Teaching Musicality?

[imperialbari]

http://touch.baltimoresun.com/#section/ ... -81005979/

[David Zerkel]

"something extra" is intangible

It's not something extra, rather it's the only thing.

Amen. What he said.

[hbcrandy]

"something extra" is intangible


It's not something extra, rather it's the only thing.

Bravo, Joe!!!!!!

[imperialbari]

There is the ear way and there is the analytic brain way.

A good teaching tool is about the teacher playing duets with the student. There are lots of methodical duets out there. I tend to prefer ‘real’ music. Hence my strive to make as many duets as possible available for free in as many constellations of instruments, keys, and clefs as I can see the relevancy of (if I missed some possible and relevant constellations, please tell me). So far

3 by Beethoven with very sweet melodies well distributed between both parts

1 by Mozart with the upper line as the main soloist - still a quite challenging lower line

1 from 1804 by the early Romantic Dane C. E. F. Weyse with full equality between the two parts, when it comes to presentation of themes. And then the lower line has a very challenging passage of its own.

Edit: If you want an invitation for my download project, send me an address via the mail-button to the right of here.

Klaus

[eupher61]

I just saw Doc's post above, as I was getting to the reply button...so I will be repeating, essentially.

I don't know if one can be taught "musicality" per se, but all of the factors that go into musicality can be presented, analyzed, explained, and demonstrated. The person that can make all those minute details into personal expression is the next big performer. Rarely can that be done quickly, or without a teacher/mentor involved.

[dwerden]

I plan on writing an article about this some time this year, but in the meantime I would say have the student play vocal music. BUT make sure, in addition to getting a general sense of line and phrasing from listening to singers, you have students follow the words as they play. If you help them phrase so it makes sense to those in the audience who may hear the words in their heads, it will help the student develop thinking and control skills. A line like "If I loved you" has mostly soft connections. But "blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover" has some harder sounds and deserves more articulation in those places. Makes sensible decisions about tonguing and slurring, watch for syllables that may stretch over mul·ti·ple notes, etc. Trying to make those sounds work forces your brain to stay awake and encourages you to be more articulation/connection-aware. You can also pay attention to the way a singer will bend rhythms (gasp!); emulating such things encourages flexibility. And what notes does a singer emphasize? An instrumentalist should probably do something similar.

It all contributes to the toolset one uses in phrasing.

[imperialbari]

And then the punctuation tells a lot about the phrasing. Not that all periods, commas, exclamations, or question marks indicate a breath. But aside from staggered choral breathing all breaths are at some sort of punctuation including end rhymes.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

What an oompahtic statement!

[nycbone]

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[dwerden]

What's wrong with replication? Especially if we add our own touches?

Isn't each performance of a Shakespeare play just a replication? Don't be so hard on yourself!

I've heard examples of both replicators and improvisers who made me smile. And I've heard examples of both types who did not. We're just trying to be in the former group.

[Donn]

Improvising is a lot of fun and it's a very useful ability, particularly for a bass instrument, though I don't think anyone seriously thinks we're musicians only when we're improvising.

For the tuba, for me anyway, improvising means more specifically, improvised bass line. Which, returning to the topic, has to do with key aspects of musicality that are very important to tuba playing but not addressed so much in the discussion so far. Can you say "rhythm"? (OK, excuse me, I know we're only talking about square music, but even there we might find some degree of nuance.) And a harmonic thing for which unfortunately I lack a word, but a structure of music that's parallel to the "chord chart" used by guitarists et al. but more of a line than a sequence -- hence of course, "bass line", but by no means restricted to the bass.

[hbcrandy]

I'm just a replicator and not a musician.

There are several specialties in the field of music. There are those who compose, those who arrange, those who orchestrate, those who teach, and those who perform. All specialties take the skills of a true musician to do well.

