Pulse Patterning For Pianists

THE APPLICATIONS OF PULSE PATTERNING

To illustrate the Applications of Pulse Patterning I have chosen my musical examples exclusively from Robert Schumann’s Carnaval. Although this may seem a narrow focus, the work is highly illustrative of all the uses of Pulse Patterning and, as a single and unified work, provides continuity as well as practicality to this topic. Of course, the principles may be applied to music of every composer, genre and style, as well as to teaching literature.

Explosive Use of Energy Pathway—Accents and Big Chords

Having coaxed relaxation through the movement of the hips, you can now start to coax dynamic and rhythmic impulses from this very same pattern of movement. Once your body has integrated postural positioning through large, circular movements and you have discovered an ease of movement in the lower torso as you navigate the keyboard, you may notice that you naturally begin to roll the hips forward for crescendos, or for strong chords where it becomes an instantaneous impulse that some pianists (Adele Marcus for one) describe as coming from their stomach or mid-section. A slight forward movement of the hips done as a lightning-flash thrust sends an energy impulse through the entire torso and arms and directly into the keys. Stable fingers and hand arches direct the energy into the keys. There is little outward/upward movement of the elbows in creating this big tone.

Additionally, you may activate your straight fingers in a “grab” that further strengthens the tone and helps to balance all the notes of chords. When the forward tilt of your hips is small you may not notice the independence of the hip bones (ilia) from the sacrum. Without realizing it you may have a fixated lower back and you may be leaning with the entire spine, which is a slower, bigger, and more sluggish movement that is actually a push. Note that there is movement in the hips in two places: where the leg bones (femurs) are joined to the pelvis, and where the lower (lumbar) spine joins the pelvis (the sacroiliac). You need an awareness of movement in both locations for the explosive jolt, the sudden onset of energy for big sharp chord playing. The opening of Carnaval contains powerful chords that also set up the metrical structure.

Controlled Use in Crescendos and Diminuendos

You may also observe that you can roll your hips forward more slowly in a crescendo leading into the climax of a phrase. (N.B: if you are leaning forward from the waist line while holding or locking the hips (in “Park”) in both locations described above, you will find your chest sagging or collapsing, your shoulders hunching forward, and you are thus not providing the necessary skeletal support for the arms, limiting your breathing and risking low back problems. (Please revisit the clock movements described previously under “Technique.”) As you reverse the energy into a diminuendo, you relax the hips and they return in a slight backward tilt. The spine shortens, your lungs expand in an inhalation and the body gathers for another forward movement, a lengthening of the spine and an exhalation. Practice the Energy Pathway as a large movement including an inhalation as you tilt the hips toward 6:00 and an exhalation leading to 12:00. Then gradually refine and diminish the forward and back movement so that it is almost imperceptible to a person watching. You now have at your disposal an enormous range of dynamic energy that you may tap for expressive use without having to force or muscle with the arms and fingers. The following example (“Valse Noble”) shows an expansive phrase growing in volume and in opposite directions drawing the body slightly closer to the keyboard. Roll the hips forward to the fourth bar and somewhat to the right. The answering phrase follows suit but with a smaller climax.

Playing from the Navel

Arthur Schnabel spoke of “playing from the navel” (as cited at a lesson with Stanley Fletcher) when playing soft chords, especially in a continuous diminuendo, or when resolving a suspension figure or a V7 or diminished seventh chord, or perhaps resolving a V to a VI in a deceptive cadence. In the context of the present discussion, this sense of resolving, “playing from the navel,” is what I am describing as a rolling back of the pelvis toward 6:00--to a greater or lesser degree depending on the desired softness or the amount of time available for the movement. Try this forward and backward movement of the hips, (keeping the head in a plumb line over the pelvis), and you will find that this is a startling and convincing use of hip movement for expression: for crescendos and diminuendos, for dramatic echo effects, for forte-piano situations, and of course for sudden accents and sforzandos as described above. From “Promenade” comes the following example of a sudden soft passage, almost like an aside, that immediately takes on the right character if played with a roll-back of the hips.

Schumann’s introspective persona in “Eusebius” is nicely projected when played in a “soft” 6:00 position. Don’t hesitate to bring your head down close to the keyboard if you so desire. In the middle section the large rolled chords in the left hand and octaves in the right hand are comfortably performed in a backward lean position.

