Performance Issues Regarding Percussion and Strings - Part 1

In music (like life) nothings exists in a bubble and everything ultimately relates to everything else. Instruments inevitably play with each other and constantly create new sounds together.  As the process develops and instrumentalists learn about each other it becomes necessary to create a new knowledge base from which to draw from.  

The development of percussion as a major musical instrument is one of the most revolutionary and game changing events to happen in the history of concert music.  The same can be said about the expansion of the modern chamber and ensemble repertoire to include percussion.  These developments have had implications far beyond the percussion instruments themselves.  They have changed the way that all other instruments play as well.  As a result of this every instrument other than percussion has had to reinvent itself and it's standards. Conversely from the percussionist's perspective, playing with traditional instruments forces the percussionist in many cases to adhere to a more established (or at least less experimental) historical musical standard.  Every instrument has individual strengths and weakness that can potentially create performance issues. Students are very seldom taught about these issues when attempting to develop their repertoire with players of other instruments.  

String instruments are among the most developed and elite of all instruments in all forms of music. Their musical standards, repertoire, and the actual instruments themselves go back for hundreds of years and much of their music is among the most challenging to play.  In many ways the advent of percussion has enriched the next phase of their development.  In this series of articles I will be focusing on performance issues facing the combination of percussion and string instruments.  I hope to explore other instrument combinations with percussion in future postings.

My Personal Experience - A Little Background

I am proud to have spent a large portion of my career performing chamber music and concerti with strings.  I have performed dozens of works for violin, viola, cello, and percussion and I've done quite few arrangements myself.  As an educator at both The Juilliard School and NYU Steinhardt, I have also had the opportunity to coach and teach most major works.  On the larger stage, I have had the privilege of giving the world premiere and traveling around the world to perform the Double Concerto for Violin and Percussion by former Boston Symphony Orchestra percussionist and world renowned conductor Harold Farberman.  Throughout this process, I was extremely fortunate to play as the percussion soloist with many fantastic orchestras such as The New Mexico Symphony, The Puerto Rico Symphony, and The American Symphony Orchestra.  I was also fortunate to perform with several excellent violinists including one of the original founders of The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Guillermo Figueroa.  As one can imagine I learned a great deal about playing with the violin during this experience.  Another interesting project I was involved with for strings and percussion was when I worked with composer Andrew Thomas.  We recorded his Double Concerto "The Heroic Triad" for acoustic guitar, percussion, and string orchestra with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Katowice and classical guitar virtuoso David Leisner.  It served as another major learning experience for me.

I've learned a lot through my experiences and I've put together a list of useful things to think about for percussionists playing with string players and vice versa.  Both instrument groups are very different and it's very important to know the strengths and weakness of each.  While some of these issues may seem bias or weighted towards one particular group (either strings or percussion) I assure you they are not.  I am only speaking from my own experience as a percussionist looking outward.  

1. Strings and Percussion produce sound in different ways

Strings and percussion produce sound in different ways and as a result, the two must compensate for each other.  When we strike our percussion instruments the sound created is instantaneous.  On string instruments a minuscule amount of time is needed for the bow to make the string vibrate.  As a result of these basic differences in sound creation, several potential performance issues can occur.  

Entrances

Entrances can be problematic.  Due to the minuscule amount of time that it takes string players to vibrate the string, they are sometimes slightly late.  Although this is not an indigenous problem to strings playing with percussion (it happens when strings play with other instruments as well), the exceptional natural ability of percussionists to create an instant attack can sometimes amplify the issue.  

Rhythm

In passages with complicated rhythms (syncopated or otherwise) it can be a true challenge to keep up with the percussionist because it takes the bow a very tiny although relevant amount of time to change direction and rearticulate sound.  This takes place while the percussionist simply and easily strikes their instrument at the correct time to create attacks. As a result, even if the string players play the rhythms correctly they can sometimes sound staggered, expansive, late, and just off.  This can be extremely problematic due to the nature of the modern percussion repertoire.  Much of it contains very advanced rhythms and counterpoint that must be played exactly as written.  Some of the music is groove oriented too.  

