben a jewel-like lesson on Chopin’s intoxicating First Nocturne on how to unify musical and physical gesture into one.
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[@ReneClementCruz]

"Well, I was Chopin. There's no reason to get confused." Hahahahaha.

[@grayboywilliams]

“Were you anybody in between Chopin and Seymour” “No, it’s enough to be Chopin.” 😂

[@m.a.3322]

I love how Seymour is constantly trolling his pupils 😂

[@Cypsky]

But so gently! He really is adorable. You will try but you cannot!! I love what he said about those damaging teachers that actually harm their pupils.

[@TanomaruPianoAcademy]

I love that too! Trolling yet so kind!

[@santiagochris9022]

instablaster...

[@liedersanger1]

It’s not trolling, it’s teaching.

[@ThDjHe]

The best kinds of teachers do that !

[@Putinxuilo88]

"What else can you do to Chopin, except to be Poetic" - S. Bernstein

[@catherinekyngdon327]

Love these master classes with Seymour Bernstein. He's brought back the magic of piano playing to those starved of experienced and knowledgeable teachers. So many pianists today sound like they are rote playing groups of notes and rushing to finish pieces, often insulting and assaulting the music in their impatience to leave the stage. What a delight to hear Mr Bernstein and listen to his soothing words and great advice.

[@organman52]

You're crazy.

[@catherinekyngdon327]

@@organman52 Perhaps you're a similar sort of pianist I have described?

[@mateuszkozieja7537]

@@organman52 why is that?

[@tomgutierrez7573]

Ben Laude is an exemplary interviewer - thank you Ben!

[@franciscoferraz6788]

I too, was Chopin in my previous life. A pupil once asked me "Sir, how can I play this well?" and I too said upon this pupil's asking: "You will try, yes, but you cannot."

[@martinihenry9792]

Didn't expect him to be that funny at the beginning 😂

[@Hellofriend88]

Mad props for letting us all eavesdrop on Seymour’s constructive critique of your play. I know it’s not fun being humbled in front of an audience, but I learned so much from this lesson. Thank you ❤️

[@chmarie]

Nice comment, but why 'humbling...I find it not humbling at all. Elevating and evolving. purely interesting. The critique didn't even sound like a critique, it was more the soft opening of a new room. I guess for musicians there is only learning all your life and it is the natural way it is. Btw i am a piano teacher ( you cannot stop learning, interest is forever)

[@Hellofriend88]

@@chmarie Thanks for the positive reply : ) I was in a different place when I write that, 11 months ago ❤️

[@chmarie]

@@Hellofriend88 I see .... thanks for YOUR nice reply to mine 👌 there is no shame in growing.... when seymour teaches it s almost like "reminding" us of what we really wanted i feel .. that also might make him such a beautiful teacher

[@usernameatusernameperiodsh2168]

​@@Hellofriend88I mean his name is hello friend what do you expect 😂

[@MusicLover-oe3ig]

"You will try, but you cannot." I know I cannot, but I will try! Thank you both so much for this wonderful lesson!!!

[@Boldstrummer]

This is where the deep magic comes from. The control of nuance. A tremendous lesson. Now how to apply to the guitar . . .

[@DjangoThunders]

Let me know if you find that video! I have had so much trouble with the muscles around the scapula. I have been concentrating on classical guitar since Covid started, and that is when the tension started.

[@aramfingal]

I'm addicted to Seymour. He is a genius communicator. I feel like if he was teaching me piano when I was an adolescent I wouldn't have given up on it when I did.

[@organman52]

You need help.

[@GourSmith]

@@organman52 😂

[@waeruo]

I think the same!

[@pendarmpc]

What did people dislike about this cosy and informative video????? It was great! I had a coffee along with it. As if I was there too. Thanks

[@pianobytatie]

I guess his sense of humor is hard to get for some.

[@creativeself7147]

@@pianobytatie Yup. And those are usually the people who lack the emotional capacity and capability to understand many of the aspects that are vital to playing the piano; or at least Chopin's pieces. Empathy and humor are directly linked to emotional sensitivity. Those that cannot even understand a basic and quite obvious joke will have true difficulty ever playing a piece with true emotional depth.

[@Vigula]

The difference in the execution of the nocturne at 18:20 and then after the lesson on the dynamic is the difference between night and day - jaw dropping - brought a tear to my eye 🥲

[@mr.winter3174]

What nocturne is it exactly though? Trying to find the sheet...

