Season 1, Episode 13, Part 2: Madeline Bruser, The Art of Practice Institute

You're listening to The Piano Pod, where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century. Last time, we spoke to Madeline Bruiser about her teaching philosophy, mindfulness in practicing, and common issues she encounters with her students. And now, the conclusion. Can we back up a little bit and talk about your early musical experiences, um, just growing up, going to school, and then how your early career and how you eventually ended up writing your book and came to The Art of Practicing?

Okay, so you're talking about going from age 6 to— well, when I was 46.

Maybe not every day, but Just basically, how did The Art of Practicing come to be?

It came to be directly through meditation practice. Directly. I had been already teaching certain elements of it. As soon as I started meditating at 29, I just was already teaching things like sing the left hand while you play the right hand so that you can really hear what's on the page.

Right.

Notice the sound coming at you instead of thinking about the sound. And also rhythmic grouping. This is an extremely powerful aspect of the work. I don't know if I can go into it too much now, but simply to say that rhythm is usually not taught well. It's usually taught that, you know, the first beat is strong, the third beat is semi-strong and the second and fourth beats are weak and that's the end of it. So you have to go 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, and this is death to rhythm because the first beat is strong by nature. If you emphasize it, you just kill all the flow of the music. There are a number of music teachers, not very many, one I know of in jazz and a couple of, maybe 3 people in the classical world and different instruments who understand rhythmic grouping. And there's also a book called Note Grouping. And it's similar in content to my chapter 11 in my book, The Art of Practicing, which is all about rhythm. Rhythm is again in the body. And so when people use metronomes, they are shutting down their body. Human rhythm is not the same as mechanical rhythm, and human rhythm flows in waves. And it's very important that life moves in waves. The heartbeat is like, dun dun dun dun, and breathing goes in waves. Phrases go in waves. Music flows in waves. So that wave, it ebbs on the downbeat. It doesn't, you don't go 1, 2, 3, 4. You go 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, or 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, so that it's constantly moving forward. It's kind of complicated to go into in an interview, but it's pretty well covered in the book. But nevertheless, somebody actually has to work and get people to try and learn this because we're trained to stop at bar lines and to stop before beats. And we don't even realize we're doing it. This actually affects your technique because this kind of rhythm, as Yukimi Song was talking about, it's organic. This is how life flows. And so when you think of the notes in these groups and you feel these waves in these groups, your body works much more naturally and your technique improves. So what was the question? How did I come to the art of practicing?

Yes.

So I started teaching that along with the listening techniques and And I was more aware of what was going on with the hands and arms. So I was able to teach that, but it didn't crystallize until I had been meditating for 8 years. And at that point, what happened was, you know, meditation is a practice of sitting still no matter what's going on in your body. And, and that's the discipline of it, accommodating big energy. So I was accommodating a lot of big energy that spring when I was 37. Um, some heartbreaking things happened in my life and it was really painful. And I was sitting on my meditation cushion feeling all this emotional pain and not moving.

Hmm.

It was around that time that I noticed at The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song that I didn't wanna move around anymore, that I was able to accommodate the big energy of the music, all that flow of powerful energy without reacting to it this way. And I wasn't able, I just wasn't able to go back to the other way. And a friend came over and said it sounded better the new way because the music was just coming through to the listener directly. So that week I asked all my students, sit that way instead of doing like this. And instantly, instantly they all sounded 100% better. That was when the light bulbs were like, I could almost see them flashing in front of me. And saying, you know, you don't have to hit yourself— hit your head against the wall anymore trying to become a touring internationally successful pianist. You are an important teacher. People need to learn this. This is your career. Everything totally shifted at that point. This was after— this was like 6 months after my New York debut, right? I had my debut. Did I know it was going to be my finale?

Ah, the irony.

So I stopped pursuing concerts. I canceled a concert I had in Chicago. I was done. And I started giving seminars on the art of practicing. And then the book just evolved from that. I actually tape recorded a lot of the seminars, including the questions and answers. And those are the questions and answers that are at the end of most of the chapters in my book.

Could you tell us how we should, as a a piano teacher to maybe introduce meditation to students?

