Should the mechanism drive the music or the other way around?

The Hal Galper lesson below is a fascinating look at the concept of how we should let the instrument dictate the musicality of phrasing. Decaying overtones over the fundamental and how they change over time is another view at music production. Like piano players, we focus on articulation, in our case, it's pick technique we hone in on, but Galper has a fascinating approach to manipulating the swell and decay of the sound.

We've advocated the importance of tone being what goes on between notes, and this is another way to describe this phenomenon. As you dig deeper into the video, you'll see how attention to these details translate into the bigger picture of line and ultimately, feel.

In your practice, try to change your thinking from the way the note starts to the way it ends. Especially when you play fast, you don't want to just "skate" the notes.

Video link: Hal Galper's Piano Lesson

Note: video excerpt starts in the middle. The earlier section is great, too.

Further:
Blowing through the phrase
Using the picking hand to start Good Tone.
Three Four Pull: Foregoing the Fourth Finger Frack.
What the Pros say about Good Tone.
The Virtues of Sustain

Posted by Ted at September 5, 2013 9:44 AM