At 08:08 AM 1/15/03 -0800, you wrote:
I don't know about this Sue.
I have to say that I disagree with the
people who are into these contests. Especially the ones who use
competitions as a balm to their egos.. IMHO, there's something wrong
with
that. In Ireland they have trad. music competitions as well and I
think
those are not good either.
I've met some fiddlers
*especially* who have some serious ego issues. If
anything, they could use being cut down a couple notches..
(snip)Music
is different then sports. Music is about self-expression. Who is to
judge
that?
First
of all, the competition should be about the music, not about the
instrument. It seems to me that musicianship always wins, and the ones
who don't win have not learned to express themselves within the idiom. At
least on the upper levels.And having been a judge, it is nearly always
really clear who has that spark or not.
Second,
you will find egos everywhere, not just comps. It says to me that the
person has issues of inadequacy, so what?
Third,
some of music IS about sheer skill, on the upper levels, and the winning
musician has a combination of skill, concentration, stamina, creativity,
and interpretation.
The whole musical competition
atmosphere creates a bunch of players who
sound like robots. I can't stand listening to those GHP competition
recordings, they're dull as cold oatmeal, because they all sound
the
same. However I am totally crazy about Barry Shears, Paul MacNeil,
Gordon
Duncan, because they're different, they're taking chances, they're
expressing some emotions. They've made the GHP a real musicial
instrument
to me again.
I
don't agree about the robots at all. Musical competition is an (optional)
step on the ladder of becoming a performing musician. It trains you in
the idiom so that you can then stretch the boundaries and perform in
whatever manner you want. I don't say that this is the only way to learn
the idiom, but it is a pretty good one. It also looks good on your
resume, and unfortunately the rest of the world cares about that. Get
over it.
There are plenty of subtle
ways of affirming that what you're playing
sounds good, and plenty of ways to motivate yourself to continue to
improve your music, without having to be officially judged.. For
example,
you play a gig, and you get asked back to play again. You start
getting
phone calls to play at different places and they actually pay you,
you
play a gig and get a nice little write up in the paper, you're
playing
somewhere and women start throwing things (not vegatables) onto the
platform :-)
No, people
get asked back to most gigs if they are minimally competant, clean,
nicely dressed (well, not always), and easy to get along with. Only the
most discriminating know when you are playing well. People will listen to
anything and tell you it is good. I think you need the opinion of an
expert/mentor/judge if you are to really improve.
Gosh, I
must not be good yet. No women have thrown things onto my
stages...
Sue
