Forming your teaching to the teaching of form.

Four years ago, when my seven-year-old student was a beginner, I said things such as, "Is the next group of notes the same, almost the same or different than the last group of notes?"

Two years ago, when my nine-year-old student was at the late-elementary stage of piano instruction, I said things like, "Is the next phrase identical, similar or different than the previous phrase?" And last week, when my eleven-year-old student was playing intermediate-level repertoire, I said, "With which motive in the next phrase does the descending sequence begin that causes this phrase to decrescendo?"

Does a similar series of questions occur in your studio? Is this scenario really possible? Believe me, it is. Implied in the above sequence of questions is a manner of instruction that provides a continuing enrichment of a student's concept and practical use of form.

The knowledge of form from the beginning stages of piano instruction is invaluable. The daily application of that knowledge reaches into almost every aspect of piano study at every stage of learning. I'd like to take a few moments co encourage you to consider teaching and using musical form as an integral part of your reaching.

For the sake of clarity, let's use the following layman's definitions for these basic terms:

Motive--Shortest musical idea, often identified by a distinctive rhythm and sometimes a general pitch contour. Usually can't stand alone.

Phrase--Melodic equivalent to a sentence. Often ends with a long note or rest, which encourages a breath.

Phrase group--Frequently pairs or trios of phrases, which "go" together to fulfill a melodic and rhythmic expectation set up by the first phrase. Examples of phrase groups include "question-answer" phrase groups (also known as antecedent-consequent phrases or periods) and bar forms or "sentence" forms (aab).

Section--Several phrase groups bundled together to create a larger unit of a piece. Exposition, development and A section are examples of sections.

Movement--Several sections cohesively bound by melody and key to create a complete musical composition.

The easiest of the above to teach to beginning-level children is the phrase itself. In American piano methods, much of the music is set with text. The text frequently helps to portray the musical imagery of the piece, and most piano teachers are real pros at using the words to help motivate the child by evoking the scenes they create. However, a lesser-used, but equally valuable, use for the text is to begin the process of teaching the concept of form. Chanting, or better yet singing, the words of these songs while pointing out the places to breathe or rest can help the child become aware of the meaning in a group of notes. Often, this can be enhanced with the assistance of familiar childhood rhymes and poems.

Once your student is accustomed to the idea that music, like words, occurs in meaningful groups, it is time to begin to compare those groups. Begin this simply, as stated above, by asking the child to decide if the next group of notes is the same, almost the same or different than the first group of notes. Amazingly, their response is almost always correct. From here, it is easy to give names to those groups--"a" to the starting group, "al" to a group that is almost the same and "b" to a group that is different. With these names in place, teachers suddenly have the potential to make lesson assignments with musical meaning in the very wording of the assignment! Compare the following potential entries in your student's assignment book:

For Monday: County Fair Review hands together to the bottom of the first page. Learn the first three lines of the second page hands separately. Practice measures eight and nine, three extra times.

OR

County Fair

Review the "A" phrases hands together. Learn the "B" phrase hands separately. Practice the last measure of the "A" phrase and the first measure of the "A1" phrase three extra times.

Which assignment, by its very wording, teaches your student more about the inner workings of the piece and the composer's mind? Assignments using lines, pages and measure numbers focus on the random way a publisher has placed the music on the page, and they waste a valuable opportunity to pour information into the student's mind!

Uses for Form

1. Initial Learning Stages

The number of different ways students and teachers can use this information is astounding.

During the initial stages of the learning process, form is vital to making meaningful assignments. Assigning new material using phrase names creates boundaries and goals for the student. An assignment that reads, "Learn the a, a1, a2 and a3 phrases in the B section this week," causes the student to start and stop the practice during musically meaningful places, rather than play through the piece haphazardly from beginning to end. These boundaries give students time to focus on the many details of the score; articulation, fingering, pedaling, note and rhythmic accuracy are achieved in a much more dependable fashion. Learning to distinguish the tiny differences between the various similar phrases from the very beginning increases intimacy with the detail of the piece.

Developing sequential strategies that help the student learn these phrases also is a means of developing independent learning through goal setting. For instance, when a student is unable to play the "a1" phrase bands together at sight, a series of prerequisite strategies can be developed to help achieve this goal:

1. Count aloud.

2. Play hands separately.

3. Play melody alone (sometimes different than playing hands separately).

4. Play accompaniment alone (sometimes different than playing hands separately).

5. Vary the tempo.

6. Silently block the hand position shifts.

7. Repeat a pre-determined number of times in a row perfectly.

One-at-a-time, or in combinations, the above strategies will help develop a series of steps the student can use any time the phrase is too difficult to accomplish in the first few attempts. Tangibly achieved goals can be made by assigning a specific number of repetitions for the phrase to be performed perfectly in a row. Be careful not to set this number too high--it can be overwhelmingly frustrating! This kind of practice is beautiful to watch. Young children can be seen practicing like a pro--repeating a phrase far accuracy while counting aloud in a variety of tempi, hands separately, then together. This kind of practice is very difficult to develop for beginning and intermediate students without knowledge of phrase structure.