That's a great question. I've never told them to do it. I don't want to proselytize because I don't think it's appropriate. But what I've done is if a person is— just happened yesterday, actually— if a person is obviously kind of in a stressed state, you know, they're speaking in very negative terms, they're nervous, they're just not settled down. I say, well, let's just take a minute to settle down. Just sit there, let your eyes relax, keep them a little open, and just notice your breathing for a couple minutes. That's all I do.

Hmm.

If you start calling it something, it actually is limiting what it is because all it is is a space in the person's mind. You're offering them an opportunity to take some space. Space that their mind desperately needs. And a little space goes a long way. So then if the person becomes interested in meditation after that, which definitely happens to some people, and in these days because mindfulness is such a known entity, um, people ask for it more often, then I recommend a meditation instructor or a program but I don't try to become their instructor because that's a whole other relationship.

Exactly. Yeah, thank you so much.

Yeah, the three contact points: the feet are on the floor, the sitting bones are in contact with the bench, then when you play a chord, the ends of those finger bones are in contact with the bottom of Mm-hmm. So it will actually, you know, in contrast to the excess effort of doing this, when you lean forward, you really do that with a lot of energy. It throws your torso a little bit backwards because of the equal and opposite reaction.

I see.

Right?

Yeah. It seems so much easier when you do it that way.

Right. But then there's also, um, other uses of the forward motion of the arms where instead of initiating it from the fingertips where you're grabbing and your arm is passive, you initiate from the shoulder. So you can do that when you just let the arm weight drop in, but you can also slide in and out of the keys, which is initiated from here. And the sliding motion is something that's not in my book, and it is something that I want to really create on a video for people so they can understand it. So like if I just open a piece like Let me show you that really close up. Okay, so I'm sliding in and out. So you can teach the student to just slide with all 5 fingers on the board, then they slide this way in and out, and then Now you'll notice things like I'm sliding in and I'm already coming out before I slide out on that one. This one slides in, it comes back out, then I slide in. So there's a lot of— even on the same key, you're sliding in and out. I've taught them to do a scale like that, you know, in, out, in, in, in, in, out, out, out, out, in, out, out, out. That's how complicated it is, but it's actually a very natural way to move your hand.

Yeah, I can, I can see how relaxed you are when you do that.

The first thing that I always address with every person, um, I don't think I've ever seen anybody who's accomplished this entirely. Actually, one person got it from my book. It's in the book, but to get it from the book is exceptional. It says in the book that you could practice letting the fingers relax on the keys when they're not playing. So if you do do it down here. You don't do this, right?

Right. Yeah.

It comes down so that the fingers are doing the minimum, and that's because they're not designed for power. And that's very important. People need to understand what parts of the mechanism are designed for what. The fingers are designed for precision, refined control. Arms are designed for power and flow. This is like the bow for the string player or the lungs for the wind player or singer.

Right.

This is the flow. If you cut that flow, I mean, I could play that Mozart opening without that flow, just like staying in one place instead of sliding in and out, and it limits what I can do. I'll try it, but It feels awful, and I just don't feel that it creates the same kind of musical flow. So it's a much more freeing experience for the pianist to allow things to keep flowing all the time. Right, right. So you have to— and then the shoulder is designed to position the hand in space. So it's not designed to do this, right? That's not going to help you. And it's not designed to do that, right? So, and then of course, so that's the mechanism, the playing mechanism. And then there's, you know, the whole supportive mechanism, the stability that's provided with the torso when you sit very solidly. There's also, you know, all this that you can do to reach certain distances on the keyboard. And then the wrist is really designed to move. So the wrist has 8 bones that are lined up in rows, 2 rows of 4. And it is totally designed to move. It makes ovals all the time. So if I do this, there's a, you know, you can make an oval even holding down a single key. Not that you should do it for no reason, but there's just all kinds of places where this liberates the whole mechanism. It allows you to reach stretches. It makes it easier for the fingers to put the keys down. There's all kinds of stuff. So I just kind of condensed a vast unwritten encyclopedia piano technique into like this tiny little thing. But this is really what I started out with saying today, where we need to tune into what our natural abilities are. The body is designed to work a particular way. If you use it that way, you'll be able to play the instrument well. It's just having this basic— I'm going to say this number of facts can really help people stop doing excessive work with the wrong part of the body.