[@SlayPlenty]

@@mr.winter3174 op9. no1 bflat major

[@fannileets1543]

​@@mr.winter3174op. 1 in Bb minor

[@DavesMusicTube]

​@@mr.winter3174opus 9 no. 1

[@dustinpowell6507]

@@mr.winter3174you will try but you cannot.

[@phillipjo2131]

As a classical guitar student I take so much from this. The nuance of tension and letting your wrist and fingers loose, especially starting with the shoulders. Taking a moment to breathe deep before a piece gives so much more control and thus emotionally. Fantastic lesson. It takes such an awareness of your body to play well

[@dennisdeemii]

I am just like you. I am a singer and conductor but I learn equally from watching masterclasses like this. I play a little piano but i do not study enough to become a serious pianist.

[@excalibur05]

Same here, I’m learning a transcription of this nocturne on the guitar and a lot of the principles are universal

[@jameslippincott7440]

It’s amazing how powerful his playing is. It’s beauty is not dampened by age.

[@MichaelsPaintingChannel]

You see that the inner being defines the quality of art and life itself.

[@romanmonroe-hilliard6127]

I was also Chopin to, his soul did many body hops 😉 my nocturne in d flat major is legendary

[@JaxonBurn]

This is just an absolute font of creative usefulness. I can’t believe how lucky we are to have access to something like this.

[@organman52]

Oh you poor soul.

[@JaxonBurn]

@@organman52Alright, I’ll bite. Why?

[@organman52]

@@JaxonBurn In a word - pretense.

[@JaxonBurn]

@@organman52 and your comments are- in a word- vapid. I should have trusted my initial instinct which was to ignore you. More fool me.

[@salirenses]

One of the issues addressed in this video is resolved, in my opinion, with a phrase that is used in Portugal, "iron hands in velvet gloves". I used to tell some riding students to go home and at night when they lay down and were almost falling asleep, imagine the movement they had difficulty with and visualize that movement applied correctly. Usually, the next day it was as if they had known this move for years.

[@firebird2]

As so many have already said - What a gift to be part of these lessons! Art is not an "extra" subject it is the most important subject; an expression of all we learn and feel.

[@kwgm8578]

The younger fellow -- his manner of speech reminds me very much of Dick Cavett in his younger years. I too enjoyed his Chopin until I heard Seymour's advice. What a soul! Thank you for this.

[@fisherbredrup]

I know the man personally and he is truly a good person with a brilliant imagination

[@bassplayer1966]

I love it near the end where the Master corrects his student by picking up his hand right after he played the dynamics imperfectly

[@Zhinarkos]

What they are discussing is, I think, really the base of all the troubles and/or ease when it comes to piano playing. How do you apply weight, which muscles do you activate more, which less, how much, when to release, where to be firmer, where to be looser - this is the thing that will cause you the most stress and unevenness while playing because without knowing all of this you lose consistency. You have no frame of reference what form and action will, for the most part, produce the best results. I always think there's a lot of great advice out there, *if* you have a problem or an extreme that fits them. It's not that conflicting advice about method is wrong, e. g. "play with your fingers" vs "play with your arm weight", it's advice that's designed to solve a problem when the conditions are so and so. It's not universal advice. Because the bottom line is that it's not *just* this or *just* that. It's both. It's a bit of everything. And the advice is trying to put into words something that needs to be felt, and moreover, something that's incredibly nuanced and flowing. I like Taubman approach for instance not because it's "about rotation" or "about playing with your arm weight" but because all of that advice, rotation, playing with your fingers hand and forearm as a unit, all of it is a tool. It's a set of specific movements that inhibits certain muscle activation and supports other activation. A more efficient way for you to discover "Oh, so that's how it feels. Oh wow, I didn't realize that you could play the piano without feeling this awful tension. And I can remain accurate despite increasing the tempo, hmm why didn't I know this before? This feels right". After that the tools, the rotations and big floppy movements get minimized and become less relevant because they are only means to an end. Most self-taught pianists probably at a certain skill threshold discover this through experimentation and through the need to minimize stress and straining. So for the most part it feels very arduous and gradual. You can literally spend decades playing inefficiently even if you actively decide to improve your method.

