On 26 August 2011 17:55, Ralph Hall <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Ralph R. Hall > [email protected] > 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: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
