PPP205: Marvin Blickenstaff talks about Shaping the Sound

10Aug 2020 by Shelly Davis

Marvin Blickenstaff rightly says, “Music is a lot more than playing the right notes and playing the right rhythm. Music is basically expressive sound. The reason for music’s existence is to express who we are as human beings and the feelings that we have as we go through life’s journey.”

Listen to the full episode here

Shaping the Sound

With all the information composers and publishers place on the music score, there is still much more that goes into shaping the sound to create beautiful, expressive music.

Here are a few of the Shaping the Sound Rules of Thumb Marvin mentions on the show.

No two notes in a row may sound exactly alike, because if they’re alike, they’re not doing anything. Students are so focused on playing the correct note at the correct time that they don’t do anything with the sound.
 
The last note of a group or phrase is always the quietest and after that last note you take a breath.
 
In most cases, the focus of a two-measure phrase is on the downbeat of the second measure. Out of a four-measure phrase, the focus is invariably on the third measure. “Out of 4, go for 3.”
 
Short notes go to long notes. Composers over the ages have found that shorter rhythmic values make the sound move forward.
 
Dominant is always louder than the tonic. Tonic is home base, it is relaxed. Anything that moves away from the tonic creates varying degrees of tension. Dominant creates more tension and desires desperately to return to home base.
 
Harmony – stress the unusual and de-emphasize or relax the predictable.
 
Harmonic considerations are more powerful than either rhythmic or melodic ones. When push comes to shove, it’s really the harmony that stimulates the music. It’s the harmony that underlines the expressive element of the music.
 
Melody – when in doubt, swell. When you don’t really know what to do with your dynamics, make it grow because that’s very interesting to listen to.

Marvin Blickenstaff is known among piano teachers throughout the country for his teaching, lecturing, performing, and publishing. Currently he maintains a private studio in the Philadelphia area and teaches at The New School for Music Study in Princeton. Blickenstaff is the former Board President of the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. In 2007 the on-line journal Piano Pedagogy Forum published tributes to Blickenstaff honoring his contribution to piano teaching in America. Also in 2007 he was named Fellow of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He was honored in 2009 with MTNA’s highest award, the MTNA Achievement Award, and was selected in 2013 by the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy for its Lifetime Achievement Award.  Most recently he was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame.

Enjoy this concert presented by Marvin Blickenstaff on the occasion of his 85th birthday.

Resources mentioned in today's show

Francis Clark

National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy

The New School for Music Study

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Related posts:

PPP221: Teacher Interview Spotlight on Dorothy Yan, Tony Parlapiano, and Marvin Blickenstaff PPP275: Cameron Dennis talks about Ear Training PPP212: The Importance of Note Values – Musical Speech Patterns

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4 thoughts on “PPP205: Marvin Blickenstaff talks about Shaping the Sound”

  • Sonia Carpenter

    Shelly… what an awesome interview!! I thinks it’s such an inspiring one as we start another piano year with our students!!!
    Sonia Carpenter

    • Shelly Davis

      Sonia, I couldn’t agree more! I’m so glad you enjoyed it too. Thank you for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it.

  • Kerry Roberts

    Dear Shelly, thank you for taking the time and opportunity to interview not only one of the most inspiring piano teachers in my life, but also one of the most inspiring human beings that I have ever known! Marvin Blickenstaff truly lives out the philosophies that he has shared with you in this wonderful interview! I consider myself very privileged to have been a long-time piano student of Marvin’s when he was living in Indiana. I am forever thankful to my mother for giving me the opportunity to work with such a profound, caring and inspirational teacher and human being! He really does give his students the confidence that they all are “precious human beings”, as he described his students in the interview. Apart from the profound insights that he shared with you about the rules of thumb in piano teaching, I cannot express enough how what he shared with you about his primary job/approach when teaching has shaped my life and my own teaching countless times (a quote of Marvin’s from the interview): “I affirm you as a human being. You are a beautiful, young human being with infinite potential. Let’s see what we can do through our relationship to make beautiful music.” That is the essence of a master teacher who is also a wonderful human being!

    • Shelly Davis

      Kerry, thank you for writing to me. It was such a privilege to spend that time with Marvin. I’ve already listened to the interview again myself….twice!! What a joy it must have been for you to be taught by him on a regular basis!

      Thanks for sharing your experience as his student.

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