[@Clavichordist]

I studied with one of Mr. Bernstein's students. It's amazing hearing the same things. The thing is, as I've discovered over the years, that there isn't a single shoe that fits all here. There are times when we want a crisp, firm technique for scales, trills, and glistening passages, yet at the same time we need the opposite perhaps in another passage or set against the soft subsurface. Like a lot of things that require different methods and techniques, knowing when to use what comes with experience. At the same time, we also have what I've referred to as carryover techniques that are shared between different kinds of playing such as being relaxed. When I was at my peak, I was able to produce thunderous FFFs and contrast instantly with sudden a ppp, not that anything was written to do that. I did this all without stiffening my fingers and all the while being totally relaxed. The use of arm weight instead of fingers to produce the loudest sounds, produces the thunderous FF without that harsh brittle sound we hear so often when fingers are used alone.

[@JessicaSarapoff]

What a wonderful interview. Thank you for sharing.

[@valerieobrien5521]

He was NEVER Chopin because Chopin's hands had SQUARE KNUCKLES ! What conceit . This man is very obnoxious !

[@atze9Be]

​@@valerieobrien5521 It's very sad that you don't seem to have any sense of humor.

[@jeffwolinski2659]

Good grief, lighten up, Valerie!!!

[@jonchapa5404]

"What else can you do with Chopin but be poetic." I don't even play piano. I am horrendous at it lol. I felt those words though because I have a good set of ears and a heart.

[@andy-simmons]

Wonderful discussion. Love this.

[@VinePest]

I love the internet when it gives you access to great education. We're not all going to be acclaimed concert pianists, but that's no reason to bar us from quality lessons like these; excellent teachers only the elite used to be able to meet in the past. This is how I can passionately enjoy my lonely mediocrity; the inspiration lifts me up beyond all comparison to anybody else.

[@andrewsmith4356]

Thank you for this, and thank you for playing at the end, so we could see a bit of the principles in action.

[@chrissinger24]

These cheeky lessons are ones that I miss from my late professor in his 90s. He was one of the first people to graduate with a master’s degree at Juilliard.

[@corgisrule21]

I started playing and taking lessons when I was 4 and was about 5 years in when my teachers even mentioned the wrists…I never heard a word about shoulders, even as a performance major through college. I’m sure I learned many bad habits as my wrists hurt most of the time (and I don’t play at all compared to what I used to). I was always compliments for my hand position, but I was always so TENSE…it even went up to my jaw and it would be so painful after a big recital cause I would just clench the whole time (and sometimes not breathe much lol) and I even started doing it during practice, cause I’d be so stressed about the recital 😂 I want to start up again though, cause I’ve missed it for so long, so I’m glad I watched this and got some tips from Seymour as well as more motivation💖☺️ I love this channel so much!

[@ravenslaves]

Even the smallest of lessons is gold.

[@chenwu9867]

He’s the…only and safest one to watch on tonebase all the time

[@michaelscott9040]

The humand mind is unbelievable, and seeing these masters at work is truly a blessing.

[@yjesko1]

Love it! Thank you!

[@benedictdsilva3954]

Thank you...So much to learn...

[@emlynjessen2957]

Wonderful teaching!

[@jinlanjordan8011]

Precious lesson, thank you!

[@scarletpimpernel230]

What a fascinating exchange! Thank you both.

[@xiesarah7038]

thanks for sharing ,that is so beautiful

What a phantastic teacher!

[@fg87fgd]

What a wonderful person.

[@angiola2409]

Wonderful.... very inspiring!

[@nonono275]

thank you for these absolute gems!!

[@marirogers0153]

awesome. just fabulous…i didn t know this could be found here. you both have helped me so much.

[@hsfpiano1989]

Wonderful and inspiring.

[@mabdub]

This video was really great fun to watch and incredibly informative. Thank you both.

[@josephinebrown6631]

Thank you kindly.

[@zuzanaSimurdova]

Wonderful! I love this maestro*

[@wuyipiano]

Amazing, thanks for sharing.

[@yz49]

Beautiful! Just so wonderful. The RH dynamic is a revelation! Thank you for creating it and posting it. ❤

[@martinlawrence8427]

What a fabulous treat...Seymour has a tremendous sense of humour amongst the pearls of wisdom!

