1. Introduction
Due to COVID-19, it was difficult to host a face-to-face practical exam by the authorities. ABRSM introduced performance grades in digital exams which quickly became a popular option among students. Since ABRSM introduced performance grades, more focus has been put on performance or recital, as the scales, sight reading and aural components were all withdrawn. Candidates are only required to perform four pieces in different musical styles and characters (ABRSM, 2021). I am personally a freelance piano teacher and recently has prepared many students for the grade 8 exam in piano. Most of the time, I encounter a load of teaching challenges as performance grades have attracted lots of students with very young age whose basic training is too weak or whose techniques are still not competent enough to master the grade 8 piano exam. This inspires me to write a dissertation to discuss how to prepare well for the teaching of grade 8 piano exam, based on my pedagogical experience and studies of piano techniques from various piano literatures. I will first list the common issues or challenges of piano techniques encountered from my observations of my students performing the pieces (A2, B1, C1, C2) in ABRSM Grade 8 2023/2024 syllabus, and afterwards, give an insight or recommendation on how to tackle these issues in pedagogical or technical aspects.
2. Common Challenges
2.1 Unevenness in notes
Since Scales and Arpeggios have been omitted in performance grade, many students have shifted the focus to repertoire only. Basic piano techniques may have been adversely affected. Unevenness in notes is not uncommon. It is particularly common when students come across with the rapid passages of semiquavers or triplet incessantly. In the ABRSM grade exam, list A pieces are generally faster moving and require technical agility. It imposes higher challenges on the evenness of notes. When looking at A2: Mozart’s Allegro – 1st movt from Sonata in F, K. 332, a series of four successive semiquavers frequently appear on either left and right hands. They are presented in various formats such as alberti bass, arpeggios or diatonic scale. In the following excerpt, it requires swift shifting of fingering in all sixteenth notes with slightly arpeggio pattern when going from A flat notes to high C or F sharp notes to high C, starting from the second beat of bar 1 and bar 3 respectively (Figure 2.1.1). Those with weak capability would suddenly become too stressed when encountering these sixteenth notes. In order to hide the incompetence, they muddle along and play them very fastly without precision and consequently cannot compromise well with the left hand.
Figure 2.1.1
Successive semiquavers on right hand from Mozart’s Allegro – 1st movt from Sonata in F, K. 332
To address this problem, it is recommended to adopt a “slow-playing approach” with reference to a book called “Piano Technique” by Walter Gieseking & Karl Leimer. The authors suggest playing the sixteenth notes slowly in the metronomical setting: semiquaver = 70 first to allow mental work of the piece, and then gradually increase the tempo (Gieseking W. & Leimer K., 1972).
Some alberti basses are going upwards – C-E-G-C’ on the bass clef instead of the traditional style of C-G-E-G as shown below (Figure 2.1.2). Students often have the tendency to finish them too soon and cannot render them evenly within the duration of a quarter. When they play this type of alberti bass, notes are often jerky for the first two or three sixteenth notes. The issues of irregularity of notes even get aggravated when simultaneously playing trills on the right hand. Therefore, it is important to ensure independence of each hand and practise “slow-playing approach” in separate hands alternatively, and when the sixteenth notes get more even on the left hand, students can try adding right hand later on.
Figure 2.1.2
Successive semiquavers on left hand from Mozart’s Allegro – 1st movt from Sonata in F, K. 332
Unevenness in notes often appears on the occasion of an octave on the left hand rapidly joining the three semiquavers on the right hand as shown below (Figure 2.1.3). Often, there is a slight delay between an octave bass note and the first sixteen note. In order to replenish the delay, students tend to muddle along again on the sixteenth notes. In this circumstance, the practice of “slow-playing approach” should be played with both hands rather than in separate hands. The students can record this passage and listen to see if the problem has been addressed.
Figure 2.1.3
An octave on the left hand rapidly joins the three semiquavers on the right hand from Mozart’s Allegro – 1st movt from Sonata in F, K. 332
2.2 Incorrect fingering and articulation
Even though scales and arpeggios are not tested in performance grade, it often emerges in various patterns throughout the repertoire in ABRSM grade 8 syllabus. In addition to diatonic scales, double notes often present another big challenge for students. They tend to use the most adjacent fingering in order to maintain the accuracy rather than the fingering pattern that ensures legato (Figure 2.2.1). As a result, this even exacerbates the imprecision of notes. In psychology, this phenomena can be explainable. A psychologist Daniel Kahneman (2011) suggests that there is a differentiation between two modes of thought: “System 1” is fast, instinctive and emotional; “System 2” is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. “System 1” tends to be lazier and often picks things up with the nearest distance or position instinctively, without making sense of the situation. Therefore, whenever I come across with these problems from my student, I would stop them from playing immediately and request the students to follow the fingering marked on the score and ask them to play the double notes very slowly so as to let them understand the logic of this fingering, because this fingering is set to ensure legato of the double notes. They should not only use the adjacent 1st-3nd or 2nd-4th finger, but also the 1st-5th or 1st-2nd finger.
