Bio
Elliot is a Louisville native musician who incorporates many musical and learning styles into his classroom instruction. His teaching emphasizes interdisciplinary learning, synthesizing language, history, movement technique, and creativity. Elliot regularly makes live music in his community for local folk dances, sings for worship services, performs with the Louisville Chamber Choir, and gives classical piano recitals. He has experience working alongside audio technicians with his rock ‘n roll band and producing his semi-improvised avant-garde piano compositions. His hobbies outside of music which contribute to a rich social and musical life are yoga, contra dancing, hiking, climbing, board games, calligraphy, reading, and travel.
He believes good movement technique is the foundation for lifelong health and creativity. Piano and keyboard technique is just one of many ways to practice breathing, movement, and musicality. The basics of making a good, confident sound at the keyboard include breathing well, playing relaxed, and using follow-through motion in our arms to protect our most vulnerable muscles from strain, and to create a powerful, controlled musical sound.
Elliot believes people of every identity should be welcomed in the arts, and that every community becomes more resilient for knowing and celebrating all of its artists.
Potential Residency Project
Learning Music by Heart
A piano studio masterclass on the fundamentals of practicing well and playing confidently
This proposal can be presented as a single-day presentation and master class for a large
audience, or as eight 90-minute weekly classes with up to twelve students.
How do we learn music by heart?
The meaning of learning music by heart indicates a deeper understanding of musical expression
than basic memorization. It is a confident way to perform, making musical spaces for audiences and performers to be inspired, and to be creatively spontaneous. Stale, repetitive practice gets in the way of knowing music by heart. But practicing consistently with the Confidence Practice Techniques teaches us to listen, to react, and to create new sounds in a disciplined and creative way. Each student learns in their own way how to build confidence, and how to give an inspired
performance. This keyboard technique celebrates the multifaceted nature of our experiences and learning styles through the use of engaging and customizable practice methods. Practicing with thoughtful decision making empower students to change their own lives and communities and to become a force of inspiration in music.
How do these practice methods engage students in the creative process?
Students of all skill levels will use the three Confidence Practice Techniques, Grouping,
Ghost-playing, and Emphasizing. These lay the foundations for quality musical technique. Healthy movement technique is designed uniquely for each person's body to protect them from harmful motions or microinjuries. It enables the creation of controlled, confident, and creative musical sounds at every practice session.
The Confidence Practice Techniques are customizable procedures which break down note-to-
note and phrase-to-phrase moments in music. They should be used at greatly reduced tempos, always as slowly as is needed to play well. They are not meant to sound like good performance-ready sounds, rather they are for exploring the limits of sound in our body and in the instrument, and in learning how to identify a good sound so that we may intentionally recreate it.
Grouping is a way of practicing many scalar and arpeggiated passages, designing suitable
fingering patterns, and ensuring practice is relaxed. Students will play scales and arpeggios in different groups, (2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-note patterns are all common) to explore evenness of tone and playing without tension.
Ghost-playing, or pretending, is a way of placing the fingers over the correct keys in one hand,
as if pretending to play them in tempo, while the other hand plays notes aloud. This develops the inner ear, and keeps students honest about whether they truly know which note to play without having to hear it. It prevents relying on muscle memory, and avoids stale practice patterns like “woodshedding" or “hacking through" the music. This is often a superior challenge to playing “hands separately", and can provide numerous ways to reinforce practice with a non-dominant hand. Emphasizing in practice lets students explore the extremes of sound and the extremes of individual finger strength. Holding the hand on the keys, lifting one finger to its maximum height, students will play one note as forte as possible, then as piano as possible. This engages and strengthens individual fingers, and later enables us to connect the weight and strength in our hands, arms, and torso without wasting energy on unnecessary tension. To play soft and quick passages with confidence often benefits from practicing with the contrasting sound, loudly and slowly. Playing from above is a similar emphasis technique which uses the full weight and strength of the arm and fingers, and always uses follow through motion.
Weekly curriculum modules
Lessons 1 & 2
· Practicing to relax; with breath, and simple warm-up stretches.
