Daniel del Pino | Sunday, August 28, 2022 | Salon Piano Series | Masterclass in Madison, WI

Masterclass Review
All three performances heralded excellent tips and advice for further advancement of pieces. Commentary on all three can be summarized and easily applied to any piece that a pianist is working on. The best tip? SING. Sing with your music to help with phrasing; and listen.

1) When performing a piece written during a time of smaller and more delicate instruments, always try to convey that which the composer meant back then, to our larger and modern day instruments, of today. Practice on an electric keyboard was suggested to “hear” the sustained layers of notes and how they come together as voices that resolve, rather than just, harmonic chords. Singing always helps with directional playing and phrasing! The topic of repeated sections was especially interesting as Daniel encouraged playing the repeats, differently, as this is what would have been expected in classical times. Improvise on the repeats with ornaments or contrasting dynamics; sound improvisatory. Use a bit of timing within or at ends of phrases to make for a more special moment; perhaps a breadth. Pedal contributes to more resonance and employs more contrast to bring additional interest to the performance. Think of how the text would be spoken, or sung, and transfer it to your fingers. Make your fingers sound as though they are communicating.

2) Elements of Spanish music include a “harsh” style of singing, an abrupt and aggressive style of dancing, and very colorful dresses/costuming. Think FLAMENCO. The guitar is a very important instrument in Spanish music and we can be inspired by these elements to perform music of Granados with more authenticism. Granados should be loosely interpreted with musical markings, meaning, do not be too strict in your approach. Transfer of weight through the fingers was talked of, including use of arm weight to better voice the melody. Shaping octave phrases with tempo and dynamics will be easier to assimilate a legato touch. Listen for horizontal movement as octaves can dangerously sound vertical. In the Spanish language, accents are very important, as in the music. Choose where you will put the accents, and make sure to not play notes too loudly that do not belong to the melody. In regards to the pedal, the best pedal is when you do not hear it. It should not be thought of as an “on and off switch”. Experiment with varying degrees of pressure to the pedal for various shades of color. Try to find that “sweet spot” within all the layers of pedal. Learning to use the pedal itself is a life long endeavor. Lastly, be more organic with your ritardandos. They shouldn’t be abrupt, but more of a natural, slowing of events.

3) Michael gave us a brief intro to Grainger and performed a piece that literally, no one knew. As with the other two pieces, layers of voicing and listening to inner voices within the complexities of notes and rhythms was addressed. The use of timing, shaping phrases and creating more space between the layers, will catch the audience’s attention. Experimenting with the varying degrees of pedal was addressed. Talk of using some forearm versus just fingering, wrist choreography, and other technical aspects were brought up to help with the stride accompaniment.