Today I was asked to play in a masterclass in two weeks time. I've sat through many of these things, but have only ever done one, and that was on a concerto movement (two pianos), which is a different animal to work with. Any tips on how to use it best?

For any other interested parties, it's Bryce Morrison.

The worst masterclasses I have seen are where a technical skill is not sufficiently proficient.  It is a waste of everyone's time to spend time learning how to get from a to b in a masterclass when private practice is what is really needed.

That may seem obvious, but learn too different ways of playing each passage.  Good masterclasses get you to look at passages and perhaps the whole work in a different manner.  That may mean to play a passage you have to use a totally different skill from the one you are used to,  e.g. You may decide to do something more legato and have to change a fingering.

One thing that may change how you look at a work is understanding its history.  It's embarrasing if the student does not know the background to a work when asked by the master, or if the student has no idea of what life was like for the composer.  Gen up on your music history.

That's about as much as you can do before the class, to help you make the most of the opportunity, but there is more to do....

The other advice is to not be afraid of overemphasising your learning.  All too often in a masterclass you hear the master demonstrate and the pupil come out with a thin copy (sounding almost like their prior rendition, but perhaps an inch nearer to the master's interpretation).  Mimicking in a masterclass is great!  It is a chance to play with other people's ideas.  It is not a performance, even though it is watched.  People there understand that you will go away and integrate what you want to of the master's ideas for your eventual performance.  Use this as a chance to explore your musical creativity.

The very best masterclasses are when the master starts getting ideas from you.  It's fascinating to see that creative process unfold - just observe what they do!

And best advice? Have fun and trust you'll be fine!

Tommo

Interesting that, that martle emphasises performance and that I don't.

I wonder if there are two different 'performances' we need to consider.

a) Here is a performance / demonstration of X's interpretation of Y's work.

b) Here is a performance / demonstration of X's approach to music making using Y's work as a laboratory

I think a masterclass is much more about showing 'you' and your creative process to the audience.
A recital is showing the composer through a you-lens.

Interested in your views on this marty-babes (or anyone else)

Tommo

Ah, good.  We're on the same page / in the same public lavatory laboratory 

Good luck eru.  Can I come and watch?

Tommo

I've enjoyed lots of masterclasses/workshops as an audience member (and non-musician) and it's difficult to say what makes for a successful one from the audience point of view. I'm often aware that these things are frequently only done for funding reasons. But if I've learnt a few things myself then I usually feel that it's been worthwhile attending. I've been to a few where the performance has been so good that the "master" was really struggling to find anything constructive to say. Very satisfying, in one way, but also quite disappointing as there's little real insight for the audience.

I hope Bryce Morrison doesn't wear pyjamas.

I saw him at a concert in the Festival Hall once wearing pyjamas.

I had some lessons with Bryce Morrison about twenty years ago, and I found what he had to say very helpful. I don't know if this is relevant but he was particularly good I thought about sustaining phrases and lines in a performance (though this might be because mine were the saggiest he had ever come across and the only way was up  ).
 
I took part in some masterclasses when I was 16 and 17. The first was with David Wilde and the second with John Lill. I found both to be very inspiring at the time, partly in a directly musical way, but also perhaps even more in terms of a momentum of having a musical encounter with people who to me at the time were impossibly exalted, and getting a kind of confidence and reassurance from knowing that I could even survive such an experience.
 
They were both very kind too which helped. David Wilde afterwards sent me some fingerings for the Grieg Piano Concerto when he heard I was going to play it in some rehearsals in preparation for an appearance in our town by Maura Lympany who was just turning up to do the performance. I know these names probably do not rank dreadfully high in people's estimation in company such as the present, but to me at the time, as somebody with not the ability or aspiration to be a professional pianist, that they gave me such attention had a very big effect on me.

What I say here may not be relevant to you, Eru, as I was a quite a bit younger than you, and certainly less able, but the mere fact that this 'class' took place in public with all the visceral tension of a performance surrounding it, made it hit home much more than if it had just been in private, I think. I guess this is partly dependent on the nature of the 'master' involved and the chemistry between you on the day (which of course is unpredictable), but my suggestion would be to allow yourself to be saturated by the unique ingredients of the occasion where private class and public performance are combined, and allow the unique psychological conditions in yourself that may arise from the unusualness of the occasion full flow, if the opportunity to do so arises.

Good luck!