Music Education
Next month, the Symphony Orchestra of India will begin its Autumn 2018 Season with compositions from some of the greatest masters. Sandipan Das breaks down the programme. Prokofiev (1891-1953) Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major (1944) Prokofiev wrote this during the war years and it is his first symphony written
Music Education
Many musicians spend their early years of training – and maybe some of the later years – fighting a cold, hard fact about their practice habits: the slow way is the fast way. Slowness is the magic ingredient that makes the idea of repetition valuable. When a singer or an instrumentalist is
Music Education
Parts 1 and Part 2 covered what, why and how to practise and the final article explores the final stages of examination preparation. When to change the focus of practice Once the initial stages of learning are secure and the musical detail, phrasing, interpretation and speed are stylish, the focus
Music Education
Among the British Library’s extraordinary collection of materials relating to the history of Indian music in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries lie dozens of European accounts of the nautch—intimate musical parties at which troupes of high-status North Indian courtesans would sing, dance, recite poetry, and match wits
Music Education
The first of these articles discussed the need for practice to be relevant in terms of fluency and accuracy, musical detail, style and character. This article explains how to practise mindfully. How to practise Practice should be mindful, with clear objectives that take account of what needs to be learned
Music Education
No matter what voice type you are, it’s fair to admit that plenty of your most applause-worthy moments come with high notes. Fast high notes, loud high notes, entire-lungful-of-air high notes – they’re what we’re all waiting to hear. There, I said it. When it comes to producing
Music Education
Good practice techniques are essential for all sections of the examination and involve mindful concentration and clear objectives. A practice plan that aims for maximum success needs to address the following: * WHAT to practise What skills need to be practised, and in what proportion? * WHY we practise Formulating practice objectives.
Music Education
Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbria, Alabama, in the summer of 1880. Nineteen months later, she fell ill (likely with scarlet fever or meningitis) and became deaf and blind. As Helen grew up, she communicated in a rudimentary way with her family, but it became increasingly clear that she’d
Music Education
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert: did the four Viennese school composers know each other? By Manohar Parnerkar The Classical period in Western art music represents the age of Haydn, Mozart, partly of Beethoven, and peripherally of Schubert. Falling between the post-Baroque and the pre-Romantic periods, it roughly dates from 1750
Music Education
What would opera singers be without their stretchy, malleable tempos? More specifically, where would they be without the unwritten rules – “performance practice”, they’re often called – about when you simply must take some extra time? Opera is no place for heartless clockwork; but when it comes to mastering operatic skills,
Music Education
The celebrated Russian guitarist and composer Nikita Arnoldovich Koshkin (born 1956) needs no introduction to any serious modern classical guitarist. In a prolific performing and compositional career that shows no signs of abating, Koshkin has threaded a unique sonic voice into the history of the instrument, and his works continue
Music Education
DEVELOP A PLAN FOR DRILLING THE TRICKY BITS IN YOUR MUSIC One of the skills you should take with you as you leave post-secondary education is a solid method of learning your own music. While you still have support from regular coaches and teachers, get specific about the steps you
