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All carefully thought out points.
For your interest have a look at this:

It's the Aurora Orchestra from UK.
Several friends & colleagues play in this orchestra & it's been fascinating to discuss their experiences of how they individually prepare & collectively rehearse for performances.
There are plenty of other clips on YouTube for further exploration.

https://youtu.be/4GxgU0P0kco" target="_blank" target="_blank

I vividly remember the moment I got to "Level 4." I was hooked. I credit/blame that moment for steering me into studying music instead of aerospace engineering.

Rumblebuffin wrote:All carefully thought out points.
For your interest have a look at this:

It's the Aurora Orchestra from UK.
Several friends & colleagues play in this orchestra & it's been fascinating to discuss their experiences of how they individually prepare & collectively rehearse for performances.
There are plenty of other clips on YouTube for further exploration.

https://youtu.be/4GxgU0P0kco" target="_blank

I've never seen this group before. Fantastic.

As an audience member, too, I've always felt an additional connection with the performers if they've got emotional involvement in the music. Memorization is the first step, as it gets the music stand out of the way -- which isn't just a visual effect, but also one of "presence", as the player is then able to give their attention to the whole room and expand their bubble to include the audience.

As with anything else difficult, I didn't first experience bloke's Level 4 until after a lot of hard work. Only after the technical details of the performance became so automatic was I able to dig a little deeper.

If you play in a community band or a quintet that plays in church, you are always preparing new music which is performed a few times. Most of the time you are somewhere between level 1 and 2. Some folks, that I play with, have played in the same community band for 50 or more years. The marches have been played so often for so long they are close to level 3. (Give them new music and they are a poor level 1). I have a few solos memorized so they are at level 3. I've never been at level 4 with anything (I don't think). Having worked with Oystein Baadsvik on two concerts, I know he has most everything he plays at level 4. Such is part of the wonder and beauty of a master of the art.

Would it be blasphemous to suggest that marching band is often the first time -- and maybe the last -- when most musicians get to Level 4?

Leland wrote:Would it be blasphemous to suggest that marching band is often the first time -- and maybe the last -- when most musicians get to Level 4?

Be careful...

The snobs will get you!!

Three Valves wrote:

Leland wrote:Would it be blasphemous to suggest that marching band is often the first time -- and maybe the last -- when most musicians get to Level 4?

Be careful...

The snobs will get you!!

Well, let's get back to the level definitions as originally laid out:

1. reading sheet music at sight (or - if no sheet music - "faking it")
2. reading with familiarity - the sheet music is not memorized, but is familiar enough so that difficult passages have been technically mastered
3. memorization - sheet music is no longer required
4. performing "by heart" - A piece's technical and musical aspects are so familiar, that they can never possibly be forgotten, and only need to be reinforced and re-fine-tuned for future performances

Nothing was said about the quality of the performance relative to the best players in the world -- only that the player reaches successively better and higher levels of performance engagement within their own abilities.

The kids who belt out the school fight song when their team scores the game-winning touchdown at homecoming? I'm pretty sure they're waaaaay past Level 2 or 3.

Like opus37 said, in most groups as adults, you work the music enough to make it presentable for a few performances, making sure everybody plays mostly on time(ish) and in tune(ish), then you move on to the next concert list. You don't get the opportunity to make all the technical aspects fully automatic.