Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone can explain a comment given by an examiner to me?

If an examiner gave a comment like:

It sometimes lacked some depth of tone.....

What did he mean by lack of depth of tone in playing a piece?

Please advice, thanks

What instrument is this on? e.g. you can lack depth of tone on a clarinet by not supporting the sound. A violin tone can sound thin without vibrato, when there is not enough pressure on the strings and when a slow bow is being used.

Oh! It was made for the piano. Would you be able to advise on the comment made for the piano? Thanks soooooo much.

It would also help to know what piece of music is in question, and what grade it was. Sometimes a lack of emphasis in the appropriate place in the bass line can make a piece sound rather hollow. A rising arpeggiated chord, for example, need careful attention, as does chordal playing.

Have you mentioned the different types and weighting of attack on the piano yet? I use terms like wrist weight, and arm weight right from the start. Then (as long as the child and parent are comfortable with this) help my pupils by supporting their arm so to they get used to relaxing their arms whilst playing. Even with littl'uns They develop a range of tone.

With one pupil who I took over from a peri (who had done an excellent job) as she had been taught the beginnings of decent pedal technique, I taught her to use Pedal to emphasise the note with a quick release to the music does'nt sound muddy.

I think the examiner wanted to hear some tonal variation through different weighting applied to each note.

Was this a very young player playing everything at a rather quiet level I wonder? Or maybe one playing rather shyly and softly? Perhaps it was one who was not used to the exam piano and just played with the same weight that he or she used on the piano at home, expecting tha same sounds to come out? Little ones can do funny things in first exams! If it was an older, bigger player then it was perhaps a case of too timid a touch due to exam nerves?

Yep I would take it as meaning firm sound - not necessarily loud, as even a soft sound can be firm - it's all to do with touch and arm weight.

It's wonderful to see so many of you offering some valuable advice to me, thanks soooo much for doing that. BTW, the song which the examiner commented on was a Grade 8 piece - A:3 Sonata by Scarlatti. He wrote that she lacked a depth of tone in playing this piece. I am not quite sure what he meant by depth of tone. Well, by providing the name of the piece, hope it would help in advising on what "lacked a depth of tone" would be in this piece. Thanks soooooo much for advising again, everyone. Bless you all!

I am in two minds about how to play early music on a modern piano. Does one play with a smaller dynamic range and either very little or no pedalling, trying to make the instrument sound like Harold Lester's fabulous instrument, or does one make full use of the capabilities of the modern piano? Should one try to give a historically accurate performance on a modern instrument or not? I quess that this examiner did not agree with your pupil's interpretation , favouring the "if Scarlatti were alive today this is how he would play it on a modern piano" approach.