Re: Re: Re: Pushing the envelope


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Posted by Rick Denney on June 14, 2002 at 11:35:08:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Pushing the envelope posted by David on June 13, 2002 at 15:44:55:

I don't disagree at all with what you say. I was just trying to balance it in a broader view for those who might not have been in your target audience. Lots of community band amateurs have limited technique, but can still play musically within the technique they have, so we are singing off the same page.

In some sense, it is within the nature of being a teenager to focus on the technical aspects too much. The musical aspects seem to benefit from more time walking around on the planet, soaking up the experiences and emotional maturity that feeds music. The real prodigies are those who can express such musiciality despite youth. But their technique is good, too. (For college music majors--this is the time to spend hours a day practicing technique. If you don't end up a professional performer, you'll never have that opportunity again. There's no substitute for it, in my view. As your musicianship grows, you'll find new and better uses for those tools. I'm constantly trying to finely carve sound with an axe when a knife would be more effective--my tools are just too cumbersome because I've never had the opportunity to spend hours a day practicing over a period of years.)

But don't for a minute think that players in large ensembles cannot express considerable musicality. The conductor at best provides the outline--the musicians have to fill in the details. Playing in an amateur orchestra as I did some years ago remains one of the highlights of my musical life, and the reason is entirely because of the expression of musicality that it allowed. It is true that the musicianship of the individual contributes to the overall musical effect, and therefore the musician must have the overall musical effect as the top priority. And it is true, particularly in amateur groups, that others in the group may seem to bury that contribution. This is true in all ensembles big and small--even those without a conductor still require voluntary submission of personal musical opinions to the will of the group, which is, in itself, an expression of musicality and musical maturity.

As to how professionals are selected, my observation comes entirely from the outside. It seems to me that people try to place objective measurements on what is by nature a subjective process, even if in name only, to satisfy some rule somewhere. This happens in nearly every business, and that takes a little time on the planet to realize, too. But I have to say that the orchestral tubists I've known have been outstanding musicians in every sense, plus they have a particular sound. They have not been among the best technicians I've ever heard. I can't from my own experience claim that these processes have therefore yielded poor results.

Rick "offering the warning that musicality is no excuse for poor technique" Denney


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