Developing musicality
I am returning to playing the violin after a couple of decades of not playing at all. I've been at it three months, and am progressing at a steady pace. I practice for at least an hour a day, always working on (three-octave) scales and an etude or two (Wohlfart is where I'm starting from). There are a few pieces I'm working on -- they're mostly in first position at this point. I listen to a lot of violin music -- just try to soak it in, hear the nuances in playing, etc. Even though the pieces I'm playing are relatively simple, I'm wondering how to make them more "musical" and less like a sewing machine (or sawing). I can hear what I'm doing, and I can imagine what I'd like to do, but I'm having a difficult time figuring out how to close the gap. I've talked with my teacher about this. Memorizing pieces is one thing she advised -- and I intend to do that, hard as it may (will) be. I'd be interested to hear what you all have to say about how to develop a more musical sound.
Thanks,
Julie
Replies (24)
You know, I think this is a very important topic. Now, personally, I think that before (or while) you want to build musicianship, you MUST have a good technical base. Afterall, you might just be the most expressive person on the planet, but if you can't play well enough to play in tune or keep a good tone, your musicianship won't be of any use. Then again, if you can play perfectly from a technical aspect but can't express yourself, then you're just playing a glorified etude, a bunch of technical feats with no other purpose than to show you've practiced for hundreds of hours. So, first you should practice hard and develop a good technique. Secondly, on working on musicianship, you should spend a chunk of time just sitting the violin down and thinking "How do I want this to sound". Consider what kind of emotion you are trying to put across, use an adjective to describe that phrase of music. And, although I don't like this because sometimes it creates a fake emotion, you may want to think about how you want to achieve this emotion, faster bow? more vibrato? rubato? portamento shifts? It's up to you. But be careful to keep it in good taste. Don't play Bach like Brahms, or vice versa.
After you have a good musical interpretation of what you're playing, pick up your violin and try to do that. Again, this should be after you've got the piece technically adept. Soon, you'll be expressing your emotion and musicality through your playing with ease.
- Wenhao SUn
Yeah a technical foundation definitely helps. My teacher says once you solve all the technical problems of a piece, the music begins to just speak to you and musical ideas will just pop out at you. Of course if you really have no emotion or ideas to begin with it won't really help either way. I found that singing (yes, I mean literally, as in voice) a piece helps me with phrasing.
Very true; singing definitely helps me. I sing my violin repertoire in the car (don't tell anyone;)) and always return to practice with fresh ears.
Yeah, but what if you can't sing?
We aren't all blessed with flowing voices.
I struggled greatly with this
in college; and as with many things, what you struggle with is the thing you end up loving to teach.
I was always trying to discern some kind of "emotion" in the music I was playing, and I came to realize that this is far too complex and mental. Instead, look for the on-the-surface "feelings" in the music. For example: bouncing, hiccuping, pleading, floating, sighing, mocking, laughing, stopping, changing direction, hurrying, lolly-gagging, etc.
If you can put character into each little "feeling," and you are playing a well-composed piece, those feelings may possibly add up to an "emotion," but don't try to project an emotion onto the music. Keep it in the moment.
Thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful responses. Patience and awareness will help now and in the long run, I think, as I work on strengthening my technique. I'll be taking all your ideas and putting them into practice. Including the singing part, which isn't easy (not easy on my ears! But ... it does help me get the rhythm down and make some general sense of the piece).
try making a story for the piece and imagine that you are playing for the story. For example, imagine you're playing a romantic piece to a scene in romeo and juliet. I know it sounds silly but it does help...for me anyway.
One-SIm
1. Listen to mass quantities of the greatest violinists' playing (for example, your namesake: Mischa Elman!)
2. Experiment and evaluate: try accenting a certain note..Does the phrase sound more beautiful or less beautiful when you do this?..Either way you learn.
Funny you mention Mischa Elman. When I was a kid, and taking violin lessons, I used to ask my mother if we were related to him. "Noooo," she'd say. But, my dad's side of the family is from Russia, as is Elman's, so in my wildest fantasies, I considered Elman some long-lost great uncle. I used to listen to his music when I was younger, and I listen to it now (as well as a lot of other players). It inspires me...
