Phew, what a lot of responses.
Going back to the "reading and writing" aspect, just being able to read
what's on the page won't make anyone a good actor will it? There's something
"extra" that makes the difference between a player who can reproduce what's
written down exactly and HOW they play it. Two players, same notes,
different performance.
On the subject of classical players, I do feel one should take into account
that, when playing in an orchestra, doing one's own thing may not be a good
idea :-)
A time and a place for everything.
Colin Hill
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 12:43 PM
Subject: [NSP] Re: From notation to music
I actually agree with all this, but I for one have received the reply
"no, we're trying to get away from that" when I asked a well-know Irish
musician if he could read music.
I have also heard a well-known singer dismissing classical players with
the phrase "the buggers couldn't do it if it wasn't written down".
These people, both of who I highly respect, can remain anonymous, as I
am talking about my experience and not pointing fingers at others.
Peace
C
__________________________________________________________________
From: Anthony Robb [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 6:32 PM
To: [email protected]; BIRCH Christopher (DGT)
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [NSP] Re: From notation to music
What a long, long way we've wandered from my initial point!
No one can take any pride at all in not having a skill and I for one
know no "by ear" leaner who would not wish to add the skill of
sight-reading to their box of repertoire-expanding tools. For many it
simply wasn't an option. They picked up the tunes from listening to
what was available and pleasing to them. The lack of such a useful
skill as sight-reading forced them to listen over and over again to the
style of music played and gave them an insight into the music hidden
beyond the dots. It is the absorption of the music into their very
being which gives this music, often simple on the surface, it's
complexity, vitality and beauty. Traditional music has been
successfully passed on by listening for many generations. This is not
beyond any musician who wants to aspire to it. It does, however,
require more discipline from a dots reader because tunes can be
quickly, nay instantly, accessible to them. The worry is that the more
people who do this, without lots and lots of listening to what
generations before have worked at and left us, the more we will be
passing on a watered down version of the tradition.
Stewart Hardy is a truly gifted musician by any standard. His sight
reading is impeccable. Jimmy Little wouldn't know where to start with a
page of dots. The one thing that they share is the amount of listening
they do to take in every ounce of life and bounce from our music and
then give it back with their own unique surprises and turns. It is
unmistakeably part of the tradition but not slavishly copied and
reproduced. Dots on their own can never pass on this feel for the
music.
No one is (snobbishly) damning sight-readers per se. We are saying
there is a heirarchy of approaches in traditional music; the most
important is listening (over and over again -even if this doesn't mean
actually learning by ear) then turn, once the music has been
absorbed, to the dots for reference, repertoire expansion, resurrection
of old manuscript tunes etc. When done this way around, each and every
one of us involved in the tradition benefits and so our blessings (not
condemnation!) be upon you.
As aye
Anthony
--- On Wed, 2/12/09, [email protected]
<[email protected]> wrote:
From: [email protected]
<[email protected]>
Subject: [NSP] Re: From notation to music
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, 2 December, 2009, 16:02
John:
>I haven't damned 'classical musicians' at all.
I wasn't accusing you personally of damning classical musicians. Sorry
if it came over that way.
Some people, including some who should no better, do damn classical
musicians, however, and even take a pride in their own inability to
read the dots. Inverted snobbery if you ask me.
Btw, when I used the term "damn" I was merely referring back to Sheila
Bridges' contribution, in which she wrote "and it
>seems that many who are damning the classically trained on
>this nsp ..."
Best
c
To get on or off this list see list information at
[1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