[@robinkrop9404]

I don't think we usually do figure out technique ourselves. There are a lot of injured pianists, including famous ones. It wasn't until I studied ergonomic playing with a teacher that I could play more comfortably without hurting myself. The Balance Center in Palo Alto CA taught the alignment of the body for sitting, combined with the Taubman technique for the upper body. The goal is to have a very upright body to support the playing. We first stand upright with all bones aligned. Then we bend over the keyboard and sit down still leaning the upper body forward where the torso meets the body (keep a straight back and neck), then slide our feet forwards to be at 90 degrees to our upper legs, slide ourselves evenly forward on the bench, then come up to 90 degree sitting so as to be more present to the keyboard instead of having a C curve in our back which takes us away from the keyboard. Do a shoulder roll forward, up, back and down to bring each shoulder down. Drop the head down and bring it back up from the base so that the neck looks straight. When we look at a player sideways on the bench, they should look very upright. We then play the keyboard from our elbows, since we can use the weight of our arms that way to make more natural sound. We need to be sitting level to the keys. I use carpet pads to put people at their right level on the bench. Anything firm to raise people to their correct height on the bench will work. The goal is to have the elbows level to the keys so we can land our arm weight on the keys. We raise our lower arm and hand with no wrist break and land on the pad of a finger. The thumb lands on the side of the nail. Playing the forehand direction: we land on the little finger, swing the forearm and hand backward as one unit with no wrist break, then bring them forward and land on the side of the thumb by the nail. Then land the little finger and land on the pad of the 2nd finger, then to the 3rd finger, then to the 4th finger. Then land the 4th finger, and swing the forearm and hand backward, then swing towards the thumb, same to the 2nd and 3rd fingers. Etc with landing on the rest of the fingers and swinging them. Playing the backhand direction: we land on the thumb, swing the hand and forearm backwards, then swing back and land on the 5th finger. Repeat with landing on the rest of the fingers. Then land on the 2nd finger and repeat the backhand swing to each of the other fingers. Then do it with the 3rd and 4th fingers. This combo of landing from the elbow and swinging the hand from one note to the next makes for much more sound and much easier playing and takes the injury out of playing. My email is [e-mail] if anyone wants to discuss further.

[@Harriett2423]

While playing octaves do you tense up your hand and wrist?

[@JohannnesBrahms]

Forget your hands and arms and develop a relationship with the key. The key will tell you how it wants to be touched.

[@findelka1810]

it is entirely possible to figure it out by yourself. If you listen to your body, it tells you clearly when the movements are wrong: you’ll have pain. If you keep listening, you won’t force playing in a way that causes pain.If you listen to the best pianists, you will know what type of sound you want to produce. If you listen to the sound you produce, you can change it until you like it. It is very useful for pianists to try to sing or play on a string instrument, then try to reproduce the bel canto on the piano. If you follow that road, sooner or later you do succeed. Chopin was self-taught. Anyone can be self-taught right, even if not at the level of a genius or a concert pianist, but you can succeed producing the most beautiful sound without effort.

[@susanchemm9391]

Thank you for wonderful videos and very important subject of playing piano!!!

[@nadinechernapianostudio6372]

Seymour Bernstein is Amazing! Thank you so very much for this.

[@rosechen5978]

Amazing teaching just in that two measures!

[@yahyamhirsi]

Hey Rose! Nice to see you here haha

[@rosechen5978]

@@yahyamhirsi ha ha! Nice to see you here!

[@joakimsafstrom8405]

Fantastic lesions from Bernstein, hope there is a lot more beginner stage.

[@miguelcampos5460]

I love watching these mini-lessons with you and Mr. Bernstein! I am a former professional cellist and these videos just make me want to take up the piano and give it a go! Thanks for doing this work!

[@ElzaRitterPianoStudio]

This is incredible unique video! Thank you!!

[@locojuanca]

Seymour is incredible.

[@drc4168]

The last part (nocturne disected) is AMAZING!!!!

[@PeterLunowPL]

what a delightful man ans as a pianist I can relate to everything he talks about. This is a real treat, thank you !!!

[@adhardino9781]

So lively, witty, so communicative, just great the man...

[@olivialazalde2174]

Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou for this ❤

[@jonathanwyman3869]

Wow. Thank you for this master class on the subtleties of music. This will be useful as a guitarist as much as pianist

[@Dragunov1185]

Always in love with these talks. So valuable for an amateur like myself to learn from people just being people while playing piano.

