I am certainly a fan of the amateur player. My grandfather, an Italian immigrant and double-shift mill worker was also an amateur clarinetist. He practiced diligently, if not always intelligently on his instrument and had chops that could go on for hours. His education did not go beyond the sixth grade, and consequently, in order to keep his three sons from becoming mill workers, encouraged, or perhaps forced them to play a musical instrument. He wanted nothing more than to be a major league clarinetist himself, but had to live vicariously through his three successful sons, and later, equally successful grandchildren the majority of whom have a career in music. Perhaps a better educated man would have guided his sons toward law or medicine, but music is what he knew and loved, and deep down most of us in the family are grateful.
At the same time, I have heard our local amateur orchestra butcher some great repertoire, while acting as if they are second only to the Boston Symphony. I myself love to play basketball, but never once believed I play at any high level, even if I DO sink the occasional three-pointer. Anytime someone attempts something, it gives them a greater appreciation for those who do it well. My only objection comes when our culture cannot differentiate. I will never be mistaken for Larry Bird or Michael Jordan, yet a number of hacks in the music business have been elevated far beyond that which they deserve. I appreciate Mr. Cole's insight and honesty, but particularly his ability to discriminate. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Alan Cole Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 1:19 PM To: The Horn List Subject: RE: [Hornlist] Re: Transposing Dear Friends, It sounds perverse, but it's true: Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Doing Poorly. Think about it: If nobody could or should play horn except those people who can do all the transpositions, sight-read all parts in any key & any clef, & play accompaniments on piano, then lots of folks who can play in tune with reasonable facility, who regularly play musically with pleasing, characteristic sound, who can woodshed tricky passages up to performance-quality, who can play stopped, who can double- & triple-tongue cleanly, who can play high, low, & mid-range, who pay attention to dynamics, who are experienced & dependable ensemble players, etc. -- in short, amateurs like me who can do many of the facets of horn playing well, some poorly, & others not at all -- well, if folks like us had to be able to do everything the professionals do or otherwise not play, then we would have to hang up our horns. That's not right or necessary, is it? So while it is true that good horn players should be able to do all those things & do everything well, it does not necessarily follow that players who can't shouldn't even attempt to play. Better we should do as much as we can as well as we can, while striving for improvement so long as we are able, than that we should give up even trying. In truth, lots of us amateur hacks play over our heads, performing at times way over our actual level of ability. Then again, we mostly know what we can do at a quality performance level & what we cannot do, & so we stick to what is possible, while striving to expand the range of what is possible, continuing our efforts to get better & become able to do more, play harder tunes, sound better, learn more, become more like you. In short, we get the best equipment we can & we practice & we improve if we can. From the way we sound when you hear us play, you might not even know right off how fundamentally incomplete we are as hornists. Sure, pretty soon you would catch on. But if you were honest, you would also have to say, "Hey, who are those guys? They sound pretty good." Does anybody agree with this outlook? Surely I am not the only amateur on the list (even if I am close to the rankest). -- Alan Cole, rank amateur McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Basic facility at the piano ought to be required of every musician, in my opinion. It is a requirement at every conservatory and every university music department I know. Typically some majors, e.g., conductors and composers, are required to have a higher level, but all instrumentalists should be able to negotiate a simple folk song and accompaniment in all twelve keys at the keyboard. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.1.0/269 - Release Date: 2/24/2006 _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/pandolfi%40deerfield.edu _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
