CMNC

In this series of articles, a number of our recent coaches responded to a series of questions from The Chamber Musician. TCM asked what they most enjoy about coaching adult amateurs and what they find most challenging, how they approach a one-day coaching situation, and what advice they could offer us to improve our chamber music experience. The series will continue with articles by Yael Ronen, Jennifer Kloetzel, Cecily Ward, Tom Stone and Asher Davison.
   

“Know Nothing”

by Burke Schuchmann

Cellist Burke Schuchmann performs and coaches extensively. For a schedule of events, which includes coaching days, string classes, cello classes and Concerto Grosso days, see palomarin.org

My first experience with adult amateur players was as a participant at the very first Ashland Chamber Music Workshop. The first Sunday evening I was grabbed for freelancing by none other than Rheta Goldberg, to play Mendelssohn quartets. I was petrified. She knew so much about the repertoire! It was something Colin Hampton was amazed about also: how well versed you are with opus numbers and so on. It was a marathon week and a great pleasure for this 26 year old. I thought my bottom would never recover from all the sitting at the cello I did that week!

My first coaching experience was at the Chico Chamber Music Workshop. I was on the faculty there and tried to get on the workshop staff for about 6 years until an opening finally developed. I love coaching. The music is of course the wonderful thing one gets to delve into. There is so much that is great in the genre. The people are generally wonderful as well. I love working with people and combined with working on music, I have a ball!

In coaching, the biggest problem for me is time. There isn't ever enough. That and not being able to wave a magic wand and give someone the technique that they (or the piece of music for that matter) need/want/deserve. Of course, I understand from personal experience all too well that one's musical desires and one's physical abilities will never meet… ever.

I think, however, most amateurs should be studying privately with someone who takes them seriously as instrumentalists. That's the one wish I would have, that in a day of coaching I could create a technique for someone. Alas, one can only hint usually at what is desirable as far as technical improvement is concerned.

I enjoy coaching every kind of group. I don't like to be labeled as a cello/string coach. I especially like to coach pianists. I know a lot about piano technique and how to get color on a piano, but I don't play that proficiently. It's a great vicarious thing to be able to work with someone who's got some chops and can do the things I'd never have time to work out.

My strategy for a coaching day is simple. Know nothing. If you already know a player, try to look at them afresh, as if you didn't know them. If you know the piece, forget it. If you can go in as a blank slate, you will speak to what is going on.

Fit yourself to the group and its needs. No two groups will have the same problems or the same solutions. Be willing to learn how to work with a group or individual. Be willing to experiment with new ways of explaining things or working out problems. Their needs may be quite different than you would expect. The coach should consider herself/himself a part of the group. The coach makes a quartet into a quintet, a trio into a quartet, etc. You are just the one that doesn't make a peep at the performance. Be part of the ensemble with the group.

Do I like the performance at the end of the day? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. It should be at the preference of the performers.

You asked what I would say to help you improve your chamber music experience. What I wish is that you knew how much your playing would improve if you took some time with basic musicianship skills. Being able to read the information on the page, for example. I see a lot of pencil marks – circles, slashes, and so on—when the information is all there on the page already. Being able to read well, rhythms especially, actually improves playing ability. There are players who know a piece well (by ear perhaps) and sound like A+ players, but give them a less difficult piece to read and their playing plummets.

I know how this works from personal experience. If I try to transpose from a wind part, my playing ends up sounding like one of my least accomplished students. I don't exaggerate either! There is a great connection between reading ability/musicianship and instrumental skill. I wish there were courses on this kind of thing. Most teachers, and I'm as guilty as any, don't teach enough reading/ musicianship skills. Being able to count out loud and play at the same time, if the teacher has the tenacity to make sure it's learned, is invaluable.

Some of my “favorite” players were taught by Ruth Saphir Hardin. She must have been a terror, but she taught these skills very well, and what great results! Well, I could go on and on, but I'll spare you the soapbox for another time!
   

“Lose your Inhibitions and Go for It!”

by Florence Aquilina

Pianist Florence Aquilina will direct a Chamber Music Workshop for Middle and High School age instrumentalists this summer on the beautiful campus of San Domenico School in San Anselmo. The dates are June 15 - June 27. Check the San Domenico website: www.sandomenico.org or call Flo at 415-721-1453 for details.

