De Pedro 2011 APPC, Play Piano Play - The Pedagogy of Friedrich Gulda

8/10/2019 De Pedro 2011 APPC, Play Piano Play - The Pedagogy of Friedrich Gulda

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Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference Proceedings Jovanni-Rey de Pedro

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PLAY PIANO PLAY: THE PEDAGOGY OF FRIEDRICH GULDA

Jovanni-Rey de Pedro

After winning the International Geneva Competition at age 16, Viennese pianist Friedrich

Gulda (1930-2000) was exposed for the first time to American jazz music on a visit to NewYork in 1950. Fascinated by its rhythms and harmonies, this event marked the beginning of a

lifelong passion to break barriers between the classical and jazz idioms and combine the two

genres. Although Gulda met great success as a crossover pianist, his piano compositions

failed to receive the attention deserved. This lecture recital will examine Guldas

contribution to crossover piano pedagogy, Play Piano Play 10 bungsstcke fr Yuko.

INTRODUCTION

When I was a boy, my father always advised me to expand my musical horizons. Aside from

my weekly classical piano lessons, he encouraged me to take up various instruments and read

from lead sheets (him being a classical-turned-pop pianist himself). The Los Angeles County

High School for the Arts provided the opportunities I needed to take this a step further. I

continued my classical training but additionally participated in everything from singing in

various ensembles, to playing in the percussion ensemble, to conducting the symphony

orchestra, to accompanying Josh Groban (who was one year ahead of me) as he sung the lead

role in the schools production of Fiddler on the Roof. I was at an age where everything

interested me and, much to my fathers delight, I took full advantage of the schools award-winning jazzprogram and joined the lab band and finishes courses in jazz theory.

Singing in the gospel and jazz choirs and playing piano in the lab band changed the way I

thought and felt about music. Although I admit that I never became a real jazz musician, I

was fascinated and completely absorbed in the groove and freedom of the music that I spent

a lot of time practicing scales (blues, pentatonic, octatonic and the like) and memorizing

chord changes to standards. Being constantly exposed to this music brought a certain

relaxation and confidence to my playing which shined when I played classical music as well.

In order to pursue my studies in classical piano further, I reluctantly gave up jazz activities, as

I found it near impossible to practice and excel in both idioms. However, as a student a few

years later at the Vienna Conservatory, I was required to take a jazz improvisation class

taught by Roland Batik and was introduced for the first time to the set Play Piano Play by

Friedrich Gulda. I knew of Gulda as a classical musician but not of his life and resounding

success as a jazz pianist. Batik, who had studied with Gulda and was himself famous for


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fusing jazz and classical music in his compositions and recital programs, encouraged us to get

to know these pieces and I found these the perfect blend between freedom and discipline a

chance not only to play in the jazz style, but also create and learn. Creativity became almost

as important as technique itself and it was attractive to me that the performer played an

important role in formulating spontaneously the structure of some pieces through

improvisation. Unlike the works of other jazz-styled composers such as George Gershwin,

Morton Gould and Nikolai Kapustin, Guldas set not only requires moments of

improvisation, but encourages interpretational liberties such as added embellishments notes

ingales (and gales) and improvised accompaniment. This paper will follow several of

Guldas exercises fromPlay Piano Play and offer an analysis into their technical and creative

demands.

BIOGRAPHY

Friedrich Gulda was one of the most successful, albeit controversial, crossover jazz-classical

musicians ever. He performed with the likes of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Joe

Zawinul, but was internationally known as a brilliant pianist of impeccable technique. His

sensitive and intellectual interpretations of the classical masters, from Bach to Debussy, has

earned him a distinguished reputation and a position in Deccas Great Pianists of the

Twentieth Century series.