Figure 2.2.1
Double notes in legato from Mozart’s Allegro – 1st movt from Sonata in F, K. 332
In addition to fingering, the ABRSM grade 8 exam also expects a higher level of articulation from the candidates. In C2: Debussy’s Arabesque No. 2, one of the passages requires simultaneous execution of staccato eighth notes over half notes of G note on the right hand (Figure 2.2.2). Usually, the lower G note on the right hand is played as staccato rather than half note by weak students.
Figure 2.2.2
Simultaneous execution of staccatos and half notes from Debussy’s Arabesque No. 2
To correct this problem, this requires independence of each finger. Dohnányi (2003) has designed a number of finger-strengthening exercises in “Essential Finger Exercises: Piano”. However, these exercises may be too hard for some students and the role of teacher is important. Bernal S. (2018) contends that the teachers should possess a number of “doing capacities” that they continually develop in the course of their teaching activity:
- Empathising: entering in dialogue and in a qualitative relationship with the pupil
- Knowing how to stimulate, cultivate and exude a positive, constructive, collaborative attitude while maintaining one’s critical capacities alert
- Encouraging the student to become an independent, autonomous learner
Articulation is also dependent on the fingering (Swinkin J., 2007). If the fingering is wrong, the articulation is also adversely affected. It is even more obvious in the case of phrasing. For the below excerpt, when students play a major sixth – B, G# note on the first note on left hand (Figure 2.2.3), “System 1” issue exists in this case, and they instinctively use the first finger, the most comfortable one, on the G# note and subsequently, use the first finger on the successive three crotchets on the left hand. It sounds like staccato notes. However, these four crotchets have a slur above which means it should be played as legato. To address this problem, an alternative fingering pattern of 2nd-1st-3rd-1st finger is suggested. Though it is complicated to be applied, it guarantees legato and appropriate phrasing. For the art of fingering, I highly recommend teachers or students to take references from the book called “The Art of Piano Fingering” by Rami Bar-Niv (2013). There are lots of examples of fingering suggestions when facing different challenges of articulation or phrasing.
Figure 2.2.3
Legato challenge for left hand from Debussy’s Arabesque No. 2
2.3 Unclear melodic lines
In ABRSM piano exam syllabus, List B pieces are more lyrical and invite expressive playing. In the middle section of B1: Coleridge Taylor’s Impromptu in B minor, the mood suddenly changes and it becomes a major key. The emotion required for this section is quite complex. It is gentle and sweet at first and then gets more uplifting later on. The challenge of this section is to make the melody stand out because romantic repertoire is usually homophonic and multiple voices interplay together. If the independence of the finger is not assured enough, the main melody is often blurred by the loud chords or arpeggios (Figure 2.3.1). Nevertheless, the blurred melodic line is also caused by insufficient aural training. Pupils often execute equal loudness of all notes without emphasising the theme or melodic line. Sometimes, it is accompanied with more faculty notes as they do not distinguish the melody completely. Frewen, K. G. (2010) studied the effect of melody familiarity in piano practice. It is found that those with higher familiarity of the melody play significantly more correct notes than those without. Therefore, even though aural exam is not part of the performance grade exam, aural training is also essential. Before starting teaching the piece, I would play once and instruct the student to recall the melody. If they cannot recall accurately, I would play over and over again to ensure they are familiar with melodies well before starting on the pieces.
Figure 2.3.1
The singing tone challenge at the middle section from Coleridge Taylor’s Impromptu in B minor
Sometimes, the main melodic lines are covered by other vocal parts as the pupil makes equal dynamics between different parts without stress to the melodies. For example, on the first beat of bar 1 below (Figure 2.3.2), pupils play even louder on a third – F & A note at the right hand than the C note alone. It is supposed that for the SATB part, the volume of alto should usually be kept as minimal as possible. With adoption of melody familiarity practice along with better dynamic control of different vocal parts, the problem can absolutely be addressed.
Figure 2.3.2
The singing tone challenge with various vocal parts from Albéniz’s Rumores de La Caleta (Malagueña)
2.4 Small Hands
As more young pupils are forced to take grade 8 piano examination by their parents in Hong Kong, teachers are often challenged by small hand issues of the students. The Grade 8 exam is intended for students who have studied piano for a certain amount of time and possess a certain level of piano techniques. Octave and big leaps are unavailable. For example, in bar 2 below, (Figure 2.4.1) the first F note is followed by a big jump to a middle C, spanning across two octaves at the time. It is hard to assure accuracy if their hands are too small. It can only be addressed by repeated practice of the left hand. If the issue still exists frequently during the practice, the teacher has no choice but to request the student to follow the same left hand pattern of bar 1 on bar 2.
