El último brote de cólera: 1885

One frequent topic of the “Home Practice” section of Keyboard Companion is how to effectively introduce new repertoire in a lesson. Pearce believed the way a teacher introduces a piece heavily influenced how effectively a student practices it at home. She emphasizes to teachers the importance of assigning specific practice steps as part of a new piece’s introduction.

As an example, Pearce describes her approach to introducing Kabalevsky’s Toccata, Op. 60 to a student. 347 _{The Toccata features a section in which the right-hand}

does double-duty, playing sustained melody notes and accompaniment patterns at the same time. Instead of asking the student to execute that technical challenge in the right hand from the start, Pearce advises splitting the right-hand accompaniment and melody

346 _{Elvina Pearce, “Rhythmic Stability—the Prime Ingredient of Technical Security and}

sections between both hands. Because playing the passage with two hands is easier, students can then focus more attention on listening for and generating the desired sound. Pearce was convinced that when a student focused first on sound, they would find technique much more comfortable to achieve. This was useful because, she argues, students who are forced to think about and execute too many musical elements at the same time too soon (fingering, voicing, dynamics, etc.) are often less secure with a piece in performance. “Because working on musicality [interpretation] requires almost total concentration of one’s focus, I believe that this aspect of practice is most productive when the student no longer needs to think about ‘mechanics’ [accuracy].”348

In another article, Pearce uses William Gillock’s “Dragon Fly” from the Lyric Preludes in a Romantic Style to demonstrate what she expects in terms of self-directed practice from intermediate students.349 _{She suggests beginning with a thorough analysis}

of the music, a habit she picked up from her studies with Isabelle Vengerova.350

Additional suggestions included building a student’s practice toolkit so that they are able to achieve performance tempo as well as technical security. She also reiterates, here again, her core belief that student input is a vital component to developing students who are self-motivated to practice.

Pearce brought all of her thoughts on introducing repertoire together in an

essential chapter of The Success Factor. In “From Presentation to Performance – Getting

348 _{Pearce et al., “What basic approaches,” 8-11.}

349 _{William Gillock, Lyric Preludes in a Romantic Style, (Van Nuys, CA: Alfred}

It All Together,” she chose three pieces to illustrate the central tenets of her teaching philosophy: Fantasie in D minor, K. 397 by Mozart; Fantasy Dance, Op. 124, no. 5 by Schumann; and Notturno, Op, 54, no. 4 by Grieg. She suggests that when teachers introduce these pieces, they use the following four-point plan:351

Step 1: Discuss what the piece is about with students.

Step 2: Hear a performance of the piece as preparation for analysis. Step 3: Analyze the piece’s formal structure and mark and label its parts. Step 4: Provide the first week’s assignment.

In addition to these universal steps, Pearce goes into more detail, providing specific instructions for introducing each of the four pieces. Separately, in a blog article for Alfred Music, she provides the following more concise way of communicating and remembering that four-point repertoire-introduction plan: explore, listen, analyze, practice.352 _(For

more of Pearce’s ideas on introducing her own repertoire successfully, see Chapter 5, pages 125-128.)

Pearce believes teachers should always provide students with clear and specific practice goals, arm them with proven, results-driven practice strategies, and guide them toward their own discoveries in a lesson rather than wasting time with teacher-centric talking and telling. She writes, "It is the repetition of success that makes practice perfect, and this is what produces students who want to continue with music study and with their ongoing journey into the wonderful world of music – both as listeners and as music-

351 _{Pearce, Success Factor.}

352 _{Elvina Pearce, “How to Strategically Introduce a New Piece to Your Piano Student.”}

makers themselves!"353 _{In addition to arming students with practice procedures designed}

for student success, Pearce goes to great lengths to follow through on these strategies as part of each lesson.

MEMORIZATION

Pearce tackled the topic of memorization on several occasions in her role as editor for the “Home Practice” section in Keyboard Companion.354 _{She states that she does not}

believe musicians necessarily perform better when they are playing by memory. Instead, she says, it is the artistic quality of a given performance that ultimately matters more than how it is presented (memorized or with the score). However, she also believes that performing from memory does provide some benefits, and she feels strongly that every student should have that experience.

Pearce reiterates that a thorough analysis of a piece and its structure are essential and provide a strong foundation for secure memorization. When stating this point, she often quotes a Frances Clark maxim: “Memorizing is remembering what we understand.” Students who understand how a piece is constructed will be more secure in their

memorization, she posits. More specifically, Pearce recommended students memorize hands separately, playing each part with the music several times before playing from

353 _{Pearce, “What Makes Practice Perfect?” 15.}

memory. Hands-together practice follows in the same manner. Her suggestions for memorization continue:355

1. Practice each section without the music.

2. Play the whole piece without the music, very slowly, and all at one dynamic level.

3. Practice playing each hand alone without the music. 4. Practice playing every other measure.

5. Practice stopping on any single note, put your hands in your lap for four counts, and then continue with the very next note.

6. Practice playing the LH alone for one measure. Then practice the RH alone for the next measure. Then repeat this pattern.

7. Continue to play with the music regularly to check back in with the score. 8. Vary the way difficult sections are practiced.

9. Arrange performance opportunities to practice playing by memory in front of an audience.

Additionally, she advises students here again not to always begin their practice with the opening measures of a piece. Instead, to ward off memory slips, she suggests students choose a variety of different sections within the piece from which to begin playing by memory.