Gulda was a free and eccentric spirit who caused controversy among the Viennese and

concert-going public for his unorthodox practices. Among these was the life-long attempt to

break barriers between classical and jazz idioms by freely incorporating both genres in his

concerts. He became bored and disillusioned with the concert circle and turned to more

eccentric projects. Possessing a large amount of repertoire, Gulda often changed programs

last minute to maintain the sense of improvisation. He would also improvise at length, not

always to the delight of audience members. He caused an uproar in by canceling his summer

master class at the Salzburg Mozarteum in order to make an appearance at New Yorks

Birdland Jazz Club and rejected standard concert attire, appearing naked with his girlfriend

for a rendition of Schumann songs on the recorder (Blom, 2001).

In 1969, the Vienna Academy of Music awarded Gulda the prestigious Beethoven Ring,

which he rejected in protest to what he regarded as a constricting educational system. This

was only one of many more difficulties between Gulda and Vienna. Music critics with openly


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hostile towards his experimental work, and he created more tension in the 80s when he failed

to show up for scheduled concerts.

The introduction to Guldas documentary, So What?! offers, in his own words, the essence of

his life (2007):

Many people consider my very existence a scandal. Its scandalous when someone

constantly does things that ordinarily shouldnt be done. You dont play Mozart or

Beethoven and go to a jazz club two hours later. I dont lead a normal life. There are

some things that I just dont do although everyone else does. Anyone who thinks and

lives as I do is a constant scandal. And when certain events make that obvious, then

its obvious, thats all. Basically my whole life is a scandal.

Gulda once said (2007), To be somebody important in Austria you first have to be dead. So

in 1999, he pulled one of the most memorable scandals in history and sent a fax from Zurich

Airport announcing his death, only to have a resurrection party a few days later.

Friedrich Gulda was born on 16 May 1930 in Vienna to Friedrich Johann and Marie Aloysia

Gulda, both teachers. He began piano lessons at age 7 with Felix Pazofsky at the Wiener

Volkskonservatorium where he studied until 1942. In 1939, he composed his first piece,

Allegretto fuer Klavier and the next year, composed two scherzi for piano.

Gulda entered the Reichshochschule fuer Music Wien in 1942, where he studied piano with

Bruno Seidlhofer and theory with Joseph Marx. His first public performance took place in the

Brahms-saal on 20 December 1944. On June 24, 1944, Gulda performed with the Viennese

Symphony Orchestra in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein.

His first experience with jazz was over enemy radio broadcasts from Britain that his father

listened to in Vienna during the war; influences of which one can hear in his Klavierstueck of

1946.

Also in 1946, Gulda controversially won the International Competition in Geneva against

Belgian pianist Lode Backx. This led to concert engagements around the world, as well as his

debut solo recital in the Grosse Musikvereinssaal on 10 December.


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Gulda composed the Mass in B Major in 1947 as his final piece for Professor Marx. Between

1948 and 1949, Gulda went on to perform more than 60 concerts across Europe and South

America.

The turning point in his life was a visit to New York. On 11 October 1950, Gulda made his

Carnegie Hall debut. After the concert, he received his first impressions of live jazz when he

visited the infamous Birdland Jazz Club in New York. He became more involved with jazz

after an subsequent encounter with trumpeter Dizzie Gillespie following a performance with

the Chicago Symphony in 1951. Gulda did not believe societys rule that people belonged to

certain groups, artistically and socially. That one is either a classical or jazz musician. So he

crossed over deliberately.

In 1955, Gulda opened Fattys Saloon, which became the focal point of the Viennese jazz

scene and one of Europes largest jazz establishments. This same year, he made the first

recordings of his own jazz compositions and arrangements. In 1956, only a few years after

his first run-in with jazz, Gulda played his first gig at the Birdland Club in New York,

followed by an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. Guldas crossover generated bad

reviews at first in 1956, however since the worlds remained separated, it didnt hurt his

career.

Gulda continued, through 1960, to give classical concerts. However, many pieces such as the

Prokofiev 7th

Sonata and Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition disappeared from his

repertoire.

Through the early 1960, Gulda incorporated more jazz into his concerts. Some pieces

composed during this time were the 3 jazz pieces (A Wild One, Awakening, and Tehran),

Music for 3 Soloists and Band and Music for Piano and Band. He even played baritone

saxophone for the first time during a jazz-workshop-concert, and would perform half-classic,

half-jazz concerts with a trio. Gulda acknowledged that at first, he was nothing at jazz. He

recalled having to work long and hard and, although the right people started to notice him,

they still not take him seriously.


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In 1964, Gulda composed his Prelude and Fugue for solo piano and founded the Eurojazz-

Orchester, a jazz trio and a big band. He initiated the Viennese International Competition for

Modern Jazz in 1966, followed by the International Music Forum in Ossiachersee, with the

theme, Improvisation in Music Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

1970 and 1971 saw a number of premieres including the exercises cycle Play Piano Play

which were his handbook on teaching classically-trained musicians how to swing, and

perhaps his most famous piece for piano, the Variations on Light My Fire.

Gulda entered an era where the border between normality and madness seemed most unclear.

He drastically cut back playing classical altogether for a while and turned his attention to

free music. Free music had one rule: To refuse to acknowledge any rules at all. People did

have problems with his free music, as there were many empty hall and financial setbacks

(Gulda, 2007).

Towards the late 70s, Gulda programmed more and more classical music, but often had no

fixed program to show elements of improvisation and spontaneity. His goal was ultimately to

keep options open as to what to play and how to play it until last minute in order for the

audience to encounter the artistic experience of hearing Gulda. Despite this revival of

classical music, he still did not adhere to the unwritten rules of concert etiquette, using

amplified sound and lighting effects.

In the years prior to his death, Gulda held dance parties and raves with DJ Pippi and the

Paradise Band and Girls, and played regular techno sessions with the Liverpool DJ Vertigo

(Blom, 2000).

One of Guldas wishes was to die on Mozarts birthday, so, on 27 January 2000, Friedrich

Gulda died of a heart attack at the ago of 69.

PLAY PIANO PLAYAN OVERVIEW

Published by Papageno in 1971, Play Piano Play are a set of ten exercises dedicated to his

second wife, Yuko, which are intended for students who desire to develop mastery of the

piano, as well as develop the essential qualities soak up the fundamentals of modern piano

style (Gulda, preface).


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The ten exercises for piano are, as the original sub-title indicates, practice pieces based on the

most valuable lessons Gulda himself learned: simple blues, rhythm, ballad, stride, the feel for

the walking bass, some pop rhythms and Latin-American elements, as well as the basic

stimuli to develop the ability to improvise. Gulda designed these series of etudes to serve a

dual purpose: first as preparatory pieces intended to help [classical] pianists achieve one of

the steps within what Gulda called the long road to freedom, and secondly as pieces to bring

fun (spass machen) to the performer through practicing and audience through listening

(Gulda, preface). One can ultimately look at these pieces and regard them as a handbook in

providing classically trained performers with the means to learn how to swing, and in

teaching them how jazz inflections differ from classical music (Hamelin, 2).

From the preface of the first published edition, Gulda advises one the performing and

teaching of Play Piano Play (1971):

Should one perform this as a complete cycle, the order should remain the same/be

adhered to. Should one select a few of their favorites, the choice of the order is up to

the performer. They are also suitable as single encore pieces. The pedagogical purpose

however would be fulfilled best when one practices in the following order: 9, 1, 5, 4,

2, 8, 6, 10, 3, 7. The further the student progresses, the more improvisatory

modifications are permitted and hoped-for, certainly required. One can realize Piece 9

without improvisational know how as complete, but this does not work for piece

7. There, improvisational know how is needed! The student will be led by the

hand to an extent: The goal is, that out of an academic key -pusher, a true musician

will come forth. If he becomes this one, not only will he have success by the

performance of these pieces, but also to be appropriately prepared to master of the

more difficult works in the present book (1971, Preface).


