How to do a Basic Score Study

Hi everyone,

In todays post I'm going to talk about how to do a basic 'Score Study'. This will be ideal for anyone whose approaching their higher grades, and how wants to try doing a 'Score Study'. 

Analyse Your Sheet Music

By analysing your sheet music you will be able to see how your part interacts with the piano, as well as being able to spot any 'tricky' passages. Also, if your sheet music has included then also read over the performance notes that have been provided by the author/ composer. By reading over the performance notes it will give you an idea on how to perform the piece and what to aim for in your sound. Another benefit of performance notes is that in some cases it will provide you with a short history for that piece of music, and the era/ genre that it falls in. Also, when analysing your sheet music you can also make note of any important reference points.

Listen to Recordings

By listening to recordings of the piece/s that you are analysing, it will give you inspiration on how you would like your own interpretation to sound. These recordings also don't have be of artists' performing on the same instrument as yours, but you can listen to the same piece by different artists' on a variety of different instruments; as this will enable you to get loads of inspiration from a variety of different playing perspectives. I would definitely recommend that you listen to a few versions that have the piano accompaniment, as well as an orchestral version.

Practice Plan

Once you have all of your ideas and analysis written down; it will then be time to figure out a practice plan for those pieces. This also doesn't have to be 'set in stone', as this is more of a starting point for your practice. You might want to focus on the 'tricky' areas first, or just start by getting used to the piece/s and working on your tonal colours at the same. Another thing you could also do is listen to one of your favourite recordings again, and try and imitate one of the areas that you have taken inspiration from that recording.

 

Benefits of Doing a Score Study

Hi everyone,

In todays post I'm going to talk about the benefits of doing a 'Score Study'.

The benefits of doing a score study prior to starting learning a new piece of music is that you will be able a better understanding of that piece of music, and what it is your aiming for to get the best from that piece of music for your own performance.

Performance Notes

Performance notes aren't always provided for a piece of music, but exam boards have now started to include them within their graded sheet music materials. But, with stand alone pieces this isn't always the case. Performance notes will give you an understanding of the composer, genre/ era, how the piece is meant to be interpreted, any tricky markings in the piece and the explanations behind those markings and the history of that piece of music and how it came to be.

Music History

Music history is important when analysing a piece of music, as it will give you a better understanding of the era that the composer was living in and the music that was around during that era. Through the understanding of music history you will be able to find out if there was any new music playing techniques was around during that time; say for example during the Baroque period playing using vibrato wasn't used during that era, as playing using vibrato was a technique that hadn't been discovered during that time period.

Developing Your Interpretation

This is where the fun begins when putting together on how you like the piece of music that you will be working on to sound. You might want to experiment with different tonal colours or change the phrasing slightly. You might not get it to sound how you like the first time, but the more you explore and develop your piece of music, the more you will gain an understanding of what it that you are personally aiming for. But, what you start aiming for during the beginning stages of learning and exploring the piece may be completely different to what you end up with in the final stages. You may also want to refine certain areas if your not happy with them, and then once they have been refined; see how they sound and interact with the rest of the piece.

There's no right or wrong way when it comes to interpreting a piece of music to make it your own, but they maybe 'rules' to somewhat follow depending on what genre/ era that piece of music was composed in.

The point of doing a score study is to give you a better understanding of the piece of music, the composer and the genre/ era that it was composed in. This is just for starters, and then when you to learn, develop and explore the piece; is the time that you will be able to have some fun and make it your own.

Score studies can also be done for any genre in music, and it doesn't have to be focused on classical or jazz music. Anyone can do a score study, no matter what genre of music they are interested in learning and exploring.