Thursday, March 23, 2006
How to be a Musician…[Guy Browning]
Classical musicians tend to be rather saintly or godlike. It depends on how much weight they have to carry around. Double bassists are humble because they’ve got a massive double bass-shaped cross to bear. Violinists are quite cocky because they’ve only got hand luggage. Worst of all are conductors, who have nothing to carry but an elongated toothpick.
In classical music, instruments are divided into four rather sexual categories: blowing, scratching, fingering, and banging. There is also a further specilized category of beating with a stick. No correlation exists between musical and sexual performance, except for the fact that 90% of musicians instinctively make love in three-eight time.
Musicians’ rehearsals follow the same trajectory as mental illness: you start in the warmth of loving home and increasingly find yourself out in the cold or in a soundproofed room.
Parents usually choose the instruments you play first. That’s why you see so few child bassoonists. If there were a totally silent instrument, it would be a winner with most parents. Parents also put you through grades. Grade One means you can hold an instrument. Grade Two that you can get a noise out of it, Grade Three that it’s a recognizable noise. Anything above that requires an ability to play properly, which is when most young people transfer to football or snogging.
You can tell how good people are at music by how much their bodies move. In the beginning, the body is held in a rictus of concentration. Later, it relaxes as the fingers do most of the work. Once the fingers do what you want instinctively, the whole body gets back into the act by weaving, swaying, and sweating.
In the long run, the instrument you choose to play is a reflection of you as a person. For example, no one who plays the tuba is ever treated for depression. Similarly, people who play the oboe tend to have complex love lives, while piccolo players are often negligent with tax returns.
Where you hold your instrument has a bearing on the music. Violins are held like a finger on the chin, which is why the music tends to be thoughtful. Cellists put their instrument between their legs, which is why they’re sexy beats. Trumpeters stand like somebody telling a joke at a bar, which is why their music sounds like laughter, Bagpipes don’t bear thinking about.
- Guardian Magazine 10.12.03
Classical musicians tend to be rather saintly or godlike. It depends on how much weight they have to carry around. Double bassists are humble because they’ve got a massive double bass-shaped cross to bear. Violinists are quite cocky because they’ve only got hand luggage. Worst of all are conductors, who have nothing to carry but an elongated toothpick.
In classical music, instruments are divided into four rather sexual categories: blowing, scratching, fingering, and banging. There is also a further specilized category of beating with a stick. No correlation exists between musical and sexual performance, except for the fact that 90% of musicians instinctively make love in three-eight time.
Musicians’ rehearsals follow the same trajectory as mental illness: you start in the warmth of loving home and increasingly find yourself out in the cold or in a soundproofed room.
Parents usually choose the instruments you play first. That’s why you see so few child bassoonists. If there were a totally silent instrument, it would be a winner with most parents. Parents also put you through grades. Grade One means you can hold an instrument. Grade Two that you can get a noise out of it, Grade Three that it’s a recognizable noise. Anything above that requires an ability to play properly, which is when most young people transfer to football or snogging.
You can tell how good people are at music by how much their bodies move. In the beginning, the body is held in a rictus of concentration. Later, it relaxes as the fingers do most of the work. Once the fingers do what you want instinctively, the whole body gets back into the act by weaving, swaying, and sweating.
In the long run, the instrument you choose to play is a reflection of you as a person. For example, no one who plays the tuba is ever treated for depression. Similarly, people who play the oboe tend to have complex love lives, while piccolo players are often negligent with tax returns.
Where you hold your instrument has a bearing on the music. Violins are held like a finger on the chin, which is why the music tends to be thoughtful. Cellists put their instrument between their legs, which is why they’re sexy beats. Trumpeters stand like somebody telling a joke at a bar, which is why their music sounds like laughter, Bagpipes don’t bear thinking about.
- Guardian Magazine 10.12.03
Friday, August 12, 2005
"Society of Musicians" - an interesting article
When I say I study music, others would assume that I "perform" music.
When I say I can perform music, they would ask: "What do you PLAY?", as if implying that performing music only involves "playing" an instrument.
When I say I sing, others are more likely to be less intrigued than if I say I play an instrument - as if knowing how to sing (in any style) is not as COOL or knowledgable as knowing how to play an instrument.
