|
|
NEPTA
Cristina Capparelli Gerling Notes
Feb. 22, 2010 Meeting
Submitted by Jean Alderman
|
|
|
|
|
|
Strikingly, Dr. Cristina Capparelli Gerling opened her talk, before a word was spoken, with a lovely, secure and very individual performance of Chopin's Barcarolle. Then, in her ingenuous and warm-hearted way, she made the performance a starting-point for her subject: "Putting Recent Memory Research into Practice." She outlined how many hours (60) and what period of time (one year) she had used to memorize the Barcarolle, explaining that her performance today was only the second time she had played it in public. Her pleasure at finding she knew the piece was evident, especially in light of the fact that many would say a piece of the Barcarolle's difficulty might require up to 1,000 hours of work. She believes that spreading memorization out over time is important, and that re-learning is easier to do than first-time learning.
An over-riding thought for all memory: "There is no memory without emotion." (Antonio Damasio). We are the sum of our memories; what is meaningful to us is what we remember. It follows that one must make the page and the sound meaningful to oneself in order to hold the music in mind.
Dr. Gerling spoke of Eric Kandel (Columbia U.), K. A. Eriksson (FSU), and especially Roger Chaffin at the University of Connecticut, (see his page: http://www.htfdcc.uconn.edu/psyclabs/musiclab.html), with whom she is doing research on "Expert Musical Performance and Memory." Her exact record of Barcarolle practise is part of that research. Questions being asked of subjects include: what is going through your head during practise? Are you judging yourself? Are you worrying about your capabilities? Are you remembering the shopping list? etc. (Keep in mind that self-criticism, both positive and negative is beside the point and detrimental to focus). We must learn to make a quick recovery from every non-musical thought when practising, as well as from memory lapses when performing.
There are two key concepts for musical memory: "associative chaining" where each passage cues the next, an automatic by-product as we learn to play the piece, which requires no specific effort, but which limits the options in case of memory failure. It is unreliable (although it often works for young children). Second concept: "content-adressable memory," a process that requires VERY HARD WORK involving deliberate memorization, being able to start at any pre-arranged land-mark, knowing precisely what keys are used, mental rehearsal away from the keyboard, knowing each hand separately, etc. We integrate the two key concepts when we memorize. How we do it is unique to each of us - "private property."
Performance cues: have a mental map of the piece - the sections, sub-sections - use Schenkerian analysis or develop a plot-line that clues you into where you are - ANY PROCESS THAT WORKS FOR YOU. Write everything down, noting fingering, the switches in similar but different passages, the divisions of the piece and the connections between them, interpretive details, etc., etc. The hand-out included a copy of her Barcarolle score, COVERED with her markings.
Lastly, take a video of yourself and have your students do the same. She suggests a computer with a camera (she uses a Logitec). It catches stops and starts, hesitations, repetitions, verbal comments, unwelcome facial expressions, poor position, etc. Then when the student says, "It's perfect at home", you can say, "Show me."
These ideas make for more efficiency in time management, increase effectiveness of goal planning, develop confidence both in one's practise results and in the ability to recover after mishaps in performance.
After the break, Dr. Gerling took questions, during which many points were made, e.g.,
1. Practise as little as possible; that keeps your brain sharp
2. Very important to address your own thoughts
3. Working in the detailed way she outlines with just one piece will help all the others
4. Try not learning linearly; start at the end
5. The sooner you play for someone, the sooner you know what problems need fixing
6. Keep a constant connection to your inner feelings
Dr. Gerling made a brief change of subject at the end, saying that there is not much intermediate repertoire from South American composers here in the States. But there are 202 compositions which she (from Brazil herself) hopes will soon be available.
Submitted by Jean Alderman
|
|
|
|
|
|
