Michael Kolk

This month I took the opportunity to ask the wonderful Canadian guitarist, Michael Kolk, about how he practices and learns new music – this is good advice for anyone about to learn a new piece! Part 2 of this interview will continue in May.

Winner of numerous first place prizes in guitar competitions and recognized at an early age for his exceptional musicality, Michael Kolk has performed at music festivals and concert halls throughout Europe and North America.
His work with the Henderson-Kolk Guitar Duo has resulted in numerous concert appearances and two albums to date, and he has collaborated with many musicians in both classical and popular genres. He made his orchestral debut as soloist with the Toronto Philharmonia in 2011.
Originally from Vancouver, Michael currently lives and teaches in Toronto. He holds a Performer’s ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and a Master’s Degree in Guitar Performance from the University of Toronto. His first solo album Platero y Yo: An Andalusian Elegy, was released in December 2012, and his latest CD with Alma Records was released in January 2014.

1. Do you have an outline or schedule for practicing?  What do you start with?

Leading up to a concert I do make a loose schedule for practicing throughout the day to make sure I get in enough time. I like to break it up into one hour segments and usually aim for four of them. As far a routine within my sessions, I sometimes plan it (for example, work on one piece for an hour, do another hour of pure technique, etc..) but usually I like to keep it different every day so it doesn’t get stale. Whether I do an extensive warm up or just jump right into pieces depends how I feel that day. The first thing I work on after a brief warmup is usually what is most mentally challenging, such as committing a piece to memory or working out fingerings for a complex passage. As I play more through the day my hands work better but my mind is not as fresh, so I save pieces that I know well until later.

2. How do you start to learn pieces?  What steps are crucial when you’re learning a piece of music you will eventually play in concert?

It’s a gradual process. I’ll start by playing through it a few times to get acquainted with the music and see what the technical challenges will be. As I play through I’ll start forming ideas about interpretation, which will inform the fingerings that I’ll choose. Once I can sort of get through the piece I’ll identify the most difficult passages and refine both left and right hand fingerings. Eventually I’ll work out almost every fingering in the whole piece and sometimes write every single one on the score. I’ve done this for some fast Bach movements. I think choosing good fingerings is a huge factor in feeling comfortable with a new piece. Of course, then those fingerings have to be trained into the hands so they’re automatic. Having the technical side of a piece so well worked out and learned frees you up to think about making music and being expressive. But I would say that as I’m working on the technique side, I’m also thinking about musicality – they really develop together rather than just trying to get the notes and then add the musical expression later.

3. How long does it take you to learn a piece for a performance?  Do you do ‘practice’ performing a piece before playing it in concert?

Of course it depends on the difficulty and length of the piece, and what else I’m working on at the time. If I have the luxury I like to live with a piece for a while before I perform it. I’ll start learning a piece and then have to put it away for a while as I need to work something else up, and when I come back to it some of the work is already done and my understanding of the music has developed. For example, I started learning the Suite by Jacques Hetu maybe 3 years ago but never performed it and then put it down for a while. Then a couple months ago I decided I wanted to add it to my current programme so I can back to it and just performed it for the first time at the K-W Chamber Music Society concert in March.
Doing practice performances of new pieces is essential and is something I feel like I should do more of. I usually feel like there’s still so much work to do on a piece, but sometimes the best thing to do is a run through, especially in front of a small audience or video camera or audio recorder. Also, running though a whole concert programme is very valuable, as it’s easy to underestimate the amount of focus and mental energy it takes to perform.

Mariette Stephenson

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