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IX. Allegro, dolce

This first exercise in Guldas progression addresses mainly rhythm and hand coordination.

Although written in 3/4, the perpetual-mobile accompaniment figure is notated in 6/8. The

only exception to this is when the harmonies change from E minor to B minor in m. 52 and

116. The main rhythmic scheme of the right hand melody is the Latin-Americansesquialtera.

With similar rhythmic features to a hemiola, their differences lie in the historical and cultural

usage. The hemiola is a European rhythmical device in which three units of duple meter are

notated as if they were two units of triple meter. Historically, the hemiola rhythm was used

only as a momentary intrusion in works Western European art music. The sesquialtera is of

Spanish origin, however was probably derived from the Arabic rhythm called saraband

and eventually found itself integrated into the dances of Latin America. Its characteristic

feature is the alternation or superposition of duple and triple time within groups of six

quavers (de Pedro, 35). Examples of this rhythm are found in the final movement of

Ginasteras Piano Sonata, Op. 22 and Bernsteins America from West Side Story. Because

of this mix-metered rhythm, a strong emphasis on the first beat is desired.

The piece is in binary form with a simple harmonic structure (following a short 4- bar

introduction) of: B minor for 32 bars, E minor for 16 bars, B minor again 16 bars and repeat.

The melody, however, starts in B pentatonic and later uses hints of the dorian mode when

harmonized.

Technical difficulties include maintaining a balanced and relaxed hand to execute the

repeated notes in the left hand thumb and right hand pinky, as the accompaniment figure

switches hands. This requires a great deal of stamina as this moves at a high rate of speed.

Because of the changing rhythmic feel, concentration is required as the melody and

accompaniment switch hands. The melody is harmonized throughout the piece in parallel 3-

note and 4-note chords, reminiscent to a brass or saxophone section, but also to

harmonization techniques used by Bartok, Ginastera, and Debussy, to name a few. A flexiblewrist action is needed to successfully execute the 2-note slurs as well as the short, articulated


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notes.

I. Moderato

Exercises No. 1 already explores a number of jazz elements; namely the swing rhythm (or

what Gulda notates as notes ingales), a walking bass line, free and notated ornamentation,

harmony and voicing, and a taste of a short, virtuosic (albeit notated) improvisation.

This exercise is structured in ternary form, AABA, with the 16-bar A sections being a 4-voice

fugue in G major, and the contrasting B section being freer and improvisatory-like with a

walking bass line moving through ii-V-I progressions in Bb, A and finally G.

From this point on in the cycle, notes ingalesbecomes an important feature. Although Guldadoes not make any attempt to teach or explain the exact execution of notes ingales, he does

refer to it in the preface as the jazzy, French style (Gulda, preface). Referred in modern jazz

terminology as a swung note, it is interesting to observe that Gulda referred to the Baroque

practice of playing consecutive eighth-notes unequally in an exercise which begins with a

fugue. Though notated as equal time values, eighth notes in jazz are performed with unequal

value and are commonly triplet-based therefore alternating between long and short as

shown.

Swinging, however, is not just about rhythm, but articulation as well and although Gulda has

not left us any literal explanation, we can find a practical explanation in a later work. Gulda

used the subject of this fugue in the first of his Sechs Etueden fuer Chor, Keyboards, Drums

and Percussion. In this piece, he notates the subject in 12/8 time, thus writing out the swing

rhythm. The syllables he used, common in scat (or vocal) solos, reflect the articulation of

each note and gives us, as performers, insight into swing playing.


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By following this example, we see that in accordance with jazz style, the first note being on

the off-beat is accented. Du, Di and Dl refer to shortening of note values, and that an

articulation is implied on the syncopated Da, therefore making the last Di of the first

measure almost staccato-like.

In his recording of this exercise, Gulda freely ornaments the fugue subject in the repetition of

A, and its eventual return. Among the devices he uses are r falls (or short glissandi), turns,

scoops and note repetitions that slightly modify the rhythm.