When I say I play piano, people would be less surprised or taken by it than if I say I play harp, as if piano somehow has a lower status than a harp because it's more common.
There are so many assumptions and so little examinations into those assumptions. I would recommand Bruno Nettl's article - "Society of Musicians" from his book "Heartland Excursions. In this article, he talks about Music School as a structured and unique society in itself with its own sets of principles that govern interactions and functions of various groups within the "society" - a phenomonon that is often observed but seldom discussed.
Nettl discussed 5 main points: 1) Music Communities 2) The Principal Classes - Students -> Teachers -> Adminstration 3) Classes of Musicianship 4) The Importance of Heritage 5) A Group of Ensembles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Music Communities
- everyday contact w/ others in the Music Building = governed by some unspoken principle.
2) Students -> Teachers -> Admin.
- great gap between teacher & admin. once an admin, if decides to teach, it would be seen as a demotion.
- class structure => industralized model
* admin - funds, hiring, "owner"
* professors - labor
* students - "consumer"
3) Classes of Musicianship
* Performer & Academics
- emphasis on performance (& less on academics) when one talks about Music School; musc academics (eg. musicology, theory, etc) are expected to attend performance majors' concerts but perform. majors are not expected to attend musc academics' presentation on papers, etc.
- musc historian vs musc educator (one = emperical research; up-to-date; another one = general would be enough, don't need to be too strict)
* Singers vs. Instrumentalists
- instrumentalists: hold more esteem
- singers -> more women; women = more likely to play melody-producing instrument (eg. not percussion)
- voice -> perceived as a "talent", not a 'skill"?!
- voice/opera -> need to take lessons on techniques of singing + vocal literature + foreign language + study of vocal music & repertory => perceived as less autonomous/self-sufficient than instrumentalists
* Wind/Brass vs. Strings
- strings: expected to practice more; usually not in administration; more respected by audience b/c it's perceived as "pure art"; associated with great masters (eg. Beethoven, Brahms, etc.)
- wind/brass -> less compositions by great masters; repertoire -> more association with political power (eg. marching bands, etc.)
* Piano = King?
- large repertoire; largest # in music schools
- requirement for music students (at least moderate level); system of class instruction = most developed
- theory class -> it's the instrument used for instruction/demo
- # of technicians hired to tune/maintain the pianos = large in comparison to other instruments
4) Importance of Heritage
- "musical family"; belonging to a "studio" of a prestigeous instructor => important for career
- students often stay with the same instructor throughout their training in the school or even longer.
- "lineage" impt (eg. being taught by a student of Beethoven -> following the lienage of Beethoven)
- Identity of teacher & membership in a "family" -> impt for career
- competiting/studying with the "first chair" / prestigeous teacher = talent recognized by authority; get introduced to other talented students who are attracted by the instructor.
5) A Group of Ensembles
* Social Role
- education & entertainment
* Conductor
- politics involved
- "dean of the hour"
- prof may create ensembles so s/he could conduct -> can elevate stuatus; leadership satisfaction
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
> I'm a BA in Music (& Psych) - but BA in Mus has no performance component to it. So it's possible for a person to "study music" (ie music history, theory, composition) & not knowing how to perform.
> I took lessons on opera/voice for 2 years but when people ask me what instruments do I play, I can't exactly say.. I "play" voice. & If I say I do voice/opera, some may think "why do you need to take lessons on singing?" Singing is not just a talent; it can involve a lot of training and practice. Sometiems it's even more difficult than learning an instrument b/c you cannot exactly "see" your "instrument", you can only "feel" or "think" about it.
> I play piano, violin, and harp. It's so interesting to see others' reaction when I give different responses to the question: What instrument do you play? Sometimes people would say.. "let me guess... you play piano?" For piano, the most common response is.. "Oh..nice~" For violin, it's slightly better than that. For harp, it's often goes 'WOW! Really?" "What? You play HARP??" Of course all kinds of other factors play into that conception (eg. connotations, associations, etc.)
When I say I can perform music, they would ask: "What do you PLAY?", as if implying that performing music only involves "playing" an instrument.