I was living in Cape Town, South Africa and had developed a Chamber Music Workshop/Festival for high school students that had become very successful over the years. More and more I was becoming aware of adult amateur musicians who were avid about their music and committed to continuous improvement and growth on their instruments, but had no real outlet for performing or sharing their music.

I knew about the International Amateur Chamber Music Players, so I organized a chamber music workshop for adults and then founded the Southern African Chapter of the ACMP. Headed by an energetic chair, the executive committee of this ACMP Chapter has organized workshops, play-ins, orchestral workshops and home concerts which have benefited adults and young musicians alike all over South Africa and into Zimbabwe and Namibia.

I very much enjoy coaching adult amateurs. I meet fascinating people with as much passion and joy in playing chamber music as I have. Adults are so open to the experience that I am sharing, while at the same time are able to make their own evaluations. Adults have “life experience' to add to the mix of music-making, and this immediately gives the music more depth, no matter what the actual level of performing ability.

I enjoy coaching chamber music of all kinds, no matter what the combination of instruments. The interaction and the blend of different instrumental sounds are all fascinating to me. As a pianist myself, I have over many years performed the many trios, quartets and quintets with strings and piano, so that repertoire is at the heart of my passion for chamber music.

When I have only a short period of time to work with a group, I prefer to help them get a feel for the whole piece. Understanding the musical intent of the composer, and learning how one has to work collaboratively to be able to convey musically the composer's intent, is the most important single part of playing. Then follow the details of rhythm, phrasing, textural balancing and blending of sounds. Of course, all the time I try to encourage listening and being responsive.

When playing chamber music, don't be held back by a notion of playing ability. Lose your inhibitions and go for it! Put your concentration less on yourself and more on the collaboration. Be challenged by how well you can match sounds and phrasing--and above all, enjoy!
   

“Let Playing Be Play!”

by Ethan Filner

Ethan Filner is the violist in the Cypress String Quartet. For a schedule of their performances, see www.Cypressquartet.com. The group will coach this summer at the Centrum CMW in Port Townsend, WA. See www.centrum.org for details.

I have often coached younger chamber music groups in summer music festivals and at schools—middle and high schools, colleges and universities—during residencies as a member of the Cypress String Quartet. But my recent participation as a coach at the Cal State Hayward CMNC workshop was my first time to coach adult amateurs. I really enjoyed working with the two groups assigned to me the day of the workshop. The most interesting thing to me was observing the adults' interactions with one another as musicians. No matter what professional career they are pursuing or have spent a lifetime in, they seemed to revert, in character, to the “student” version of themselves when in the presence of their theoretically all-knowing coach.

Think how intimidating it could be for me to be facing a trio of brain-surgeons who happen to also play stringed instruments! At first I think, “Jeez, I'm only a lowly musician.” But then I begin to talk about the music. I ask them a few questions about musical character, direction, articulation, etc., and suddenly the brilliant minds sitting before me become rapt students hanging on every word that comes out of my mouth. It's really kind of an amazing experience for me.

With my background in string quartet playing, I have to admit I am slightly more comfortable working with string groups than with winds or other mixed groups. But I have found that virtually all things musical are readily translatable from string to wind language. I usually speak in terms of “voice” and “breath,” so already I am using vocal/choral language.

When coaching, I work on many different things, in the following order of priority: overall feeling of the piece, sound of the group, rhythm, and intonation. In a situation where I have a very limited time, helping the group find a convincing character for the music, so that by the time they perform it they have a good idea of what they're shooting for, is typically the most fruitful. (By the way, for me, one day is actually a long time relative to the typical one hour or even half-hour Master Classes the Cypress Quartet usually gives!)

The sound of the group is connected to the musical feeling, as are rhythm and intonation, of course. Occasionally I have been confronted with a situation where one player or another in the group (young or old) has serious trouble with rhythm, and this forces extra time spent on rhythmic cleansing, as it were. As for intonation, it may be worth going over some spots carefully to check and try to fix particularly nasty intonation problems, but I prefer to insert more general advice into my comments about the group sound.

It's important to be able to get through the piece you will be performing, so I like the groups to play through it a lot throughout the day. This ensures the group's confidence in its ability to perform it. Also, I like to encourage groups to be creative as the musical character is developed. It's most interesting for the players if they each contribute as much as possible to the creation of a collective, group plan for the piece. I take the approach, “There Is No Correct Answer / All ideas Are Valid.”

