Practicing perfection

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Practicing PerfectionMemoryandPiano Performance


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Expertise: Research and ApplicationsRobertR. Hoffman, NanacyJ.Cooke,K.Anders Ericsson,GaryKlein,Eduardo Salas, DeanK.Simonton, RobertJ.Sternberg,and ChristopherD.Wickens,Series EditorsHoc/Caccibue/Hollnagel (1995) Expertiseand Technology:IssuesinCognitionand HumanComputer InteractionZsambok/Klein (1997) Naturalistic Decision MakingNoice/Noice (1997) TheNature ofExpertise in ProfessionalActing:ACognitiveViewSchraagen/Chipman/Shalin(2000) CognitiveTaskAnalysisSalas/Klein (2001) LinkingExpertise andNaturalistic DecisionMakingMieg (2001) TheSocialPsychology ofExpertise: CaseStudies inResearch,Professional Domains, and ExpertRolesChaffin/Imreh/Crawford (2002) PracticingPerfection: MemoryandPiano Performance


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Practicing PerfectionMemoryandPiano Performance

Roger ChaffinUniversity of ConnecticutGabriela ImrehMaryCrawfordUniversity of Connecticut

LAWRENCE ERLBAUMASSOCIATES, PUB LISHER S2002 Mahwah,NewJersey London


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Coverphototakenandprovided byJamesM.Steeber-New York.

Copyright2002byLawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.Allrights reserved.Nopartofthis bookmay bereproduced in anyform, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any othermeans, without prior written permissionof thepublisher.LawrenceErlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers10Industrial AvenueMahwah,NJ07430Cover design byKathrynHoughtalingLaceyLibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataChaffin, Roger.Practicing perfection : memory and piano performance / RogerChaffin,Gabriela Imreh,MaryCrawford.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. ), discography (p.),andindex.ISBN0-8058-2610-6(cloth :alk.paper)1. PianoInstruction and study.2. Music-Memorizing.3.PianoPerformance. 4. PianoPerformancePsychological aspects.I.Imreh, Gabriela. II .Crawford,Mary (Mary E.) HI.Title.MT220.C473 2002786.2'143dc21 2001053240CIPBooks published by LawrenceErlbaum Associates are printed onacid-freepaper,andtheir bindingsarechosenforstrengthanddurability.Printedin theUnited StatesofAmerica1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1


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In memory ofJohn Stephen Chaffin,wholovedthe pianoR.C. &M .C.

Tomy husband Dan,whoprovided continuous inspiration and supportfor thewritingof this book G.I.


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Contents

Series Editor'sForeword ixPreface xi

1 In theGreen Room 1Mary Crawford

2 Improvisations 8Mary Crawford3 In theWordsof theMasters: Artists' AccountsofTheir 26ExpertiseGabrielaImreh withMary Crawford4 Expert Mem ory 66Roger Chajfin5 TheWaytoCarnegie Hall 74Roger Chaffin

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viii CONTENTS6 Lessons FromJ.S. Bach: StagesofPractice 93RogerChaffin and Gabriela Imreh7 In theWordsof theArtist 139RogerChaffin and Gabriela Imreh8 Effects ofMusicalComplexityonPractice 165RogerChaffin and Gabriela Imreh9 MemoryandPerformance 197RogerChaffin and Gabriela Imreh

10 StagesofPractice Revisited 239RogerChaffin andGabriela Imreh11 CODA 247RogerChaffin, Mary Crawford, and Gabriela Imreh

Appendix 1:Discography forGabriela Imreh 270Appendix 2:Scoreof theItalianConcerto 271(Presto) byJ.S. BachReferences 279AuthorIndex 289Subject Index 293


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Series Editor's Foreword

The initial motivation for Roger Chaffin, Gabriela Imreh, and MaryCrawford'sproject came when Imreha professional musicianrec-ognized that ideasin thecognitive psychologyofexpertisewerenotjustpertinent to her work as a musician, but were actuallyhelpful in herpractice. What ensued was a collaboration among a cognitive psychologist,aconcert pianist,and asocial psychologist. Boththemethods theresearchers adopted,and the waythey present thematerialareinnovative.This makesfor acreative case studyincognitivefieldresearch.Notjustfor individuals interested in musical expertise, or even the broaderrelations between memoryand performance, this book could haveasubstantial impact, both on expertise studiesandpiano pedagogy.

RobertR . HoffmanPensacola,FLDecember 2001

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refaceref

Wehaveallexperienced thefascinationand awe ofwitnessingaworldclassperformance, whether amusicianin avirtuoso rendition, an iceskatermaking triple axel leaps,or akayaker hurtling down aclasssixrapid. Most of us havealsomarveled at the skill that makes such featspossible. Forexample,theperformanceofevena moderately complexpiano piece places incredible demands on memory and physical dexterity,requiringtheexecutionofbetween10 and 20notesasecond forminutes onend.Howdoesaperformer rememberitall, hitting everynote,and at the same time give an aestheticallysatisfyingperformance?Practice,ofcourse,ispartof theanswerto maketheperformanceautomatic. Still, how can aperformance that istotally automaticbe aestheticallysatisfying?Whatdoestheperformer think aboutas the fingersflyacross thekeyboard?Whathappens ifsomething goes wrong?Toanswer these questions, we convened an unlikely trio: a concertpianist and two psychologists. Thepianist, Gabriela Imreh, videotaped her practice as she learned the third movement,Presto,of theItalianConcertofor a CD ofworksbyJ.S.Bach (Imreh,1996).The CDthataccompanies this book containstheperformance that markedtheend point of the learning process. (The CD includes the entire concerto, although our study was confined to the learning of the third

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xii PREFACEmovement,Presto.)ThePrestois notunusuallydifficult,but it ishardtomemorize.Itsrapid tempo provides little opportunity for theperformertothink ahead, whileitsrecurring themes require closetracking of what comes next. Retrievalfrom long-term memory must berapid andautomatic. This made it the perfect choice for our study,since itturned out that the answers to all our questionswere to befound in theprocessof memorization.Theinitial impetusfor thestudy came when RogerChaffin, acognitivepsychologist, offered totalktoGabriela's students about memory.Gabrielawas struck by how well cognitive psychology's understandingofexpert memory meshed withher ownexperienceofmemorizingandpreparing for performance.As the conversations that followed grewinto collaboration, Mary Crawford, asocial psychologist, joined theteam in order to record how two people from such different backgrounds could workout thedifferencesbetween their viewpointsto arriveat acommon understanding.Wehave tried tomakethe resultingstoryaccessibletoboth psychologistsandmusicians.Forpsychologists,the tale is one of how principles of memorization developed in the laboratory apply in a real-world domain where peoplemake a living performing frommemory.Formusicians,thestoryis how these principlescan shed new light on the mysterious process of memorizing forperformanceand sohelpmake practice more effective.Webeginbyremindingthereaderof thebottom linein aperformer'slifethe numbingfear and the adrenaline rushofstepping onto theconcert stage in f ront of an audience. Chapter 1 describes aday-in-the-life of aconcert pianisttheday of arecital. Performanceisthecrucibleinwhichthehoursof preparation andpracticeare put tothe test, and we want you, the reader, to have this clearly in mind as youlearn, in later chapters, whatgoesinto that preparation. Chapter 2 tellshow our collaboration came about and the issues it raised. Whoseviewpoint would our description of the learning process represent? Performer andscientist speak to differentaudiences, withdifferent goals,rhetorical strategies, and ideas of what counts as evidence. To the extentthatwe have succeeded in providing insights into the creation of a performance,it is because we were able to harness the creative tension inherent in these differences.

Given the difficulty ofplaying long, complicated programsflawlesslyfrommemory,and thepublic humiliation that attends memorylapses, it might beexpectedthat the pedagogical traditions in musicschools and conservatories would include detailed strategiesfor addressing theproblemsinvolved. This provesnot to be so.Conservatory training provides plenty of experience with performance, butmemorization is seen as a largely idiosyncratic matter. Chapter 3makes this point byanalyzing interviews with well known pianistsin


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PREFACE xiiiwhich they talk about memory and performance. Their comments reveal widespread agreement about theprimacyofauditoryandmotormemory and aconsensus that therearelarge individualdifferencesinthe use of visual memory. In contrast, the formof memory most studied by psychologists, conceptual or declarative memory, is scarcelymentioned. Thereisplentyofdiscussionofparticular manifestationsofconceptual memory, e.g.,theimportanceofarchitectureormusicalform,but rarely in the context of memorization. The pianists seem tothinkofmemorizingassomething quite distinctfromthestudyof musicalform orharmonic structure.Iftrue, this would mean that musicalmemoryis different fromothertypesofexpert memory.

One of thehallmarksofexpertise is anabilityto memorize witha facilitythatoftenseems superhuman. Musiciansare noexception.The biographies of famous performers are full of tales ofamazing memoryfeats,and Gabriela has some of her own to tell. Psychologists havebeenable to explain the memory abilities of other kinds of experts in terms ofgeneral principles of memory. Their research has, however, focused ondomains like memory forchess games anddigit strings in which thememoryis largely conceptual (or declarative). It is not immediately obviousthatthesame principles would accountfor thememoryfeatsofmusicians.Conceptual memorym ay bemuch less important in music,because motorandauditory memoryare somuchmore central.Wesuggest in chapter4that, contraryto what many pianists appear tothink,conceptual memoryisimportantin musical performance. Gabrielareportedthat one of her main challenges in learning thePrestowas integrating"hands and head." Her fingers were playing thenotesjustfine. Itwashermind (conceptual memory) thatneededthepractice,tokeepupwith therapid paceof theperformance.Thesolutionwas the practiceofperformance cues,orfeaturesof themusic selected forattention duringperformance.During practice,apianist must make many decisions aboutbasicissues, e.g.,fingering, andinterpretation, e.g., phrasing, whoseimplementation becomes automatic. This allowsthepianisttoselect particular features or aspects of the music to pay attention to in performance,e.g., a tricky fingering or critical phrasing. Gabriela reported that she selectsparticularfeaturestoattendto andpractices thinkingofthemas sheplaysso that they come to mind automatically during performance, alongwiththe associatedmotor responses.These performance cuesbecomethe retrieval cues that automatically elicit the music from conceptualmemoryas theperformance unfolds.Duringpractice, attention is directed mainly toward problems. In performance,however, problems must recede intothebackgroundsothatmusicalexpressiveness can take center stage,bothin the mind of the performerand,as aresult,in theaesthetic experience of theaudience. Thistransformation does not happen bymagic,but requires preparation.


