Professor Richard Breyer would say it’s unlike anything of its time.

‘It’s like three blind men trying to describe an elephant. One comes across the tail, another describes the leg and the third, the body of the animal,’ said Breyer, a professor of television, radio and film at Syracuse University. ‘Each of us had our own perspective on the same project, and that was what was so great about it.’

Breyer is one of three professors who collaborated to create a six-DVD series entitled ‘3-D Piano.’

Part documentary, part instructional video, ‘3-D Piano’ serves as an aid for pianists to teach others how to play, from the beginning to the more advanced levels.

The series will be launched today in Setnor Auditorium as its collaborators perform and showcase over two years’ worth of their work.

Tonight’s festivities will include a performance of Brahms by the Boccaccio Trio, a brief screening of excerpts from the series and a showing of the study guide.

Dr. Fred Karpoff, an associate professor of music in the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, sits at the piano to teach a lesson.

But this is not your straightforward lesson; he also gets up, dances and goes through experiences that help to learn or teach the piano to others.

Karpoff and Greg Hedges, a visiting professor of visual and interactive communications in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, were the other two professors involved in the creation of the piano teaching project. While producing the program, Karpoff and Breyer decided that filming unscripted lessons would be the best way to start the production of the DVD series.

The first three units go through vital information for budding pianists, and the balance of the series goes deeper into concepts of playing the piano such as pedaling, trilling and the vibrato technique.

The video targets current piano teachers, university libraries and other institutions of performing arts. Beginners who understand key elements of playing will be able to use the DVD successfully.

If you can understand the literacy of the DVD, and the terms used to describe actions it is teaching you, Karpoff explains, then the video will be able to help you.

‘It’s been my vision for a long time. My first master’s student, Deborah Cunningham, actually encouraged me to make the video. It became exciting, especially having this collaborative relationship with professor Breyer,’ Karpoff said.

The series features many of Karpoff’s students, including juniors [KO1]Charlie Magnone and Tony Cacace. There are also two current graduate students who act as Karpoff’s students in the instructional DVDs.

Magnone, a piano performance major, has been a student of Dr. Karpoff for several years and has played the piano for 10 years.

‘I think that when you’re playing the piano, having good technique is fundamental, and then once you have that down you can start making good music,’ Magnone said. ‘You can really start making that good music through going through the DVD and accompanying workbook.’

The filming of the series took about 18 months, with four additional months of work on the 84-page study guide workbook, which goes through each of the nine units to expand on the techniques that Karpoff works on with his students.

Jeremy Mastrangelo, a member of the Boccaccio Trio and an adjunct faculty member at the Setnor School of Music, teamed up on the DVD as well.

‘This kind of detailed pedagogical project has not been undertaken in the piano world in quite some time and I am very excited to see the project in its finished format,’ said Mastrangelo.

Though there is no money-back guarantee tagged on the cover of the set, the DVD will hopefully spark the creative imagination of teachers and pianists, heightening their knowledge of technical issues and understanding how the body works with the biomechanics of playing the piano.

‘I’ve appreciated this opportunity,’ Hedges said. ‘In the past I have worked for some design firms and it’s nice to be able to produce a creative product that has such an interesting subject matter, and a great team; I think we are all very proud of the work we have done.’

To view a demo of the series or find out more information, visit www.3-dpiano.com.

rltoback@syr.edu

Published on February 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm