Music swells and we are swept up into its beauty. Music dies down to pianissimo, and we are drawn into what will happen next. Music surprises us with accents and keeps us engaged. What is it that sets a mood so well? And what draws us into a mood?
Recently I played a wedding ceremony where I was hired to play for about 15-minutes prior to the ceremony plus playing during various sections of the ceremony (e.g. bridesmaids/groomsmen processional, bridal processional, recessional, etc.) I selected romantic music for the music prior to the ceremony, and that was a part of what set the mood. But the most important part was that I felt the music—playing the not only the dynamics and but adding in the artistry.
While teaching music lessons, I help my students achieve these same results by emphasizing a few key aspects to set a mood with the following steps:
- Make sure to observe all of the musical markings (e.g. notes, rhythm, dynamics, etc.) One cannot start interpreting the music without playing it correctly first.
- Understand the story behind the song (e.g. Does the song have lyrics even if playing instrumentally? If so, make the sound of the song match the lyrics. If not, try to derive a story based on the composer, time period the music was written in and the feel of the music).
- Understand the emotions behind the song. Does it sound tender, excited, anticipatory, melancholy or hopeful? Does it change in different parts of the song (e.g. Is it A, B, A with the A sections sounding up-beat and the B section sounding melancholy? Then draw out the contrasts of the sections).
- If it is appropriate to improvise, like in jazz, what would be appropriate for the song? Would giant swells and crashing chords be appropriate for the song? Or would modal scales with a slight crescendo breeze by into a quiet counter-melody at the mezzo piano dynamic be more tasteful? As with all things, it depends on properly interpreting the song.
Are these steps completely done in order? No, because learning how to play the song correctly has to go hand-in-hand with understanding the story, emotions and improvisation (if applicable). It is useful to focus on technique perhaps a few times working through the song and then focus on what the story may be and working that into the song playing through a few times and then working the emotions and so forth.
In the wedding above, I played, “Misty”, a jazz standard, as part of my repertoire prior to the ceremony. I drew people in by starting out piano and building to forte when I came to the climatic portion of the song. I continued with dynamic contrasts even through my improvisation and came back around to the melody ending pianissimo. I used partial modal scales to build and introduce a new section of the melody throughout.
The audience was silent; it was time for the ceremony. I had successfully sucked them in.
I had tons of compliments afterwards and I now teach piano lessons to the bride’s 10-year-old daughter—the ultimate compliment!