Applying the Families of Sound (3.2)

Tchaikovsky - Children's Album, Op.39 no.6 (The Sick Doll)

• One exercise for cultivating a Round Sound uses the eraser of a new pencil.
• Observe the lift, drop, and follow through of the arm while 'playing' the key with the pencil.
• Decelerate just after going through the sound point and rebound off the bottom of the key bed.
• Try out using the pencil trick in Tchaikovsky’s The Sick Doll.

Edvard Grieg - Lyric Pieces, Op.68 no.1 (Sailor's Song)

• The Rhythmic Sound utilises a fast attack. This is especially helpful to realise agogic accents–those that are differentiated by their rhythmic placement. This is akin to the syllabic stress and inflection that takes place in each spoken language.
• Attention to rhythmic inflection greatly heightens the expressive intent and execution of musical phrasing.

Edvard Grieg - Lyric Pieces, Op.68 no.1 (Sailor's Song)

Experiment with combining the faster attack of a Rhythmic Sound (thrust) with the more cushioned Round Sound, as demonstrated in the video, using passages from Grieg’s Sailor’s Song.

Honey, from In the Bottoms by R. Nathaniel Dett

Experiment alternating between Round and Rhythmic attacks in Dett’s Honey, as demonstrated in the video.

Warrior's song, from 25 Etudes mélodiques, Op.45 by Stephen Heller

Experiment alternating between Ringing and Rhythmic attacks in Heller’s Warrior’s Song, as demonstrated in the video.