how do you bring out the feeling while playing the piano?

[goldensunshine]

i play the piano. sometime, i play with a lot of feelings, which is great, but sometime, the feeling just can't come out. how do you express your feeling while playing the piano EVERYTIME?

i noticed a few patterns...if i play the piano after i stress myself out by studying, i can get the feelings out. but if i play the piano just after i play, the feelings can't come out. also, if i play the piano in the storeroom with the door shut tight, the echo makes the sound effect better and therefor, more feelings, but the storeroom is kidda eerie though...

 

[goldensunshine]

oppss...i think i post this thing in the wrong place...srry

 

[Wandering Cat Lady]

When I want to get the feelings out I just try thinking about all my problems and then my fingers start to play awesome things, everyone says I should make a CD but I don't think that will ever happen! Or I think about how much a certain person loves me, or about happy things, whatever I'm feeling like that day. Just play with all your heart and don't think too hard about it! Sometimes I get lost in my own music and sometimes I don't even realize what I'm playing! Just let your emotions take over and let your fingers do the work! Good Luck!

 

[UberLutheran]

i play the piano. sometime, i play with a lot of feelings, which is great, but sometime, the feeling just can't come out. how do you express your feeling while playing the piano EVERYTIME?

i noticed a few patterns...if i play the piano after i stress myself out by studying, i can get the feelings out. but if i play the piano just after i play, the feelings can't come out. also, if i play the piano in the storeroom with the door shut tight, the echo makes the sound effect better and therefor, more feelings, but the storeroom is kidda eerie though...

When you find you're playing inexpressively, get away from the piano with your music, and go sing the passages. (You don't have to be a great -- or even a good singer to do this. What's important is that you hear what you're trying to do: in this case, to mimic the expressiveness of the line which you will be able to do by singing it.)

The other thing which helps is to know your score thorougly. That means: a structural analysis of the piece, where the keys are moving to and how they get there, the motives which hold the piece together, etc. That will help you decide what needs to be brought out, what needs to be kept subordinate, and how you want to get from one section to another within the piece.

 

[hey]

I just stop and pray!

 

[BWV 1080]

Remember Stravinsky's famous quote "Music is, by its very nature, powerless to express anything at all". What feeling a performer can bring to a piece of music beyond what is written in the score is often questionable. Try playing the piece as closely to the score as possible in as perfect time as you can and be able to sing important melodic lines. Then expressiveness can be added by focusing on the dissonances. Playing dominant chords and other dissonances forcefully propels the music forward and heightens the harmonic contrast. Try adding a little rubato and/or accenting the dissonance at cadential points. Work from phrase to phrase. The phrases should breathe and flow together like two people in a conversation.

A real problem alot of performers have is that they keep "interpeting their interpetations", trying to force pathos into their playing as if by magic and the clarity of the music is lost. Sentimentality is the enemy of great music. Look at Bach, Beethoven, Mozart - they are able to reach such great emotional heights because their music is not selfconsious or sentimental. Look at the rejects on American Idol - they all had lots of feeling.