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xiv PREFACEGabrielareportsthat,in theweeks beforeaperformance,shepracticesattendingto a newkindofperformance cue,expressivecues,which represent the feelings she wants to convey to the audience, e.g., surprise,gaiety,or excitement. Expressive goals are identified earlier, but in this finalphaseofpractice theiruse asmemory retrieval cuesisdeliberatelyrehearsed.Theresultis areorganizationof theretrieval hierarchy, addinganew level of expressive cues at the top. This "re-chunking" allows the performer to play while focusing on expressive goals, that automaticallyelicit from memoryall the detailed decisions and complex motor responses builtupovertheweeksandmonthsofpractice.Itwas these ideas about theroleof performance cues in memorization thatwe set out toexaminein thetapesof thepractice sessions.Thetapes also provided,as anincidentalbenefit,theopportunityto see howaconcert pianist practices. Psychologists have been interested in discoveringhowmuchandwhat kindsofpracticearenecessary toreachandmaintain high levels ofskill.Forexample, itrequires an absoluteminimumof ten years to reach a professional level of competence in anyfield,andcontinued practiceisneededtomaintainanddevelop theseskills over the course of a career. Littleis known, however, about howexperts practice.In chapter5, we describethe few studiesofskilledmusicians' practice, with an eye toidentifyingcharacteristics that might distinguishthepracticeofexperts fromthatofless experienced musicians.Ifthe route to expertise involves thousands of hours of practice, theneven small increases in efficiency may yield large savingsintimeor improvements in performance.The studies of music practice described in chapter 5 provide a wealthof empirical detail, but few tools for testing theoretical claims aboutmemorization. CouldourtapesofGabriela's practice sessions provideevidencetosupportherclaims about practicingand"re-chunking" performancecues? In theremainderof thebook,wedescribehow we developed thenecessarytoolsand used them to answer our questions.Chapter6describesthemilestonesof thelearning process, dividingthepreparation of thePrestointo six stages and showing how quantitativemeasures of practice changed from one stage to the next. This out-sider's perspectiveon thelearning process iscomplementedinchapter7withaninside story.As shepracticed, Gabrielaoftenpaused to commentonwhatshe wasdoing.Hercomments showhow the problemsshe worked onchangedaslearning progressed.Chapter8bringstheinsiderandoutsider perspectives together, linkingthepracticeofparticular passages to theproblems they contain.Three monthsafterrecording thePresto,Gabriela sat down with copiesof the score and noted every decision she hadmade in learning thepiece, everyfeatureshe had paid attention to, and every cue she hadused in performance. When these features were laid alongside the de


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xvREFACEtailedrecordsofpractice, they provided the keythat unlockedthe secretsof thepractice records.Wewere ableto see howsome kindsoffeaturesdominated practice more than others,and howthese changedover time. Gabrielawasastonishedat how herinnermost thoughts wererevealed. In particular, we could point to sessions, early on, in which expressive goalsfirstbegan to shapeher practiceandthen there-emer-genceofthese goals duringthe finalpolishingof thepiece.Atthis point,wereturnto thequestionofmemorization.Do theprinciples ofexpert memory, developed to accountformemoryforchessgames and digit strings, apply to concert pianists? Did the pianist use aretrievalorganization and practice the use of retrievalcues?The answerisaresounding, "Yes!"Gabriela wenttogreat lengthstoensure thatshecould rely on conceptual as well as motor and auditory memory, engaginginprolongedpracticesothatherconceptual representation of thepiece could keep up with the tempo of the performance. These effortslefttheir markonpractice,affectingwhere playing startedand stopped,where hesitations occurred when Gabriela began to playfrommemory,and how well the music was recalled when she wrote out part of thescore from memorytwoyears later.

Thefinaltwo chapters integrate our conclusions. Chapter 10 returnsto the stages of the learning process introduced in chapter 6, filling outthedescriptionwith insights gained from thein-depth analysesofpractice and comments. Chapter 11summarizes whatwe learned aboutmemorization and about the characteristics of expert practice. We conclude by considering what we each learnedfrom our collaboration andhow itchangedus asscientists, musicians,and friends.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Manypeoplehave contributedto thework describedinthis book.First,we thank the undergraduate students who collectively put in thousands of hoursofwork transcribing the practice and compiling the data.EllieCorbett,JenniferCuller,andElizabeth DohmatFurmanUniversitywere the first to takeon this enormous taskandhelpeddevelop themethods we used. AaronWilliamonand Helene Govin at the UniversityofSouth Carolina continued the work and brought order to the hugedatabasethatwasdeveloping.Thedivisionofpractice intowork andruns (chap.6),doneby Aaron, formedthebasisof his undergraduatehonors thesisat theUniversityofSouth Carolina.BenChaffin providedcriticaltechnical help by writing the program that converted practice records into theelegant graphsand quantitative measuresreported inchapter6.Am eliaMcCloskeyandSandraPaezat TheCollegeofNewJerseycompiled the practice records for input to this program. TogetherwithAlethea Pape, they also transcribedthecomments Gabriela made


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xvi PREFACEduring practice. JulieKonikatWestChesterUniversityundertook thecontent analysis of these comments (chap. 7). Helma deVriesat TheCollege ofNewJersey developed the measurements of bar duration reported inchapter9.Michelle Moore,at the UniversityofConnecticutpreparedthe bargraphsinchapters6 and 7, and Helen Morales typedthe interview excerpts reproduced in chapter 3. The index was prepared, with great attention to detail, by Barbara Stroup.Thisbook wouldnothave been completed withouttheadviceand encouragementofmanycolleaguesand friends. Inparticularwethank DanielSpalding, who provided help and assistance at every stage. He was theaudience forGabriela'sfirstpractice performances, and provided herwith advice and discussionofinterpretive decisions, in addition to settingup and maintaining the video camera used to record practice. As wewrote, Danread and commented on successivedrafts, makinghelpfulsuggestions andencouragingus towriteformusiciansaswellas forpsychologists. Dan also compiled the bibliography of sources used in selecting the excerpts from interviews with pianistsinchapter3.Weare indebted to Carola Grindea, whose invitation to give a workshop onmemorizationat theLondon meetingof theEuropean PianoTeachersAssociation(EPTA)provided thestimulus thatfirstbegan ourcollaboration. JudiAmsel,our firsteditor atLawrence ErlbaumAssociates, encouraged us as we struggled to shape our ideas into bookform,and BillWebber,whotook overas oureditor,saw theprocess throughand saved usfrom making the book too long. Bruno Repp and AndreasLehmannreadtheentire manuscript, making manyhelpful suggestionsandsavingusfrom inaccuracies.RitaAielloandBlairJohnson providedhelpfulcomments on chapters 3 through 5. Dan Phillips provided statisticaladvice abouttheinterpretationof the regression analyses. Finally,thanksto the manyotherswho encouraged us along the way by their interestin ourwork.Ialso wanttothankthedepartments ofpsychology atFurman University,theUniversityofSouth Carolina,TheCollegeof NewJersey,andtheUniversityof Connecticut that provided me with congenial places towork, colleagues toshare ideas with,andlaboratory spaceandequipment,while this work was in progress. The compilation and analysis ofthepractice records were supported byfacultyresearch grantsfrom TheCollegeofNewJersey, and the finalpreparationof thebook manuscriptwassupportedby aChancellor's Fellowshipfrom theUniversityofConnecticut.

Roger ChaffinDecember 2001


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O N E

In meGreen RoomMary Crawford

Take the deepest of breathsandwatchfor atremble;therecital isabouttobegin.NoahAdams,Piano Lessons

T hegreen roomis alonely place, however crowded it may be. In thegreen roomperformingartists' generic name for the place they waitbeforegoingonstagethe laserfocusof agreat performance must gatheritsintensity.ItisSunday, October 12,1997, two-thirtyin theafternoon,and I am inthegreen room with Gabriela Imreh. This particular green room,atTrinityCathedral, Trenton, New Jersey,is less than luxurious.Itseems to be adressing roomforclergyand acatchallforchurch equipment.Theroomisquite cold withahigh ceiling. Vestment cupboards linethewall. Tablesscatteredaround theroomarecrowded with flowervases, brass candlesticks,hymnals, and oldprogramsfrom services.Still it isbetter than some. Another time,Iaccompanied Gabrielato arecital at awell-known collegeof the performing arts, wherethegreenroom, a basement with dripping pipes, was also a thoroughfare forcustodialstaff. Iimprovised ascreen frommycoat whilesheslipped intohergownfor theperformance. Rather thanbedripped on, she did herhairwhile standingin thewings.Iremember watchingherfastenthetiny clasp

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2 CHAPTER1of anecklace,her hands steady andquick, minutes before stepping onstage to play the gigantic Bach-Busoni Chaconne.

Whenalive performance workswhenthetechnical proficiency,theaesthetic sensibility, the rapport between the audience and performercome togetherbeautyiscreated. Whenitdoesn'tworkwhen thereismemoryfailure,technicaloraesthetic limitation, debilitating performanceanxiety, or a mismatch between audience and performerthe result ispainful to all.Liveperformance persists in an age oftechnically perfectrecording precisely becauseof thetension, uncertainty,andexcitementofreal-time music making. Literally, anything can happen.

