Yes, perfectly said, Jonathan. let me add just few words. All these concentration exercises are part of the study. Later on in the profession you need that just for a certain entrance, say, Bruckner no.4, Oberon and such but not for an entire piece, as one has developed a special habit or approach to the things then and is able to play the things concentrated on the music, as you said, but relaxed the same time, so things will flow most naturally.
But the concentration exercises (apply for other things in life also, e.g. golfing, sport shooting, no limit to any sports or arts or profession) will develop this special habit by the time. Then comes the real music & your musicality get the say. But it is nonsense to talk about musicality, if there is no foundation laid out first. These talks are wasted time. But we must hear it over & over. ######################################################### Am 26.08.2011 um 21:32 schrieb Jonathan West: > On 26 August 2011 17:55, Ralph Hall <ra...@brasshausmusic.com> wrote: > >> >> Ralph R. Hall >> ra...@brasshausmusic.com >> Ralph R. Hall >> http://www.brasshausmusic.com >> >> I hope that in my professional life as both player and teacher I don't >> come across as being quite as one dimensional as some responses hint! >> To Jonathan I would say that maximum concentration is not confined to >> difficult, technical passages - far from it. The player who >> concentrates 100% in the Four Last Songs will be rewarded more than a >> cavalier approach will bring. And since when did concentration >> diminish and inhibit musicality? Not necessarily and not often, in my >> experience. Those who are unmusical will be so whether they >> concentrate or no but those who do not play accurately enough would >> certainly benefit from a greater level of concentration. >> > > If I gave the impression that concentrateion does diminish musicality, then > I wasn't communicating clearly. > > One kind of concentration is necessary during practice to improve technique. > But the purpsoe of a good technique is so that in performance you don't have > to concentrate solely on the mechanics of getting the notes out, and can > have mental effort left over to decide how to play *musically*. > > The ideal (but rare) situation to get into is where you become sufficiently > merged with the instrument that you cease to have much in the way of > conscious thought about the mechanics, of sound production, and your > consious concentration is not even on the notes, it is on the music. > > Regards > Jonathan West > _______________________________________________ > post: horn@memphis.edu > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/hpizka%40me.com _______________________________________________ post: horn@memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
