Hyun Sook Park on why you should listen from the ceiling
The Peabody piano teacher on slow practice, rhythm and learning to really listen.
Hyun Sook Park teaches piano at the Peabody Conservatory and the Peabody Preparatory of Johns Hopkins University, where she is on the piano pedagogy faculty and co-directs the Peabody Piano Academy.
Here are ten of her best tips, taken from feedback she gave young pianists after live performances, with a link to each moment on video.
1. Listen from across the room
Put your ear in your room wherever you play, on one side of the ceiling and on the other, and see if it hears what you are playing.
Hyun Sook Park
2. Find the golden threads
I think it will grow, and you will find a few more golden threads between your right hand, your left hand and the inner voices. Some of them were heard, and some more are to be found.
Hyun Sook Park
3. Check how long the last chord really is
Look at the very last chord and see how long it actually is, and then decide how you want to finish the piece.
Hyun Sook Park
4. Exaggerate to sharpen the rhythm
Try really accentuating long notes to be long enough and short notes to be short enough, so it’s not so metronomic. Sometimes by exaggerating, you can also sharpen the rhythm.
Hyun Sook Park
5. The composer’s markings hold the answers
On Debussy’s Jardins sous la pluie:
If you look at how Debussy marked it, I think it gives you all the answers you need. If he writes accents, they’re more for voicing and singing.
Hyun Sook Park
6. Keep a basic pulse, even in Debussy
It would be good to look at this piece as if you’re looking at Bach, and try to keep the tempo so you don’t overly slow down or change. When it has a coherent basic pulse, then at the end you can really go for the accelerando.
Hyun Sook Park
7. Listen to the space
It’s something we all work on: listening to the space, and listening for the music to breathe.
Hyun Sook Park
8. Presto is only as fast as the details allow
On the finale of a Beethoven sonata:
Instead of going for the fastest, can you take a tempo where these ideas will still come through clearly? Go for it, but not faster than all the articulations you can make and be heard.
Hyun Sook Park
9. Practice extremely slowly
It’s something I think you can enjoy: doing it extremely slowly, and seeing if you can hear all these expressions really differently.
Hyun Sook Park
10. In Bach, make the voices converse
Perhaps we can hear the two voices better if they have clearer articulations for the different note values, so I can hear that you are making conversation, with more distinct voices.
Hyun Sook Park
Quotes are lightly edited for length and clarity. They come from Ms. Park’s comments as a judge at the 2025 Piano Star International Competition. You can watch the full performances and feedback on the Piano League YouTube channel.
Quick question
Which of these will you try first?
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