Dear All:
Isn't it possible that playing several plucked instruments can b= e
mutually reinforcing? If I spend all day playing the vihuela, won't
that = improve my lute playing? If I work on achieving perfect,
pearl-like tones o= n my six-course, won't that improve my tone on the
ten-course? If I learn t= o play the bass strings on my baroque lute,
won't that help me on the theor= bo basses? If I learn to play continuo
on the theorbo, won't that make me a= better all-round musician?
We're not talking about a hurdy-gurdy, a pennywhistle and an acc=
ordion here.
Dilettante as charged,
Jim
Feb 6, 2009 05:45:36 AM, [1][email protected] wrote:<= BR>
I've been bot= hered by the charge of dilettantism (someone who
"prefers
diversity to v= irtuosity") which was raised on this list recently.
How
many different i= nstruments is it possible to play to a high
professional standard? One? = Two? And how many do most lutenists
try
to play? Four? Eight? And the di= fferences are not trivial: sizes,
playing techniques, tunings, repertoir= e, notation...
Hans Keller once wrote an essay denouncing Phoney Profess= ions, one
of
which was the Viola Player. Phoney, because playing the vio= la is
so
similar to playing the violin that specialist viola players sho=
uldn't
need to exist. Yet they persist. The string player's quest for th= e
highest possible standard on his/her instrument trumps Keller's
logic.=
Are we in the lute world systematically harming our playing
standards,<= BR>even the reputation of our instrument, by spreading
ourselves too
thi= n? Wouldn't we do better to specialise?
Peter
(lute, theorbo, classic= al guitar, baroque guitar, ocarina...)
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References
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