By now you have the means of using the clock patterning to express loud and soft while at the same time being in front of the keyboard anywhere you need to be. You can play softly to the right at the top of the piano (4:00), and then forte to the left at the bottom of the piano (10:00). Directly in front of you, play a forte dissonant chord and then resolve it by rolling back. If your hands are close together or your hands have to be crossed, lean backwards but take your head with you. You can still play softly by rotating the hips slightly backward, or with more vigor by rotating the hips forward even as the entire torso is leaning in a small backward tilt. Note the 4:00 position favorable to the Più presto passage in “Estrella.”

Rhythmic Use of Pulse Patterning

At this point you are ready to explore the use of postural positioning for purposes of Pulse Patterning, my initial application of the Feldenkrais clocks and my earliest use in presentations nearly twenty years ago. Because pulse is felt as an ebb and flow towards a strong beat, or towards the strong point in a phrase, the lower torso movement we have been discussing is a very natural and physical way of accomplishing this sense of motion in performance. Dance music, because of its overtly rhythmic nature is a wonderful source of piano literature to investigate Pulse Patterning. A lilting waltz, a stomping ländler, a slithering tango, a boisterous march, a hopping gavotte or a skipping gigue all evoke physical movement. “Dancing” on the bench or chair is not just a figurative or imaginative thought, but is an actuality limited only by the fact that we are seated rather than on our feet. For any seated musician, the Feldenkrais clock movements are what elegantly coordinate the largest possible motor movements of our lower torso with the most refined, delicate, and precise movements of our fingers, hands and arms.

Duple and Quadruple Meter

You can use the 12:00-6:00 pathway to replicate the conducting movements of the arms (and incidentally you might also use in the feet if you are actually conducting). 12:00 represents the strong beat of the measure (or by extension, the exhalation of the breath), while moving towards 6:00 represents the ebbing towards the weaker beat (or beats in quadruple meter). This then gathers momentum to prepare again for the crest, the strong beat at 12:00. Because the movement at the hips may be so small as to be imperceptible, the idea of lengthening and shortening the spine by leading up or down with the head may be more appropriate (a principal concept drawn from the Alexander Technique). This sense of up and down occurs naturally with the forward and backward movement of the hips. (Often it is just the thought of leading with the head or moving the hips forward that makes a remarkable difference.) The movement is quite easily applied to rhythmic music in duple or quadruple meter, but what about the tempo? It will only feel natural and comfortable in the appropriate tempo relative to the size of the movement. The quickest that you are going to move the hips or raise and lower the spine, even with only the thought of doing so, is about the rate of your normal pulse, c. 72-80 BPM.) Therefore you must discover a pulse pattern that may embrace a measure or a hypermeasure depending on the tempo of the music. A spirited allegro or presto may take in two or more measures in one complete Pulse Patterning cycle. Try playing the following pieces, “Papillons” and “Reconnaisance,” with a strong, if small, 12:00 strong beat in each measure, and then try it in hypermeasures, one strong beat every two bars. Which do you prefer? Which gives you more speed? Which gives you more control?

(On the other hand, a notated measure of music in a slow tempo, no matter how many notes, as in a slow movement of a sonata by Beethoven, must not have more than one complete cycle per measure, lest the music breaks into too many measures or too many beats—a situation which makes a performance notey or stodgy.)

In a lively buoyant rhythmic tempo you may want to bounce to the beat—a very natural and delightful way to capture the quality of the rhythm. This latter movement some have compared with horseback riding—with posting. “Pantalon et Columbine” is a good example of such buoyancy. Try bouncing with this. (Push with your feet to get the idea.)

Triple Meter: Swinging on a Swing.

But what about three-beat time, triple meter? Here I would cite a remark by Nadia Boulanger as heard in a class attended by the author: “3/4 time is just like 2/4 time, only the first beat is twice as long.” You will either hold the first beat at 12:00 and then relax on the third, or when the tempo is quick as it so often is in waltz music, you will likely pattern the hypermeasure—forward on one measure and back on the next. This felt swing of the body is not at all unlike the actual swing of a child on a swing set, pumping forward and releasing going backward. This is a very powerful analogy. I include this here, as the movement of swinging is not so much one of loud and soft as it is simply that of a rhythmic cycle of ebb and flow. The nadir (back) of the swing cycle may be felt just as strongly as the apex (front). “Lettres Dansantes” and “Valse Allemande” are good examples of swinging to and fro in alternate measures. (Mark the special accents in “Lettres Dansantes” with the use of the fingers and arms only.)