Gabriela, still in her street clothes, hangs her stage dress from adoorjamb and goes on stage to try the piano. Her program today isdemanding:

ChromaticFantasy and Fugue in Dminor(BVW 903), J.S.BachSonataNo. 14 inC-sharpminor,Op. 27, No. 2(Moonlight),L. van BeethovenEtude,Op. 12, No. 12,"Revolutionary,"FredericChopinNocturne,Op. 27, No. 2Preludes,Op. 28,Nos.22, 23, 24,FredericChopinIntermissionTwoValses-Caprices from"SoireesdeVienne,"Franz LisztAprs unelecturedeDante"Dante Sonata,"Franz LisztWehaveanhourbefore theperformance.Thecathedralisempty,theBaldwingrand standing readyat thefrontoutsidethealtar rail. Gabriela

beginsherwarmup withtheslow movementof theMoonlight Sonata,thenruns throughone of thewaltzesfrom "SoiresdeVienne." Abig, powerfulpassage from the Dante Sonata is next, followedincongruouslyby"Flight of theBumblebee,"amuch played encore this season. Nextshetakeson some fast runs from the third movement of theMoonlight,more bitsfrom the Dante Sonata,another waltz.After 20minutes ofconcentratedwork, she stands up, stretches, and returns to the piano to try a particularlydifficult passage from theDanteSonata.Shefumbles, takesa wrong turn,and loses her direction. She plays it again and then a third time beforegetting through the passage without a mistake.Itis now after3:00 p.m., less thanhalf anhourbefore theperformance.She has notplayedasingle noteof thedifficultopening piece,the Chromatic


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3N THE GR EEN ROOMFantasyandFugue.Unlike many pianists,whoopen recitals withawarmuppiece that is not particularly difficult fo r them, Gabriela almost alwayschooses a big, demanding work. She says that she prefers to do the hardestthingfirst,rather than haveit"hanging over"herthroughout thefirsthalfofthe performance. (Typically, she has chosen to make huge demands onherself atbothendsof theperformance, ending today'srecital with thevirtuoso Dante Sonata.)Iknow that the Bachfantasyand fugue, with itsdifficultpolyphonic structure, has given her memory problems in the past.I amstarting to getvery nervous.Myhands and feet are cold, and themuscles in myshouldersandbackare tense.At3:05, shestands again,stretches,andwalksto thebackof thecathedral.Shetalks aboutthepiano."It's good,"shesays, thougha bit"flimsy" in thetouch."It can runawayfromyou ifyou'renotcareful."Backat theinstrument, sheriffsthroughafew short passages from the Chromatic Fantasy. To me, they seem likerandom bits, herpractice without focus. By now I canhardly write mynotes; my hands are shaking and my movements clumsy. My breath isshallow, my chest constricted. Empathyand memories of my days inmusicschoolmake the waiting and watching almost unbearable.Much ofGabriela's practicein thehourbefore theperformance seemsaimed atgettingtoknowtheinstrument.Onlya fewartistscanafford tohave their own pianoshippedwith them on tour. The rest are at the mercyof out-of-shape, unreliable instruments (not to mention equally out-of-shapeandunreliable techniciansandtuners). Gabrielaoftenplaysinsmalltowns where the community's sole concert piano may not have beenplayed ortuned formonthsat atime. Talesofperformances sabotagedbythepiano-from-Hellare afixtureofpianists'lives. Perhaps none surpassesthisone, seen through the eyes of a music critic:1

AHumidRecitalStirs BangkokAhush fell over the room as Mr.Kropp appeared from theright of thestage, bowed to the audience and placed himself upon the stool.As Ihave mentioned onseveral occasions,theBaldwin Concert Grand,while basicallyafineinstrument, needs constant attention, particularlyin aclimatesuchasBangkok.... In this humidity,the feltswhich separate thewhite keysfrom theblacktend to swell, causinganoccasionalkey tostick,which apparently was the case last evening with the D in the second octave.

Duringthe"raging storm"sectionof the Dminor ToccataandFugue,Mr.Kroppmustbe complimentedfo rputtingup withtheawkwardD .However,by thetimethe"storm"waspastand he had gotten intothePreludeandFugue in D Major, in which the second octaveD plays a major role,Mr.Kropp's patience was wearing thin.Some who attended the performance later questioned whether the awkwardkeyjustified someof thelanguage, whichwasheard comingfrom the


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CHAPTER 1stage during softerpassages of thefugue. ... [O]ne mem berof theaudiencehad a valid point when he comm ented over the music and extemporaneousremarksof Mr.Kropp that theworkmanwho had greased thestoolmighthave done better to use some of the grease on the second octave D. Indeed,Mr.Kropp's stool had more than enough grease and during one passage inwhich themusicand lyrics were both particularly violent,M r.Kroppwasturned completely around. Whereas before his remarks had been aimedlargelyat the piano and were thereforesomew hat muted, to his surprise andthatof thosein thechamber music roomhefound himself addressing himselfdirectlyto the aud ienc e.. . .Mr.Kropp appeared somewhat shaken. Nevertheless, he swiveled himselfback into position facing thepiano, and leaving the D Major fugue unfinished, commencedon theFantasiaand Fuguein GM inor.Why the concert grand piano's G key in the third octave chose thatparticulartimeto bestickingIhesitateto guess. However,it iscertainlysafeto say that Mr. Kropp himself did nothing to help m atters when he beganusinghisfeet to kickthelower portion of thepiano instead ofoperating thepedalsas isgenerally done.Possibly it was this jarring or un-Bach-like hammering to which thestickingkeyboardwasbeingsubjected.Something caused therightfront legofthepianoto buckle slightly inward; leaving theentire instrument listingatapproximately a35-degree angle from that whichis normal.A gasp went upfrom theaudience,for if thepianohad actually fallenseveralof Mr.Kropp'stoes,if notbothhisfeet,w ould surely have been broken.It was with a sigh of relief therefore, that the audience saw Mr.Kroppslowly rise from hisstooland leavethe stage.A few men in thebackof theroom began clapping and when Mr.K ropp reappeared a moment lateri tseemed he wasrespondingto theovation. Apparently, however,he had leftto get ared-handledfireax, whichwas hungbackstagein caseof fire,forthatwaswhatwas in hishand.My first reactionat seeingMr.K ropp begin to chop at the left leg of thegrand piano was that he was attem pting to make it tilt at the same angle asthe right leg and thereby correct the list. However, when the weakened legsfinally collapsed altogether with a great crashand M r.Kropp continued tochop, it became obvious to all that he had no intention of going on withtheconcert.Theushers,who hadheard thesnappingof piano wiresand splinteringofsounding b oard from thedining room, came rushinginand, withthehelpofthe hotel manager, tw o Indian watchmen, and a passing police corporal,finallysucceeded in disarmingMr.Kroppanddragginghim offthestage.Perhaps pianists like to repeat tales like these because they deflectattentionfrom thelesstangiblefactorsaffecting theirperformance. Every

soloistliveswiththe threatofperformance anxiety and memory failure,


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5NTHEGREEN ROOMwhich can disrupt and destroy the aesthetics of a musical moment as surelyas acollapsing piano.

Mountain climbers say that altitude sickness is totally unpredictable:The same climb, under the same weather conditions, can be easy orimpossible dependingon thebody'sresponse.Forpianists, themagnitudeand effects of anxiety are unpredictable. Many pianists believe that amoderate leveloftension before aperformance makesitbetter. Gabrielahas said that the worst recital she ever played, years earlier, was precededby an unusual level of calm. Moreover, they do not believe that highanxietynecessarilyleadstopoorperformance. Justlastyear, Gabrielasays,she was "sick for aweek"with anxietybeforean important concert withtheHong Kong Philharmonica concert where her performanceof theRhapsody on aTheme of Paganinidrew stellar reviews.

Performanceanxietyfeelsterrible. Noah Adams, hostofNational PublicRadio'sAll Things Considered,has described his first recital as an adultpiano student. Adams playedashort, easy piecefor anaudienceofotherbeginners, a long way from the kinds of situations that professionalpianists confront,but hewell knowshow fear feelsand how it can affectone's playing:

There'sacoppery tastein mymouth,and myhands are c o l d . . . . I canplaytheprelude pretty well,I don't know how to factor in the f e a r . . . Iwalkaround theback yard, telling myself thatit'sonlya bit ofpiano p layinginfront ofpeople Iknow and likeand that I'm on the radio every eveningtalking to more than amillion strangers. Imake a cup ofpepperminttea,mostly just to hold and keep my hands warm ed. The recital starts. ... AndsuddenlyI'm at thep i ano . . . . Thenameof mypiecehasbeen announced,sothere's really nothing for me tosay.Iadjust the knobs on the sides of thepiano bench.Itakeoffmyglasses. . . . Ipush thewooden frameholding themusicbacktwoinches, placemyfooton theright pedal,andpushitdowntofeelthetension.M yhands w ait abovethe firstnotes.Ihearthephrasein mymind ... andbegin.It's like skating very, veryfastondangerous ice, being pushed by thewindwithno way to slow dow n.I don't feelover-the-top nervous,but as Ibeginthegracefuleleven-note run up three octaves with my right hand , it starts toshake.D rastically. I'm still playing the correct keys, I think, butit'sscary toseeyour hand shake like that.Imissa few notes, just leaving them b e h in d .. ..Themiddle part's comingup; Icould collapse right here.I slow down for it,butI can still hear the bad notes clanging like a pinball mac hi ne ... . Then I'mthankfully into the last eight measures.... The soft ending chord comesupIlookat thekeyboard,so I won't make ahorrendous final mistake.. .Ahalf-hour laterI'm standing in thekitchen, drinkingabeer, acceptingcompliments.It'san athletic glowanafter race satisfaction. (Adam s,1996,pp. 197-201)


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6 CHAPTER1Itis now3:14 p.m. Audience membersareapproachingthecathedral,and Gabrielaisstillout front in herstreet clothes.Weheadto thegreen

room. I realize that allowing herself only a few minutes to dress is adeliberate strategy. Keeping busy, she says, helps alleviate anxiety. Rightnow, my own empathic anxiety is reaching an extremely unpleasant peak.Iwish this were all over and we could go home.Many performing artists develop superstitious routines for the timeleadingup toperformance.Gabrielahas her owncoping strategiesfor theentireday of aperformance. WhenIarrivedat herhouseatmidmorning,she wasbusy practicing.Herpractice piano,aKawai grand,hadseveralbroken strings, the result of being used for 6 or more hours a day; itsounded tinnyand sharp. BecauseGabrielahas perfect pitch,an out-of-tune pianois notonly aestheticallypainful,but caninterferewith memoryretrieval.However,shefeelscomfortable with herfamiliarKawai, her dogDaisyat her station underneath.

