NEPTA Minutes - September 26, 2011

Scott McBride Smith - Fundamentals of Good Tone

Dr. Smith is the Cordelia Brown Murphy Professor of Piano Pedagogy at the University of Kansas as well as CEO and President of the International Institute for Young Musicians. He has co-authored Guide to Microjazz and the new piano series American Popular Piano as well as the college textbook The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher.

His talk had two focuses: producing a good tone from the beginning and stage fright. Starting with producing a good tone, he explained that there are two ways to start a sound on the piano: starting on the key or starting above the key. A slower motion produces a rounder tone. Some of the images Dr. Smith uses with students are caressing the keys, pushing through a cloud or putting your hand through water. He demonstrated that the sound does not decay after you play a note; it actually gets a little louder.

The idea of repetition is counterintuitive to students: if I can already play it, why should I practice it? Teachers tend to talk about the result they want rather than talking about the motions to produce that result. Many pianists think that playing fast is easy; playing with good tone is not. Dr. Smith's hands are not particularly flexible but a good tone came naturally to him because he has thick finger pads. A teacher should show and explain the motions that help a student produce a good tone.

Referring to his handout "Fundamentals of Good Tone," He discussed some myths about technic.

Myth: When you work on scales, you are practicing your technic. One needs to pay attention to the choreography and tone to really practice technic.

Myth: Talented students don't need to work on technic

Dr. Smith said what is often referred to as talent is a set of skills that are learned well and if you work hard to learn something, you learn it better. A precocious child is one who can do things sooner than another child the same age. If a child is identified as talented, they are likely to be given good training. Studies have showed that babies are born with perfect pitch but will lose it if it is not reinforced. Perfect pitch is also something that can be learned.

Dr. Smith demonstrated pre-technic choreography that he uses with young children progressing from using big to small muscles. Students often play more difficult pieces at an earlier age than in previous generations. The notes and tempo may be accurate but not enough attention is paid to fundamentals and creating a good tone. Good tone quality should be nurtured right from the beginning.

Dr. Smith acknowledged the challenge of teaching students who have digital pianos. Although he did not have any solutions, he tries to take a student where they are and then take them when he would like them to be.

Stage fright usually develops around age 10 and tends to worsen. (Not what we teachers or performers wanted to hear!) Dr. Smith became familiar with the warm-up routines of many concert pianists as he drove or accompanied them to their performances. There was no common routine and on occasion a warm-up routine would consist of not warming up. However, the one thing the warm-up routines had in common is that it made the pianist feel confident. Adrenalin reactions last about seven minutes and it is better to accept and manage this rather than panic.

He added the following comments to his handout about the

ABCDE's of Building Self-Confidence

1. Adversity: refers to meeting challenges such as memory slips

2. Beliefs

3. Consequences

4. Disputation: alternative ways of looking at things

5. Energization: strategy to overcome

Providing students with lots of successful performances is important. He assigns repertoire that is slightly harder than a student's level but still achievable.

Dr. Smith has weekly performance classes with a party after for his students. They are always getting ready for a performance. However, he also said students learn more from their failures so learning to cope with such things as memory slips or inadequate preparation is as important.

For copies of Scott McBride Smith's hand-outs go to: Scott_McBride_Smith's_Hand-outs

Submitted by Linda G. Vieira