Posted by Roger Lewis on May 02, 2002 at 09:47:02:
In Reply to: What makes a good musician posted by Brandon Ostrom on May 01, 2002 at 18:28:12:
All of these things are imnportant to being a musician. If the fingerings are written in your part, you won;t make music you'll play notes.
If you make a hard piece look hard - you express a wrestling match not music.
If you forget what horn you are playing - you are halfway there because now you are outside the notes.
If you walk off stage emotionally drained and you know you just nailed the hell out of a very difficult piece (every nuance) and say to yourself that it would be impossible to play it better than that (this has only happened to me twice in 35 years of professional playng) - you are most of the way there.
If people from the audience want to touch you afterward and shake your hand you are most of the way there.
Mr. Pokorny won the Chicago job playing the Flute solo from Afternoon of a Faun by Debussy. Not a particularly hard solo but very well expressed. Then you are "there".
1 Be able to do ANYTHING on the horn technically at ANY time.
2 Make the hard stuff look easy and make the simple stuff sound incredible.
3 Always play "your" sound - don't try to be someone else.
4 If it touches you emotionally it will reach your audience.
5 Play to the "cheap seats".
Just my ramblings for today.
Roger