There are those who perform whom I would call replicators. Replicators are those who can play the proper note pitches in the proper place for the proper duration and nothing else. As Warren Deck, former tubist of the New York Philharmonic, told me in a lesson, that is only half of performing. A true musican that specialixzes in perfomance, takes the piece of music that he or she is tasked with performing and, through extensive training and practice, gives the piece of music a unique personality. It is like an actor playing a character in a play. Though, there are certain parameters in which the actor must work based on the author's description of the character's personality and the historical settting of the play, an actor who is a true artist will take that character and add his or her spin to the character making the interpretation of the character and the play fresh and unique. A musician does the same with a piece of music, even if he or she is playing an inner voice as a member of an orchestra. If I am playing tuba in an orchestra, I think of my part as a melody, in and of itself and try to phrase it so it will best highlight and support the main theme being simultaneously played. I am always considering new ways to play the same piece. If performing was just replicating the piece, then why why bother playing Beethoven's symphonies again and again. Once would be enough. Live performance is about bringing something new to a piece of music each time it is played so that audience members will come back and hear it, repeatedly.

So, the next time you play a piece of music, think of it as if the composer wrote it specifically for you and put some of yourself in it. Be a musician, not a replicator.

[MackBrass]

Being a musician is not about how well you play the notes, its all about what you do with the notes while you play them. Being a musician is like being a artist with a block of clay carving it away till there is something left that makes the viewer say "now that is good". A technician bangs out notes while a musician creates life, direction and puts a meaning on the notes. Teaching musicianship can be done at any level you need to figure out how to do it but first you need to discover it.

Start with defining the word musical. For me its the art of capturing your audience and keeping them at the end of their seat.

If your board while you play then most likely the audience is as well. Musicality is giving every note a purpose and direction and yes, you should be able to explain what your doing with every note on the page.

[nycbone]

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[hbcrandy]

Being a musician is not about how well you play the notes, its all about what you do with the notes while you play them. Being a musician is like being a artist with a block of clay carving it away till there is something left that makes the viewer say "now that is good". A technician bangs out notes while a musician creates life, direction and puts a meaning on the notes. Teaching musicianship can be done at any level you need to figure out how to do it but first you need to discover it.

Start with defining the word musical. For me its the art of capturing your audience and keeping them at the end of their seat.

If your board while you play then most likely the audience is as well. Musicality is giving every note a purpose and direction and yes, you should be able to explain what your doing with every note on the page.

Bravo, Tom. Well stated!

[Wes Krygsman]

Wow! Glad to see this took off!

So much great stuff here.

I have heard of a few general starting points for students such as "crescendo a bar, decrescendo a bar", "3 bars of building, one bar of relaxing," or "lead to this note in the phrase," as well as rhythmical ones, like: "10 pounds on beat 1, 8 on beat 3, 6 on beat 2, and 5 on beat 4."

What are some of these tips you've heard? Was it a good starting point? Do you agree with them? Are there ones that work often? Are there others that you found you never do and wonder why your teacher ever told you that?

Fun topic and cool to see so many different opinions, yet all are basically in agreement. I look forward to more!

[Kory101]

Wow! Glad to see this took off!

So much great stuff here.

I have heard of a few general starting points for students such as "crescendo a bar, decrescendo a bar", "3 bars of building, one bar of relaxing," or "lead to this note in the phrase," as well as rhythmical ones, like: "10 pounds on beat 1, 8 on beat 3, 6 on beat 2, and 5 on beat 4."

What are some of these tips you've heard? Was it a good starting point? Do you agree with them? Are there ones that work often? Are there others that you found you never do and wonder why your teacher ever told you that?

Fun topic and cool to see so many different opinions, yet all are basically in agreement. I look forward to more!

I think it's important to not over-think it. Filling a student's head with with all these "techniques" can really take away from just playing a phrase the way they like it.

I'll say again, have them listen to lots of music and try and imitate things they like.

[imperialbari]

Plain imitation with no structural thinking based on analysis is for parrots.

Klaus