Shehadpracticed slowly, playing short sectionsfromtheday'sprogramfroma fewbarstoperhaps 3minutesinlength. WhenIasked aboutherstrategy,shesaid that it isaimed atavoiding becoming tired before theperformance, "not giving yourself away too soon."Yesterday she haddonea"hugeworkout" on the Dminor fugue; todayshe had "imaginedit"insteadofactually playingit.This strategy,shesaid,"worksonlyifyoureally know it."Usuallyshe does not eatbeforeaperformance,but today she insisted onfixing lunchfor me.Quickly,shesliced cucumber, carrot,and aslippery-ripe avocado.Is shenervous,Iwondered? Morbid thoughtsof thedangerto herhandscametomind. Gabriela doesnotallow herselfto do anysportsthatmight leadtohandorwristinjury noskating, tennis,orracquetballforher.But she is afearless, creative cook, withanarmoryofchoppingandgrinding gadgets and knives and an impatient energy to do complicatedtaskspresto.After lunch, Gabriela volunteered thatshe had notbeen nervous aboutthis recital until about 48 hoursbefore.Her goal, she said, is to be"keyedup," reaching a peak state of being"pleasantly nervous"about an hourbeforeaperformance.Sheconfessed thatshe wasmore nervous thansheshouldbe. Shethinksit isbecause this recitalis onhome territory; manyfriendshave calledto saythey willbe in theaudience.(Afterward,whenIasked her to review the course ofanxiety and tension throughout theperformanceday,sheremembered this timeafterlunch, aboutanhourandahalf beforetherecital,as one of twounpleasant peaks.Theotherhadbeenearlier,beforemyarrival, whenshe hadwalked Daisyandlocked herselfout of thehouse.)Wetalk lightly, skippingfromonethoughttoanother. Gabriela, promptedby the flower arranging paraphernalia in the green room, instructs me on


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7N THE GREENROOMthe best ways to dry flowersfromthe garden. The dress she wears today isagift from herfriend, thepianist Anna Bronskin,onethat Annahaswornforher ownconcertsandrecitals. Gabriela lovesitselegance: simple lines,classicwhite silk. She says she finds comfort in its"stage history."It isgood to know that Anna has playedbeautifullyin this same dress. As sheslips intoher high-heeled sandals, sheremembersaconcertin Guilford,England, whenhersandal strap broke momentsbeforeherperformance.She walked on stage with it held together by several thumbtacks andplayedRachmaninoffwith aplomb,butevery timeshelifted herfoot fromthepedal,theshoe stayed behind.Gabriela's husband, the conductor Daniel Spalding, is with us in thegreen room.Ingeneral, Dan's preperformance strategyforboth himselfandGabrielais toplay downthedangersanddifficulties ofperforming.OfherstoryofRachmaninoff and thebroken sandal,hesays phlegmatically,"Well,all she has to do is sitthere."Thedirectorof thecathedral recital series enters, greets Gabriela,andgives her a check with thanks. Then we are alone, and it is nearly time tobegin. Regardlessof how this performance goes, Gabriela willbeawakeat3 o'clock tomorrow morning, remembering every tiny imperfection."Itry,"she hassaid,"tokeepasenseofperspective,not tobeatonmyselfformistakes.B ut Iwantto beperfect."Gabrielasmilesalittle. "Justwaiting,"shesayssoftly,"is theworst."

ENDNOTE1. Thereview, availableathttp://charon.sfsu.edu/DISASTER/humid.html,issaid

to have been writtenby Kenneth Langbellfor theBangkokPost.
http://charon.sfsu.edu/DISASTER/humid.htmlhttp://charon.sfsu.edu/DISASTER/humid.html


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T W O

ImprovisationsMary Crawford

It allstarted witha fax toKatmandu.Roger and I, onsabbaticalin theautumnof1992,hadtrekked high intothe Himalayas in Nepal. We left Katmandu inearly October, flying toLukla (9,000 feet) and then walking to the Chomolungma (Mt. Everest)base camp (18,000feet).Thetrekis aroutine matterfor ourNepaleseguides.Forussedentary,middle-aged academicsitis aphysical challenge.For 3weeks,wewalkup anddownover steep ridgesandinto cold, narrow valleys.Wecampinnear-freezing temperatures and bathe in glacial streams. We eat rice,lentils,and ourentire supplyofthoroughly unappetizing freeze-driedfood.Inreturnfor ourefforts,we areprivileged toentertheworldof theSoloKhumbu, wheretheSherpa people liveinsturdy stone houses withopenhearthfires;wherethebacksofmen, women,andyaksare theonly means

ofcarryinggoodsandpeople;where theBuddhist prayer Om manipadneomfluttersonstringsofprayerflagsandwhirlsoninscribed water wheels.Above us are the great peaks of Ama Dablan, Nuptse, Lhotse, andChomolungma, Goddess Motherof theEarth.Theonlyway toexperiencethese placesandpeople is towalk there.Theonlyway toreturnis towalkbackout.Attimes,we are aweek'shikefrom thenearestjeep track.The8


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9MPROVISATIONSexperienceofisolation from Western cultureand immersionin analmostmedieval world is profound.

Katmandumotor scooters, noise, markets crowded with basketsoffresh oranges and piles ofTibetan rugs, the smells of food cooking onsidewalk stands, cows and laden porters pushing through the crush ofpeopleisoverwhelming after thepeaceand solitudeof the mountains.Wearemuchthinner,slightly spaceyfromaltitude changeand theshockofre-entry, and very, very dirty. We enter the Katmandu guest house,draggingourfilthyduffels,andlearn thatwehave receiveda faxfrom theUnitedStates.

Thevery notionof a faxseems slightly surreal. Dated2weeks earlier,the message isfromGabriela, who writes that she has been invited to do aworkshoponmusical memoryfor the1993 meetingof theEuropean PianoTeachers' Association inLondon. Would Roger like to do itwith her?Perhaps they could connect someof thepsychological researchonmemorytomusical memoryandperformance.If he isnotinterested,heshould callorfaxright away. Otherwise,shewill accepttheinvitationforbothofthemand they can worry about the details later.

We look at each other. London, memory research, and conference areconcepts from another world. For 3 weeks, we have been hearing thechantingofmonks doingpuja intheir richly painted monasteries, sharingfood, songs,and firewarmth withourNepalese friends, thinking mostlyaboutputtingonefootinfrontof theotheranddreamingofflyingoverthesnow-streaming peaks. Right now, Katmandu is almost more than we canhandle,letalone this intrusionfrom ourWestern lives. Roger protests thathedoesn'tknow anythingat allabout musical memory.Butit'sfar toolateto do anything about it. Gabriela must have long since sent Roger's name toLondon withherown.If it isRoger'skarmatobecomeanexpertonmusicalmemory by next summer, so be it. We shrug and head out for aNepalese pizza.

AN UNLIKELYTRIO:THEAUTHORSANDTHE PROJECTGabriela knew about Roger's expertise in memory research almost bychance.Our son Benjamin was astudent ofhers. Whensheorganizedasummer music camp for her students, she asked parents to help withactivities,and Rogervolunteered togiveaminilectureonmemory. Heintroduced the students to concepts such as chunking, retrieval cues, andautomaticitybasic psychological constructs that he guessed might aid


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10 CHAPTER2them in learning to play music without recourse to the written score.Gabrielaimmediatelysawconnections withher ownideas about musicalmemory,and the twobeganaseriesofconversations aboutthedemandsofmemorizing fo r public performance. In these talks, they explored thesimilarities and differences between a performer's and a researcher'sperspectiveonmemory. GabrielawaslearningfromRoger aboutthelongtradition ofpsychological researchonmemory,and Rogerwas learningfrom Gabriela about the traditions ofmusical performance and the demands that are placed on contemporary performers.It isonly quite recentlyin history that theperformanceofseriousorclassical music in public, and with it the possibility of a career as aperformer,hasbecomeafeatureofsociallife.Beforethat, musicinWesternsocietieswasperformedas asecondary partofevents in settings wherepeople gatheredforotherpurposes,suchasreligiousorcourt ceremonies.In these settings,musicians were not treated as important individuals, andvirtuosityfor its own sakew asabsent. Thosefew whowere acclaimedasperformerswere usually composers,andthey achieved renownfo rimprovisingorperforming theirownworks. Notable examples includeBachandMozart(Salmon& Meyer, 1992).

The practice of performing from memory is an even more recentinnovation begun byClara Schumann andFranz Liszt.In the mid-19thcentury, these two pianists created a sensation in the salons and concerthallso fEuropeby playing withouta score.Thesensationwaswarranted;the abilityto perform music from memory is aremarkable accomplishment. Some pieces in the piano literature last for over 50minutes andrequiretheproduction ofover 1,000 notesaminuteforextended periods.Performancesofsuch piecesfrommemory represent apinnacleofhumanachievement.Theworld oftoday'sperformeris verydifferent from the19th-centuryartisticmilieu into which Schumann andLisztintroduced the new practiceofperformingfrommemory. There are many more performerswho areskilledand highly trained. Competition isintense,beginning with auditionsandpublic performancesforyoung children. Thosewhosurvivethegrueling selection process find alimited (and dwindling) marketfortheirskills.Indeed,mostareunabletomakealivingasperformers.Thestressesassociated with becomingaprofessional performerare immense (Salmon&Meyer, 1992).ClaraSchumannandFranz Liszt's sensational innovationhasbecomeanorm, addingyetanother sourceofstressto theperformer'slife.Todaytheability to playwithout a score is a central featureof a concert artist'sprofessionalcompetence. Even student recitalsandregional competitionsforyoung pianists commonly requirethemusicto bememorized.Perform


