Bach Re-Invented by Steven Harlos

Creating my Bach video series, Everything We Need To Know About Playing the Piano We Learn From The Well-Tempered Clavier, has been my way of making the best of our enforced solitude. Creating a course of study with the series as resource has been another. Getting the word out to schools about my online course, …

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As Many Different Articulations As There Are Consonants & Elisions

We pianists are taught articulation primarily as a binary concept; it’s either long or short, legato or staccato. There are gradations; a dot over a dash implies short, but not too short. But even within one staccato dot there is ambiguity, possibility. If I saw a staccato 8th note in a piece by Stravinsky or …

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Creating Shape By Varying At A Cellular Level The Expansion Or Compression Of Motives

The c minor Fugue, Book I again presents us with a laboratory, a crucible of experimentation & exploration, variation of the simplest rhythmic motive, the thrice-repeated pair of upbeat 16th notes eventually resulting in the final element, the 4th & final paired 16ths landing & originating on a strong beat. It’s an invitation to very …

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Distinguish Voices By Defining Their Individual Dynamic Arcs

A big part of newly conceiving the possibilities within notation is our re-examining our reaction to dynamic markings. As pianists, we see forte right between the treble & bass clefs of our staff, suggesting that notes under its immediate purview should all be played, by both hands, forte. One can make allowances to wanting to …

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