[This article was published in the June 2007 issue of the Qatar-based feature magazine 'New Era']

When asked to name someone who has had a major influence in their lives, most people choose to mention a mentor figure – a teacher, sports coach or counselor. Having had a succession of piano teachers in my learning years, I can attest to their influence not only on my musical growth, but also in areas personal and psychological.

I began learning the piano at age six. In the years to follow, my teachers were chosen for me. If at all there was an interview, it was the teacher who had the final say in choosing the student. Understandable. For the most part, they were wonderful human beings, but their undemanding teaching methods (at least where I was concerned) and indulgent style left me unchallenged and I carried a certain void with me.

Recognizing the need to be challenged, I set out to find a teacher in my early teens. I was already in love with the piano, working zealously and enjoying practice as much as I did performance. Impatient to move ahead in my musical growth, I welcomed criticism, objective observation and discipline. My ideal teacher would be someone who would recognize my musical aptitudes and deficiencies, while shaping a curriculum that would bring out the best in me while setting a high standard of goals. 

If you want to study music privately, recognize that you are a free agent, and can and should interview prospective teachers. As a teacher, I encourage students to query about my teaching methods & lessons before they sign up. Just as you might seek the opinion of two or three doctors on a medical issue before accepting one diagnosis and treatment over the others, I see no reason why a student shouldn’t take trial lessons with a few teachers before deciding on whom to study with eventually.

If a teacher objects to giving a trial lesson, look elsewhere, and you will find many who would be happy to oblige with a starter lesson. Technicalities aside, compatibility of personalities is also crucial to a long-term relationship, and this is something that can be confirmed only after a few lessons.

Students with talent and drive may find studying with one teacher constraining, hence at some point in the learning process, they may want to seek the guidance of another teacher. When studying with two or more teachers, a concern voiced is that there may be contradictory styles of teaching or conflicting information given which would confuse the student. I personally feel that it is better to see the world through two pairs of eyes, than just one. An enlightened student will shoulder the responsibility of arriving at his or her own conclusions about valuable versus ineffective instruction.

One of the most beautiful rewards of teaching is sharing the art of music with others. It involves handling complex personalities and yes, the chore of disciplining a child, but the joy of watching a student’s face light up with understanding or play music from the heart, can fill a teacher’s heart with a sense of pride and happiness.

I believe the responsibility of being a guide, critic and friend is a sacred one, since the student has entrusted his or her creative development in your hands. Depending on the degree of personal interaction, a teacher’s influence on a student can be far-reaching, hence if you are contemplating the study of music, be sure to make an effort to locate a teacher with whom you can have a mutually rewarding long-term relationship with.

Finding the right teacher, asking the right questions:

- Topping the wish list, is finding a teacher who is a nurturer. A teacher who inspires a student can work magic, instilling a lifelong love of music for generations to come.

- There are several teachers who are highly qualified and certified, but make for average teachers. While music degrees and teaching certification are an advantage they are not adequate, since a good teacher also needs to be a psychologist, communicator and inspirer.

- Inquire about teachers in your area, consult with friends & (and) family, visit the local music stores and ask for recommendations

- Request a meeting with prospective teachers in person before making a commitment to a particular one. Teachers are usually willing and eager to explain their techniques and objectives and should not have a problem arranging for an interview.

- Nowadays most teachers have their resumes online or have their own personal web pages. This allows you a chance to get acquainted with them before the interview. You may however still want to ask them about their professional and educational experience.

- If there is a written studio policy, review it with the teacher before you sign up. Inquire about the instructional materials used and the teaching curriculum.

- Equally if not more important than lessons, is the work done by the student at home. Find out how much practice time is required every day. If the student is a young child, the parents should inquire their degree of involvement in the practice and scheduling of work at home, and how student evaluations are done.

Ramona Borthwick is a jazz pianist who was classically trained. Her latest CD ‘A New Leaf’ received critical acclaim in the US. She lives in Boston, MA where she performs and teaches. Visit her on the web at: www.ramonaborthwick.com

[This article was published in the May 2007 issue of the Qatar-based feature magazine 'New Era'. View as PDF.]

“My memory is shot” you mutter to yourself despondently, as you try to retrieve a speck of information from the dark recesses of your mind. And it’s not the first time you’ve experienced this mental blackout.

You’re trying to play from memory a solo piano work comprising sixty-four A3-sized pages – covering thirty minutes of performance time. But why bother to go through the arduous task of putting to memory something you’re better off simply reading? Here are a few reasons: It is protocol at some music competitions & festivals to perform without a score. If you ever arrive at a social event, and someone invites you to perform, you can do so, even you don’t have the score on hand. Besides you’ll be guaranteed to impress your audience, as there seems to be a false assumption by listeners and critics that if a piece is not memorized, it is not being played to it’s fullest potential.

