Welcome,

Dear Pianists and Musicians,

Welcome to Pulse Patterning for Pianists! You have come to this website because you are interested in one or more aspects of playing the piano, such as technique (the “how to”) or issues concerning rhythm, energy and flow, interpretation, or perhaps, personal expression involved in performing. Or maybe you just have a curiosity as to what “Pulse Patterning” is all about. Many pianists who have been injured from their playing are surfing the internet for sites that may be useful in helping them to overcome their problems, and perhaps this is also how or why you found this site. Actually this site can prove beneficial in all of these ways, and not only to pianists but to all musicians who perform sitting down.

Today there are numerous websites devoted to piano technique, and especially to the development of a pain-free, healthy technique based upon sound biomechanical principles. The last thirty years have seen an explosion of interest in, discussion about, and research in music medicine and wellness owing to the alarming number of pianists who have experienced (or who are currently experiencing) pain and injury from their work at the piano.

This site makes no attempt to cover piano technique in its entirety, as others have done this very well. What it does aim to do is introduce a new concept: a new technique for exploring rhythmic and expressive movement in performance which has as its natural consequence the production of a freer, more fluid and easeful technique.

 

 

Arriving at the Pulse Patterning Concept and Technique

The technique that I call Pulse Patterning came as the result of my extensive professional work and studies in the areas of piano, oboe, voice, dance and teaching. The nexus for these activities and Pulse Patterning may well have been sparked by a low back injury in midlife, which—as we all know from physical injuries—caused me to re-evaluate everything I was doing in every sphere of my life. (Click on About Me for a more extended and interesting description of the many musical/movement experiences and the little epiphanies I had during the course of my early years as a student and teacher.)

Although my back injury was completely resolved through chiropractic treatment, I explored all manner and modes of therapies from physical therapy and personal workouts to the mind/body work of Alexander and Feldenkrais, to yoga and Pilates. It was also in this decade that I learned of the work of Dorothy Taubman and set about to retrain my technique in this method. (It bore a close affinity to my technical training with Stanley Fletcher at the University of Illinois, thus I adapted to it easily and with little resistance.)

Still, I was preoccupied with how to sit comfortably at the piano, neither slouching nor sitting ramrod straight—sitting, as we do, unsupported for the necessary long durations of practice and performance. The “Eureka” experience occurred when I studied the Feldenkrais “clock” exercises seated on a chair (rotational movements of the pelvis in a circular pattern as if sitting on a clock dial) and applied them to sitting and performing at the piano.

I immediately realized that the clock movements can be employed to start the rhythmic engine, so to speak, as well as to energize and enhance metric and phrase pulse. This allowed the music to flow and when playing to happily put myself “in the moment.” Also inherent in this movement are dynamic nuances that effect the interpretation in both obvious and subtle ways. Lastly, this lower torso movement provided me the much needed ease of positioning at the keyboard making my technique more fluid and comfortable. Ultimately this is the revolutionary piece of the “technique” puzzle that this site sets forth to illuminate.

What we can learn

Incidentally, it is fascinating to me how the body itself, including the hands and arms, can inform a musical analysis, and often be more on target than an analysis developed by the thinking mind divorced from actual performance. This “performer’s analysis,” a term used in recent years by various writers (a “performer’s Schenkerian analysis” by some), may vary from one individual to another, allowing for diverse interpretations. The length of a phrase may “feel” differently to one person than to another. There must always be a two-way communication between the mind and the body when making analytical-interpretive decisions if they are to be sincerely felt and personally honest.

I invite you to click now on Technique and Applications to gain an overview of Pulse Patterning. Please feel free to respond with your questions and comments in the message box below. I would be delighted to consider your own ideas and contributions to this technique.

For information regarding lecture demonstrations, lecture recitals, master classes or private lessons please contact me:

For questions or comments pertaining to anything on the site, please use the form below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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