Teaching experience of Lemon's "Piano Etudes"
"Technique" is the basic ability of piano playing, which refers to the finger function indicators of playing speed and strength, and also includes the content of musical expression. The improvement of playing technology is inseparable from the cultivation of basic skills from an early age, and playing finger exercises and etudes are indispensable. Judging from the current etude days for Chinese piano beginners, Cherny's series of etudes, Burgmuller's etudes, Duvinoi etudes, and Lemon etudes are the basic teaching materials for sutras. Among these textbooks, the French composer H. Lemoine (1786-1854) is particular about his work 37 (Etudes, Op.37 by H. Lemoin).
Compared with the Cherny textbook, this textbook is more musical, the use of rhythm is more diverse, pays attention to the functional training of the left hand, emphasizes the improvement of multi-voice playing ability, and the training of the hands is more average and effective.
From the perspective of training content, what is different from other etude textbooks is that in addition to the finger running type, there are many works that focus on singing training, such as 18th and 21st; etudes that focus on dance, such as 13th and 25th; and etudes of a multi-voice nature, such as 17th and 30th, and the distinctive musical image of these etudes makes the Lemmont Etudes richer musicality.
In terms of rhythm, through the flexible use of rests, accents, weak bars, splits, rhythmic interlacing and other means, the composer has made the etudes have the characteristics of lively and changeable rhythm, providing practical exercises for the rhythm training of the primary stage.
In terms of tonal arrangement, in addition to the tonality within the two lifts commonly used in the primary stage, the composer also pays special attention to the practice on the black keys, such as the 46th and 47th songs. Among them, the 46th song completely subverted the idea of "1 and 5 fingers do not play black keys" in the traditional thinking at that time, while exercising the weak fingers, broadened the students' awareness of the keyboard, and could be a simplified version of the 12th song of "Moshkovsky Etudes". In addition, Lemon is an educator who attaches great importance to the coordinated development of the left and right hands, although the length of each etude is not large, but many works have special practice fragments for the left hand, which is very helpful for the practitioner's later learning.
As the saying goes, "interest is the best teacher", in the course of my teaching, I felt that they were more inclined to Lemon in the choice of Cherny etudes and Lemmon etudes, on the grounds that Lemmon etudes were better. Lemon organically integrates pure technical training and musical expression, improves the boringness of pure technical training, and improves the musical interest of etudes, so that students are not easy to produce boring and boring emotions when playing.
Professor Lemon Etudes can start from the following aspects:
1. Pay attention to the improvement of left-handed playing ability.
For beginners, due to innate reasons, often the left hand's playing ability is much inferior to the right hand, which brings great difficulties to piano learning and progress, so if you want the left hand and the right hand to have the same playing ability, you have to spend more energy on the training of the left hand, but the pure left hand training is often boring, so that students lose the fun of learning. Many of the repertoire in the Lemmon Etudes have special practice fragments for the left hand, although not as strong as the training strength of Cherny's work 718, but because of its appropriate length, strong pertinence, and some also have strong musicality, it can effectively improve the left hand playing ability and maintain the enthusiasm and initiative of students. Among them, there are 20th, 24th and 30th repertoire of the scale type, 31st and 32nd songs of the weak finger training repertoire, 42nd of the binomial repertoire, 28th, 35th and 49th chord repertoire, etc.
For example, in the 37th song of the trichotomy, the A stage is dominated by the left hand sixteen minutes of fast running, and the B stage is changed to the right hand to show a light jumping sound. The left hand's upward sixteenth note runs in two bars, the octave of the big jump down behavior is tightened, the upward scale requires the coordination of the wrist to strengthen the direction of the phrase, and the downward big jump is conducive to muscle relaxation, taking care of the rationality of the arm movement route, so that the music has a sense of relaxation and breathing. Here, the scale is not a simple step, the lth bar left-handed hexatonic group starts from the third degree, and the 7th bar is expanded to the ascending fourth degree, so while training the scale, it puts forward higher requirements for transposition technology, and at the same time, the chromatic progression that appears in the 7th and 18th bars gives the music a subtle color change.
In addition, the music not only focuses on the training of left mobile phone energy, but also contains more abundant practice content such as right-hand two-tone legato, right-hand sixteen-point note breakage, and the musical expression is also full of contrasts, just like the early spring morning, the breeze is slightly blowing, the water is sparkling, occasionally birds jump and sing on the branches, when the bells of the 32nd to 34th bars ring, it is a clear day again...
For example, Song 42 is an etude that focuses on training three degrees, which is extremely rare in the same level of etudes Duvinoi 120 and Cherny's work 599. Although there are occasional similar exercises in the 46th song of Opus 599, Lemon made the three-degree scale progression the main training goal of the etude, derived from the right hand to the left hand, which is not found in the first two textbooks. The third-degree scale exercise requires strong finger independence and wrist coordination, especially for the weak fingers. The famous Chopin's "Three Degrees of Etude" (op. 25, Song 6) is the culmination of such exercises, and under Chopin's pen, technology has long since retreated from the dazzling coat, becoming a light stream, a spring breeze, conveying an unrestrained pastoral atmosphere, and thus becoming a necessary obstacle on the road to the growth of pianists. Starting from the Lemmon Etudes, if they can be exposed to similar progressions from a young age, familiar with the practice method of "yuezhi", and enhance the independence and wrist coordination of the fingers, "merging streams into rivers" is not out of reach, and when they are exposed to such exercises at a higher level in the future, perfect interpretation will no longer be an "impossible task".