A few possible solutions

I am not a string player but based on my experience, my instinct here is that in order to play with percussionists or play most modern music both of these performance issues can be addressed and fixed with a much faster bow technique on the string player's end.  String players must learn how to produce an instantaneous sound with precision and then switch sounds and bowings quickly.  They must do this to compensate because as we've discussed the percussionist requires only a simple motion to create sound.  

In Part 2 we will continue the list with two more common issues "Volume" and "Historical Rhythmic Starting Points."  

Pressure + Velocity = Sound

This post will be discussing the application of pressure and velocity of stroke in the creation of sound and color control.  This idea goes hand and hand with my previous posting "Creating Lines of Music on Mallet Keyboard Instruments" in the sense that it's an often overlooked yet important part of playing percussion and music making. 

Pressure + Velocity = Sound

"Sound" is an absolutely imperative component to music making.  When playing percussion or any musical instrument we are responsible for the sound we actively create.  While mallet choice is often the go to solution for issues pertaining to sound, the color, character, and intensity of the sound can all be manipulated by the player via pressure and velocity of stroke.  When these two elements are added into our playing they have the potential to make our music more three dimensional.  By combining excellent pressure control and velocity of stroke with a solid listening foundation, we are able to achieve a wide variety of color and sound variations.

It is an extremely old fashioned idea that there is only one stroke type or "one way" to strike a percussion instrument.  Every piece of music has different emotions and levels of intensity that the performer must work to express and convey to their audience.  The true artist leads with their ears and has a wide variety of stroke types in their arsenal to create the necessary required sounds.

Pressure 

Pressure is the amount of firmness with which we hold the stick or mallet.  When playing we can choose to apply either a strong or weak pressure.  By using strong or weak pressure and everything in between we are able to create a full color/resonance spectrum in our playing.  

Weak Pressure

Weak pressure does not restrict the sound.  It allows the sound to "sound" uninterrupted because our hands interfere as little as possible with the natural vibration of the stick or mallet. When playing with weak pressure all of the overtones of the instrument are allowed to ring to their fullest extent.  Weak pressure is extremely useful for fluid, legato, connected resonant playing.  

Strong Pressure

Conversely, when we apply strong pressure we restrict the sound and the natural vibration of the sticks or mallets in our hands.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  It's just important to know when to use it and when not to.  Using strong pressure is useful when we want a more controlled less resonant sound.  It restricts some of the natural overtones of our instruments.  I often instruct students to use more pressure when the sound requirements are heavy, muted, dark, and restricted.  

Velocity of Stroke

Velocity of stroke is how fast or slow the stick or mallet moves or is moving towards its destination (either a drum head, mallet keyboard bar, or any other percussion instrument). Velocity affects the overall intensity of the sound.  It is how we control the intensity of the sound we are trying to create.  Velocity is also extremely useful in differentiating between staccato and legato strokes. 

Fast Velocity of Stroke

In a fast velocity of stroke the stick or mallet travels quickly to reach its destination.  Doing this creates a more energized and intense sound.  It can also useful in creating staccato style stokes. When playing fast passages in a fast tempo, players will sometimes naturally use a faster velocity of stroke.  This adds to the energetic sound of fast playing (in addition to the tempo itself).  When playing in a slow tempo, using a fast velocity of stroke makes the music much more pointed and intense.

Slow Velocity of Stroke

A slow velocity of stroke has less energy and intensity.  It is generally more relaxed.  It is very useful when a big sound is needed that doesn't necessarily have a lot of intensity.  It can also be used for legato strokes.  I have always found that for students, a slower velocity of stroke is a much less intuitive concept.  Many are not even aware that this type of stroke exists.  It's important because having a solid slow velocity stroke type opens the door to a lot of variety in the sound.  It allows for much more control in the stylization of music making.

Combine both pressure and velocity of stroke to create variety in your playing

Now that we've explored these two concepts we can imagine some of the possibilities that exist when combining them.  For example, weak pressure combined with a fast velocity of stroke will create an intense yet free and uninhibited sound while strong pressure with a fast velocity of stroke creates an intense yet more muted sound.  Weak pressure with a slow velocity of stroke is a completely uninhibited and unencumbered sound with a low degree of intensity while strong pressure with a slow velocity of stroke is a forced heavy sound that can be useful in extremely tense musical situations.  

