Off the beaten path - article examines techniques in music education

American Music Teacher, Dec, 2002 by Karen Workman

As piano teachers, we often relegate the piano duet and two-piano repertoire to a back seat. Practical issues, such as a lack of teaching or rehearsal time, having only one piano or not being able to pair up students without causing a sibling war or some other volatile partnership, can hamper our best efforts. However, the challenges and fun of two pianists in tandem can bring an added dimension of musical understanding and creativity to our students that solo piano may not. The piano duet and duo are an incomparable aid to introducing even very young students to musical concepts often reserved for higher education levels.

Stylistic interpretation and creative musicianship are two piano teaching areas where I have found piano duet and duo works to be extremely helpful. In terms of the former, duets have long been used by composers and music students alike to study instrumental works--particularly before the advent of recordings. They are still useful in that regard today. I also have found that using a piano ensemble as a creative medium adds a richness to a student's musical experience and can encourage a love and awareness for music that goes beyond the pleasure of piano playing.

STYLISTIC INTERPRETATION

Having students play duets brings to them a critical awareness of both their own musicianship and stylistic demands. It almost goes without saying that two pianists must agree on matters of interpretation, or both the music and ensemble suffer. As a teacher, I have found that the duet is an excellent way of encouraging students to put into words their interpretation of certain passages. As solo pianists, we are not often required to verbalize our thoughts, but doing so greatly helps secure key concepts in the music. With students new to ensemble playing, I find it helpful to say, "John, you play this phrase as if the last note is the destination. Jill, you play your part in the same phrase as if the destination is this note here and then you round off the phrase. Which one of these interpretations might serve the music itself better? What do you think the composer intended? What clues can we find in the score?" To come to an answer, the pianists are forced to discuss--or at least examine--the measures, the surrounding musical material and the overall form of the movement.

Along the way, tone color and sound quality are addressed, since these directly impact the interpretation. Students learn to listen to their partners and to themselves when they are encouraged to match, complement or contrast each other's sounds. The duet is a wonderful way to introduce the idea of a sound palette, since the onus is not on the pianist to constantly both play and listen. There is even more benefit to having them verbalize their perception of the sound, going beyond piano and forte to such descriptive words as "melting," "warm," "heavy" and so on. This also is excellent preparation for accompanying other instrumentalists or vocalists and for composition.

Interpretation, style, tone color and sound concepts translate easily from duet into solo playing. This can be encouraged by having students learn a duet and a solo piece by the same composer. For example, the 12 Pieces for Big and Little Children by Robert Schumann can be learned alongside Scenes from Childhood Op. 15. Ravel's Ma Mer L'oye can be paired with and compared to Petite Suite, Debussy's early duet. One fun pairing is playing both the duet (or duo) and solo versions of Bartok's seven pieces from Mikrokosmos. This is a particularly good exercise for examining the method by which Bartok arranged these pieces. Comparing other arrangements of original works also provides valuable exercise. When learning both duet and solo pieces by the same (or comparable) composers, concepts in the interpretation of the duet can be reinforced. Since students have learned to hear and discuss style matters in the duet, they can more readily apply it to solo pieces.

CREATIVE MUSICIANSHIP

The two-pianist combination has untapped potential in the realm of creativity. By this I mean leaving the written score and traditional Western musical sense and leaping headfirst into the world of imagination and soundscapes. For most of us, this is a terrifying experience. We might go there secretly, when no one (we hope) is listening and tiptoe back, red-faced, because we're not sure we liked what we heard! Going there with a duet partner halves the terror and cements the partnership in a positive way.

The following exercises are a few I use with this goal in mind. These activities, or variations, have met with varying degrees of success in terms of inspiring students to produce something musically intelligible. The activities have been greatly successful getting students to listen, think, have fun and communicate. The trick for teachers and students is not to pass judgment on the final result, but to enjoy the journey. The point is not necessarily to create a masterpiece, but to stretch the boundaries of our musical experience and that of our students and, most of all, to have fun doing it.