Playing Beyond the Notes

This book demystifies the complex topic of musical interpretation by boiling it down to basic principles in an accessible writing style. The book targets pianists, piano teachers, and piano pedagogy students and incorporates over 200 musical examples from the intermediate and advanced piano repertoire.

Deborah Rambo Sinn's diverse career as a pianist has taken her in several directions. She has performed classical concerts on four continents, has served on the faculties of two universities, and has played keyboards for professional musical productions. She lived in Germany for five years where she gained a reputation as a coach for musical interpretation working with various instrumentalists and professional opera singers. She received a doctorate from Indiana University where she studied with Menahem Pressler and James Tocco. Sinn currently resides in Washington State, where she remains active as a teacher, coach, and performer.

- About the Companion Website
- Musical Examples and Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1. The Score
- 2. Getting Started
- 3. The End
- 4. Dreadful Boxes and Beams
- 5. Voicing from the Bottom Up
- 6. Messy Basses
- 7. Ornamentation: Understanding the Small Print
- 8. Rubato: Stealing as an Art
- 9. Deconstructing Phrases
- 10. Transitions: Getting from Here to There
- 11. "Staccato Means Short" and Other Myths
- 12. Pedaling
- Afterword
- Glossary
- Common Stylized Dances or Dance-Related Forms
- Further Reading
- Index