Living Scores Learn - Jacob Druckman

This page presents technical exercises that are advised to develop the clarity and precision that is needed to execute Reflections on the Nature of Water by Jacob Druckman. This section refers to the scale methods and thesauruses of Bergonzi (1), Slonimsky (2), Quartier (3), Stevens (4) and Messiaen (5).

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• Practice every grace-note group that appears in this first movement in a loop, while shifting the accent through the grace-note group. This in order to enhance the clarity and the speed of the attack each note, even in very soft dynamics. This needs to be practiced in the dynamic of the grace-note group in the score, without the diminuendos that are present in some of the groups. Every accent is to be played one dynamic higher than the dynamic of the actual group.

• Practice every grace-note group back and forth, first as two separate patterns, one up and one down. Later as a loop going up and down the pattern, keeping the exact same sticking as the original sticking. This will improve accuracy in the performance.

• Practice the two loud grace-note groups at the end of the first stave of the last page back and forth, keeping the exact same sticking as the original sticking. Alteration of the rhythm, in order to speed up the performance of those groups, a kind of interval training. Starting at half the tempo, speeding up into triplets, until the full tempo, moving back and forth through these stages of speed.

• Speed up of the tempo using the tempo-pyramid (Figure 17): every practice day starting at least at half the tempo of the score. In this particular case it is advised to start at 60 for an eighth note
• Practice every ascending or descending multi-note group back and forth, first as two separate patterns, one up and one down. Later as a loop going up and down the pattern, keeping the exact same sticking as the original sticking. This will improve accuracy in the performance.
• Make a chart of the written out dynamics in the piece. Group all the same dynamics in the piece and practice those parts simultaneously, cutting up the score and rearranging the material into dynamic categories
• Make a chart of the different kinds of accents and sforzatos in the piece, similar work as the above.
• All four-mallet pattern-like groups should be practiced with a lot of energy in every mallet while practicing slow. This will make sure the player doesn’t perform on ‘automatic pilot’ when moving to the actual tempo, but remains in control of the material and his or her technique.
• All the ‘rolls’ in the whole movement should be executed in 32nd notes.

• Practice every ascending or descending multi-note group back and forth, first as two separate patterns, one up and one down. Later as a loop going up and down the pattern, keeping the exact same sticking as the original sticking. This will improve accuracy in the performance.
• Practice of one-handed roll, at least for some rolls in the right hand. The left handed one-handed rolls can mostly be solved by the resonance of that register of the instrument, rolling with two hands and moving fast back- and forth towards the interpunction of the roll.

• Speed up of the tempo using the tempo-pyramid: every practice day starting at least at half the tempo of the score. In this particular case it is advised to start at 60 for an eighth note
• Practice the left hand pattern in different kinds of feel: 3+4+3/16, 5/8, two times 5/16, even in a larger 5/4 feel. This polyrhythmical and polymetrical approach of the same pattern will enhance flexibility of the mind to adapt to the right hand and will help to stabilize the pattern.
• Think the melody in the right hand always extremely independent from the left hand, let it sing over the bars. Your mind needs to process the two voices at the same time. Nevertheless, rhythmically, the upper voice should be extremely intertwined with the rhythm of the lower voice. This ambiguity helps to create a polyphonic reality.
• For the parallel progressions in 32nd notes at the end of the two halves of the piece: it is advised to practice these in chords of four notes, progressing down. Also hand by hand with two notes at the same time, and as a final step as written.
• The rhythm of these 32nd note progressions can be practiced in the same way as the left-hand pattern: in 3+4+3/16 as well as in 5/8. The combination of the two results into a more interesting friction between two interpretations.
• All the ‘rolls’ in the whole movement should be executed in 32nd notes.

• This movement is all about auditive illusion: notes coming in and out should be executed in a way that it is not perceptible when they come and go. These incoming and fading-out rolls are best to be executed starting on the nodes of the bars of the marimba and gradually moving towards the center of the bars.
• Special attention should be given when moving from a relative small interval to the large intervals with the poco sfz. indications. The moving to this bigger intervals often comes with false accents, so needs to be practiced with care.
• It’s a good idea to divide every line of this part into four parts like the composer did with the first line, in order to keep the balance between all the different elements, and especially to find the right balance in timing.
• Practice every grace-note group back and forth, first as two separate patterns, one up and one down. Later as a loop going up and down the pattern, keeping the exact same sticking as the original sticking. This will improve accuracy in the performance.

• Speed up of the tempo using the tempo-pyramid: every practice day starting at least at half the tempo of the score. In this particular case it is advised to start at 60 for an eighth note
• Make a chart of the written out dynamics in the piece. Group all the same dynamics in the piece and practice those parts simultaneously, cutting up the score and rearranging the material into dynamic categories
• Make a chart of the different kinds of accents and sforzatos in the piece, similar work as the above.
• For the parallel progressions at the end of the first and third page of the piece: it is advised to practice these in chords of four notes, progressing down. Also hand by hand with two notes at the same time, and as a final step as written.
• Move fast between the chords with an extreme position and the normal pattern: as soon as you have played the notes: move to the other position horizontally, as in the Steven’s method (6).
• Page three: for the memorization of this page: only practice what is different in the three times the theme is altered.