Oh well, I’m happy to break the rules since I’m hardly the convention-bound teacher. I’m not in any way demeaning the practice of memorization; in fact a fair amount of my classical repertoire had been put to memory in my younger days. Some pieces require total virtuosic treatment – where the body is physically almost one with the instrument. I recall playing some etudes by Karol Szymanowski, (involving bi-tonality and plenty of crashing dissonant chords) in which the notes traveled at lightening speed, the performance wrapped up before I even knew I hit the last chord. I certainly couldn’t read and execute these pieces simultaneously. In this case, memorization totally facilitated my performance.

The works I found difficult to put to memory were invariably those of a lengthy nature, in particular, weaving contrapuntal compositions by Bach for example. I’d experience many incidents of brain freeze, terror knots in my tummy and sweaty hands. Sigh. It was no fun playing by heart. The problem was that there was no heart in it.

Bright enough to realize that I didn’t have the prowess to memorize extensive pieces of music, I unconsciously resorted to building my own vault of tricks by memorizing technically demanding passages, sections requiring page- turns or a progression of chords that were way too demanding in an improvisational setup to read and improvise on at the same time. This as you can see was born out of necessity. But I also realized that when I had the score in front of me, I was not reading the page note for note. It was more of a top-to-bottom sweep with the eye, often in a descending ‘diagonal’ path. Akin to techniques taught in speed reading, although in this case, comprehension wasn’t an issue since I’d practiced the piece an excruciating number of times ensuring its execution and interpretation was flawless. Developing musicianship skills and understanding the way the music was constructed helped me no end. It allowed me a passport into the composer’s thought process – I became familiar with the movement of harmonies, shifting keys, pet phrases and motifs. Singing the music in my head, or aloud while practicing, helped me understand the organic structure of the composition. I could breathe musical phrases. Eventually it was almost liberating to have the score in front of me… the familiarity of the pages – with little comments  penciled in, the re-assuring view of upcoming bars of music that allowed me foresight and mental preparedness of the future even while being the present. I felt relaxed. And I believe this allowed me to do justice to the composer’s music and play my best.

I’m often asked by my students if I consider memorization a significant aspect in a child’s musical development. For those gifted with this skill, I encourage them use it.  Shorter tunes are easier to tackle and as an exercise I encourage the student to memorize them but this is completely voluntary. I’d rather concentrate on development in areas such as rhythm, sight reading, musical interpretation and the art of listening rather than have them stress out over their inability to churn out a zillion notes from memory. The last thing I want to see happen is a student give up on music because of a performance crash at the annual recital! In some cases, I see memorization being used as a crutch to support low sight reading skills. Sooner or later, the student is going to have to come to terms with this deficiency (it is a language deficiency, and can be improved!) and will work at it.

Let’s face it though; there are those amongst us with a memory like a sieve. You’d like to retain information – it’s an asset for sure – perhaps you feel it will help you play better. This is quite understandable, especially if the tunes are short in length. There are many jazz performers who subscribe to this and memorize tunes (head and chord changes) because they feel it allows them a greater freedom while improvising. So besides consuming ginkgo and nuts, here are a few tips:

1. Get an overview of the tune first. Understand its harmonic structure. Observe where the music is ‘rising’ or ‘falling’. Look for repeated patterns, arpeggios, scalic passages or changes in tempo. If possible listen to a recording of the work, but not obsessively.

2. While practicing separate hands, (hopefully you are paying attention to fingerings) listen to what you play. Sometimes singing along with the music, helps you to record it to memory. Haven’t you noticed that it is easier to sing a melody from memory than play it?  This simply helps your voice-ear-hand connection and co-ordination.

3. After you practice the piece in segments, and you find yourself getting better at executing it technically, begin memorizing. Be conscious of shapes or movement flows on your instrument, like the broad strokes of paint on a canvas.

4. Often students feel the need to go back to the beginning of the piece in order to complete the performance. To prevent this time-consuming habit, work backwards during practice – start with the last page and retrace sections – I believe this helps you to carry on with a performance in case of a memory lapse breakdown in the middle of a piece.

5. Visually recording the location of music passages on the page is also helpful. If you have the slightest hint that a breakdown is going to occur, you can recover by panning your focus right to bar you are currently in.

6. Something I learnt later in life – play the piece VERY slowly. Play it separate hands even if you can play the piece hands together. This is quite meditative actually.

7. Perform the music in space, away from your instrument. This is not only fun (ever watched someone play air guitar or drums?) it becomes a kind of game within yourself.

Memorizing music is a great asset, but if playing in public without a score sends you to the torture chamber, don’t sweat. Eventually the music needs to speak for itself, and if you score with audience, paper or no paper, who can argue about it?

Ramona Borthwick is a jazz pianist who was classically trained. Her latest CD ‘A New Leaf’ received critical acclaim in the US. She lives in Boston, MA where she performs and teaches. Visit her on the web at: www.ramonaborthwick.com.