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11MPROVISATIONSing from memoryispartofprofessionallife forpianists,aswellas otherinstrumental soloists, singers, and conductors. At the same time, thememory demands represent an important obstacle for many aspiringmusiciansand asourceofanxietyforeventhemost experienced performers (Salmon & Meyer, 1992). Memory lapses do occur, and they can cripplea performancea painfulexperienceforartistandaudience alike.Gabriela and Roger's 1993 London workshop, initiatedby the fax toKatmandu,was acontinuationoftheir conversations about memory andmusical performanceand their first attempt to meld Roger's memoryexpertise withGabriela's insightsas anartist. Itdrewastanding-room-only audienceofpianists and teacherswhowere eagerfor newwaystoconceptualizeandresolve chronic problemsofplayingfrommemory,anditled tomore invitationstospeak aboutthepsychologyofmusical memory.Encouraged by the interest from themusical community, RogerandGabrielawanted to present the same kind of analysis to a psychologicalaudience.A conferenceoneveryday memory scheduled for thefollowingsummer presented an opportunity. Roger pointed out, however, thatpsychologists would want to see some data. At this point, Roger and I wereawayfromhome againfor theyear,so aplanwasdevised overthephone.Gabriela suggested videotaping herself as she learned a new pieceofmusic. It wasdecided thatshewould recordherpracticeof two newpieces.Itwas left forGabrielatochoose them from among those shewould bepreparingforperformance duringthecoming year.Thepieces shouldberoughlyequal in length; they should be new, and one should be harderthan theother tomemorize. Otherwise discussion focusedondetailsofwhere the camera would be placed and thesafestway toshipvideotapes.That was the extentof theplanning. Therewas no discussion of howmanyhours ofpractice would be involved. (Inretrospect,weprobablyshould have chosen something a little less challenging.) Certainly no wordwas spoken about hypotheses or dependent measures.These were foreignconcepts toGabriela.To theextent thatshethought aboutit, sheimaginedthe videotapes providing illustrationsof thevarious practice strategiesthathad been the focusof the workshop. Roger,whomight have beenexpectedtohaveaclearer ideaofwhatwasahead,wasbusy withthemoveandwithapromisingnewlineofresearchonlearning word meanings.Itwas only as the tapes began to arrive in the mail that he started to thinkaboutwhatto dowith them and,asthey continuedtopileup, toconfronttheproblemofhandlingthevast quantityofdata they contained.The onevirtueofthis haphazard beginningwasthatitensured that therewas noopportunityforGabriela's learningto becontaminated bypreconceivedideas aboutspecifichypotheses that mightbetested.By thetime Rogerhadfiguredout what to do with the data, the learning process was over.


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12 CHAPTER2Gabriela had first met Roger and me in 1990, shortly after she hademigrated to the United States. She is Romanian by birth and both

Hungarian and Romanian by parentage. She began pianolessonsat the ageof5,whenhermother tookher forprivatelessons,and soonaftershe wasenrolledin thelocal performing arts school.Twoyears later,afterher firstjuriedexam,theprincipal calledherparentsandurged thatifat allpossibleGabrielashould attendone of thefivemain performing arts schoolsof thecountry.Atthat time,Clujwas a"closed"city,but thefamilymanagedthemove there. In the years that followed, the young pianist made her way uptheladderof a conservatory education designedto lead to a career as aperformingartist.Shemadeherdebutat the age of 16withtheRomanianStatePhilharmonic and has since soloed with orchestras around the world.Aspecialistin theRomantic repertoire, includingthecomplete concertiofRachmaninoff, sherecentlyshowed her versatility by recording anall-Bachcompact discfor theConnoisseur Society label.1It is one of theworksonthis recording,theItalian Concerto (third movement), thatis the focusofourstudy. During mostof thetime this bookwas inpreparation,she wasrepresentedin theUnited Statesby adivisionofColumbia Artists, playingsome50recitals annuallyforaudiences aroundthecountry.The first time we heard her play (the Rachmaninoff Second Pianoconcertoin a1990 performance conductedbyDaniel Spalding),RogerandIrealizedwewere hearing artistryof thehighest order.Theperformancewas technically brilliant, musically nuanced, and sensitive. Professionalreviewers, too, have notedher"keenmusical intelligence," "breathtakingagility,"and superb artistry.

Aswe cametoknow her, Rogerand Iwerenot only impressed withGabriela's musical skill and sensitivity, but awed by her intelligence anddrive.In thefirstyearweknew her,sheestablishedasmall teaching studio,developed her English from hesitant to utterlyfluent, learned todrive,becameanAmericancitizen,anddevelopeda newperformance careerinthis country.One of the most striking aspects ofGabriela's personality is a highdegree of aesthetic sensitivity in all realms. We expected her to be aperfectionist at thepianoitis thehallmarkof aprofessional.YetGabrielaapproaches every aesthetic realm with the same high standards, and sheseemstohaveageneralized abilityincreativeandartistic realms. Whethershe is painting, cooking, arranging flowers, or designing jewelry, theprocess is always intensely absorbing and the product aesthetically pleasing.She isalso unusually articulate aboutherworkand theskills involvedinplaying thepianoa quality perhapsrelated to hergeneral linguisticabilities(she speaks several languagesfluently)and furtherdevelopedbyteaching.


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13MPROVISATIONSRogerand I are both amateur musicians with very modest performing

skills.Rogerhasplayed theflute offand on foryears, originally self-taughtandlater withthehelpofteachers.Istudied musicas an undergraduate,receivingadegree in music education. However, afterleaving thatfield inmy 20s, I did not play or study music until resuming an interest in thepiano some 25 years later.Although we are both psychologists and have been married to eachotherformore than27years, Rogerand Ihave rarely worked togetheron aresearchprojectbecauseourspecialty areasare quitedifferent.Rogeris acognitive psychologist who investigates how knowledge is represented inmemory.He hasworked primarilyinbasic researchon theorganizationofwordmeaningsin the mental lexicon and on the question of how peoplelearn the meanings of new words. He has also explored more applied areassuchas factors affecting the difficultyof GREanalogy itemsandpeople'sknowledgeoftheirownmemory abilities.BorninEngland,hereceivedhisundergraduate degreeatOxfordbeforecomingto theUnited States, wherehe earned his Ph.D.at the University ofIllinois. He teaches courses incognitive psychology.Trained as an experimental psychologist, I did research in animallearning before my interests turned to the psychology ofwomen andgenderanarea that had been much neglected by psychology. For me, thisentailed much more than just a change in research topics; I began toquestiontheepistemological assumptions underlying psychological paradigms such as behaviorism and cognitivism, and to feel a need forinnovative research methods and interdisciplinary collaboration.I nowdirect a program in Women's Studies as well as teach and do research insocialpsychology.

In summary,thethree peoplewhojointogethertowritethisbook comefromdifferentintellectual traditionsandpersonal backgrounds.Farfromameetingoflikeminds,ourwork togetherischaracterizedby anattempttobridge our unlikeness.We are two social scientists, one artist; two women,one man; two whose intellectual inquiry and job security are protected byacademic tenure, and one who earns her living in the marketplaceofclassicalmusic performance; three different nationalities brought up inthree different cultures.Our inquiry is interdisciplinary; because of ourdifferences,our methods are unconventional by both necessity and choice.Just aseachof us had adifferentstarting point, eachhad adifferent set ofgoalsforthis researchproject.Gabriela soughttounderstand theprocessofmemorizingforperformanceto makeher ow nperformancepractices moreefficient and toreduce the possibility ofmemory failure forherself, herstudents, and other pianists. Roger sought to understand memory expertise in a new domain and to contribute toscientificknowledge on this topic.


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14 CHAPTER2Isought to document the research process, especially the pleasures anddifficulties ofinterdisciplinary collaboration.Inworking togethertoachievethese varied goals, we have attempted to bridge many polarities thatcharacterize the production ofknowledge in our culture, and we haveencountered complexities that we did not anticipate at the start.

BRIDGINGDIFFERENCESEmpiricism andconstructivismRogerapproached thisprojectas an empiricist, a scientist. He expected tobeabletosystematically observeandrecord relevant aspectsofGabriela'spracticingbehavior and subject it to quantitative analyses that wouldrevealitsregularities regardlessofwhether Gabrielaherself was awareofthem.Heexpectedto correlatespecificaspectsofpractice (suchas durationor numberofrepetitions) with other measures (suchasrateddifficultyofthe passage) and to develop predictions about futurebehavior based onthose relationships.

Roger's metaphorsof theprocess were thoseofexplorationanddiscovery through thegathering ofquantitative data. These metaphors reflectarealistposition about the world. From this perspective, reality lies waitingto be discovered; data exist independently of the observer's constructs andcan be collected or gathered like fruit for the picking. His underlyingepistemological assumptions had been consistent throughout his career inpsychology.LikeRoger,I waseducated in theempiricist traditionofNorth Americanpsychology. However,I hadmovedfromanempiricistto amore socialconstructionist position.Social constructionists make assumptions aboutthenaturaland social world that differ from those held by empiricists.Theyassume that the methods we use to understand the world are socialartifacts arising at a particular time in history and within a particularcommunity. Likewise,the acceptanceof aparticular theoryor set ofdata(orindeedanyaccountof theworld)is asocialandpolitical process ratherthan simply a matter of weighing evidence objectively (Gergen, 198;Potter,1996).Debates between empiricists and social constructionists are hardlynovel; theyarefamiliar issuesin thephilosophy and sociologyofscience.However, thedebates have had little effect on the practiceofcognitivepsychology, which remains thedominant paradigmforNorth Americanacademicpsychologyandwhich continuestorelyonempiricist notionsofobjectivityandmethod.


