[CITTERN] Re: Memorization...

[Kevin Lawton]

Sorry if I sound a little argumentative on this point,
but isn't describing a classical musician as 'much too
denendant on notes on a page' a little like describing
a Shakespearian actor as 'much too dependant upon the
written script' ?    
Kevin.   
--------------------    
--- guy_and_liz Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> And I fully agree that most classically trained
> musicians (myself included) 
> tend to be much too dependent on notes on a page. I
> consider it one of my 
> biggest limitations, especially with cittern, which
> I use mostly for 
> relatively informal music.
> 
> I suspect one good way to learn is to get involved
> with some sort of folk 
> group that cittern could function in, where you have
> little choice but to 
> improvise based on chord progressions or what have
> you. IIRC, Jim Stimson 
> mentioned to me once that he played his cittern in
> an Irish band on 
> occasion, which would probably be a great way to
> learn. If I just had a bit 
> more time...
> 
> Guy
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Andrew Hartig"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "cittern list" <cittern@cs.dartmouth.edu>
> Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 12:00 PM
> Subject: [CITTERN] Re: Memorization...
> 
> 
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > One thing I forgot to add in my previous message
> is that the other
> > thing I have tried to do of late is to play music
> away from the page
> > as much as possible. Since I have two small
> children running around
> > the house now (one is 3 years old, the other just
> turned 1), I don't
> > have a lot of opportunity to sit down with music
> in front of me (and
> > not have it snatched, ripped, or pages turned when
> I'm not ready!).
> > Instead (since they are still too small to reach
> the instrument if I
> > play while standing!) I spend time playing tunes
> out of my head, or
> > at least trying to "hear" a tune I'm familiar with
> aurally and
> > recreate it on my instrument.
> >
> > I have found that this has greatly assisted my
> memorization skills in
> > that I am now equating "sounds" with "locations"
> without regard for
> > notes on a page. It becomes the synthesis of body
> and mind! This is,
> > of course, what all good musicians do
> (instinctively or otherwise)
> > and is also the basis of improvisation. I use this
> technique along
> > with the hearing/visualizing I mentioned earlier.
> >
> > Of late I have been sight reading the tablature to
> get a sense of
> > what the piece is supposed to sound like. Once I
> have the "piece"
> > committed to memory as "sound," I spend the rest
> of the time seeing
> > if I can figure out how to recreate that sound on
> the instrument
> > until it is memorized. In some instances this has
> resulted in me
> > fingering phrases differently than the notation
> (which, once I've
> > discovered this, allows me to look back and see
> *why* it may have
> > been written the way it was) or playing runs or
> other phrases in the
> > spirit of the piece rather than what is written
> (the "making music"
> > not "making early music" that Kevin referred to
> earlier).
> >
> > I could not agree with Guy more about the
> importance of sight reading
> > skills. Tablature is a near-perfect medium for
> sight reading;
> > unfortunately, I feel too many (myself, for one!)
> have probably
> > fallen into the trap of not being able to escape
> the reading!
> >
> > Two more cents for a total of four from me,
> > Andrew
> >
> >
> >
> > To get on or off this list see list information at
> >
>
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> > 
> 
> 
>