There’re usually two ways to resolve a problem.

One, you try to read up on it. Somewhere, someone has probably had the same problem and would have tried to share his solution.

Two, you look for examples of actual applications. So if it’s a plumbing problem, you watch a plumber fix the problem.

Many years ago, I had some unanswered questions about playing themes and variations.

I had read or heard someone say to the effect that when playing a theme and variations, that you would want to keep the tempo in all the variations the same.

So I went around asking teachers and friends and got a different answer from each one.

Finally, I realized all I needed to do was to listen to the great players play some theme and variations and the answer would be revealed in their playing.

I have applied that same approach to many other problems and it’s always worked.

For example, I was a little perplexed with the fugue from Bach’s 998, especially the tertial appoggiatura sections.

So I went to the 48, and I found a fugue with a similar texture and listened to as many players as I could playing it and yes, I got my answer.

Back to the point at hand.

When it comes to linear phrasing, if you have any doubts or need more confirmation, the best thing to do is to listen to piano players.

One of my favorite pianists is Artur Schnabel.

Schnabel was a student of the famous Theodor Leschetizky, who was a student of Carl Czerny, who was a student of Beethoven.

The great thing about listening to Schnabel is that there’s a book dedicated to his teaching by Konrad Wolff so you could actually read up on the principles and rationales behind his playing.

You could take any recording of Schnabel to listen for linear phrasing, but here’s my favorite—the Tempest.

Be forewarned that the rhythmic effects are very subtle.

You’ll have to conduct to his playing to understand and recognize them.,

Listen to how he manipulates the pulse to get the effect he wants. There’s a basic pulse, but he’s always either pushing this pulse or holding it back, again for specific effects.

This pushing forward or holding back is at the core of linear phrasing. If you play metrically, you would not be able to have this freedom.

Posted on Friday, May 19th, 2023 at 11:39 am under AOV, AOVguitar, creativity. Follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.