Clavier Companion - March/April 2013 - 59

literature. With a wealth of practical information between its covers, resources for
further study, and a reasonable price, this is
a text worth exploring. (Kjos, 2012. 326
pages. $34.95)
—Erin K. Bennett
Practicing the Piano: How Students, Parents, and Teachers Can Make Practicing
More Effective by Nancy O’Neill Breth.
The subtitle of Nancy O’Neill Breth’s
book—“How Students,
Parents, and Teachers
Can Make Practicing
More Effective”—is an
attention grabber. Breth
believes that each member of the “practice
team” (student, teacher,
and parent) has responsibilities crucial to the success and longterm development of the pianist; in fact,
she devotes an entire chapter to “The
Practice Triangle.” That chapter examines
parental involvement; teaching steps; effective practicing; and successful methods for
student-teacher-parent interaction at the
lesson, at home, and through the years.
Invaluable! This chapter in itself justifies
buying this handbook.
Moreover, Breth lists more than 150
practice tips and techniques to be used as
is, or as a springboard for implementing
individual teaching strategies. She states as
well that her practice suggestions apply
more to the mechanical aspect of piano
playing than to interpretation. Her theory
presumes that those who learn how to
practice in an effective manner will then be
free to discover and communicate the
musicality of a piece.
Each of the book’s subject headings is a
workshop topic in itself. Throughout the
text, the author reiterates the importance
of repetition in the practice process, but
not the repetition that comes from mindless playing of a piece until—by some
small miracle—rote playing kicks in.
Instead, her examples demonstrate ways to
engage in physical training through drills
for the mind as well as through the use of
imaginative ideas that can make practice
time interesting and even...fun!
Breth’s tips apply to pianists of all ages
and abilities. To whet your appetite, here is
a sampling of the subjects covered:
• First Steps at the Piano
• Formulating Practice Strategies
• Position and Mobility at the Keyboard
• Another Kind of Comfort: Peace
of Mind
• Polishing a Piece
• Memorizing Music
MARCH/APRIL 2013

• Finding Deeper Meaning
The author has studied with a Who’s Who
of master teachers, including Béla Nagy,
György Sebök, Josef Gingold, and others.
But—and here is the part that I love the
most—Breth lists her favorite teacher as
her high school piano teacher, Margaret
Saunders Ott. Breth says Ott introduced
her to “a new world...and continued to
encourage and inspire [her] for the next
fifty years.” This book contains a collective
wisdom of knowledge and creativity that
will stand the test of time. (Hal Leonard,
2012. 112 pages. $12.99)
—Susan See

New music
(S2-3) Miyabi: 5 Japanese Impressions
for Piano Solo by Naoko Ikeda.
Naoko Ikeda notes that the “traditional
Japanese aesthetic ideal”
of Miyabi translates as
refinement or elegance.
Each composition in
this collection is given
an English title, with
accompanying Japanese
transliteration. The
composer adds that she
has drawn from “traditional Japanese
modes and sounds,” so whole-tone and
pentatonic scales are present in many of
the five solos.
The composer, who lives in Sapporo,
includes descriptive performance notes
that will help students visualize the musical
images. In addition, Ikeda’s compositional
style is highly influenced by her appreciation of the piano works of William
Gillock. This stylistic similarity is especially apparent in her elegant, graceful phrasing and subtle harmonic language.
For the first piece, “Raft of Flowers,” she
writes: “In the cool spring breeze, imagine
cherry blossom petals fluttering silently
down onto the surface of a flowing river,
and forming a beautiful raft.” With these
images in mind, students can be encouraged to use their hands as if they were
watercolor paintbrushes. The first four
pieces explore sound very creatively, using
pedal effects, blended harmonies, and overlapping sounds to evoke musical painting.
A polished performance of any of these
lovely solos will provide students with a
very satisfying musical experience.
“Raft of Flowers” remains in five-finger
positions for the most part, with shifts to
higher or lower five-finger positions. This
positioning makes the piece a good introduction to the overall sound concepts
explored in the collection. Reading range is

Susan Troutman See holds degrees from The
University of Iowa and Truman State
University and has two piano studios, one in
Washington, Iowa, and the other at Iowa
Mennonite School. She is active as a
performer, adjudicator, and clinician and has
had articles featured in Clavier Companion,
Keyboard Companion, and Pan Pipes.
Jeremy Siskind has performed at many of the
world’s foremost venues, including Carnegie
Hall and the Kennedy Center. As a composer,
he has been honored by ASCAP and
Downbeat. Siskind received his bachelor’s
degree from the Eastman School of Music and
his master’s degree from Columbia University,
and teaches both classical and jazz piano at
Western Michigan University.
Lynette Zelis is the owner of Noteable Notes
Music Studio in Wheaton, Illinois, where she
teaches private and group piano lessons and
maintains studios for nine other teachers. She
was one of only five teachers in the country to
win the 2001 Group Piano Teachers Award
from the MTNA and the
National Piano Foundation.

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Clavier Companion - March/April 2013

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