Playing Beyond the Notes A Pianist's Guide to Musical Interpretation

Playing Beyond the Notes: A Pianist's Guide to Musical Interpretation demystifies the complex concepts of musical interpretation in Western tonal piano music by boiling it down to basic principles in an accessible writing style. Author and veteran piano instructor Deborah Rambo Sinn tackles a different interpretive principle, explaining clearly, for example, how to play effective ornaments and rubatos. As a whole, the book helps pianists understand concrete ways to apply interpretive concepts to their own playing and gives teachers practical ways to teach interpretation to their students. The book is illustrated with over 200 repertoire excerpts and supplemented by a companion website with over 100 audio recordings. Playing Beyond the Notes is essential reading for all performing pianists, independent piano teachers, and piano pedagogy students.

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.