Richard Goode, a pianist known for his renditions of Beethoven and other classical works, came to Sacramento State Tuesday to share his musical expertise through his piano master-class held in Capistrano Hall.

A master-class is an event where students perform a song of their choice in front of a small audience and are then critiqued by someone experienced in the music field.

In this case, Goode watched the students and showed them ways in which they could improve their performance.

“A master-class is a very compressed lesson where I discuss ways in which a student can improve their work and show them how to do,” Goode said.

Dakin Chamberlain, senior music major, was the first student to perform in this master-class and did his own rendition of Franz Schubert’s “Wandererfantasie.”

The song started in a somewhat solemn tone as he played the deeper notes.

As the song progressed, it picked up and the tempo changed dramatically as his fingers ran across the keys at a very fast pace.

In my opinion – and due to my lack of music knowledge, Chamberlain performed a perfect masterpiece without error.

But to Goode, Chamberlain had room for improvement. A way to improve, Goode said, would be to work on timing and play the song a little faster.

“We should feel it as a one piece rather than separate notes,” Goode said.

After giving the timing advice, the student and the well-known pianist shared their knowledge and harmonized together, switching the bench amongst each other – musical chairs takes on a whole new meaning after watching these two.

As a performing pianist, Chamberlain said this class was beneficial for him.

“By critiquing my work, Goode is giving providing me with the tools and opportunity to change my music for the better,” Chamberlain said.

In front of the class, Goode and Chamberlain went over areas where Chamberlain could be stronger and ways in which he could perfect his work.

“Being nervous isn’t really a factor anymore, especially since I have been playing for more than 22 years,” Chamberlain said. “The hardest part is responding to his comments up there and being able to change the way you play a certain note almost immediately.”

Seeing the students respond to Goode’s suggestions in such a fast manner was a performance in itself.

Goode would make a comment, in his own music lingo, and the student would be able to play the note in an entirely different way.

Monica Za?ate, sophomore music composition major, enjoyed being an audience member of this master-class.

“The class was very interesting and inspiring to watch,” Za?ate said. “As a fellow pianist with piano as my primary instrument, I am learning so much just by watching his critiques.”

It was apparent this master-class was beneficial to fellow musicians because most audience members had an instrument of their own or knew what Goode was talking about during his critiques.

Many nodded in agreement when Goode would suggest an improvement and laughed when he joked about a music-related topic.

Erina Saito, junior piano performance major, also performed at this master-class. Her piece, “Sonata in F Major” by Joseph Haydn, had a cheerful energy and was a fast-paced song.

One of Goode’s comments on her performance was she needed more time between the notes.

To help her achieve this, Goode showed her just how long a note should be by singing with her as she played and using the same gestures as that of an actual conductor of an orchestra.

“Goode has such a good reputation and I was so impressed by his performance last night,” Saito said. “It is such an experience to work with someone so talented and experienced.”

Helping students and audience members gain knowledge and a new-insight on music is what Goode said he strives to do through performing for the campus and critiquing students in his master-class.

“The students that I critique get to take away someone else’s view on their music and they gain experience from being able to perform in front of an audience,” Goode said. “I am like an extra pair of ears that can help strengthen their knowledge and spread technique to both student and audience members.”

Besides helping students improve their work, Goode said he also benefits from this.

“I enjoyed performing for Sac State students on Tuesday and I hope that audience members take away a new appreciation for music after watching me perform,” Goode said. “It is an honor to perform here at Sacramento State.”

Erin Rogers can be reached at [email protected]