COURSE SUPPLEMENT

MUSIC, THE ART OF SOUND

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AT TONEBASE.CO

SOUND AND TOUCH: LESSON 1

BORIS BERMAN – INSTRUCTOR

“Music is the art of sound, so sound should be at the top of the pianist’s
priorities.”

There are two kinds of "musical ear", both of which are of top
importance for a pianist:

1. The "subjective ear" is the imagined sound we strive to

reproduce.
2. The “objective ear” is the musician’s ability to monitor the
actual sound coming from under their fingers.

A "beautiful" sound is relative to a particular style, composer,

piece, or passage.

For example, one sound may work for

Mussorgsky's Pictures, but be too fat for
Mozart. A sound that would work for
Mozart would be too thin for Mussorgsky.

The Brahms C Major Sonata needs a full,

orchestral sound. Should you play the
chords from the last movement of
Prokofiev’s 7th Sonata the same way? No,
this is too lush, we need something more
compact, drier, and more matter-of-fact.

Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Berman 1

 Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhbition, Promenade, mm. 1-2

Mozart K. 333, 1st movement, mm. 1-4

Brahms Op. 1, 1st movement, mm. 1-4

Prokofiev Sonata No. 7, 3rd mvt, mm. 1-7

Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Berman 2