[@tombennettband1485]

I like Seymour more and more and more...what a cool dude

[@joshuatavares2384]

They have the best friendship. One that takes years and you can’t force it. I have never heard of either until I found the KZbin channel. I appreciate it for the knowledge but also the ability to hear people speak who have musical understanding that I don’t posses

[@manuelinopampa9646]

La armonía que existe entre ambos es arrolladora!!! gracias 🎉💐💐💐💐💐

[@gajofre]

He Oozes wisdom, amazing.

[@gabelonguinhos]

thank you so much for this

[@BernhardMillauer]

It's just fantastic what a good teacher can get out of his students, even they play such a piece for years already.

[@davidfleming8436]

I love the bond between Mr. Seymour and Mr. Laude.

[@ThePianoTester]

Amazing video. Best of KZbin for sure

[@conniewhitlockmusic]

Love love love this

[@johnschlesinger2009]

Magical!

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Interesting discussion, especially about the shoulder. I happen to have special knowledge, since I was a Chiropractor who had a shoulder injury, and then sufferred a medical error after the first of my operations. Now I live with a FURS syndrome. But I developed many techniques for the shoulder and arm, since to continue working treating patients, I had to adapt. I've tried to teach them here in Switzerland, but most people don't have the strength in their hands. I developed that strength with this technique. Which made my transition to playing the piano after my retirement a blessing since I had finger strength. But the coordination...Meine Mutter. I will have a video out soon for exercises and self-treatments a pianist can do. You'd be surprised at the connections of the shoulder to the body. Stay tuned. The video is out. Oh My Aching Bach

[@jonathanyunger2073]

You are both remarable in what you do and Seymour is indeed a treasure. Thank you for this and all your videos. PS I'm not a pianist or a musician, but I love these videos.

[@khole15]

I love this guy Seymore, and i am not even a piano student or teacher. Such charisma and humor

[@remyvegamedia]

This is such an interesting channel to have run into. Found it this week. I'm a late starter on piano and started in the jazz tradition. I'm just now learning classical music and techniques. Seymour is such a captivating teacher and Ben is great. I was thinking, "oh, these ideas remind me of a book I read a couple years ago," and grabbed it from the shelf and had no idea it was Seymour's book the whole time haha. I'm well versed in rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic theory, but some of these details of these videos are so different from my background. Thank you for the wisdom!

[@errolflynn7153]

Great interview

[@Aibhi_B]

I have returned to this video so many times just to hear the 15-30 seconds (if you jump around to the developments) of your take on the Op. 9 No. 1 opening. The intimacy, love, place, reminiscence... Sublime.

[@MsTwiggy28]

Love him ❤️

[@logansisson5949]

Wish I'd learned piano when I was younger, both gentlemen are enlightening

[@brianbillion3825]

Great and informative interview Ben!!

[@leereichel2785]

Thanks!

[@cliveparaschis]

The gentle ribbing is heart-warming

[@djsaucylady]

These tips are actually going to change my piano playing forever 😮

[@axelsohn1454]

Beautiful video. Not only is the physical 'choreography' he discusses very applicable to string playing, but also it is Mr. Bernstein's nuanced phrasing bringing out the poetry of the music. As for his comment about Starker, the anecdote he cites may be correct, but the many videos on KZbin of his teaching and interviews with him show something very different. IMHO however, the videos of Harvey Shapiro and Paul Tortelier master class teaching are the very best re: music making on the cello.

[@annachepikovaconcertpianis791]

Wonderful 👏🎹

[@DjangoThunders]

This is making me miss my mentors, so many of them are gone now. I am now the mentor to many.

[@koolword7477]

Best video I've seen on KZbin

[@abc78ful]

I love it!

[@safarygirl]

Just Great!

[@plenilunium2425]

18:25 I was just smoking in my garden whilst studying Chopin with my headphones on. When you started playing a wave of chills intertwined with goosebumps engulfed me. I feel alive, merci ♡

[@OSA5000]

Wonderful

[@Deutre08]

There are videos of Jorge Bolet in a Masterclass, on Liszt Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude, whit similar estetic propositions such as: repeted notes in a melodic line, emphatize, how to think and build melodic lines (negative dinamic action as a resource to emphatize... love that!!). thanks for your videos!!

[@jiviekartinki]

Choreography of the body...making an instrument as your own part... I relate to this idea easily, being a ballet teacher. I know , the more we teach - the more wisdom of Universe (God)we get. I feel fortunate to come across your channel here. Grateful!

[@Lou.B]

Great, great stuff.