2. Inspire students with figurative language so that their artistic imagination can play an active role in piano performance.
Compared with cherny and Duvinoi etudes, many of Lemon's etudes are more vivid and expressive, and students can experience different feelings and colors from music, so that playing the piano is no longer a pure and boring technical exercise, but an organic connection between technical practice and musical expression.
The musical images contained in Lemmon Etudes include the Round Dance style (Songs 25 and 26), the Mazurka style (the second half of The 6th and 38th Songs), the Pastoral Style (21st, 30th, 39th), the Ru song style (18th and 44th), the Light Spirit Style (46th and 48th), the Nocturne Style (47th), the Narrative Style (9th), etc. Most of the works contain personality contrasts or transformations, and there are few single musical images consistent to the end. This feature of Lemon Etudes has built a new platform for teachers, teachers can start from inspiring students, using some accurate and appropriate metaphors, allowing students to spread the wings of imagination, mobilize all sensory organs, and grasp the content and image of music. There is imagination, there will be pursuit, which is also a kind of inner hearing, which is undoubtedly of great benefit to learning, not only can vividly illustrate the problem, but also can improve students' interest in learning. "The richer the imagination, the greater the possibility of discovering the depth of musical connotations."
For example, the 18th etude, rather than practicing the initiative and strength of each finger of the left and right hands, is rather a slightly sad piece of the whole etude in a rare elegance, and the repetition of the homophony that haunts the ear at that time cannot help but remind people of the shallow chant of Chopin's "Raindrops" Prelude. The melancholy and soft melody seems to be that the girl has a fluctuating heart, counting the stars of the night... Therefore, when playing, it should be quiet and uniform, pay attention to the repetition of homophony to paste the key, the finger does not have to be raised, just touch the key. When playing the melody, you should pour more power into the fingertips, while playing the previous note, put the next finger to be played on the key in place, and then gently lift the finger to press slowly, and under the drive of wrist movement, the finger force will be smoothly reached to the fingertip.
Another example is the 29th song, which is a warm and rough folk dance song. In the golden autumn, by the burning campfire, people who have worked for a day dance happily. The left hand chord at the beginning should be full and powerful, as if the sound of stepping on the foot, followed by a light jumping sound, which contrasts. As the sixteenth note was added, the mood grew higher and higher, and the "beeping" campfire, neat footsteps and loud laughter resounded through the sky.
3. Pay attention to the training and improvement of multi-voice playing ability.
In piano teaching, multi-voice playing ability is an important subject, and playing polyphonic music with several voice parts independently and seamlessly is the basic requirement for mastering this type of keyboard instrument. Because the piano is a multi-voice instrument, strengthening the ability to play multi-part can make the music layered, diverse in personality, and present a rich and colorful expression. Therefore, the player must have multi-part, multi-level, three-dimensional musical thinking ability, and have the ability to clearly and accurately and infectiously express the melodic lines of more than two voice parts.
For example, the 30th song has rich layers of music, such as a trickling stream, meandering, moving like a streamer, stopping like a mirror. The melody of the right hand with the fulcrum of the 13th, 21st to 24th bars requires the student's fingers to have good vocal control ability, the palm can be slightly tilted to the side of the fulcrum, and then played by the slight flip of the wrist, so that the melody is coherent, the sound is thick, and the volume and timbre are different from the non-fulcrum tone, with a three-dimensional aesthetic.
Another example is the 17th song, the left-hand D-tone continuous sound like a hand-cranked accordion-like sound is long and soft, reminiscent of the quiet and leisurely Austrian country tavern, the imitation of the two voices on the 17th to 22nd bars depends on the average harmony of the timbre is maintained, the continuation of the left-hand G tone is stable and long, and at the same time, we must pay attention to the performance of the "falling rolling" tone of the third voice, although it is only a few bars, but there are four voice parts, so that students can be exposed to multi-line, multi-level works at the beginner stage. It is of great benefit to enhancing students' logical thinking ability, training students' ability to control their fingers, and interacting with their hearts, brains, eyes, and hands.
