Hello Ralph, even I can just say BRAVO to your letter, which represents my view entirely, I might add just very little.
All students of any trade and any science have to turn around & find out themselves, that doing any given work with a 100% concentration will give them back a full satisfaction AND (by the time) will save a lot of time otherwise wasted in doing things over & over again (because of missing concentration). But the concentration should not be exaggerated to result into STIFFNESS, stiffness meant as losing the flexibility to react upon outside influences (rhythm-shift in an ensemble, little flaw in intonation of single notes in the playing of the colleague/partner one is playing along, conductors "interpretation", other edition of a given piece, or whatever). ################################################### Am 26.08.2011 um 09:47 schrieb Ralph Hall: > > Ralph R. Hall > [email protected] > Ralph R. Hall > http://www.brasshausmusic.com > > Predominantly, this posting has revealed what I've suspected since > being a member of the list: the majority are looking for external > influences/assistance to improve their playing, whereas my thesis has > always been that the biggest influence comes from within. > > An analogy might be that most of today's youth get their gratification > from external devices such as the TV, Nintendos, PC's, smart phones > etc. Maroon them on a desert island and they couldn't hack it because > they have very little of use in their heads and nor do they have the > machinery of imagination to sustain them in their solitude.. > > The horn equivalent is the desperate search for the best instrument, > the perfect mouthpiece, the definitive sound, the study that, > miraculously, will improve accuracy. All these are externals that > bypass what should be coming from within. I'm intrigued whenever I go > to a horn festival/gathering that most of the amateurs arriving to > participate have better instruments (at least younger!) than I've got > and that they are the same who are earnestly trying every instrument/ > mouthpiece on display looking for the Holy Grail that is unattainable > without a basic ability level and the self-help, imagination and > diligence to exploit it. > > The common thread in the sensible advice coming from certain postings > is that accuracy is unachievable without maximum concentration. There > are no specific etudes that will do this for you and no concentration > switch that turns it on for a performance. Therefore, the only way to > train yourself to concentrate when it's really necessary, is to > concentrate all the time, from mouthpiece buzzing, through warm - up, > practise and rehearsals. Farkas says that to achieve anything as a > player you have to have spent at least a monastic 6 months dedicating > yourself absolutely to the horn and its mastery. For most, it seems to > be mystery not mastery. It's quite simple; it doesn't matter what > you're playing and which mouthpiece or instrument you're playing on - > make every note count as if your life depended on it. > > Eventually you will reach that euphoric state of 'relaxed > concentration' that is necessary to survive the rigours, both mental > and physical, that are an inevitable adjunct of playing to any sort of > respectable standard. > > Ralph R. Hall > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/hpizka%40me.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
