Recently, I had an epiphany.
Why is it that in a lesson or when working with a conductor that sometimes playing can be spectacular...both in miraculous ease of execution and in quality of result?
I think that it has to do with our heightened attention to what result we are striving for. For instance, I am playing the Hindemith Horn Sonata this coming Thursday in a recital of mine. I went to my lesson this past week and played the first movement fairly well. Then my horn teacher just said "think about the emotion of the piece and not the physical execution so much. Try to communicate to me the passion of the music [there's that word again...passion!? :) ]" I played it again and it was instantly "spectacular." My horn teacher told me that it was "like a different horn player was playing it the second time" I played it.
Why is this? Because I was intensely focused on the preparation needed to produce a spectacular product! At times, my brain seems so overwhelmed with the mental preparation that I lose track for a brief moment of what is coming out the bell of my horn. At these times it feels so easy and efficient to play, though. I therefore humbly submit that precise/spectacular playing is a result of MUCH preparation. I think that on the spot, it is 75% preparation and 25% actual thought about execution (if that).
Granted, this post is a bit nebulous. My apologies for the, as my conducting teacher puts it, "touchy-feely thoughts." But in my quest to be a very accurate and precise horn player, this is a discovery on the path to my goal.
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2 comments:
There was a study done a number of years ago (don't remember when or by whom), but it tested people on their ability to think after an exhilirating drive at 100+ miles an hour. Basically, anyone who had just driven excessively fast had encouraged their brain neurons to fire faster (to compensate for the need for faster reaction time and thus avoid death) tested significantly higher on tests. So, what the study discovered was: If you want to do well on an exam, drive really fast on your way to it!
I suppose this same sort of thing is true of any activity where thinking is involved. If you do something that gets your brain neurons moving, then you probably will play better... Although, driving in excess of 100mph isn't necessarily the best idea.
I've always taken the approach that the only thing that matters is what comes out your bell. What you are describing as preparation is actually muscle memory. You may know that I was in the finals for the Philadelphia Orchestra recently. For this audition, I decided that I knew the excerpts so I spent very little time on them. My practice time was spent 75% working on fundamentals (which promote muscle memory) and 25% excerpt work. I recently installed a small television downstairs in my practice room. I turn it on and watch the ESPN while I work on fundamentals such as scales. Try it... sit a chair in front of the tv and play major scales softly with good articulation. Watch the game and just play with a good sound. It becomes second nature. Then, when the same soft notes come up in your everyday playing, you won't have to consciously think about them. Your body will know exactly where to put them. Do it for a couple of weeks... you will notice a HUGE difference.
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