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15MPROVISATIONSGabriela,educated as an artist in the European conservatory tradition,did not have our investments in epistemological debates. However, the

practicesthat stemmed fromRoger's empiricism evoked strong responsesfrom her.Early in theproject,forexample, Roger presented an informaltalkabouttheresearchtocolleaguesand sentacopytoGabrielainwhichhe listed himselfas theauthorand referredto her as the subject.Gabrielafoundthis representation wholly unacceptable.Sheseemed tofeelangryanddemeanedanddiscussedherfeelings withme. Shethen discussedthesituation with Roger in a collegial manner. Gently and politely, sheexplained thatshecould participate onlyas anactive, thinkingpartner,notasapassive subject.Roger,who had thehighest regardfor her abilities,was surprised at her reaction. At that time, he simply had no other waythanexperimenter and subject to conceptualize their working relationship.Shaped by the conventions ofpsychology and their codification in thestandardized language of psychological research, and by his own historyofresearch using college studentsandarbitrary memory tasks,he did notrecognize that from her perspective he had imposed an unacceptablehierarchy. Together the two began to work out language to express theircollaboration as apair ofequallyqualifiedexperts whose expertise happenedto be indifferent realms.How, then, might an empiricist, a constructionist, and an artist worktogether?Eachof usacknowledged some strengthsof theothers'positions,and theboundaries amongus onthis basic epistemological stance wererelatively fluid.Roger conceded thevalueofresearch methods that allowfor individual subjectivity,and herecognized thathis ownpracticesas aresearcheroften did not fit thereceived viewof how scientific inquiry isconducted.(Hestillfelt,however, that other researchers' practices probablydid.)Healso argued that critiquesofmainstream psychology oftenreflect a stereotype ofempiricist inquiry, underestimating the methodologicalandconceptual sophisticationofcontemporary approachestomindandthinking.H e felt that Gabriela could learn something useful from hisquantitative analyses and she agreed. Gabriela was excited about theprospectoftestingherideas about memorizationandperformance.At thesame time, she saw herself as an artist, not as a researcher, and would notagree to experimental procedures that violated her ideas ofwhat wasmusicallyappropriate.It is tempting to assert that these epistemological differences wereresolved in advanceof ourworking togetheronthisprojectanempiricistanswerto thedilemma.Inother words,wemight claim thatthethreeof usdiscussed our personal values and philosophy and agreed that thesevalues undoubtedly influencedourchoiceofresearch topic,but oncewebegan doing research they became irrelevant. In actual practice, we have


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16 CHAPTER2found thatour different standpoints affectthe way wethink about everyaspect of the research process. Asthis project has proceeded, we havemuddled through ourdifferences, leaning firstone way and then anotheras we tried to reconcile the goals of all three participants.Differencesand contested interpretations cropped up many times. Wecontinuedto besurprisedby theextenttowhichwewere each operatingfrom aspecificepistemological stance without being awareof it and howthese largely unarticulated assumptions influenced our everyday practicesas researchers. As a constructionist, I was sympathetic to Gabriela'sobjections to Roger's empiricist stance, and yet I was also familiar withempiricist research practices, their strengths, and their purpose. I sometimes found myself explaining and justifyingGabriela's views to Rogerand Roger's to Gabriela. Although this was not an easy task, it did help meunderstand theirdifferences andempathize with bothofthem.In retrospect, the members of this unlikely trio have come to share threeimportant positions.Thefirstis thevalueofself-reflexivity.Inother words,we choose to reflect throughout this work on our own assumptions,motives, and epistemological starting points and how they affect theresearch process at every stage. The second, related position is a goal ofstrong objectivity. Sandra Harding (1991) argued that, because valuescannot be fully eliminated from scientific practice, allaspects of scienceshouldbeexaminedin anongoing effort to understand theireffects (bothpositiveandnegative). This includes notonly immediate personalgoalsand values, but those that are so much a part of the discipline or historicalperiod that they may be ordinarily unremarked and socially invisible.Strong objectivity standsin contrastto traditional definitionsofobjectivity,which Harding called"weakobjectivity,"andwhich stress eliminatingthevalueso f theresearcherfrom theresearch processto thepointof"annihilatingthe subjectpositionof theknower" (Ewick,1994).Ourthird sharedvisionis one ofmethodological openness. Wedecidednot to rejecteitherquantitativeor qualitative methods, nor would we assume that any onemethodhas theinside tracktotruth.ScienceanaArtistryWhenwebegan this project, Gabrielawasentirely innocentof anynotionof how scientific inquiryisconducted, and Rogerhad onlyan outsider'sknowledgeof theperforming arts.I stood somewhere between the two,but closertoRoger,inhavingamodicumoftraininginmusic education(butnoperforming experience)and aprofessional identityas apsychologist.Not surprisingly, Gabriela sometimes had doubts about whether herpracticeandperformance strategies couldbecapturedinwhatRogercalls


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17MPROVISATIONSdata. More than once during the research process, she said to me privatelythat she could notunderstandwhy he wanted to focus so much on thecumulative recordsandgraphical summariesof herpracticesummariesthat do not interest her as much as the artistic process and her subjectiveexperienceof it. At thesame time, Roger privately reportedto methatheexperienced frustrationat her reluctance to "sit down and goover theresults."Thisdifference isrelated partlytobasicbeliefsin thepowerof scientificmodes ofinquiry and partlytomoremundaneconcerns that arerarelyacknowledged inscientificdiscourse. For Roger and me, conducting andpublishing research accords professional status and whatever perks maycomewith it, such as grant money, reduced teaching loads, and increasedprestige within our universities and disciplines. We are personally invested in completingtheprojectnotjustforaltruistic reasonsofcontributing to knowledge, but out of self-interest. At the same time, we know howconservative psychology can be about unconventional methods, its lowregardforcasestudies,and itsreluctancetorespondtosocial constructionistcritiques (Fine& Gordon, 1989; Kimmel& Crawford, 1999).Itwould beeasierandless anxiety-provokingfor usbothtosticktomore conventionalresearch.For Gabriela, the cost-benefit ratio is different. Every hour that shedevotes to the project is an hour away from the sort ofwork that willincrease her professional standing. Although she shares our altruisticmotives,sheknows thatin herprofession publishingabook matters muchless than perfectingone'sperformance, enlarging one's repertoire, orrecording a new compact disc. Moreover, her schedule is crowded withperforming,recording, and teaching, and she has none of the institutionalsupportswetakefo rgranted.Despite these differences in background and professional payoffs,Gabrielashowed anintense interestand anastonishingly quick graspofthelogicofscientific inquiry.(Atleastit wasastonishingtoRoger,who haslong labored to teach undergraduates the fundamentals ofresearch design.) In fact, her enthusiasm near the start of the project had to berestrained.Shewanted tostudy more concert pianists right away,add asample ofconductors, and design complicated studies of her students'practice.New to the research process, she did not think about how long itallactually takes.Werecognizedin herresponsetheintellectual delightofa bright student who comes to understand the power of systematicresearchandbeginsto see theworldas herlaboratory,and weexperiencedthe same kind of pleasure we do when our college teaching evokes such aresponse.Yetfundamental differences remain. Although the rhetoricofscienceconcerns itself with revealing nature's truths, the rhetoric of the arts


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18 CHAPTER2concerns itselfwith themysteriesof thecreative process.Theformer is arhetoricoflawfulregularitiesin thenaturalandsocial world;thelatteris arhetoricofindividual uniqueness andspontaneity.Attimes, mundanedifferences ofopinion arose thatIbelieve were dueto thelawfulness/uniqueness dichotomy.Forexample, latein theproject,Rogerand Gabriela discussed how to organize this book. They agreed thattheyshouldprovide"the backgroundto theproject." Roger assumed thatthis meantareviewof psychologists' research leadingto arationalefor thepresentprojectintermsofwhatitwould add. Gabriela thought this wouldbewholly inappropriate.Why,sheasked, shouldwewriteabook aboutotherpeople'sresearch? Discussing the issue with her,Rogerand I realizedthatshefeltplacingourresearchaspartof along lineofsimilarorrelatedeffortsthe adding-a-piece-to-the-puzzle rhetorical strategyofsciencedemeaneditsoriginality.Sheargued thatthebackground chapters shouldstartwiththewordsofwell-known pianists talking abouttheproblemsofmemorization and the strategies they use, culled from interviews of theperformers.Ourprojectshould thenbepresentedas aunique contributionto solving long-standing problems about which little isknown. Ratherthan being apiece ofanyone else's scientific puzzle,Gabriela hoped toshowthathercontribution toresearch, likeherinterpretation of aworkofmusic, should be judged on its own merits as a unique creative endeavor.Tome, it was fascinating towatch this debate about representation andrecognize that there is no right way to represent the research process, onlydifferentstrategies basedondifferentsocial goals.(W esolvedtheproblemby doing both,seechaps.3, 4, and 5.)A related issue of representation involves sustaining the mystiqueofartistry.Thereare virtuallynosystematic observational studies ofconcertperformers, and the interviews in which they discuss their learningstrategiesare oftenunrevealing.O nereasonfo rthis silenceisthat, withintheartistic community, it iswidely believed that artdemandsa certainmystique.Farbetterto let theaudience believe thattheartisthas adivinegiftthatis expressedasnaturallyas thesongof alark thanto reveal thatheorshesometimes strugglestomemorizeawork, occasionallyhasmemorylapses,orindulgesinsuperstitious ritualsto wardoffperformanceanxiety.Gabriela,whose stage presence has been described by reviewers as radiant, elegant,andglamorous, expressed someofthis need fo rmystiquebyconfidingthatshefeltself-conscious about being videotapedwhilepracticing in herbathrobeorjeans.Shealso described acutefeelingsofvulnerability inrevealing to the competitive world ofprofessional musicians justhowlongandhardshe had toworktoprepareadifficultpieceforpublicperformance: "My self-protective instincts rebelled against the videocamera preserving my most personal, private timepracticing. Some


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19MPROVISATIONStimesIfeltterribly inadequate;mymistakes seemedembarrassing"(Imreh& Chaffin,1996/1997). Thus,ourcollaboration acrossthe sciencehumani-ties divide openeddifferentvulnerabilitiesand thepossibilitiesofdifferentrewards for each participant, and these differences were played out indilemmasofrepresentingtheresearchprojectto itsintendedaudience."Experimenter" and "Subject"Most psychological research is conducted on North American collegestudents(Sears, 1986). Researchparticipantsare keptuninformed aboutthepurposeof thestudy; theymayevenbedeceived.Oftentheyareaskedtodo tasks that are outside their ordinary experience or even bizarre, andthey are tested in unfamiliarenvironments forbriefperiods oftime.Themethodsaredecontextualizedand thesituations highlyartificial.Thedatathey provide are summarized, analyzed, and interpreted by the expertpsychologist. This is the tradition in whichRogerwas trained and one thathe had little cause to question; the approach had provided him withcoherent and lawful data over the years, and his work was published inreputable psychological journals.From aconstructionist perspective, thereis a clearhierarchyofpowerinthis sort of psychological research, and research is conducted in onedirectiondownwardin that hierarchy, with"thepow erful, all-know-ing researcher instructing, observing, recording,andsometimes deceivingthesubjects" (Peplau& Conrad, 1989).The inequalityof theexperimentalsituation may beespecially acute when theresearcher ismale and thesubject isfemale(McHugh, Koeske,&Frieze, 1986).Cognitive psychology has adapted its methods and research practices inresponsetocriticism aboutitsartificiality,but hasbeen slowertoacknowledgecriticismof itspower hierarchies.Asearlyas 1976, criticsof standardmemory research had begun calling fo r more naturalistic studies ofmemory (Neisser, 1976).Theeveryday memory movement that followedformsonecontextfor ourproject(Searleman& Herrmann,1994).Bynow,research on expertise has already looked at individuals with such real-world skills as chess playing, dancing, acting, andfigureskating (Ericsson,1985; Ericsson & Oliver,1989; Ericsson & Smith, 1991). Working withighly accomplished adults, instead of the college students usually studied inpsychology experiments, providesanopportunitytoovercometheproblems of the traditional experimenter-subject hierarchy. Making themostofthis opportunity, however, requires thattheproblemsbeacknowledged,andthishas nothappened.Publishedreportsof expertisestudieshave either been silent on these issues or have described circumscribedrelationships betweentheresearchersand theresearched.


