Or my friend Kaito, who wrote aВ piece where rhythms are broken down into 32nd andВ 64th notes in an incredibly slow tempo. Puts has some unusual notation, includingВ low chords for the pianoвЂ™s left handВ that should be in the bass clef but are instead written in treble clef.ДЄt first this seemed nonsensical вЂ“В I have to count 7 ledger lines, grumble grumble вЂ“В but then it occurred to me that perhaps he was trying to get the pianist to be aware of the span of the chords.В Visually the performer would understandВ the depth of the leftВ in relation to the right, and would performВ it with that bolstered understanding of it. IвЂ™ve learned so much about the thought processes of composers through working closely with them, and the reasons behind why their various formsВ of notation have given me insight into other contemporary works.ДЇor example, on our next pub concert Isaac and I will be playingВ Air by Kevin Puts. My friend Carolina, Argentinian composer extraordinaire, has often said that it is a must for her to work with performers from the start, because she needs to see what can and canвЂ™t be intuited. вЂњIs he playing the opening of op.111 with TWO hands?вЂќД«ut if youвЂ™re playing a new piece for a composer, and youвЂ™ve done a new hand arrangement, or re-configured a super stretchy chord, theyвЂ™re intrigued.ДЄnd the next thing you know, one of them is snapping an iphone photo of your music, or writing down which notes youвЂ™ve taken with your right hand.

вЂњI figured out cheat for this opening, but my teacher doesnвЂ™t approveвЂќ In a Beethoven sonata or a Chopin Scherzo, rearranging the designated hands in a passage is considered sacrilege, and is talked about in hushed tones as a вЂњcheatвЂќ. It is a thrilling discovery that notation is not a mandate, a realization that would not have happened had it not been for working with composers. What seemed absolutely impossible an hour ago is finally possible, and a little game show chorus of вЂњVICTORYвЂќ roars up in my scrabble-fanatic brain. A labyrinth of notes suddenly makes sense! And the birds chirp and the sun shines. Ostinatos of complicated rhythms underneath an equally complicated but divergent melody? Group the rhythmic pattern with fingerings and think of two different tempi.

Rapidly oscillating 9ths up and down the keyboard with too small a hand? Regroup and quickly throw! Passagework which squirrels away from any comfortable hand position? Sneak some with the other. The thing that hooked me into new music was my addiction to solving puzzles.

How to count 32nd notes piano