Music Educators Association of New Jersey

 

Ingrid Jacobson Clarfield

Professor of Piano, Westminster Choir College of Rider University, Princeton, N.J.

Featuring Guest LH Artist Todd Simmons

Music Educators Association of New Jersey
Madison Library, Madison, NJ

May 18, 2023

On May 18, 2023, Ingrid Clarfield, Professor of Piano at Westminster Choir College of Rider University and a long time member of the New Jersey Music Educators Association, presented a lecture/recital to the MEA assisted by her left hand artist Todd Simmons. She discussed several ways to motivate students:

Organize Lessons and Assignments that are Creative and Efficient.

Choosing pieces from Classics for the Developing Pianist, Study Guide Book 1, editors Ingrid Clarfield and Phyllis Lehrer (published by Alfred) mention J. S. Bach's “Musette in D Major” and Movement I from Beethoven's “Sonatina in G Major.” On the opening page of each piece Ingrid and Phyllis have written study guides for teaching students how to practice efficiently.

Next, Ingrid chose to perform J. Friedrich Burgmüller's “Arabesque,” Op. 100, No. 2; Cornelius Gurlitt's “Etude,” Op. 141, No. 7; and Tom Gerou's “Etude No. 7” from Piano Etudes for Developing Musicality Book 1, eds. Clarfield/Gerou and published by TOMGEROUMUSIC. She moved forward into Book 2 for Tom Gerou's “Etude No. 7” and Robert Schumann's “Little Piece,” Op. 68, No. 5 from his Album for the Young.

We were introduced to Heinrich Lichner's “Sonatina in C Major” from Keys to Stylistic Mastery Book 2, eds. Clarfield/Alexander and to Friedrich Kuhlau's “Sonatina in C Major,” Op. 20, No. 1, Mvt. 1 from Classics for the Developing Pianist Book 2 and Classics for the Developing Pianist, Study Guide Book 2, eds. Clarfield/Lehrer.

Treat Each Student as an Individual.

From Classics for the Developing Pianist Book 4 and Classics for the Developing Pianist, Study Guide Book 4, eds. Clarfield/Lehrer, Ingrid mentioned Beethoven's “Moonlight Sonata in C# minor”, Op. 27, No. 2, Mvt. 1 'Adagio sostenuto' and Debussy's “Golliwog's Cakewalk.”

Vary Ways of Presenting, Practicing, and Polishing Repertoire.

“Temple Bells” and “The Lonely Sparrow” by Dennis Alexander are highlighted in Keys to Stylistic Mastery Book 1, eds. Clarfield/Alexander.

Bartok's “Pentatonic Tune” and “Children's Game” are found in Keys to Stylististic Mastery Book 2,” eds. Clarfield/Alexander.

Tchaikovsky's “Reverie,” Op. 39, No. 21 is in Keys to Stylistic Mastery Book 3, eds. Clarfield/Alexander.

J. S. Bach's “Invention No. 8 in F Major” and Beethoven's “Für Elise” can be accessed in Classics for the Developing Pianist Book 3 and Classics for the Developing Pianist, Study Guide, Book 3 eds. Clarfield/Lehrer.

In Classics for the Developing Pianist Book 4 and Classics for the Developing Pianist Study Guide, Book 4 eds. Clarfield/Lehrer one can find Chopin's “Nocturne in Eb Major,” Op. 9, No. 2 and Debussy's “Golliwog's Cakewalk.”

Inspire Creative Performances by Igniting Students' Imaginations.

In Keys to Artistic Performance Book 2, eds. Clarfield/Lehrer one can find Vladimer Rebikov's “A Little Girl Rocking her Dolly,” Op. 37, No.7 and Amy Beach's “Gavotte,” Op. 36, No. 2.

In Classics for the Developing Pianist Book 1, and Classics for the Developing Pianist Study Guide, Book 1” eds. Clarfield/ Lehrer can be found J. Friedrich Burgmüller's “Arabesque,” Op. 100, No. 2 and Robert Schumann's “The Wild Rider,” Op. 68, No. 8.

In Classics for the Developing Pianist Book 2 and Classics for the Developing Pianist, Study Guide Book 2 one can access W.A. Mozart's “Sonata in C Major,” K. 545, Mvt. III 'Rondo' and Robert Schumann's “First Sorrow,” Op. 68, No. 16.

Open Your Students' Eyes, Ears, and Minds to All of The Arts and Literature, and Other Musical Instruments and Genres.

Suggested repertoire under this heading include Muzio Clementi's “Sonatina,” Op. 36, No. 4, Mvt. II 'Andante', Beethoven's “Pathetique Sonata in C minor,” Op. 13, Mvt. II 'Adagio cantabile', and “Sonata in F minor,” Op. 2, No. 1, Mvt. I 'Allegro'.

In Ingrid's Keys books, she and Dennis Alexander write a section For the Teacher which explains the purpose of the book, including the “keys” for achieving performance artistry: Color, Pedaling, Rubato, Characterization and Choreography. They also include explanations of their Choice of Music and Sequencing and Editorial Suggestions.

Under the section For the Student, Ingrid and Dennis write How to Use This Book and include underlined, specific topics such as Melody, Rhythm, Harmony, Tempo, Texture, Technique, Dynamics, Expression, Ornamentation and Pedal. Within some of the books there are Voicing Exercises and Pedaling Exercises and the idea of Creating Lyrics “that fit the mood of the music to help convey the character of a piece.”

At the end of their lecture/recital, Ingrid and Todd distributed sheets [please click here for a copy] listing the music they performed and projected on a screen. The majority of the books discussed above are available from the Alfred Music Publishing Company, Inc; use the code CLARFIELD20 for a 20% discount.

In addition, we were given the Tables of Contents for Piano Etudes for Developing Musicality edited by Tom Gerou and Ingrid Jacobson Clarfield. Book 1 is for Early Intermediate to Intermediate students [please click here for the Table of Contents and example pieces] and for Book 2 for Intermediate to Late Intermediate students [please click here]. See TOMGEROUMUSIC to order copies of these books.

In my opinion, the special character of the books written by Ingrid Clarfield and her co- writers/editors is quite distinctive and well worth investigating by MEA members.

Beverly Shea, writer
Lisa Gonzalez, screenshots/layout