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20 CHAPTER2Iwillbriefly describe a few examples to show how researchers adoptdifferent strategiesfordealing with thepotential breakdownof theusual

experimenter-subject boundaries inexpertise research.Thefirststrategyistomaintain theconvention ofpsychological distance that is traditionallyobserved in scientificreport writing. Helga Noice (1991, 1992) conductedasophisticated and unique series of studies on the memory strategies andprocesses ofprofessional actors. Throughout her published reports, sheuses the standard experimenter-subject terminology. The expert actors arenotnamed. Shereports that someofthem were paid asmall amount forparticipating in theresearch (e.g., Noice, 1991). Interestingly, someof herresearchiscoauthored withherspousewho is aprofessional actor (Noice&Noice, 1993),and inother studieshe isthankedfor hishelpinrecruitingactorsforstudy.Asimilar strategyisadoptedbyKacperMiklaszewski (1989, 1995),whovideotaped pianists asthey learned new compositions. Thepianists arereferredto byfirstnameonly,andtheyaredescribed as"volunteers"who"received smallfeesfortheir work" (1995,p.139).Aftertheir practicewasvideotaped, thepianists watchedthetapesand added their commentstothe sound track, but they did not interact directly with another humanbeing while commentingontheir work,norwere they later interviewedabout themeaning oftheir comments. In somewhat different ways, andalthough they are grounded in different interpersonal situations, bothNoiceandMiklaszewski employedthestrategyofattemptingtominimizetheeffect of personaland professional relationshipson theresearch process.In contrast, Charles Thompson, Thaddeus Cowan, and Jerone Frieman(1993) reflexively took up the question of their relationship with their"subject," Rajan Srinivasan Mahadevan. Before he became a graduatestudent in cognitive psychology in theauthors'department, Rajan hadearned aplacein theGuinness BookofWorld Recordsby recitingthe first31,811digits ofpifrom memory.In writing about their 4-yearproject tostudy Rajan's memory abilities, Thompson and his colleagues discussethicalproblems (wouldhisintensive participationas a subject interferewith his progress as a graduate student?) and describe the sometimesdifficultpersonal relationshipsbetween Rajanand thefacultymembersofthe group. They discuss Rajan's lively sense of humor as well as his"annoying"and "exasperating" waysof notbehaving likeadocilesubject(pp. 16-17). For example, he refused to be tested by paid assistants,insisting on interacting with the project directors. Nevertheless, theydescribeRajanas"morethan a researchsubject;we ... came to know himas acolleague and a friend (p. xi) and a "true collaborator aswellas asubject." However, Rajan is not listed as a coauthor of the book thatdescribesthe project.


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21MPROVISATIONSHow do psychologists deal with the blurring of boundaries when thesubjectisalsoanexperimenterand anauthorof theresearch narrative?An

interesting example isprovided by Fernand Gobet and Herbert Simon(1996a,Experiment 3) in a study ofexpert memory for chess positions.Gobetdescribes himselfin thethird person:"A singleS(thefirstauthorofthe paper) has been participating in this experimentformore than 1 year.Aformerchess professional turned psychologist,heholdsthetitleofInternational Master." (pp.21-22).In addition, he justifies studying himself on grounds of historicalprecedentand thelogicofexperimental design:

In incorporating in theexperimental design the collaborationof subjectwith experimenterto find ways ofenhancing performance,we follow theexamplesof Ebbinghaus, and of the earlier subjects on expert memoryfordigit strings.... In a test ofcognitive abilities, with no deception in theexperiment's design, and nopossibilityfo rsubjectdeception in anupwarddirection,an expert memberof theresearch teamis anappropriate subject.(pp.21-22)Therhetorical strategies in this narrativedistancing "subject" fromselfby use of thethirdpersonandproviding adouble-barrelled justifica

tion for studyingone'sown expertisedemonstrate just how problematicthis situation is perceived to be. When college students are studied,ajustification of the choice is rarely offered. While it serves to reinforcetraditionalpsychological practices by presenting this case as an exception,theresearch report subverts these practicesandassertstheidentityof the"subject." Here Gobet comments on his own motivation, albeit in thethird person:

S was notstrongly motivatedat thebeginningof theexperiment, whichhetookas awhim of thesecond author,but he wasgradually seducedby thetask andbecame curious abouthow far hecouldgo. Hisdailyp erformancebecame animportant partof hisweekly routine.A bad performancewould,in some cases,vex him for therestof theday,agood onewould exhilaratehim for a fewhours. (pp. 26-27)Thenoveltyof thesubjecttakingaspeaking positiontodescribehis ownmotivation is underscored by Gobet's reference to the "whim" of the

second author. In this case, the second author is Nobel-winning scientistHerbert Simon, one of the world's most eminent memory researchers.Gobet's description of his own motivation,andespeciallyhisassertionof


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22 CHAPTER 2choiceand control over whether and how to participate in the research,servetofurtherunderminetheexperimenter-subject hierarchy.

In summary, the recent research literature in cognitive psychologyoffers only tantalizing hintson how anexperimenterand a"subject" mightcollaborate as social and intellectual equals. Within the literature onmemory expertise, researchers currently adopt different strategies fordealing with the implicit experimenter-subject hierarchy, and theyjustifytheir choicesin differentways.It is noteasytotellfrom published reportshow successful their efforts are at theinterpersonal andsocial levels.Wecould find no reports where the participants claimed to have createdentirely nonhierarchical relationships amongthevarious parties involvedin the research.Themodesof collaboration described inthisliterature weresatisfactoryneither to Roger nor Gabriela.As mentioned earlier, Gabriela was notprepared to be a "subject." Obviously, unlike college students, she couldnot be induced to participate in research by a course requirement, theauthorityof a professor,or thepaymentof asmallfee for hertime.Nor isshe indebted to psychology or in awe of itscultural legitimacy. Unlikeresearch participants who were also graduate students in psychology(Gobet&Simon, 1996a; Thompsonetal., 1993),she had littletogainin herchosen profession byparticipating inresearch. Perhapsmost important,shefeltthat she understood her own memory and practice strategies: whatshedoes,why she does it, and why it works so well. She could articulateher strategies and reasons for adopting them, and she did so regularly inher teaching. Although she saw her research with Roger as a way ofsystematizing her knowledge and translating it into the vocabulary andconcepts of another discipline, she did not expect to discover somethingentirely new abouthow tomemorize musicfor performance.Roger regarded Gabriela's skills with a great deal of respect. Hebelieved thatherinterpretationof thevideo recordwasvitalto theproject.Indeed, he recognized that he could not have made sense of it without hercollaboration. At the same time, he placed more value on what he calledobjective data (quantitative records of behaviors) than what he calledsubjective data (self-reports of intentions and behaviors).In otherwords,like most cognitive psychologists, he accorded more respect to an "out-sider's"perspectiveoncognitive phenomena. This createdapotentialforinequalityasGabriela's interpretation might become secondaryto hisown.One way that the two reconciled this area of potential tension was byagreeing that the value of insider's and outsider's perspectives on acognitive eventor processdependson theparticular phenomenonbeingstudied. Some cognitive processes take placeat theconscious leveland arequite open to introspective description. Others are not. Moreover, the


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23MPROVISATIONScontentsofconsciousness in adomain change greatly with learning(Baars,1988).Ingeneral,aslearning proceeds, behaviors become more automatic,lesssubject toconscious control,andmoredifficult todescribe.A familiarand mundane example is learning how todrive acar.At the start, thelearner is conscious of turning the steering wheel, going through thesequence ofsteps required to change gears, and so on.Later,he or shecarries out theseactions automatically and isconscious of other thingssuch as traffic and road conditions. At this point, the steps needed toactuallykeepthe car on theroadturningthesteeringwheel,adjustingtheacceleratorandbrake, changing gearsaresoautomatic thatthedrivermight find it difficult todescribe thecorrect sequence tosomeone who isjust learning.Researchersinmemory expertise have reported instances where highlyskilled performancewas largely unavailable to conscious introspection.For example, when Rajan Mahadevan was asked to describe how helearned a large matrixofnumbers, he said that hejust fixated oneachnumberbriefly.When asked fo rmore details, hesaid thatbeingasked todescribe how he learned number sequences was like being asked todescribehow herodeabicycle.He wassure thatheknewhow to dobothtasks,butfounditdifficult todescribehow heactually accomplished them(Thompsonetal.,1993).From this perspective, there might be some automatized aspectsofGabriela's practicing that would be more apparent to the systematicoutside observer than to her and other, higher order aspects, underconscious control, that wouldbemore meaningfully described andinterpreted by Gabriela. In particular, the two collaborators suspected thatmotor skillsandmemory wouldbeamenabletooutsider analysis, whereasaesthetic goals wouldbeamenableto theperformer'sownanalysis.TheParadox of Expertiseand AestheticsExpertperformance requires automatic skills.Artrequires creativityandfreedom ofchoice.Howdoesaconcert artist reconcile thesetwo toproduceatechnically flawlessandaestheticallysatisfyingperformance?Memorization is central to this process. As motor patterns becomeautomatic, themusicianisfreed to focuson theperformance.At thesametime,wewillseethathow theperformer memorizesapieceisintimatelyrelated to theinterpretation.Bystudying thememorization of apieceforperformance, Gabrielaand Rogerhoped tomake visible theprocess bywhichaninterpretationiscreated.Questions ofaesthetics have not often been addressed inresearch onexpertmemory because domains involving aesthetic demands have rarely