The B section is made of two contrasting parts. The first eight bars features a walking bass

line accompanying a melody using thirds and sixths. Here, Gulda notates dotted eighth-

sixteenth, known as Hard swing, to make the upbeats faster, almost appoggiatura-like. The

bass line must be played legato, but each note must be articulated to recall the sound of a

plucked string.

At m. 25, the walking bass stops on a downbeat accent calling attention a four-bar run,

which is a rapid descending, or ascending, usually right-hand passage on the piano in the

form of a continuous scale, or a scale with variations (Brotman). Like in many jazz runs,

patterns are dependent on chromatic passing tones and suspensions. This makes the patterns

unusual and, at times, uncomfortable. The left hand offers an initial insight into jazz

harmonization as the suspended F#7 chord is at first without a bass note.

Technical difficulties of this exercise include the interpretation of notes ingales, voicing and

division between hands usually associated in playing polyphonic music, fingering in non-

traditional patterns.


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II. Alla Marcia, risoluto

Exercises No. 2 is very reminiscent of a piece for jazz band because of its solo versus tutti

implications. It is the first piece in pedagogical order to require improvisation, though only in

small sections over a single harmony. With a tonal center of F, one can choose to utilize the F

blues scale The improvised sections are organized in what jazz musicians call stop

choruses, which is a designated solo section where the rhythm section (or tutti) play on the

first beat of each measure. In the case of this piece, the tutti occurs on the fourth (upbeat) and

first beats (Flamme, 265-66).

The piece begins with a twelve-bar theme (A) is based on several contrasting motivic

materials. The first 2-bar motive (x), in F-dorian, is marked forte. In four voices, the tenor

and soprano state the highly syncopated theme in parallel octaves with the other two voices

filling out the harmonies. Interesting is the notated rhythm, as the first beat orally appears to

be an anacrusis. This motive is in the middle register of the piano. Contrasting to this is the

second motivic group (y), in F major marked piano, where 5 chords (with beginning

appoggiatura) move in parallel motion in a higher register. The third motive (z) in m. 9 is a

boogie-woogie swing in the dominant of F major.

The B section is comprised of two stop choruses of eight bars each introduced by a short

walking bass. The tutti stops are always the sub-dominant and tonic, which allows the

performer to improvise in short segments. Gulda has written out his own improvisation in a

third system for the right hand as a recommendation to help the student understand the

language. Among his suggestions are harmonies in fourths, triplets, chromatic grace-notes,


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fast note repetitions, syncopations, ornaments and swing eighths. Following these choruses is

a short, 3-bar interlude that recalls the boogie- woogie motivez of the opening.

Section C is an 8-bar episode that briefly features a variation on stride piano technique, which

is a style of piano playing that alternates the left hand between bass (on the first and third

beats) and a chord (on second and fourth beats). Also present are block chords in semi-

parallel motion (that is the outer voices move in parallel motion) and unison figures in both

hands.

Sections A, B and C are repeated. A is written lightly ornamented and with short fills to be

played under the long, sustained notes ofx. This time the tutti in the stop chorus is in a higher

register, implying a bass solo. Again, Gulda writes out a recommended path: the first chorus

with short, single-voiced, swinging figures then in parallel octaves.

Section C is re-written in full octave chords in the right hand, and an accompaniment where a

reach of a minor 10th

is necessary. A virtuosic descending arpeggio followed by ascending

octaves interrupts the parallel chords. A is then brought back again in its entirety with further

developed fills in y. The coda in m. 105 is an expansion and re-voicing of motive y and ends

pianissimo in a plagal cadence.

VIII. Tempo giusto e risoluto

Another exercise in ABA (ternary) form and featuring 3-part fugal writing, Exercise No. 8

explores the jazz-rock idiom, heavily built on tonic and dominant harmonies. Flamme finds

three contrasting elements which Gulda unifies in the first 16 bars: 8 bars of polyphonic

writing, a 4-bar chords passage and a 4-bar bass ostinato on E with A major and E major

chords (Flamme, 271-72). The use of the slide (grace note) is more prominent and, together


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with the bass ostinato, become stylistic tools for improvisation in Section B.

