How to Play Masterclass 1

Us pianists have our hands full: with so many notes and textures to control, the accompaniment part can often be overlooked. Mark Tanner focuses on the ‘engine’ behind the music

Think of the accompaniment as the engine behind the melody, says Mark Tanner

When is an accompaniment not an accompaniment? Unless we’re talking about a pattern-based sequence of notes, such as an Alberti bass, the answer is often not so clear-cut. And though we might be tempted to glance first at the bass line for confirmation of how the roles are divided between the hands, we’ll often need to look elsewhere, especially in repertoire from the Romantic period onwards. Even by the early grades, accompaniments can be found in the RH, with the tune in the LH. Furthermore, accompaniments won’t necessarily remain rooted in one hand (or keep conveniently to a single position within the musical texture). Frequently in piano music an accompanimental line will suddenly morph into something more melodic, perhaps just fleetingly. We sometimes think of the piano as being an orchestra at our fingertips, but controlling it presents significant challenges.

It’s often helpful, at first, to think about what’s happening in the music at any given moment, rather than what this will involve pianistically, though of course we’ll then need to find ways of actually achieving this! Unlike single-line instrumentalists, such as trumpeters and flautists, pianists are always concerned with texture – controlling how all those notes are divided between the hands. Accompaniments might

TOP TIPS take the form of tremolo octaves, arpeggiated patterns, broken, rocking and/or chugging chords, or simply a triad with a melodic note on top! Accompaniments can give piano music a rhythmic ‘engine’, as well as fill out the harmonies in a nicely varied way. And it’s by no means uncommon to find ourselves challenged with playing melodic as well as accompanimental notes simultaneously, in one or even both hands at the same time.

In this article I’ll be focusing on two exquisite Romantic pieces, both of which are included in this issue: Autumn Memories, by Wilson G. Smith, and Narcissus, by Ethelbert Nevin. In each piece we often find the melodic line oozing out from around the middle of the keyboard, albeit still played by the RH. But first, we’ll consider a perennial issue in piano playing: how to practise balancing the hands effectively, so that we can switch between playing tunes and accompaniments at will, no matter how or where they crop up.

Let’s get ‘ghosting’

I like to start by briefly surveying a short section of the piece I’m learning. I’m looking for a melodic line, and once I’ve grasped how it flows, either in one hand continuously or passing from one hand to the other, I turn my mind to fingerings. Importantly, my choices must take account of any accompanimental notes that will have to be taken in the same hand. Having practised playing the melodic line in isolation, quite loudly and deliberately at first, I begin to silently ‘ghost’ the accompanimental notes at the same time on the tops of the keys. In trickier passages this is probably best achieved slowly and hands separately to start with, perhaps just a bar or two at a time. I’ll sometimes find that my melodic lines are reluctant to sound as bright or shapely as they did

when I was playing them entirely alone. But with persistence I’m able to focus on keeping the tune sounding clearly, while ghosting the other notes simultaneously. From here, I move to ‘semighosting’ the accompanimental notes, i.e. so that they are only just sounding. As before, this may initially need to be done hands separately. At this stage, I’m not overly concerned if the overall effect sounds a little sketchy – it’s a gradual process of balancing and controlling the texture, but gives a welcome foretaste of how I’m wanting the music to sound.

Next, I take the opposite approach by practising the accompanimental notes out loud in isolation from the melodic line. This makes for a welcome diversion from doing this the other way around as described above. Essentially, I’m now wanting to feel I can connect together all accompanimental notes in a musically progressive way, regardless of how they are distributed between the hands. Next, still playing the accompaniments evenly and firmly, I begin ghosting the melodic lines. And from here, the more challenging task of balancing and controlling the entire texture – melody and accompaniment – is well on the way. Incidentally, tapping the ghosted notes (be they melodic or accompanimental) on the piano lid is a neat alternative to ghosting them on the keys themselves. Doing this allows us to be active in the fingers, but still be able to hear the other notes and make adjustments accordingly.

Autumn Memories

Practising isolating and ghosting notes will work wonders with this piece, especially since from bars 9-25 a RH tune is nicely visible above the broken chordal accompaniment. Make sure that your choice of fingerings for practising the tune in isolation takes account of those you’ll be needing for playing the lower notes. During the melodia cantando section, bars 25-40, the tune now moves down an octave into the sumptuous tenor register, requiring the thumb to become a very active tunesmith! When tackling the accompaniment separately, take the pedal out of the equation at first (note that the harmonies change at each new bar). When you come to ghost or semighost the melodic notes, it’ll sound and feel odd to begin with, though (conveniently) the RH’s quaver patterns in each bar can be fingered with 2 and 5. When adding the pedal in, it might be helpful to, at first, practise playing the LH’s bass notes completely alone, while ghosting the remaining two quavers in each bar.

Narcissus

For the first six bars (and again later), the LH crosses over the RH and back again, producing a wonderfully spacious, ‘orchestral’ accompaniment. Play these accompanimental notes lightly, with pedal, giving perhaps a little more prominence to the bass notes to help the harmonies make sense. Keep the left wrist super relaxed as it performs each crossingover manoeuvre – it’s more an arc than a ‘hop’. Next, begin to ghost/semi-ghost the RH melody while still playing the accompaniment. At bar

44, the texture becomes more challenging to manage, since the dolce chords on beats 2 and 4 need to be taken in the RH while it’s simultaneously playing the tune – and while the LH has already crossed over to play the highest notes. This will take some sorting out, both mechanically and balance-wise, but I’d suggest attempting every conceivable combination of isolating and ghosting notes, as well as adding and removing pedal. Much of the accompaniment for the central Tranquillo section (bar 17) can be practised with the RH’s minims (played using fingers 2 and 1 each time) in conjunction with the LH’s triplets. Later, you can reinstate the melody, having first practised it in isolation.

Contrast and definition

Another effective way to distinguish an accompaniment from a melodic line is to vary articulation. In an orchestral work, different textures are often given emphasis in this way. Becoming adept at switching quickly between different articulations in each hand is an invaluable skill. Here are some suggestions:

• Play a legato scale in any key you like, up and down a couple of octaves with your RH. Play it slowly in a continuous loop, bringing as much cantabile shape as you can.

• Now play gentle staccato chords in the LH (simple triads will suffice), creating two independent textures between the hands. Adapt the chords into staccato broken chords. • Listen intently as you begin to alter the dynamic balance at the same time.

• Switch the roles around: play the scale up and down in the LH, while playing staccato chords/ broken chords in the RH.

It’s worth bearing in mind that you are practising a brain activity as much as a technical or musical one. Being able to summon a range of touches and dynamics at will – even different ones within each hand – opens up a gamut of possibilities you can dip into to suit the occasion.

Importantly, accompaniments are not ‘secondary’ roles, but are indispensable to the musical texture and broader musical landscape. Learning to voice certain notes from within a thicker chordal texture is a further refinement of balancing, which can transform your piano playing. By thinking a little more analytically when practising, and listening intently while breaking down problems of coordination into smaller challenges, the task of controlling our melodies and accompaniments becomes more approachable and satisfying.