Once each phrase has been learned fluently by itself, continuity can be achieved by assigning a week or more of "neighbor phrase" practice. That is to say, assign your student to begin at each learned phrase and learn to play it followed immediately and fluently by its next neighbor. Again, set a number of times for perfect repetition, and you can simply marvel as problems with continuity dissolve.

2. Technical Facility,

One of the basic ideas of improving a player's technique is a close examination of the efficiency of the hand movement. Musical motives provide an ideal way for a student to focus on a meaningful fragment of a passage that is small enough to allow a close examination of the hand(s) movement and to repeat for technical case. Motives frequently cross boundaries between melody and accompaniment and are interesting to trace as a compositional tool for unity in the work.

3. Sight Playing

As students become accustomed to the standard types of phrase groups, aural expectations begin to develop. After finishing the short "a" phrase of a bar form, for instance, a player begins to expect either an identical subsequent phrase or a very similar one of the same length and rhythms, followed by a "b" phrase that is twice the length and based on similar material. These expectations, especially rhythmic ones, offer considerable improvement to a musician's sight-playing ability.

4. Musical Decisions and Interpretations

Not only is the recognition of these formulas an essential part of improving a player's sight reading, it is necessary to appreciate much of the humor used by composers who expect all musicians will have such an understanding. When composers set up listeners for these formulas, then dash their expectations, surprise and laughter result. Additionally, composers frequently depend on a musician's awareness of phrase group closure (cadence), motivic fragmentation and phrase extension as a gauge for rubato.

At the risk of oversimplifying this portion of the discussion, most phrases contain a single note that is able of the distinguished as the "climax" of the phrase. Usually, this is based on that note being the highest pitch of the phrase, having the longest duration of the phrase, its metric placement within the phrase or simply because the composer has described it that way with a nuance that marks it as such. Teaching students to discover this climax point of the phrase and focus their practice on executing a beautifully gradual crescendo/decrescendo becomes an addition to their strategies and goals. Once each phrase is beautifully shaped, it is time to compare adjacent phrases to one another to determine their dynamic relationship. For instance, if the "a1" phrase is the "a1" phrase because it is sequenced a step higher than the "a" phrase, then a louder version of the climax is in order for "a1 ." This creates dynamic and architectural hierarchy, as well as a long sense of line. Many times, students will begin to understand why a composer chose the dynamics he did when phrases are examined this way.

5. Memorization 

Assigning memorization by section and phrase has many advantages. Typically, students play through a piece from beginning to end until they have achieved a superficial tactile memory. While this form of memory is an absolute necessity, it also is too fragile to be allowed to stand on its own. Assigning phrase-at-a-time memory (Memorize all the "b" phrases in the "A" section this week.) enforces thoughtful consideration of the tiny details that distinguish one phrase from another similar phrase. By requiring the student at the next lesson to play the "b4" phrase followed by the "b2" phrase, followed by the "b1" phrase and so on, the student learns meaningful memory landmarks that are useful when experiencing a memory lapse. Ironically, if your student's preparation is successful, the very act of using the beginnings of phrases as memory landmarks prevents the need for them when performing on stage. In one case I had a recent transfer student performing on his first recital as my student. We had just gone through this procedure in preparation for his recital playing Kabalevsky's A Little Joke. He was thoroughly familiar with the phrases independently but nevertheless came to a screeching halt during this, his first nerve-wracked performance. After a few uncomfortable seconds of silence I called out from the audience "B2!", whereupon he immediately picked up the thread and continued flawlessly to the end!

Many additional possibilities exist for the use of form. I also use it to assist with the review and polish of previously performed pieces, as well as the development of active listening skills. It doesn't take much to begin this fascinating expedition into the use of form in your teaching. Best wishes as you begin or expand your journey!

This article previously appeared in the May 2000 edition of the Piano Pedagogy Forum website, sponsored by the University of South Carolina, www, music.sc.edu/ea/ keyboard/ppf/3.2/3.2.PPFke.htmL Used by permission.

Timothy Shafer is professor of piano and piano pedagogy at Penn 5tate University. An active performer, adjudicator and clinician, he received performance degrees and awards from Indiana University and Oberlin Conservatory.