Musical interpretation is first and foremost a question of shaping a melody or the melodic line of a setting. Music, like any language, follows its own set of rules and a sufficient knowledge and familiarity with musical ‘grammar’ is therefore an essential prerequisite of any convincing interpretation. The internationally renowned performer and teacher Peter-Lukas Graf explains in great detail the parameters that have to be taken into account for a successful interpretation: rhythm, ...

• About 'rules'
• Preface
• Golden rules for the interpreter
• The structure and analysis of melody
• Notes on the execution of ornamentation in the 17th and 18th centuries
• Ornamentation in the 19th and 20th centuries
• Phrasing
• Rhythm
• Accents
• Dynamics
• Tempo
• Metre
• Flexibility of rhythm/rubato
• Shaping the musical phrase
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index
• Musical examples