Right. Yeah. Thank you for the demonstration. I think it's really helpful for people to see it in action. Although, of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. And for anybody watching, if you're interested in this and you'd like to know more, I highly recommend you pick up the book, The Art of Practicing, or go to theartofpracticing.com. And Madeline's going to be offering a series of online masterclasses. Yes?

Yes.

And I think the second week of June it's going to start. It'll be once a week for 2.5 hours. It'll be early afternoon on the East Coast so that people on the West Coast or in Europe can participate. And there will be a 10-minute mindfulness practice to open each session, 20 minutes of group conversation about anything that is coming up for people. And then I will work with each of 3 pianists for 45 minutes, and they will have a minute of feedback from the group. And those 3 pianists will go through the whole 6 weeks. It's called a Transformative Piano Masterclass Series. By the end of the 6 weeks, something will be different.

That's fantastic. Yeah, so if, if that sounds like something you would be interested in signing up for, please visit artofpracticing.com. All right, so I'm afraid we're running out of time. I feel like we didn't get to at least 2/3 of what we wanted to talk about, but I think Clara has one more question for you, Madeline, and then we've got to get on to rapid fire.

That's right. And for those pianists are thinking, just take the action and enroll now. And I, I, I, I'm still so inspired and from last year, and I really, you know, one thing I have a great question for you, but I just want to reflect on one tiny thing that, you know, I feel like If it's not for the master class that I did last year, and I just, you know, happened to be— I don't even know where it came from. It just kind of landed in my hand, and I was connected to you, which I didn't know how to find you, and it was just, you know, through PTC. And I felt like you gave me permission, you know, and I remember it was that night after I performed, I came home and I realized I have to transfer the student my studio to online because that was the most rational thing to do, you know. And I think that took a lot of courage, and I believe, you know, and then my students actually are playing better than ever. And I have all these, you know, so I want to, I want to know what your opinion is. What is, um, what's the future is going to be, you know, from after this year and a half, or what is the going to be for pianists 50 years, 100 years from now?

I know that the pandemic is having a major effect on all of us, and I feel that it has a really powerful silver lining. I think that it's getting people to focus inward more because there's no choice and there's less, so much less distraction. You know, you can't get on the subway and go here and there and all over the place. And you're left alone in your house where your family is, where everything is more intimate and personal, and it can't help but change us. So I think that people have been forced also to come to grips with horrible economic realities of not being able to make a living. It's horrible for performers. And, you know, some teachers don't want to teach online and there are some students who don't want lessons online. So I think that this inward awareness, inner awareness is actually beneficial, but only up to a point. I think it's going to make us appreciate connecting to other people much more. I mean, my husband and I both are getting the second dose of the vaccine this week. And within 2 weeks, we'll be fully immune. And we know this other couple that will be in the same position. And I said, let's have them over for dinner. I can't believe what that's going to be like. People are saying, it felt so good to shake someone's hand. I know. I think, and the appreciation of what a performance really means, it's going to be bigger. So I think a lot of things have been stripped away and we're not going to even know until the pandemic is over. I think gradually, in pieces, we'll have more experience of being out in the world. So I think there is that. I would hope, and I believe actually, that making music is a practice that is evolving. The fact that schools are teaching the Alexander Technique I mean, actually, one of my students is teaching at a college and she's now teaching meditation at her college to the musicians. These possibilities are now more open because it doesn't sound like such a weird thing to the administration of the school anymore.

Right.

20 million Americans are practicing mindfulness. Well, hey, maybe we should get with the program, right? So it's different. It's going to take a long time. Time though. But I'm not sure that that's what your question was. But I do think that each individual is tasked with figuring out their individual situation. I think people need to talk about it, to have guidance from somebody they trust. And one of my biggest— I mean, my whole reason for being on the planet seems to be to help people, as I said, to believe in themselves, to show them that they're capable of so much more than they realize.

Yeah.

