The plucked string, the harpsichordist’s hand

Various sound qualities, projection, and dynamics (which definitely exist on the harpsichord!) stem from an array of gestures, the speed at which the string is plucked, and the way the key is released, which determines articulation. Adequately preparing the moment of plucking allows the player to master both timing and sound quality.

Working on developing the sensation of the string at one’s fingertips and experiencing the minimal effort required to make it sound are a consistent part of my approach to developing increasingly finer perceptions of a wide variety of touches and the sounds that result from them. I like to create exercises from pieces student working on, emphasizing a relaxed, flexible and dynamic hand, and always maintaining a link with the music.

Structure: dance rhythm and harmonic rhythm

Along with developing listening skills, I approach teaching by thinking of the keyboard as a dance floor and the hand as a dancer’s body. The rhythmic and harmonic emphases that structure the music are of utmost importance, and transferring weight from one finger to another, or to another part of the hand, always in keeping with the musical text, should be concretely experienced in the harpsichordist’s muscles. To foster this, I encourage students to discover the « bare bones » of the text, which resemble sight lines in a painting or pillars in architecture, and to play this simplified version convincingly in a way that is intellectually clear and well-grounded in the body. Diminutions, the style luthé, intermediary voices, ornamentation, and precise finger articulation are then added without disturbing the foundation, which can be returned to as often as necessary.

Musical discourse and expression

Going eyond these structures, the idea is to convey the musical discourse! Students, when faced with a text, can enhance their conception of the music by exploring its affekt or affekts and its form (free-form, dance, polyphonic piece), and identifying rhetorical elements by locating sound references in the repertoire dating from the same period as their pieces. Referring to the human voice and the articulation of a text are often pertinent, especially in polyphonic repertoire. For certain pieces, references to other instruments or period sounds (organ, violin, gamba, wind instruments, the orchestra) can increase understanding. The harpsichordist’s goal is to enable the listener to no longer hear a harpsichord, but a richly layered musical discourse. This is my own objective as a musician, and the one that I try to share with my students.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Céline Frisch