What would I suggest to help your chamber music experience? It's amazing what even semi-regular practice with a tuner and/or metronome (depending on what you want to work on, rhythm or intonation) can do for your playing. But above all, have fun! Have a good time, and enjoy the fact that you're not expecting to make a living off of your playing. Let playing be play and not work if it doesn't have to be!
   

The Importance of “Give and Take” in a Chamber Music Ensemble

by Gretchen Egen

One of the most fulfilling aspects of playing chamber music is having a wonderful relationship with the other people in the group. This, however, is no easy task. It takes a lot of patience as well as a strong personal self-image.

Working with a chamber ensemble should be like working with a handful of teachers and an equal handful of students. For example, if you play in a string quartet, there are 4 teachers and 4 students. If this aspect of playing chamber music is respected, then chances are that your chamber music experience will be very rewarding.

As a teacher, it is very important that you try to phrase your suggestions to your peers very diplomatically. It's best to respect your fellow chamber musicians' egos, and give them something to think about which may improve the overall sound of the group.

Using words like “we” or “our” to include yourself in the problem works quite well. This way everybody listens to the problem at hand to see if he or she might be a contributor. For example, “Our ensemble needs improvement at rehearsal K” sounds so much better than “Your rhythm is not good at rehearsal K.” This way nobody is singled out.

Often I will make just such a statement in my new ensemble, the Pacific Piano Trio. Sometimes I think I know exactly whose ensemble is faulty. Other times I know that I'm at fault. And sometimes, I haven't a clue why the ensemble is falling apart. Using the diplomatic phrase, “Our ensemble needs improvement at rehearsal K” alerts everyone to consider “it might be me”, so we all listen extra hard to find the solution. Amazingly enough this fixes the ensemble much faster than singling out someone.

In a typical Pacific Piano Trio rehearsal, often one member or more will admit to the ensemble error without a feeling of ineptitude. When nobody admits an error, it's often due to the fact that we haven't figured out what's wrong. In cases like these, looking at a score usually fixes the problem.

One of my favorite memories is when Michael Yokas, violinist of the Pacific Piano Trio, looked at the score in the second movement of the Charles Ives Piano Trio and said to me in a very accusatory way, “You have a 5 against my 4?” I thought he wanted to bite my head off, yet I knew it was probably Charles Ives' head he wanted on a silver platter. We all laughed and fixed the ensemble, thanks to the score.

As a student, it is very important to not to take the criticism that comes from your peers personally. This is not an easy task. It is best to take the criticism as something to help the end product instead of a direct hit to your ego. Rebecca Bogart, pianist in the Pacific Piano Trio, has said during rehearsals, “I love working in chamber music because there are other people to help figure out how to make the musical phrases work.”

She also likes having the perspective of three different instruments. Her attitude is that three heads are better than one. This is the healthiest of all attitudes.

When any musical idea is put on the table, everybody should always say, “I'll try.” Never say “that won't work”, “I can't”, or “that's a stupid idea”. One never knows until it is not only tried, but also executed well. Even if the idea is a lousy one, everybody should try to execute the idea brilliantly before canning it, giving it a fair chance.

I was coaching an amateur string quartet on Dvorak's “American” String Quartet, Op. 96. I pointed out a section where the second violin and the viola play the same rhythmic motive. The violist was playing the eighth notes legato and in the upper half of the bow, whereas the second violinist was playing staccato at the lower half of the bow.

My gut feeling was that I preferred the way the second violinist was doing the passage. However, as a teacher, I felt it was more important to bring the difference to the attention of the entire ensemble and let them decide which way they liked it. I stayed completely out of the decision process.

At first they both played it legato in the upper half. They did it very well. Then they did it staccato in the lower half. Again, they did it very well. We did this with the outer voices playing as well. During this experiment, everybody was very focused on the inner voices. The open-mindedness of this particular ensemble was fabulous, and in the end, the choice was to do it legato in the upper half.

I must admit that I too agreed with this vote, yet I had really thought I was going to prefer the staccato approach. It was a wonderful moment in working together in chamber music, one to be cherished.

No matter what instrument you play, if you are privileged enough to find a group of musicians with whom to play chamber music, respect each other's ideas and feelings. The best is when everybody has an equal chance to give input. Everybody is a teacher and a student. All ideas are valid; there is always something to learn and something to give no matter how well you play. Remembering this will enhance your chamber music experience, as well as the rest of your life.

© Copyright CMNC 2005