Quoting Richard York <rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk>:
All of which goes to show that it's really, really difficult writing
down on paper the precise quality of something which we hear and/or
play in such a way that other people can do it.
Perhaps Aural Transmission really is the best method.
(waits for someone to produce a dubious double entendre)
I think this is where we hit the difference between what is generally
called 'traditional' music and on the other hand 'classical' music.
'Traditional' musicians played in their communities or where they
would. Jimmy Allen played for the crowds, so his accomplices could
lighten their pockets.
In a more modern time rock musicians played enthralling music which
wowed millions with only the sketchiest of musical theory. Now go into
a decent guitar shop and their is some guitar-nerd (technical term)
reproducing a famous lead solo on a fender stratocaster they will
never be able to afford. That is perhaps also Aural transmission.
Conversely, much of what we refer to as 'Classical' music was composed
by courtiers, retainers, civic employees or household members, who
owed their livelihood too being able to please their paymasters. In
particular, they had to 'write' music which professional musicians
could play either almost or completely at sight, and all the
directions had to be on the page. The larger the group of musicians,
the more more meticulous the directions had to be.
To my way of thinking, in the classical mode (as I have described it)
the technical terms are prescriptive and the Composer to the Elector
of Wotsitburg can say to his orchestra, "When I say this bit is
staccato I mean "Proper Poppa dopadumds", or whatever. Either they got
the message or they should set out for the next city state and find a
different employer.
For Traditional music I think we should regard such technical terms as
descriptive. The music is as it is played by those who represent the
tradition (you choose). We imbibe it, we imitate it, and we develop
it. It is useful and helpful to talk to others as we grow into the
tradition, and for this we need a language. We may reach to the
'classical' world for descriptive terms or we may invent our own
terms, such as 'detached' to describe:
"Playing NSP with a fresh start to each note but not necessarily a
clearly audible silence" (Chirz)
Any thoughts?
Barry
PS my spellchecker offered as alternatives to 'stratocaster':
'toastmaster' or castrated. Ah! the wonders of a digital age.
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