4. Comparison with other commonly used primary textbooks.
(1) Cherny series etudes
As far as the role of etude is concerned, its main purpose is to train the independent, flexible, powerful and balanced fingers, and to train the close cooperation and coordination of the parts related to finger movement, namely the palmar joint, wrist joint, elbow joint and shoulder joint. Mastering the piano playing skills and expressive ability through a large number of different types of etudes has become a necessary way for contemporary piano teaching. The etudes of the Austrian piano educator Cherny, such as works 599, 849, 299, 740, etc., for the independent flexibility, agility and strength of the training fingers, the clear and uniform, beautiful and pure effect of the playing effect is remarkable, suitable for further playing classical works, it occupies a very special position in piano teaching in countries around the world for nearly two centuries, however, the shortcomings of the Cherne piano etudes are: excessively concentrated mechanical training and monotonous repetitive training can easily reduce students' interest in learning. Most of the repertoire belongs to the main key music and lacks multi-voice thinking and training, lacks a certain musical connotation, and the left-handed exercise is significantly less than the right-hand exercise (especially in the primary stage). In contrast, the advantage of "Lemon Etudes" is that its musical style is diverse, the image is clear, the skill training and musical expression are organically integrated, which improves the boring of pure technical training, improves the musical interest of etudes, and makes it difficult for students to produce boring emotions when playing.
(2) Burgmuller's 25 Advanced Etudes for the Piano (Op. 100)
Burgmulle's creative style inherits the classical tradition in terms of compositional techniques, but has romantic overtones in tone, so it is both rigorous and beautiful lyrical. In the creation of etudes, he not only considered the requirements of technical training, but also emphasized musical performance. This etude collection is a musical piano basic technical training textbook, which is musical, interesting and skillful, so it is quite popular with people. He added a title to each piece to inspire students' understanding and imagination of music, and to help students understand the content and emotion of music. The texture is simple, the structure is compact, and the image is distinct, so that students can enhance their musical interest while practicing boring etudes, and improve their musical expression while mastering the playing skills. However, Boogmuirer's shortcomings were that he was less difficult to play, too gentle in training technique, and relatively short in length, suitable as an auxiliary teaching material for use with the second half of Cherny's Primary Etudes for Piano (Op. 599), Duvinoi, and Lémon's Etudes.
(3) Duvi noi's Etude (Op. 120)
Experienced piano teachers often use this etude by the French composer Duvinoy when arranging students' etude teaching materials, which includes 15 etudes, with moderate length and clear concentration of technical topics, including scales, arpeggios, chromatic scales, decomposition octaves, etc., which have a good effect on the cultivation of finger independence. It can be used both as an auxiliary teaching material interspersed with the beginning of Cherny's Piano Express Etudes (Op. 299) after the stage of Cherny's Piano Singing Etudes (Op. 849), or as a stand-alone articulation.
However, like cherny etudes, Duvinoi etudes have a more simple musical style, emphasizing the importance of technology and leading to the concentration and monotony of training, and less training content for polyphonic music and multi-vocal thinking, affecting students' wide familiarity with different styles.
(4) Bach's "Beginner Piano Song Collection"
As a commonly used polyphonic practice primary textbook, Bach's "Primary Piano Song Collection" has a beautiful tune, vivid rhythm, concise technique, mainly a two-voice polyphonic structure, which is the best primary textbook for learning polyphonic techniques, and practicing and playing this collection has become a compulsory introductory course for training polyphonic playing ability. Through this textbook, you can learn various forms of dance music at that time, such as legato, broken, jumping, homophonic repetition, Boeing, decomposing octaves, etc., and you can also become familiar with various popular dance forms such as small step dance music, Bolognez dance music, Gavot dance music, Boley dance music, Saraband dance music, etc., in preparation for learning Bach's suite in the future. Bach's Junior Piano Collection embodies the typical Baroque style, with a balanced voice, a smooth rhythm, interwoven parts, an emphasis on contrast, and rich decoration. However, it is precisely its unique style problem, which is not easy to be accepted and understood by young beginners, and has become a problem on the road for many piano children to learn the piano.
The polyphony embodied in Lemon's Etudes is different, combining more with beautiful lines, highlighting the interlacing of rhythms, the overlap of lines, and the contrast of timbres. In short, it does not embody the "polyphony" of the Baroque style, and "polyphony" has never been its main creative goal, but a creative means triggered by the creative object. Thus, the "polyphony" in Lemon's Etudes appears only fragmentally in a single piece, serving to portray a musical image or emphasize a technical exercise, reflecting a broad sense of "multi-part playing thinking". Because of its diverse style combined with multi-voice thinking, Lemon's Etudes are more interesting and in line with the age characteristics and acceptance of the piano children.
5. Conclusion
The number of piano beginners is vast, and due to time constraints, it is impossible for students to learn all the etudes. The Lemmon Etudes are unique in their modest length, rich musicality, diversity of styles, and comprehensive technicality. Learning such an effective and interesting set of teaching materials can not only further consolidate and strengthen the purpose of training, but also increase the interest of technical training. In the process of teaching, the author has experienced that while assigning students' etude homework and achieving teaching goals, students should take into account their psychological characteristics, hobbies and actual abilities, and love them for what they think and love. Practicing technology in happiness and improving various skills and techniques of the left and right hands in beautiful music is undoubtedly good for both sides of teaching, so that students can master technology in music and experience music in technology, which will get more effective with half the effort.