Contemporary Études

Instrumentation: Solo Piano
Duration: 10 minutes
Year: 2023

Program Notes

As a composer who teaches young students piano, I wanted to write something that would challenge their thinking about music and their relationship with sound. These Contemporary Étude seek to fill in a niche in intermediate-to-advanced contemporary repertoire that is accessible for students while incorporating advanced techniques that will prepare them for difficult repertoire.

Touch challenges the performer to find a gentle and resonant sound from the instrument while differentiating between voices in various registers.

Arc requires relaxed wrists to execute rapid five finger patterns. The étude is an exercise in flexibility and phrasing.

Faster & Slower
New music is notorious for difficult rhythms, changing time signatures, and other techniques related to time. In this étude, the performer begins at a steady tempo and gradually accelerate until the very end. Slower is a companion piece that flips Faster backwards, starting with a fast tempo and ending slowly.

Reach is an exercise in wrist action which is required for many of the large chords in the right hand. The étude begins softly and ends the set with broad and bold chords.

Right & Left are a pair of etudes work on one hand at a time. The first is an exercise in ostinato in layering for the right hand, and the second a workout featuring a groovy bass line that works its way up the piano.

Jump/Count incorporates tougher looking rhythms in the form of 7/16 & 6/16 that require the perform to keep counting. A steady ostinato is offset by sudden interjections.

Sway explores the feathered beam notation for the keyboard and asks the performer to create a sense of ebb and flow in the music.

Repeat focuses on rapid finger and wrist action to create a light yet fast repeating ostinato which goes throughout the piece.