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Einsatz and scales.

June 11, 2012 at 3:14 AM

Episode I:

Studio class. It's M H's turn. She's a Chinese twenty year old from China. Her solo rep is Sibelius. She's having a hard time with the pitch and the tune.

Teacher: No, no, no! That's e flat! This is in diminished scale!
M: ?
Teacher: Look, this is in diminished. Not dominant. Have you played the scale? Listen to the harmony!
M: Scale?
Teacher: You've played it, yes?
M: Yes, but I don't know what the scale has to do with e flat.
Teacher: if you have the scale in your head, then you should notice right away that the e flat doesn't belong there. Didn't you ever wonder why we all tell students to do scales?
M: For correct intonation?

Lesson of the day: scales are an important part of solfège instruction. Scale is important.

Episode II:

Quartet instruction. It's the string instructor (German) and us (cello is also German).

Teacher: Alright, who gives the satz?
Us: The what?
Teacher: Einsatz.
D (cello): Oh. He means cue.
Me: Er, uh, uh, me?
Teacher: No. The piano. Einsatz is everything to ensemble! I don't care if you don't play correctly at the moment. Give a visible satz. Dance if you have to.
J (piano): ... er, dance?
Teacher: Yes. Jump. Flail your arms. Stick your tongue out.

Lesson of the day: cues are crucial. Personal technique seems second at this point.

Evah Gold arrived by mail. It's in a shiny sleeve. Wonder how it sounds.

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What do you mean by the first lesson of the day?
I understand the first sentence that said that scales are an important part of solfege instruction, but the second sentence, 'Scale is important', did that mean something else or was is exactly the same?