The intention of this post is to give an overview of how phrasing in music can be employed in improvising music for a ballet class. These techniques come from a system called The Motosonus Method, which was created by Don Caron and Elizabeth Carlssohn, the composer and producer, respectively, for the ballet class music series, The First Class Albums.
Let's Define Phrasing
Phrasing is used in music similarly to the way the human voice is used in poetry. It encompasses, in addition to several other things, where to take breaths, where the highpoints and low points are, preparing for what is coming next or finishing up what just took place, as well as shape, tension, relaxation and many other elements that are characteristic of good story-telling, which is what phrasing is about.
How is Phrasing Used?
When music is used to drive dance, as it is in a ballet class, the phrasing tells the dancers about the way to move. This is done, to give one example, by prolonging the culmination of the musical phrase, which will help the dancer to increase a stretch a bit longer and wait a little longer before releasing the working muscles.
It Gets Even Smaller
The phrasing of music may also be manipulated at the micro level, using individual notes and small groups of notes to form micro-phrases. This is useful in dance exercises that use the little muscle-groups and are based on movements that are extremely rapid (i.e. frappes or degages). For instance, the composer can create four or maybe eight mini-phrases within the main phrase. Each one of the mini-phrases matches up to a single frappe, or degage whatever the case might be.
The pianist attains this through the use of staccato and tenuto. The stretched notes function well when the working leg is going away from the body and the short, accented notes go with the snap of the foot, or the exact moment when the foot gets to its destination. These methodologies make the ballet class music quite a bit more focused and effective, both for the participants in the class and for the teacher of the class.
Conclusion
Any person wanting to play piano for a ballet class must be aware of ways to use phrasing, following the examples above. This is also handy for ballet instructors who can select a higher quality of music for their classes when they know the relationship between music and movement, such as is detailed in The Motosonus Method.
Let's Define Phrasing
Phrasing is used in music similarly to the way the human voice is used in poetry. It encompasses, in addition to several other things, where to take breaths, where the highpoints and low points are, preparing for what is coming next or finishing up what just took place, as well as shape, tension, relaxation and many other elements that are characteristic of good story-telling, which is what phrasing is about.
How is Phrasing Used?
When music is used to drive dance, as it is in a ballet class, the phrasing tells the dancers about the way to move. This is done, to give one example, by prolonging the culmination of the musical phrase, which will help the dancer to increase a stretch a bit longer and wait a little longer before releasing the working muscles.
It Gets Even Smaller
The phrasing of music may also be manipulated at the micro level, using individual notes and small groups of notes to form micro-phrases. This is useful in dance exercises that use the little muscle-groups and are based on movements that are extremely rapid (i.e. frappes or degages). For instance, the composer can create four or maybe eight mini-phrases within the main phrase. Each one of the mini-phrases matches up to a single frappe, or degage whatever the case might be.
The pianist attains this through the use of staccato and tenuto. The stretched notes function well when the working leg is going away from the body and the short, accented notes go with the snap of the foot, or the exact moment when the foot gets to its destination. These methodologies make the ballet class music quite a bit more focused and effective, both for the participants in the class and for the teacher of the class.
Conclusion
Any person wanting to play piano for a ballet class must be aware of ways to use phrasing, following the examples above. This is also handy for ballet instructors who can select a higher quality of music for their classes when they know the relationship between music and movement, such as is detailed in The Motosonus Method.
About the Author:
This article is brought to you compliments of Gaylord Pannitron. The Motosonus Method is used in The First Class Albums, a collection of ballet class music CDs by composer/choreographer/pianist, Don Caron. You can check them out in Amazon's Ballet Class Music library.