Figure 2.4.1
The big leap challenge on left hand from Albéniz’s Rumores de La Caleta (Malagueña)
The assessment of octave agility is quite commonplace in grade 8 repertoire. Even though Mozart’s sonata is often the favourite repertoire for very young students, octaves are frequently seen in A1: Mozart’s allegro which presents huge challenges for students with very small hands. The near closing theme in exposition or recapitulation of the movement consists of incessant leaping of octaves on the left hand as shown below (Figure 2.4.2).
Figure 2.4.2
Incessant leaping of octaves from Mozart’s Allegro – 1st movt from Sonata in F, K. 332
This is technically very demanding even for students with big hands. Nevertheless, caution must be taken if the students keep practising octaves repeatedly as they would feel tired or sore easily, and it may cause injuries (Niu, R., 2020). The tiredness may be attributed to inappropriate posture and tensed muscle movement. Therefore, it is always important to keep the forearm relaxed and find the posture that is most comfortable rather than forcing to play the octaves accurately with stressful muscle movement.
2.5 Insufficient dynamic controls
In list B and list C repertoire, it is inevitable that pupils should be equipped well with the skills of subtitle dynamics control. In B2: Coleridge Taylor’s Impromptu in B minor, dynamic varies quite frequently and drastically. For the below excerpt, the trickiest part is that the music tends to reach a climax near the ending and powerful chords should be executed on both extreme ends of registers with marked accents from bar 2 to bar 4. Without careful looking, pupils will play them very loudly. However, it goes against the composer’s intention that it should be played very softly as he marked “pp” on this bar. Now, another challenge exists because the chord is so powerful that it is hard to control the loudness. Dynamic control also relies heavily on the correct posture and careful pressing of the key. It is often executed by the forces accomplished by coordinating the kinematic action from the shoulders to the fingertips (Goebl, W., 2017). Therefore, the pupils should comprehend well with the association between movement of different muscles from the shoulders to the fingertips and the dynamics controls. The force should not only be rendered by fingers alone, but also the fingertip, wrist, forearm or shoulders etc.
Figure 2.5.1
The tricky dynamic change from Coleridge Taylor’s Impromptu in B minor
3. Conclusion & Recommendation
Though the assessment of scales & arpeggios, sight-reading and aural test is absent in performance grades, in my opinion, these training should not be omitted based on the common technical challenges mentioned above, in order to allow evenness of notes, clarity of melodic lines and higher precision of double notes or quick jump of chord or octaves. In addition to the aforementioned technical challenges, students may also come across with other pragmatic issues such as stage flight or fear of facing the camera in the digital exam. Another issue that both teachers and students may encounter is the pursuit of extreme perfectionism, because students could film as many videos as possible, so as to select the best video for the submission. It is quite frustrating for them if the students make the same mistakes or trivial mistakes over and over again during the recording. In this circumstance, parents should not put too much stress on the students and the number of takes should be limited. Besides, in preparing for the grade 8 performance grade exam, it is suggested that students should not just study the pieces to be tested. They should extend their repertoire to enhance better musical understanding. The intention of preparing for exams is not only to study four challenging pieces, but also to build up the foundation of piano techniques so that their performance skills can be recognized fairly. It is often the case that the students passing the grade 8 exam cannot play well with even easier pieces and their piano ability has always been doubted. It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure the student not only has the ability of mastering the exam, but also possesses certain levels and foundation of piano techniques.
Bibliography
- ABRSM (2021). ABRSM Qualification Specification: Music Performance Grades.
- ABRSM (2023). ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2023 & 2024
- Bar-Niv R. (2013). The Art of Piano Fingering: Traditional, Advanced, and Innovative. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
- Bernal S. (2018). Learning by teaching: Children’s musical and emotional skills development through a piano teacher role. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference Music for and by children, p.178-188. https://doi.org/10.34624/musichildren.v0i0.1144
- Dohnányi E. (2003). Essential Finger Exercises. EMB Publications.
- Frewen, K. G. (2010). Effects of Familiarity With a Melody Prior to Instruction on
- Children’s Piano Performance Accuracy. Journal of Research in Music Education, 57(4), 320–333. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40666499
- Gieseking W. & Leimer K. (1972). Piano Technique. Dover Publications.
- Goebl, W. (2017). Movement and Touch in Piano Performance. Handbook of Human Motion, pp 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30808-1_109-1
- Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Ohsawa, C. (2009). The effect of singing the melody in the practice of the piano. In
- ESCOM 2009: 7th Triennial Conference of European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music. Milan, Italy: University of Milano Bicocca.
- Niu, R. (2020). Types and Causes of Physiological Injury in Piano Playing, with Emphasis on Piano Pedagogy in China” . Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports, 7693. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7693
- Swinkin J. (2007). Keyboard Fingering and Interpretation: a Comparison of Historical and Modern Approaches. Performance Practice Review, 12(1), Article 1. DOI: 10.5642/perfpr.200712.01.01