Section A begins with a short but articulated fugal subject that uses straight rhythms with a

rock-pop drive. The exposition follows quite strictly that of a Baroque fugue, with the Dux

and Comes in E minor and B minor, respectively. The polyphonic writing is abandoned after

the exposition for blocked chords in a typical rock rhythm cadencing in E minor, then E

major. The four bar vamp in E major at the end of Section A is resolved to A major at its

return.

Section B is an 8-bar chorus based four, 2-bar riffs in E minor and B minor that can be

expanded. Gulda writes his own improvisation as a model, but also gives the footnote,

The more advanced student would know how to expand and shape [Section B]. (Gulda,

35). This is the first time that Gulda gives the freedom to expand a whole section. The G-

sharp/G-natural and D-sharp/D-natural relationships imply use of an E Blues and B Blues

scale. Unlike Exercise No. 2, the amount of improvising at a given time is expanded to an 8-

bar chorus instead of small motives in between stops, and use of two scales is required.

There are several new techniques that Gulda introduces in Section B. The first of which is the

use of the sostenuto pedal to hold the low E throughout this section. Side- slipping in the

accompaniment allows for chromatic movement implying tonic and dominant harmonic

changes. E minor is notated as G-sharp, D and G-natural. B minor is notated as A, D-sharp

and G. Gulda here is exploring extensions as G, used as a common tone, is both the third of E

minor, and thirteenth scale degree of B minor.

Technical difficulties are the execution of heavily syncopated rhythms, voicing and division

between hands usually associated in playing polyphonic music, double and rapid grace-notes,

fast register changes, use of sostenuto pedal and improvisation using E and B Blues scales.

VI. Presto possible

One of the more technically difficult and fast-paced pieces, Exercises No. 6 makes full use of

the double-escape action of the piano with rapid, repeated notes that are reminiscent of

Prokofievs Toccata or DebussysLa serenade interrompue (Ex. 1), which Gulda is known to

have had in his active concert repertoire (Flamme, 270). The structure is

AA`BA``BA```BA`BC. There are two main structural components, the aforementioned rapid-


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note section, which changes tonal centers to F minor and G minor upon its returns (A), and an

improvisation sections over a two-bar, fast stride piano riff on a i-II-V-I progression (B). This

section remains in C minor.

1) Debussy:La serenade interrompue

The main theme (A) starts with a strong, accented downbeat of unison Cs in both hands,

followed by rapid middle Cs played by alternating hands. This one-line melody reaches to the

flat fifth and eight scale degrees before making a gradual descent , briefly visiting tones from

the G Blues scale (D-flat, B-natural and B-flat), before being repeated again. In the repetition

of A, octaves dominate the right hand melody, while the left hand continues with single

notes.

Section B is also 12 bars, but divided into 4 groups of 2 bars each. The first of which are in

the tonic, C minor, then two beats of D7 (II) and two beats of G7 (V). Gulda again notates an

improvisation for the first appearance of B, but expects the performer to improvise upon the

subsequent two returns. In his improvisation, Gulda utilizes the C Blues scale and puts

emphasis on the flat-fifth scale degree of C minor, which is F- sharp/G-flat.

The coda continues in eight bars of stride piano technique before quoting the opening theme a

final time, both hands in octaves. A final C blues scale in descending unison octaves brings

the piece to an exciting close.


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Despite the rapid tempo, one must continue to feel the notes ingales. In fact, Gulda advises

to practice notes ingales diligently and slowly. Although notes ingales is nearly impossible

to do in such a rapid tempo, practicing as such will lighten the touch on the left hand, making

the alternation between hands less difficult.

