Coaching duet/duo piano.(Forum Focus: Collaborative Performance)

The challenges of playing duets at one piano, duo piano and chamber music can serve as opportunities to open new worlds of musical understanding, awareness of ensemble issues and parameters of individuality. While the ultimate goals of musical communication, technical mastery and stylistic comprehension are essentially the same for that of a soloist or 100 members of a symphony orchestra led by a conductor, the means of achieving these ends are dramatically variable. A soloist can express a wide variety of spontaneous interpretations that may, or may not, be logical. But as soon as at least one other person is brought into the equation, the whims and fancies that are often the hallmarks of solo playing can bring chaos and destruction to the ensemble.

In any kind of collaborative context, the understanding of the score must be comprehensive and detailed for each participant to know the relative importance of his or her material. The interpretive decisions must make sense and be felt by all in order to be executed effectively. And, hopefully, the players will have near equal input in this process.

Naturally, it is possible, and highly likely, that a strong musical personality will dominate the decision-making process. This can be true in duet/duo, trio and larger ensembles, and absolutely necessary in the case of a conductor of a large ensemble. However, there are specific considerations that duet/duo teams can employ to facilitate this end.

We would suggest that both pianists be of approximately the same level of advancement and genuinely enjoy working together. It is not fun to work with someone who is either far inferior or superior and with someone we do not enjoying being with. This may seem obvious, but we have coached married couples, for instance, who have serious resentment issues that boil over in these settings. This should be fun and enjoyable and an experience that is carried out in a spirit of mutual cooperation and desire to discover.

We try to teach listening skills that are often more challenging than in solo playing. Because one is playing and practicing only one part, familiarity with the other part can be severely limited. This is, and will continue to be, a problem until each person is able to listen to the other person's part as well as her own. Balance is another aspect that is critical and takes major adjusting. If playing duo piano, the position and nature of each instrument must be taken into consideration to avoid one piano covering the other. In the case of four-hand duet playing at one piano, the issue ...