When I say I sing, others are more likely to be less intrigued than if I say I play an instrument - as if knowing how to sing (in any style) is not as COOL or knowledgable as knowing how to play an instrument.
When I say I play piano, people would be less surprised or taken by it than if I say I play harp, as if piano somehow has a lower status than a harp because it's more common.
There are so many assumptions and so little examinations into those assumptions. I would recommand Bruno Nettl's article - "Society of Musicians" from his book "Heartland Excursions. In this article, he talks about Music School as a structured and unique society in itself with its own sets of principles that govern interactions and functions of various groups within the "society" - a phenomonon that is often observed but seldom discussed.
Nettl discussed 5 main points: 1) Music Communities 2) The Principal Classes - Students -> Teachers -> Adminstration 3) Classes of Musicianship 4) The Importance of Heritage 5) A Group of Ensembles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Music Communities
- everyday contact w/ others in the Music Building = governed by some unspoken principle.
2) Students -> Teachers -> Admin.
- great gap between teacher & admin. once an admin, if decides to teach, it would be seen as a demotion.
- class structure => industralized model
* admin - funds, hiring, "owner"
* professors - labor
* students - "consumer"
3) Classes of Musicianship
* Performer & Academics
- emphasis on performance (& less on academics) when one talks about Music School; musc academics (eg. musicology, theory, etc) are expected to attend performance majors' concerts but perform. majors are not expected to attend musc academics' presentation on papers, etc.
- musc historian vs musc educator (one = emperical research; up-to-date; another one = general would be enough, don't need to be too strict)
* Singers vs. Instrumentalists
- instrumentalists: hold more esteem
- singers -> more women; women = more likely to play melody-producing instrument (eg. not percussion)
- voice -> perceived as a "talent", not a 'skill"?!
- voice/opera -> need to take lessons on techniques of singing + vocal literature + foreign language + study of vocal music & repertory => perceived as less autonomous/self-sufficient than instrumentalists
* Wind/Brass vs. Strings
- strings: expected to practice more; usually not in administration; more respected by audience b/c it's perceived as "pure art"; associated with great masters (eg. Beethoven, Brahms, etc.)
- wind/brass -> less compositions by great masters; repertoire -> more association with political power (eg. marching bands, etc.)
* Piano = King?
- large repertoire; largest # in music schools
- requirement for music students (at least moderate level); system of class instruction = most developed
- theory class -> it's the instrument used for instruction/demo
- # of technicians hired to tune/maintain the pianos = large in comparison to other instruments
4) Importance of Heritage
- "musical family"; belonging to a "studio" of a prestigeous instructor => important for career
- students often stay with the same instructor throughout their training in the school or even longer.
- "lineage" impt (eg. being taught by a student of Beethoven -> following the lienage of Beethoven)
- Identity of teacher & membership in a "family" -> impt for career
- competiting/studying with the "first chair" / prestigeous teacher = talent recognized by authority; get introduced to other talented students who are attracted by the instructor.
5) A Group of Ensembles
* Social Role
- education & entertainment
* Conductor
- politics involved
- "dean of the hour"
- prof may create ensembles so s/he could conduct -> can elevate stuatus; leadership satisfaction
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
> I'm a BA in Music (& Psych) - but BA in Mus has no performance component to it. So it's possible for a person to "study music" (ie music history, theory, composition) & not knowing how to perform.
> I took lessons on opera/voice for 2 years but when people ask me what instruments do I play, I can't exactly say.. I "play" voice. & If I say I do voice/opera, some may think "why do you need to take lessons on singing?" Singing is not just a talent; it can involve a lot of training and practice. Sometiems it's even more difficult than learning an instrument b/c you cannot exactly "see" your "instrument", you can only "feel" or "think" about it.
> I play piano, violin, and harp. It's so interesting to see others' reaction when I give different responses to the question: What instrument do you play? Sometimes people would say.. "let me guess... you play piano?" For piano, the most common response is.. "Oh..nice~" For violin, it's slightly better than that. For harp, it's often goes 'WOW! Really?" "What? You play HARP??" Of course all kinds of other factors play into that conception (eg. connotations, associations, etc.)