X. Allegro pesante

Exercise No. 10 is the culmination and unification of the all the technical and creative

demands made of the student from the previous exercises covered. Notes ingales dominate

the piece rhythmically, and offbeat accents, which anticipate the harmony of the subsequent

bar, are prevalent (called rhythmic and harmonic anticipation) (Creighton, 2009).

The theme, in unison octaves, is presented in three phrases of four bars each. The melody, in

common time, is distinctly in bebop style, as each phrase ends prematurely on the second half

of the fourth beat and explore upper extensions of the harmony (flat-13, flat-9, sharp-4). In

this case, Gulda uses the diminished-fifth/augmented-fourth as the truanced ending first

descending, then ascending as the first phrase is repeated in inversion. The theme is repeated

in the next chorus in octaves in the right hand, with a majority step-wise counterpoint (also in

octaves) in the left. It must be ensured that careful attention to the release of short notes be

made.


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The compositional style of the subsequent choruses (groups of 12 bars) follow the structure

of the theme in which textures and different jazz idioms are changed every four bars. The

first four bars of the next chorus (starting at m. 25) feature solo versus tutti writing (in this

case duo versus tutti as the solo line is notated in unison octaves) similar to Exercise No. 2.

The next four bars are a solo piano (notated) improvisation with syncopated accompaniment

mainly using dominant seventh chords followed by four bars of a bass solo.

The next chorus (12 bars) makes more technical demands of the performer. It begins with a

transposed version of the previous bass solo, but in double thirds for the right hand. The right

hand then accompanies the rising triplet figures in the bass. This figure is a series of written-

out mordents, and can also be seen in the twentieth variation of Beethovens C minor

Variations, WoO 80. The final four bars are augmented chord arpeggios over a dominant (V)

pedal tone.

2a) Gulda:Exercise No. 10

2b) Beethoven: Variations in C minor, WoO

The next two choruses are blues choruses in C Major. The first of which has a written-out

improvisation and walking bass line, the second of which only has chord changes. Gulda

permits the performer to expand and modify the blues chorus, taking as many repeats as

necessary. Gulda requests a similar accompaniment in the second chorus and leaves thewalking bass line up to the performer. In taking more choruses, further accompaniment

techniques suggested are Garner-style chords1, stride piano and comping

2.

The coda features a final statement of the first seven notes, but in rotating octaves after the C

pickup3

. The first two notes are notated in semi-quavers with a minim duration, then the last

four notes (F-C-B-D) in crotchet duration. This technique recalls the first movement of

Schuberts Sonata in A minor, D. 784.


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3a) Gulda:Exercise No. 10

3b) Schubert: Sonata in A minor, D. 784 (I.)

Among the technical difficulties are playing melodic octaves, rhythmic precision, execution

of double turns for stylistic purposes, rapid virtuosic passagework in both hands, double

thirds, C Blues improvisation with walking bass, use of sostenuto pedal, and rotating octaves.

SUMMARY

Just as Bach wrote out his improvisations and ornaments as a pedagogical tool for his

students to learn the style, the exercises in Guldas Play Piano Play serve the same purpose.

To learn stylejazz style.

Pieces of the cycle not discusses but worth mentioning here are No. 5, which is a walking

bass etude, and No. 7, the last of the pedagogical cycle. No. 7 is a ballad in which only the

melody is notated, giving the performer freedom to improvise from the chord charts. This

ability, perhaps the highest skill in improvisation, requires utmost skill in chord voicing, lead

sheet reading and fill playing.4

As highlighted above,Play Piano Play, when learned in the pedagogical cycle combines the

technical discipline of notated classical music and the creativity and freedom of jazz idioms.

This system will give a player the tools necessary in both improvisation skills and technical

mastery to allow one to tackle further, more complex compositions of Gulda (Gulda, 1971,

Preface). Among Guldas other pieces for piano include the famous Variations on the song


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Light my Fire, composed in 1971, the year of Jim Morrisons death, a 3-movement Sonatine

(Entre,Ballad, Shuffle) and thePiano V ariations.