It's very important to understand that beyond strong and weak pressure and fast and slow velocity, we can also use everything in between (medium pressure, medium velocity etc) to sculpt and further develop our sounds. There truly are no absolutes and/or right and wrong answers when it comes to the creation of sound.  Be creative and try experimenting and using different combinations of pressure and velocity of stroke to see what kind of sounds can be created.

Complete the musical picture

Every piece of music has a specific sound and style.  While tempo and dynamics help to play an important role in conveying these attributes, pressure and velocity of stroke complete the picture. I can't emphasize enough how fundamental these ideas are to music making. By even slightly applying these ideas to your playing you will create a tremendous amount of depth that didn't exist before.  In doing so you will truly be on your way to creating music that is highly stylized and sonically diverse.  

Learning Music Quickly On Mallet Keyboard Instruments Part 2: Specific Musical Suggestions

In the first part of "Learning Music Quickly On Mallet Keyboard Instruments" I focused on general practicing suggestions.  In this second part, I will be focusing on specific musical suggestions to better facilitate this important process.

PART 2: Specific Musical Suggestions

5. Visualize! Bridge the gap between the mental and physical

Visualization bridges the gap between the mental and physical.  It allows you to absorb things in a much firmer way.  Beyond learning music, it allows you more control when the moment comes and the pressure is on.

Muscle memory alone is extremely unstable.  Part of learning music should be visualization. Putting a piece of music together is an equally mental and physical process.  Focusing on the physical alone will not allow you to take everything in.   I often check on this with my students by asking them the following hypothetical question.  "If I gave you a blank piece of manuscript paper and pencil and I told you to walk away from the instrument, would you be able to reproduce the piece you are playing?"  In other words I am asking the student if they are capable of writing down the music that they are playing based only on the information they have in their head.  I am asking them if they have the music firmly enough in their head to reproduce it on paper.  If the answer if no, they are most likely relying too much on muscle memory.  Muscle memory is 100% physical and in many cases it has nothing to do with music.

To work on visualization spend a decent amount of time away from your instrument looking at the music and hearing it go by in your head.  Picture the way it feels to play what you hear.  Go to a quiet place, close your eyes, and imagine the bars of the keyboard.  Then imagine the piece you are playing and as the notes are played picture them lighting up as the notes are struck.  Unlike muscle memory, this is a 100% mental process and it is much more valuable than the physical.

6. Music is about listening and your ear is everything

This concerns retention, listening, and how we process music.  As I pointed out above, if the way in which we process music is through only physical means then we have no other tools to help us retain it.  Since music is primarily about listening and aural skills, our ear must be fundamental in our absorption of music.

If you are not listening to the relationship between the notes you are playing then you will have a much harder time retaining what you are playing.  I am often surprised again and again at how many young mallet keyboard students have such limited listening skills and ear training backgrounds.  A basic ability to hear chords, scales, intervals, and how music is constructed will go a long way towards helping you retain what you are learning.

Let me put it another way.  Think of your native language.  When someone is speaking to you and you later recall the conversation, you may not remember every exact word they said but you sure can remember a lot about it.  You can remember the points the person was making, the way they said it, and even sometimes the order in which things were said. You remember the conversation even if you don't remember every detail. This is because you are fluent in the language.  Music works the same way.  If you possess a stronger ear and listening ability you will inevitably absorb more of the music you are learning.  It is an extremely powerful tool and quite possibly the most important.

7. A knowledge of music theory helps

The more you know about and can recognize scales chords etc, the better you will be at learning music. Music is constructed of these things and your fast recognition of them will only aid in your ability to absorb and learn music quickly.  Pay attention in music theory class and learn as much about the construction of music (all styles) as possible.  The more language you know the faster you will able to recognize and speak.

8. Knowledge of sight-reading is a true foundation and a must

This may be a cliche thing to say but it's true.  Your ability to sight-read must be developed and worked on everyday.  You should be able to read without looking down at the keyboard.  Don't go too fast.  Practice reading at a tempo that is accurate and comfortable. I mean it.  DON'T GO TO FAST!  Embrace reading as a major aspect of learning your instrument and you will not be sorry.