· Making a quality sound at the keyboard using the natural weight of your body.
· Follow-through motion: the foundation of a quality sound
· Balance: How to practice listening to the dynamic balance of the low and high notes in chords.
· Practicing melodies and inner melodies and finger-independence.
· Articulation: Making a quality staccato and legato sound
Lessons 3 & 4
• Practicing playfully: Challenge yourself to make a new sound without reading from a score
• Scales & Arpeggios
• Improvisation games and polyrhythms
Lessons 5 through 8
• Practice techniques to learn music by heart.
• Grouping - supplements playing with no tension in wrists/thumbs; making an even tone
• Ghost-playing - supplements ear training and thoughtful memorization, not muscle memory
• Emphasizing - Playing challenging passages not only slowly, but forte builds strength and confidence in our hand and arm muscles. With consistent practice and greater strength comes greater control, which allows a pianist to play fast, difficult passages effortlessly at any dynamic.
Materials
Beginners:
• Technique books, how to play with healthy posture to prevent musical injuries
Intermediate to Advanced:
• Classical Solo Piano repertoire
o Foundations for college-level music: Bach, Czerny, Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven.
• Accompanist and contemporary genres
o Art song, jazz standards, pop songs, show tunes, film score orchestral reductions.
o Learn how to play for worship services, weddings, receptions, and at concert venues.
How to work with audio technicians in a studio setting to produce music.H ow can students & teachers prepare for this residency?
Preparation to learn new methodology can be supplemented by creative movement or mindful
breathing practices. Simple activities such as walking, stretching, sports, or yoga can massively
improve daily health and metabolism and let our focused practice time yield better results. Social skills are essential for music, so outdoor recreation or indoor activities such as board games augment the benefits of physical health, memory retention, and confidence. Students who do not play sports are encouraged to play with manipulatives, games of dexterity such as puzzles, building blocks, or enriching single-player action and strategy video games.
Creating planned time away from screens and devices is another way to benefit focus and
healthy decision making. It's essential for everyone, artist or otherwise to become periodically bored, and to let thoughts wander. Cultivating stillness alongside activity by using planned time away from screens is one way to start investing in a positive musical practice routine.
How is a culture of inclusivity and diversity incorporated in lessons?
Everyone in the world has a unique experience and a special perspective on the world, and
deserves to be known and celebrated for their individuality. These practice methods never set hard limits on how to engage in learning. If a student cannot, or decides not to read music, then plenty of other avenues towards music remain. People with atypical bodies may have widely differing ranges of motion from what their teachers or peers experience. But as long as good breathing, playing relaxed, and follow through motion are used at the keyboard, then we can all learn together how to cultivate good movement technique for any shape of body.
How are students assessed, and how can these methods continue in the classroom?
To conclude Confidence Practice Techniques lessons, students will respond to an exit slip
answering the following questions about making sound: What kind of Groupings and fingering
patterns did I use to practice scales and arpeggios? What does it feel like to listen to your inner ear, and is this easier or harder when practicing with Ghost-playing? How did it feel in my hands and arms to make loud and soft Emphasized sounds? What are some other sounds and articulations in my toolbox that I enjoy playing or hearing?
At the end of improvisation lessons, students will play twelve-bar blues changes as an
ensemble, taking turns with direct imitation and improvisation. The teacher (I or another music
instructor) can demonstrate riffs with varying articulations and attitudes to keep fresh ideas flowing for the classroom.
The ultimate goal of the Confidence Practice Techniques is to teach musical independence,
and to cultivate intentionality in decision making. With simple, repeatable procedures for breaking down phrases, and the creative challenge to develop new practice strategies, students will be able to apply their skills to any topic in music or to other instruments beyond the keyboard.
Essential questions for students:
Q: How do we make an inspired musical sound?
Q: If practicing helps to improve at music, how can I improve at practicing?
Q: How does music change over time, with new kinds of instruments, song and dance?
Q: How does music fit with other art, like dance, theater, film, games, and poetry?