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REFERENCES

Blom, Philip. (2000, February 1). Friedrich Gulda: Gifted pianist on a musical journey from

the classics to jazz. The Guardian. Retrieved from

www.guardian.co.uk/news/2000/feb/01/guardianobituaries

Brunner, Gerhard and Martin Elste. "Gulda, Friedrich." In Grove Music Online. Oxford

Music Online,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/subscriber/article/grove/mu

sic/12018 (accessed March 13, 2011).

James, Burnett and Jeffrey Dean . "Jazz." In The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by

Alison Latham. Oxford Music Online,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/subscriber/article/opr/t114 /e3532

(accessed March 13, 2011).

Cosse, Peter. (1998). Liner notes to Great Pianists of the 20

th

Century: Friedrich Gulda I[CD]. Translated by Mary Whitthall. USA. Philips.

Cosse, Peter. (1999). Liner notes to Great Pianists of the 20th

Century: Friedrich Gulda II

[CD]. Translated by Mary Whitthall. Netherlands. Philips.

Creighton, Randall. (2009).A man of two worlds: classical and jazz influences in Nikolai

Kapustins Twenty Four Preludes, Op. 53. Doctor of Musical Arts dissertation, the University

of Arizona, Retrieved from

http://randycreighton.com/music/kapustin/KapustinFinalComplete.pdf

de Pedro, Jovanni. (2008). Search for Identity: Musical History of Argentina and StylisticInfluences in the Piano Works of Alberto Ginastera until 1952. Master of Music dissertation,

Trinity College of Music.

Flamme, Friedrich. (2006).Der Pianist und Komponist Friedrich Gulda: Studien zu

Repertoire und Kompositorischem Schaffen. Goettingen: Cuvillier Verlag.

Gulda, Friedrich. (1971).Play Piano Play (Klavier-Kompositionen). Austria. Papageno.

Hamelin, Marc-Andre. (2008).In a State of Jazz [CD] UK. Hyperion Records LTD.

Kraus, Gottfried. (2004). Liner notes toFriedrich Gulda/ Beethoven, Bach [CD]. Translatedby J & M Berridge. France. Andante.

Kraus, Gottfried. (2005). Liner notes toFriedrich Gulda, piano [CD]. Translated by Charles

Johnston. France. Andante.

Siepmann, Jeremy. (2005). Liner notes toFriedrich Gulda: Decca Beethoven Recordings

1950-1958 [CD]. UK. Decca Music Group Limited.

So What?! Friedrich Gulda: A Portrait. 2007 [DVD] Directed by Benedict Mirow and

Fridemann Leipold. Germany: Deutsche Grammophon GMBH. (Narrated by Friedrich Gulda

and Ulrich Mhe)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2000/feb/01/guardianobituarieshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2000/feb/01/guardianobituarieshttp://randycreighton.com/music/kapustin/KapustinFinalComplete.pdfhttp://randycreighton.com/music/kapustin/KapustinFinalComplete.pdfhttp://randycreighton.com/music/kapustin/KapustinFinalComplete.pdfhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2000/feb/01/guardianobituaries


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About the Author:Filipino-American pianist Jovanni-Rey de Pedro holds degrees from the Konservatorium

der Stadt Wien (Austria) and Trinity College of Music (England). He has performed in

venues in Asia, North America and Europe, and is a laureate of numerous international

competitions. Jovanni has served on the teaching staff at City University London, the New

Ross Chamber Music Festival (Ireland) and Interlochen Summer Arts Camp (USA), and haspresented at conferences for the College Music Society, Music Teachers National Association

and World Piano Conference. Currently, Jovanni holds a teaching assistantship at the

University of Michigan where he is a doctoral candidate in Piano Pedagogy and Performance.

Documents

De Pedro 2011 APPC, Play Piano Play - The Pedagogy of Friedrich Gulda