They could play so much better. They could teach so much better. They could help their audience more. They could help their students more. That's evolution. Uh, that's what I'm here to facilitate. And, um, so I'm hoping that the increase of inward focus and the increased awareness of how the mind and body work with music will actually somehow get people to— and also the forced discontinuation of how they were making a living before. You know, there's a musician who runs, who has a wonderful website. I can't remember the name of it. Her name is Kaylee Miller, and she is a Pilates instructor, and she also has like a podcast and She's connected with a lot of musicians and she's into the— she's a major person in musicians' wellness. And she wrote this article I came across recently that said, you know, I've been forced to do other things for a living, so I'm teaching Pilates full-time. This is what I'm doing now. And that she appreciates certain things about it. And I've read another article and this other musician is saying, well, I'm realizing that I want to be somewhat into arts administration so that I can help how this schools are teaching music, and I want to teach body mapping to these musicians, and I want to teach the violin, and I want to perform. That is a hybrid career. It's really healthy because we're not just a one-track person usually. You have abilities and the world needs them. So that's what I think is possible. I think it's very, very painful for people to not be able to do what they love the most. But I think it can be a growth experience.

Wow, thank you, Madeline. That is such a wonderful answer. I really, really appreciate your insight.

Rather new segment called The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song with rapid-fire questions. Question number 1. Are you ready?

Yes.

Right. What do you consider comfort food?

I love almond butter out of a spoon.

Okay, okay, that is quite healthy.

Great.

Full of it every day.

Wonderful. Wow. Okay, what is your word or words to live by?

Love yourself and then you can love others.

Great. Beautiful. What is the most important quality you look for in people? Love.

And what do you think is the worst quality in people?

Aggression.

I will continue. Name 3 people who inspired you, living or dead.

Well, the first would be my meditation teacher, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Who I was unbelievably fortunate to play the piano for 3 times. Uh, actually the picture of that happening the 3rd time right here. Ah, beautiful. This was the end of a 3-month meditation program, and I played for him in New York when he happened to be staying at a house with 2 Steinway grands.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah, I know you don't want a long answer. It was, uh, Beyond Words. Um, it was like the best piano lesson I ever had, and he knew nothing about the piano.

Oh my goodness.

Wow.

There's a Tibetan who appreciated Western music immensely, right? This is a very, very extraordinary human being. So definitely him.

Hmm.

3 people I would say: Menachem Pressler, who I studied with for 2 years when I was 17 to 19, who emphasized Imagination, creativity, sound, magic, all the things about being an artist. I felt like I became an artist studying with him. I didn't have another teacher like that before or after. And was the question who I admire?

3 people that inspired you, living or dead. Living or dead.

Who I admire?

Mozart. Who inspired you?

Mozart.

Mozart's music. Name one piece in your current playlist.

Schubert G-flat Impromptu.

Okay, this is a new one. I don't know about this for rapid fire, but name one change you would like to make to music education in the US.

I would like to have a national conference at which thousands of music teachers attend and where the whole point is to open up and talk about the primary need we all have to be open, vulnerable, and genuine And what are the components of making that possible in making music for your students? Great.

Wonderful. Okay. So, if you could only listen to one piece for the rest of your life, what would it be?

That's a tough one. Oh, I know. Of course I know. The second movement of the— Mozart Concerto in A Major, K.488. The second movement's in F-sharp minor.

Oh, okay.

My favorite piece of Western music.

Oh, there you go. And finally, please answer with one word, fill in the blank, that is, music is blank.

Love.

Perfect. And so everybody, that concludes this episode of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song, which I am very reluctant to end. Thank you so much, Madeleine, for joining us. We want to remind everybody to check out your website, artofpracticing.com. And remember, Madeleine's online masterclass series will begin in June.

If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review on whatever podcasting platform you use. If you're watching it from YouTube, please hit the thumbs up button and be sure to subscribe to our channel. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The links are in the description below.

If you have feedback for us, please leave it in the comments or direct message us by social media, or you can also email us at thepianopodnyc@gmail.com.

Hope to see you all on the next episode of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song. Bye everybody!

Bye everyone!

Thank you, Madeline.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.