Peak of the Phrase

Often in slow melodic music, the highest note is the strong point of the measure or phrase, and it might often occur on the third beat of, say, a four-beat measure—in the middle of things, so to speak. Here, reverse pulse patterning would be appropriate, starting from 6:00 and moving in the direction of 12:00 for the peak of the phrase. A single pulse patterning cycle may be stretched out over several measures. In the beautiful “Chopin” the left hand arpeggiation in 6/4 carries an accent at the top. Begin in the direction of 6:00 and move towards 12:00 at the apex of the left hand pattern. (The melodic peaks in measures three and six may be played with more subtlety in the 6:00 position rather than at 12:00.)

Syncopation—A Tug of War

Another situation needs to be taken into consideration and that is the existence of syncopation. For its effect, syncopation plays off the implied beat, whether a single syncopated note or a whole chain of syncopations that results in a tug of war with the metrical beat. If the performer “lunges” into the syncopation, zealously accenting the syncopation, the effect is entirely lost and confusion results. It is all the more reason for the performer to truly feel the principal beat. Counter the metrical beat felt in the body with the drop of the arm for the syncopation. The same of course could be said for any unusual accents that the composer has inserted to contradict the normal metrical progress of beats. The leaping, somersaulting “Arlequin” needs a physically felt first beat if the landing on the accented beat two is to have the right effect.

In the dizzying “Paganini,” pulse along with the right hand for the most interesting and exciting result.

Choreography

We now have at our disposal what constitutes a complete choreography of the body—the ability to sit on a chair or bench and navigate the piano keyboard comfortably, while feeling the meter or phrase and dynamically shaping lines with the strongest fortes and accents to the most delicate, fragile and disembodied pianissimo sounds. The “clock” does it all. Much of the time we scarcely move from the center of the dial where the clock hands are attached, yet at other times we visibly move right and left and forward and back. Also consider that there are clocks within clocks. Are you playing a long passage to the right at 3:00? Imagine a smaller clock at that point and continue your Pulse Patterning. The opening of “Paganini” above is a case in point.

Projecting Musical Gestures

The degree to which you as the performer leave Pulse Patterning behind in order to project or partake of the musical gestures in the music is the same issue that a conductor faces. How much regularity will you use versus how much flexibility? Like all fine conductors, pianists know their “beat patterns.” However, the patterns are only a point of departure, and can lead to other creative, spontaneous movements, gestures, or patterns.

The beauty of Pulse Patterning is that it gives pianists a physical “tool” to use in developing an interpretation of the score. It leads the pianist to a comprehension that goes beyond that of the intellect alone. With a physical, kinesthetic understanding of the rhythmic and metrical shapes and tensions in a composition, the phrasing then has a chance to emerge. Furthermore, our listening expands and tonal coloring takes on more subtlety. Finally, Pulse Patterning provides the means to work out personal and practicable solutions to interpretive and technical problems. Pianists all have different bodies, different hands. There is no “one interpretation fits all.” The piano keyboard is standard, but we are not. If we do not learn how to adapt ourselves to the instrument, it will be no more musical or personal than a computer keyboard.

Tips to Teachers:

Warm-ups: Hoola Hoops and Waves

Postural positioning is a nice way to begin a lesson or a practice session. Take hold of the piano in front of you (not the keyboard) and make a strong forward stretch by arching the back. Then do “hoola hoop” clock circles in both directions and from one number on the dial to another. Play some four-octave scales with side to side movement including a slight forward and back to mark the beats. This will result in a wave—small forward arcs and backward arcs of the body. Play a few big chords with explosive forward impulses from the hips (with no apparent forward lean of the body.) Then stroke the keys softly in an extreme 6:00 position for exquisitely soft sounds.

Improvisation

I like to introduce students to postural positioning and Pulse Patterning through improvisation. Using the LH ostinato pattern of F#-C#-F#-C# in quarter notes, your student may lean from left to right along with the direction of the LH, while at the same time feeling the regularity of the 4/4 measure. Have your student lean left and forward to 10:00 and then to the right and backward to 4:00. This complete gesture keeps the LH going in its regular pattern while the RH is available to improvise notes on the black keys. The right hand should feel free to use quarters, halves, eighths, clusters or combinations, in different registers and in different dynamics. The pedal should be held down throughout for the beautiful resonance it produces. You, as teacher, may play along in the treble or at another piano. The student is able to explore musical materials, keyboard geography and positioning, and rhythmic movement all at the same time. For a step by step process of discovering musical elements and rhythmic and bodily co-ordinations, please see Forrest Kinney’s wonderful Pattern Play books.