🎶 Start your 14-day free trial & unlock the full course today. Start Free Trial →
tonebase Piano Course

Sound, Structure, and Technique

Taught by renowned pianist

Vadym Kholodenko

Join 2013 Cliburn Competition Gold Medalist Vadym Kholodekno as he shares the insights of his illustrious teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, the late Vera Gornostaeva. Kholodekno is one of a whole generation of pianists who emerged from Gornostaeva's studio and found international success.<br><br>In this lesson, he identifies three core principles Gornostaeva stressed to her pupils. The most important was sound. There is no single way of playing that can achieve a beautiful sound, nor is the category of "beautiful sound" helpful. Rather, there are specific sounds pianists must create in order to realize their expressive intention.<br><br>These expressive intentions are expanded to the realm of structure, which Gornostaeva understood as an attunement to the rhythmic unfolding of a work. Lastly, technical considerations are never addressed in the abstract, but only made when solving musical problems. Kholodenko demonstrates each principle in turn, using examples from Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, and Scriabin.

  • checkmark icon
    Category: 
    Skills
  • checkmark icon
    Difficulty: 
    Advanced
  • checkmark icon
    Duration: 
    1
     hours
     hour

Course Syllabus

Sound, Structure, and Technique

Join 2013 Cliburn Competition Gold Medalist Vadym Kholodekno as he shares the insights of his illustrious teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, the late Vera Gornostaeva. Kholodekno is one of a whole generation of pianists who emerged from Gornostaeva's studio and found international success.

In this lesson, he identifies three core principles Gornostaeva stressed to her pupils. The most important was sound. There is no single way of playing that can achieve a beautiful sound, nor is the category of "beautiful sound" helpful. Rather, there are specific sounds pianists must create in order to realize their expressive intention.

These expressive intentions are expanded to the realm of structure, which Gornostaeva understood as an attunement to the rhythmic unfolding of a work. Lastly, technical considerations are never addressed in the abstract, but only made when solving musical problems. Kholodenko demonstrates each principle in turn, using examples from Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, and Scriabin.

Click here to download the course workbook PDF and see the full syllabus →
Access this course and hundreds more.

Click below to access hundreds of exclusive piano courses, available only on tonebase.

Unlock Course →
Vadym Kholodenko
meet YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Vadym Kholodenko

Gold Medalist of the 2013 Cliburn Competition, Vadym Kholodenko is fast building a reputation as one of the most musically dynamic and technically gifted pianists of his generation, praised in his performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra “for his absorbing melodic shading [and] glittering passage work” (Philadelphia Enquirer).

read full bio →
Vadym Kholodenko
explore our courses

Join tonebase today to unlock this course plus 500+ more!

Preview our curated selection of courses below. With lessons covering fundamentals, technical training, style and interpretation, you won't find a more thorough and enriching learning experience anywhere else.

preview
play-button-icon
Principles of the Taubman Approach

with Robert Durso

preview
play-button-icon
Chopin Étude Training

with Marina Lomazov

preview
play-button-icon
Intermezzo, Op. 118 No. 2 (Brahms)

with Garrick Ohlsson

preview
play-button-icon
Inside Mozart's Piano Sonatas

with Orli Shaham

preview
play-button-icon
Music Theory Basics

with Ben Laude

preview
play-button-icon
Intro to J. S. Bach’s Keyboard Music

with Magdalena-Stern Baczewska

preview
play-button-icon
Prelude in G Minor, Op. 23 No. 5 (Rachmaninoff)

with Boris Giltburg

preview
play-button-icon
Clair de lune (Debussy)

with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet

preview
play-button-icon
Music Theory at the Piano

with Eric Wen

preview
play-button-icon
"Moonlight Sonata" (Beethoven)

with John O'Conor

preview
play-button-icon
Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66 (Chopin)

with Leann Osterkamp

preview
play-button-icon
Sonata in C Major, K. 545 (Mozart)

with Sara Davis Buechner

Listen to a few tonebase stories. Ready to start yours?

Ready to Begin learning?

Start your 14-day trial today!

All plans include:
  • Unlimited access for 14-day free trial
  • Full 90-day satisfaction guarantee
  • Access to 500+ video lessons & courses
  • Structured & guided course content
  • Free PDF workbooks & annotated scores
  • Feedback from our active Community
  • The Ultimate Practice Toolkit ($100 Value)

Monthly

$
49.95
/mo
Billed monthly
Give tonebase a try with our Monthly plan. Cancel anytime or upgrade your plan later when you find it’s a good fit.
Select Monthly →
Best Value - Only $0.82 per day

Yearly

$
24.95
/mo
Billed at $299 yearly
Make music your priority for the next 365 days and save BIG with our most popular plan. You’ll be amazed what a year with tonebase can do…
Select Yearly →

Lifetime

$
695
/once
Billed just once
Ready to invest in your future education? Get our Lifetime plan and gain full, unlimited access to tonebase for life!
Select Lifetime →

"I don't regret for a minute having spent the money on the membership. There's something for every musician on tonebase – I recommend you give it a try."

Photo of Dave
Dave McLellan

Concert & Chamber Musician

Join over 10,000 fellow musicians improving every day on tonebase.