At 7:16 AM -0400 3/17/10, dhbailey wrote:
When I conducted a community orchestra, we were going to do a Sinatra medley, and as expected, the orchestra couldn't swing. I explained things and they began to get it but still weren't fully loosening up. Finally I simply brought in some recordings of the original tunes and told them "Now that you have the beginnings of an understanding, listen to this and then we'll try to copy it." They got it right away after that, and the following year it was much easier to do similar music.
Well-put, David. Basic educational psychology: first we hear and then imitate. Only much later to we see and then interpret, based on what we first heard. Works for language, works for music.
Similarly, I teach the historically-naïve string players (and wind players for that matter) in my Early Music Ensemble how to play proper baroque trills and appoggiaturas, and they start doing it at sight once they understand the differences. Proper baroque articulations with the bow are a little harder to get across, and so is playing with notes inegals (which is not QUITE the same thing as swing--more like an Irish fiddler's "lilt").
John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[email protected]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html "We never play anything the same way once." Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