9. Last but not least, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself and go for it!

I spent years challenging myself to learn music quickly.  Many times it was not easy.  I often had to put myself in uncomfortable situations where it felt like I was taking on too much. This is OK.  I can now say that by challenging myself to do the impossible, I ultimately made the impossible possible and then some.  Don't be afraid to take on a lot and have a long view of learning your instrument.  It may take some time but the results will pay it forward in a BIG way.

If you enjoyed reading this posting, I also wrote a similar article on this topic in a fantastic publication called “A Percussionist’s Handbook” by Peter Saleh.  Check it out!

Learning Music Quickly on Mallet Keyboard Instruments Part 1: General Practicing Tips

As I move forward in my career, I am constantly challenged to learn more and more music in shorter spans of time.  I roam in many circles and any of these groups may call on me at any time without regard to each other and/or my greater schedule.  In other words, at any given time before I know it, I will have a large pile of music on my stand for several different gigs at once, and I will have to perform all of it at a high level.

Learning music quickly is a large part of the barometer by which your true ability on mallet keyboard instruments is judged.   If you are able to juggle a large amount of music with ease, navigate a variety of passages, and have a true birds eye view of the task at hand, then you most likely have learned how to play your instrument correctly.

Over the years, I have taught many students how to learn music quickly and I have found it to be fundamental to my teaching approach.  A student of mine will spend a long period of time developing these skills.

It takes years to develop fluency with any instrument and this subject warrants the writing of an entire book.  However, to light the fire of inspiration I have put together a short list in 2 parts that will help you to get started.  It's also worth pointing out that although these postings are primarily focused on mallet keyboard percussion instruments, many of the concepts here can be applied to other instruments as well.  

The first part of my list of suggestions are general practicing tips.  Next week, I will release the second part of my list which contains specific musical suggestions.  Enjoy!

Learning Music Quickly on Mallet Keyboard Instruments

PART 1: General Practicing Tips

1. Develop a positive attitude...it goes long way

This first suggestion is more spiritual than anything else.  Many student's biggest initial obstacle is themselves.   Due to a lack of proper education on these instruments, students often believe that it is "talent" and "natural ability" alone that allows someone to learn music quickly.  This could not be further from the truth.  It is like anything else.  Practice makes a perfect and a specific set of skills must be acquired.  Learning music quickly is not something that only a few lucky people are predisposed to.  YOU are in control of the outcome and you must ignore the negative voices in your head.

2. Understand the value of a day and practice everyday as if the performance is tomorrow

Trust me…this slight change in mindset works wonders.  Change the standard for what you consider to be an adequate practice session.  Practice as if the performance will be tomorrow.  All too often I work with students who possess little to no sense of urgency in their process of preparation.  When we practice as if the performance is tomorrow, we change the paradigm of our practice sessions.  We push ourselves to new limits without even needing to acquire any new knowledge that can help us.  This is invaluable.  A lot can be accomplished in just one day if you change your fundamental mindset.

3. Set Goals

This may seem obvious but you would be surprised how much of a problem this can be. When practicing and learning music it's very important to learn one section or phrase at a time.  If one section or phrase is too much whittle it down even further. Taking on too much at once can cause things to become convoluted and lead to a lack of retention.  If you learn small sections of your music you can isolate the difficult passages, dissect them. and ultimately absorb them.  Attack all technical challenges in a slow and methodical way, and work them up to tempo.  You would be surprised how setting clear goals and being organized empowers you and allows you to truly absorb the music.

4. Take Breaks, Cycle in and out

This is another easy thing you can do that will make a big difference.  Believe it or not, taking breaks and absorbing what you have just worked on works!  Over a long day of practicing for a concert just around the corner, taking breaks can help you maximize your time and recovery.  Recovery is a very important part of exertion and all too often overlooked.  Cycle in and out of practice and you will improve your overall results for the day.  This especially works well if you are setting proper goals with the right attitude and mindset.

Stay tuned for Part 2 next week where I will explore more specific musical suggestions to aide in this extremely important process. 

If you enjoyed reading this posting, I also wrote a similar article on this topic in a fantastic publication called “A Percussionist’s Handbook” by Peter Saleh.  Check it out!