PPGAM EXPLAINED
DEFINITION
PPGAM is Positive Psychology Guided Advanced Musicianship. Its aim is to remind musicians to stay attuned to the principles of positive psychology in their work, which will help them to make better, happier, and longer lasting progress as they develop more advanced skills in performing, whether from notation or by ear, composing, whether for single or multiple instruments, producing, in whatever style or genre, etc.
What PPGAM does is make your progress more stress-free, happier, and steadier. That empowers you to be more gently and relaxedly confident in your musical and extra-musical skills and knowledge.
CMPPP EXPLAINED
DEFINITION
CMPPP is Contemplative Meditative Positive Psychology Pianism, a method and style of piano playing, pioneered by Max Alpha King, that aims to develop body, mind, and spirit abilities through a disciplined approach to piano practice and performance. It also requires non-pianistic, general body-mind-spirit training.
OVERRIDING PRINCIPLES
1. Regarding piano playing as a useful method of improving physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual qualities.
2. Playing the piano with effortless mastery without fighting or assaulting the piano, and without confusing the ear and mind of either the listener or the performer.
3. Avoiding physical and emotional stress or injury by mastering the skills of effortless piano playing, advanced general musicianship, and ease of body and mind whether at rest or in action.
4. Presenting a piece of music with clarity, expert control, and due regard for the music, its creator, the listener, and oneself.
CONSIDERATION OF FINER POINTS OF MUSICIANSHIP AT THE PIANO
1. Good timekeeping and tempo management, including subtle and sparing use of agogics. These together make up one of the pillars of good musicianship and music making. The better the musician the better his timekeeping and tempo management.
2. Synchronisation of simultaneous sound events, i.e. notes are played absolutely together when the music demands it. This is related to but different from tempo management, and often is the main difference between artistic performance and untidy performance.
3. Mastery of tone production at the piano is perhaps the most important aspect of piano playing, enabling both expressive playing and technical poise. However, it is often inappropriately underrated in favour of velocity playing.
4. The importance of melody is easily appreciated, but the beauty of accompaniment, even when it has been painstakingly crafted by a great composer, is often less appreciated, generally underestimated, and not used adequately to support the melody.
5. Understanding and appreciating the two opposites of silence and sound is an important cornerstone of advanced music making. Rests, staccatos, and phrasing add to the joy of good musicianship and of musical appreciation.
6. Control of dynamics, not just loudness and softness but also their suddenness or gradation, can add more expressiveness, power, and authority to a performance. This goes hand-in-hand with the appreciation of silence and sound.
7. Studying, understanding, and mastering the theoretical principles of music is not, and should not be, regarded as just indulging in “dry theory”. Instead, it is the gainful effort of acquiring the body of knowledge that helps us to perform, create, listen to music, and discuss musical matters with better information and understanding.
CONSIDERATIONS BESIDES MUSIC MAKING
1. Calm mental attitude and focus. Techniques from meditation, EEG biofeedback, mindfulness (CBT), self-hypnosis, and many others can help improve effortlessness, calm and focus. The mental clarity achieved through these practices help not only better piano playing, but also better thinking, memorising, learning, problem solving, and decision-making in music and in life generally.
2. Physical relaxation without floppiness, and effortless motion without sloppiness. Physical disciplines like fitness and suppleness training, qigong, yoga, and EMG biofeedback can help improve effortless relaxation, suppleness, and mobility. These can improve not only the effortlessness of piano playing but also ease and comfort in carrying out the ordinary actions and activities of life.
3. Positive Mindset. This quality of mind is related to but different from a calm mental attitude. It is slightly different in that it uses positive emotions to induce calm thinking, rather than the other way round.
4. Other areas the can be developed through training and awareness include breathing, posture, and any matter pertaining to biology (physiology) and psychology.
WITHOUT AND WITH CMPPP
Without CMPPP my playing could be described as follows:
I work myself up, passionately determined to make the music as interesting as I can. However, my determination and enthusiasm, especially when mixed with the anxiety and emotional insecurity that often accompany efforts to be artificially “impressive”, interfere with the clarity of my delivery of the notes, the nuances of tone and inflection, the poised and meaningful pacing and timing of the music, etc. In that scenario, I am mostly asking the listener to judge and approve of “my” performance of the music, and understand it according to my personal, purely subjective, and passionately egotistical, and ultimately insecure rendition of it, granted that there would still be a degree of subjectivity even in the best performance.
With CMPPP, however, my performance goals change and can be described as follows:
I study and keep on studying more thoroughly music theory, general musicianship (including performance and composition), and then seek to know each piece of music that I’m performing carefully and deeply, in order to understand not only its overall meaning, but also the details and subtleties that add to the appreciation, enjoyment, and better understanding of the piece. I also study and practise to acquire more mastery over my own egotistical and emotional needs, as well as control of my expression and posture. With these extra qualities, the aim of my performance shifts, and is less about trying to be “impressive”, and more about helping the listener to hear, assess, and understand more clearly what the music is really saying, including all the subtleties and details demanded or indicated by the composer in the score, and how they contribute to a better and more comprehensive appreciation, enjoyment, and understanding of the entire work.