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24 CHAPTER2been studied. When the aesthetics of musical performance have beenstudied, as in thework of Bruno Repp (1998)and Henry Shaffer (1981,1996),the focushasbeenon thefinished performance rather thanon itspreparation or memorization. We describe the few studies that havelooked at the process ofpreparing apiece ofmusic for performanceinchapter4, but these provide little information about the aesthetic issuesinvolved in memorization. Either the pianists have been students, theprojectshave endedat thepoint where aesthetic considerations were justbeginning to be highlighted,or aesthetic properties of the performancewerenot assessed(Lehmann&Ericsson, 1998;Miklaszweski,1989, 1995;Nielsen, 1997,2000;Williamon, 1999; Williamon& Valentine,2000,2002).Moreover, given the importanceofmemory in apianist's life, there is astriking absenceofinformation within themusical community about thememorization practicesofconcert artists. Memorizationisgenerally seenas"a rather mysteriousprocess"(Sandor, 1981, p. 194) thatdiffersso muchfromone person to the next that each pianist must develop his or her ownmethod(Aiello, 1999, 2000a,2000b).Theabsenceofinformationonmemoryformusicand itsinterplay withinterpretation is notable because the most important goal of musicalperformance is to create an aesthetically engaging experience for performerand audience, and memorization is an almost universal means tothis end. Moreover,it isparadoxical that musical performance requiresaprecision of execution that, at first glance, appears at odds with thedemands of creativity and emotional sensitivity. How does a concertpianist, forexample, maintaintheemotional coherenceof apassage whilerememberingto hit thebeginning of anarpeggio withthecorrect finger?EricClarke(1995)discussedhow researchersin thepsychologyof musicandcritical analysts ofperformance havehad little to say to each otherbecause psychologists are interested in general mechanisms and critics inindividual manifestationso fexpressive creativity:

Thereis ofcourse muchfertileoverlap betweenthe two,butcognitive studiesofmusical performance could legitimatelybecriticizedforhaving revealedlittle or nothing about the specificities ofinteresting andexceptional performance. All of the performance models that have been proposed are(necessarily)extremely blunt tools whenitcomestoinvestigating individualperformances, astheyare built uponthepremiseofgeneral mechanismsandspecify the unremarkable background ofcommonality underlying a vastrange of adequate or competent performancesan account of possiblesignificance forthose studying general cognitive processes,but surely lessinteresting to musicians. This does not mean that we should throw up ourhands at the complexityand unrelentingspecificity ofperformance,but it


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T H R E E

In theWordsor theMasters:Artists'AccountsorTheirExpertise

Gabriela Imreh withMary Crawford

Someyears ago, I fled all that was familiar, safe, andsecuremyfamily and mynative Romaniaand started abrand-new life as a free,internationalartistand theyoungwifeof anAmerican conductor.It was atimeoffear,anxiety,andheartbreakaswellastremendous excitementIwasgoingtoAmerica!Aftermany tears,Iwatchedthebeautiful landscapeofmy oldcountrygo by.Hours later,I setfoot on "free" land for the firsttime in my life as the trainstopped in Vienna. That moment is foreverengraved in my memory.Thenext stop, Stuttgart,wasalsoavery importantonefo rme. I wasableto visit my former piano teacher, Harald Wagner.W ehadn'tseen eachother in over2years sincehe haddefected,fed upwith being aminority(German)artist in communist Romania. In the past, we had spent manyhours together workingandlisteningto musicsomeof themost helpful,formative hours of my life. We had the sort of strong bond that oftendevelops between masterandstudentafteryearsofhard work.I had spentthepast2years on my own, finishing my studies with various officialteachers, but mostly missing Mr. Wagner and trying to put pieces togetherfrom alldifferent timesof my musical past likeahuge puzzle.26


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ARTISTS'ACCOUNTSOFTHEIREXPERIENCE 27Neitherof uswanted towaste thatonenight sleeping. Eventually,mynew husband, Dan,gottiredoftrying to follow ourRomanianorwaitingformybroken English translations;heretired.Mr.Wagnerand Icontinuedtalking.I wasworried sick.Was Iready? EverythingI hadworkedfor wasbehindme and I was facingtheunknown. Where wouldIstart buildingaperforming career in the United States? If I got a start, how was Igoingtocope?With our conversation treading on such anxiety-provoking territory,one of thelooming questionswas how toprepareaflawless perform anceformy Americandebut.Since myapplicationfor marriage and emigrationayear earlier,all mypublic performanceshad been stopped.Bynow,Ifelt

as if I hadnever beenon astage.My studies at the AcademyofMusic in Romania included yearsoflearning piano pedagogyand thepsychologyofmusic, which familiarizedmewith both general notions ofmemoryandcurrent theoriesofworkingwith it.Also,I wasrelyingonalmost20yearsofstage experience, about8of those at aprofessional level. During ourconversation that night, Mr.Wagner brought up a new idea, vague atfirst,almost too subtle to grasp,butprovocativeandintriguing.Hesaidhe hadbeen thinking about how,in thelast weeksbeforeaperformance,youmust check everything, revise,and rework every detail, but ultimately that there was a special trancelikefeeling that allowed a performer to put worries and problems in thebackground (farenough that theydid notinterfere,butclose enough thatthey couldbereached). Thiswas notsomethingonecould just switchonand off; it had to bepracticed seriously andpainstakingly until it was asautomaticandnaturalas therestofplaying.Toenter this state,hesaid,youhad to somehow remap your thinking to emphasize the artistic, inspirational elements without ever losing control. In a way, the ideas heexpressed werenotnew;I feltthaton apractical level they were somehowfamiliar to me. Yethearing them articulatedin acalm, logicalwaymadealasting impression.If I had topinpoint themoment when Ibecame interested in findingmore nuancedandreliable answersto thequestions that every musicianhasabout memory,itwouldbe theconversation that night inStuttgart.Likeanyperformer,I hadalways been interested inunderstanding andimproving mymemory; memoryis anessential elementof aperformer'ssurvival andsuccess. Overthenextfew years,I continued to think aboutmemoryas Ilistenedto andread aboutthegreat performersof thepast.AsmyEnglish improved, Itook advantageofhaving accessto anextraordinary varietyandvolumeofprofessional literatureinAmerica.Ireada lotaboutmusicians, especiallypianists. Seeking outold, out-of-print booksabout great performers becameahobbyone thathascontinuednow formore than a decade.


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28 CHAPTER3In particular, collectionsofinterviews with great pianists became dearto me. Reading them was a valuable but restricted area of discovery.

Sometimesit wasfrustratingbecausetheperformer offered limited information.Insome cases,it wasobvious thatanartistwasguardingpersonal"secretsof thetrade";in others, the artists were extremely inarticulate ornaive.In a few of theinterviews, theartist had thecourage to face toughquestions andgave well-thought-out and intelligent answers. Althoughtheinterviews were extremely variable, they wereallthatwasavailable.Ikept tryingtounderstand Mr.Wagner's theory,andsometimesbystudying theartists'wordsfor along timeIcouldget aglimpseofunderstanding. I kept returning to the same questions: How do the great mastersprepare for a timelessperformance?How do they cope with the enormousstress andcomplexityoftheir craft? Are thereanyrulesfor how to do it?How generalare they?D othey workfo reverybody?Studying these interviews also made me realize how different theperformer's lifeistoday.Itriedto imagine Horowitz, Arrau, Michelangeli,Lipatti, or Bachauer videotaping themselves when they practiced andtalking freely about their fears and failures. Even had they had thetechnology, it seems like an absolutely ludicrous idea. They are thesuperstars of the past, immortalized in formal black-and-white photographs wearing three-piece suits, sometimes withhats,sitting composedlyat the piano or being surrounded by equally fashionable and formalfriends. Eventhe dogs seem moreformalin these photographs; they standquietlyon aleashorthey heelat the foot of themaster. Moreoften,dogs(and children) aremissing perhaps because they are toomessy for thesuperstar image.Thegreatpianistswere heroesstrong, invincible,fearless,and charming. Eccentricities were accepted; sometimes they were emphasized oreven inventedas apublicity device. Problems wereatotallydifferent issue.No superstar could admit to handpains,injuries,performance anxiety, orbreakdowns; these were usually swept underthecarpet. Sometimes theseimposingfigureswouldofficiallyannounceanearly retirementand go to asanitarium or move out to the country. Horowitz did both and did notperform in public for 10years after he snapped from the enormouspressure.

Today, society expects a closer, more intimate look at the performer'slife. What has changed today? What makes movies like "Shine" and"Hilary and Jackie" possible? What makes it possible for illustriouspianistslike GaryGraffman andLeon Fleisherto talk about their painful,career-wrecking hand injuries and more or less successful treatments?Whatallows Andre Wattsto talk about sometimes paralyzing performance anxiety and how he conquers it?What made me sit in front of a


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29RTISTS'ACCOUNTSOFTHEIREXPERIENCEcamera, although sometimes (most times)I felt thatI wasmaking atotalfool of myself in plain view of the world? I think many things havechanged. W e talk about anxiety, injuries, and fears because we have amuch better understandingofpsychological processes generally.Performers have learned how much help they can get in return for opening up.Psychology and medicine are more advanced and sophisticated. Theyreallywork; they really help.Our imageof ourheroeshaschanged.It isacceptable to be humanto be slightly (just slightly) imperfect in theprocessof achievingtheextraordinary.

Thesuperstars arepresentedto thepublicmore asnormalpeoplethesedays. Managers and agents encourage a much more accessible, simple,contemporary image. Casual clothes like jeans and sweatshirts (sometimeseven near nudity for women) have replaced three-piece suits and ties.Whatare theeffects ofthisnew representation of theartist?Are wereallyfree to relax and be ourselves? Can we artists really talk about ourproblems without losing our audiences and their confidence in us? Theanswerisambiguous.We aremuch morecom fortablewith self-disclosurethan artistsof 50years ago,buttherearestill taboo areas thatcanhurtone'simageandnegativelyinfluencethepublic's judgmentofone'swork.Ifeelstrongly thatIcomeat atime whenit ispossible to doresearc

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