Do banco ao barroco

As I gazed across the piano toward my young violin student, I mused how lucky I was to enjoy playing the piano well enough to accompany and follow every random impulse they may have, whether musical or a result of technical trials. Irritatingly, the voices of my Teacher Trainers roll around in my head echoing the Hippocratic Oath, “do no harm.” Am I an enabler? Perhaps it was time to elevate my students’ lesson experience by bringing in dedicated piano accompanists to play with them every two to three weeks. They definitely needed more mileage integrating with other players and learning their literature more thoroughly. I needed to be released from the tethers of the piano bench to better coach from a fresh perch, violin in hand, with my sweeping violin bows to inspire their bow arms.

My habit is to offer opportunities to aspiring students. Surely, Los Angeles has a plethora of college pianists looking to add experience to their CV and extra cash in their pocket. To my great surprise, every single referred student informed me in no uncertain terms that they were “Concert Artists” and would not accompany anyone, let alone young students in a violin studio.

What? My age and generational experience must be showing since I was always thrilled to be invited to play anywhere for any occasion. Bach Double on a bouncy ball? Hula Hoop and play at the same time? Sure! Why not?!

Once I picked my ego up off the floor, light bulbs popped all around and inspiration beamed through. I realized that there was a wonderful pool of possibilities in the Suzuki Piano world! Why not engage some young Suzuki pianists to join us and embrace a widened range of musical adventures along their journeys? If we start creating a pipeline with the young ones, they may not fear new (musical) options when they get older.

Introducing my students to the world outside of the private studio was not new. My violin studio recitals include guest artist solos from the Colburn School, my graduate students, and piano students from my children’s Suzuki piano teacher, Mariko Iwasaki. Mariko’s class had “piano play parties” at each other’s homes, where students played their most current review song in front of each other in a casual setting to get comfortable playing for an audience.

I called Mariko and blurted out, “I have an idea!”

Since we were already getting used to playing in front of each other within our studios, why not get our violin and piano kids playing duets together? With common core Suzuki literature, students would be polishing material in their regular curriculum. They would also get to practice listening past their own parts and see up close what the other instruments’ challenges are. It may even be their first taste of chamber music as they get to know each other as real people and not just props. The takeaway here is replacing fear with fun.

As we figured out the pieces our students were working on—the Gavotte, Bouree, and Minuets—it was obvious that there was a Baroque theme brewing. Understandably, many folks don’t really know what these titles mean. Are they musical directions, like “Swing,” or specific dances? Were they for particular occasions? Who was (allowed) to dance these?

Both Mariko and I like ballroom dancing, and I have four over-the-top gold ballgowns from some rather wild quartet gigs. It was time to lift it off the page and smush it all together.

The grand result: a “Baroque Dance Party!” We dressed up, brought our fiddles and treats to Northstar Ballroom, and had a perfect afternoon out that was quite unrelated to busy holidays or recital season.

The students’ level didn’t matter. They rotated in and out of the band, playing the melodies and parts that they knew. We even had two colleagues from the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra to round out the group by adding harmony parts on cello and violin.

The students got to hear their sound mix with players of different abilities, in addition to hearing familiar tunes with unfamiliar harmonies. Student and parents widened their circle of musical families while doing something completely different (dancing) yet extraordinarily comfortable (review tunes!). Students also got both the player and dancer’s points of view! And everyone could see their teachers having fun, not worried about being perfect, which is fantastic and empowering.

I relished how stress-free the event was. There was no massive learning curve—thank you, review songs! Having friendly tall people as collaborators—from teachers, opera players, and parents—infused joy and fun into the project, making light work of any details. It was a fantastic start on the long game toward playing with accompanists of any age. And aside from the great benefit of our feet getting us all into the ¾ groove, my gold dresses got another wild day out!

[size=110]How to host your own ‘Bench to Baroque Bash’[/size]

Logistics and organizational tips:

Time Length: 90 minutes was ideal for this group dance class, with respect to our dancing energy and allowing time for socialization and clean-up.

Respect the Rules of the Location: This needs to be taught every time you bring your students out into the real world. Ballroom floors must be kept immaculate. Simple finger foods and drinks are only allowed in designated areas off the floor. To protect the floor, only stocking feet or dance shoes are allowed.

Fee: I recommend charging a fee to cover expenses. For our “Bench to Baroque,” Mariko and I gifted our time and used the fee to pay the dance teacher and thank our opera friends. Collect all fees at least a week before the event so you have an accurate headcount for space. This also confirms the students’ pieces and lesson reviews will have a clear focus.

Four to six weeks prior to the event: save the date and preview

It’s nice to create a flyer that includes all the basics as well as how this fun event is a stepping stone in our musicianship capabilities. You should explain how students will take turns to play on the pieces they know and dance all the rest, just like Suzuki Play-Ins.

Be specific about the food and beverage rules, shoe requirements, and keeping the ballroom clean.

List the music that will be played. Our list was in two colors. Blue for Book One, green for other tunes. Our “blue” tunes were Minuet 3 (11 for Piano), Minuet 2 (5 for Piano), and Gossec Gavotte.

Our “green” tunes were “Autumn” from Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Handel “Bouree” and the Gavottes by Lully, Becker, and Thomas.

I am happy to share my flyer upon email request.

Two to three weeks prior to the event: make a sign-up sheet for the snacks.

Always include the fee, deadline, and other info for easy reference. The dress code for us was an opportunity for a different kind of special, as some of the kids get really excited to wear poofy dresses or Baroque-style costumes. They knew that I was going to go really big, but the gold bit was left as a surprise!

On the day of the event:

Bring your instrument, music, and stands for guest colleagues, a check for the ballroom fee, and honorariums for guest colleagues. The students’ pieces are memorized. They bring their violins, families, and snacks, and smiles.

Within two weeks after the event:

Prepare group thank you cards for the ballroom and guest artists. It is a nice touch to have this card feature a picture from the event. My students signed these thank you cards during their lesson.