> Or stating it another way, putting feeling or expression into music, > traditional of otherwise, requires many skills; the more skills you've > got, the more scope there is for feeling and expressions. An abundance > of skills doesn't guarantee feeling or expression but a lack of them > guarantees neither will be present. > > Alexander Mac Donald
I agree with you on this. Well actually I agree with J.S. Skinner. Unfortunately there's no way to be a great player with lot's of heart, unless you have the chops to back it up. However there are plenty of folks who have great command of their instuments, yet they sound dead. Sometimes I think about how many years it took me to be able to do certain things on the instrument, the sad thing is now I totally take those things for granted. I sometimes don't even realize that I am doing them. That earlier thread about the bowing.. I had to go back to play some things really slowly, like 1/4 speed, in order to realize where I was doing what. I'm not even able to very well explain to other people how to do them. That's why I hold guys like David Greenberg and Stan Chapman in such high esteem, they can actually explain those things to rank beginners and it makes sense. Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html