Just my opinion: Musciality is in you or it isn't. You can't train it.
I'm inclined to agree. However, if the ingredients are there they can be further developed by lots of singing and dancing.
I may be going out on a limb here, but this is what I think. If you are an emotionally in-tune person in general, then your playing will have emotion if you really love music and what you are doing. Emotionally dead people...or restricted...or whatever. People who stifle their emotions in real life or aren't responsive individuals, will take a very technical approach to the violin. But even they, if they deep down, love playing and what they are aspiring for, can be "musical". Musicality is not something that is learned. It is something that is teased out of who you are already as a personality, character, and reactionary human being. I totally agree that if you don't have a technically strong foundation to your playing, you will not be able to express yourself very convincingly...but that is just it...expressing yourself. I mean, in art...painting, for example, someone could be an amazing painter and procure a picture perfect landscape or portrait that is devoid of all emotion that we look at and say "wow, that is good" and move on. THen there are artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso and Pollack and Kandinsky and Sargent and Degas and ...and....the list goes on...who make our insides churn and we feel something impactful from their art. Sure, teachers can say that certain types of lines and colour choices and brush techniques elicit certain emotional responses, that kind of thing. It is the same with the violin. You can really make connections through every discipline of the performing or visual arts with this concept. And literature as well. That makes me think that it is not so much something that is developed, but more a venue, an outlet of communication. Musicality is the way a violinist takes his/her tools and puts thier life and its meaning into it. Good lord, I'm longwinded these days.
Yours Truly,
JW
I wish I weren't so emotional sometimes... I too agree that musicality cannot be created if you don't feel it. You must create your music as it comes from your heart. I could prescribe step-by-step instructions to help you sound like you're musical. I think the best thing to do, however, is to give thought to your piece and what it means to you. You will play it merely mechanically as long as you are only thinking about the mechanics of the piece. Find what it means to you. Someone might be able to offer you suggestions, but it wouldn't be yours.
I played the piano today with much anger about a situation at hand. The Bach became a rage with the fingers, and I attacked the phrasing much differently. Not always good, but definitely firey. You can't play firey if you don't feel it. You can feel firey and not play it if you don't posess the mechanical means to express it well. Mechanics and feeling go together to create the medium by which we mirror our souls.
I agree with Matt. But listening to great violinist that play with emotion{ Menuhin, Oistrakh, etc.} helps bring it out!
I read your post with interest, Emily, because it reminded me of something my mother said of me a while back: she said I express myself most fully when I play (I was arguing for writing). It's a funny thing; I realised she was right, because I can express any emotion when I write, whether I feel it or not, but when I play everything inside goes on show regardless of my intentions. It's curious also how different instruments have different degrees of attached emotion: for example, during a period of ill health and low morale in my teens, I continued to play the violin and piano because I could express myself through them. However, I found I could no longer play the drums; you need an element of feistiness and joy and *groove* in you to play the drums well, and emotions that flow well through the violin may not suit other mediums.
I remember a girl at a summer music camp who was a violinist and a percussionist. She was a pretty good violinist...The next year I saw her at Sewanee and she was doing just percussion. I asked her about the violin and she said that she had to choose one or the other and she felt that she could better express herself back in the percussion section. I remember tha my jaw hit the floor and I was struggling for something appropriate to say...my 17 year old self could not comprehend her decision...but then again, at that time in mylife, I'd never seen a grown man lovingly caress the head of a timpani....
-JW
And at *this* time in your life...?!
I've seen some strange things... people get very seriously passionate about their instruments when they are intent and focused on making their music. Our school has a huge percussion dept. Many performances of percussion ensembles. They really get into it. Plus, have you ever watched videos from the 70's (I think) of Cage's pieces for percussion ensemble? There are some eccentric and passionate percussionists, for sure!
JW
Greetings,
one of the most exciting concerts I ever saw was the great cellist Rohan De Saram playing the Ceylonese drum. It is just a tube with a skin on either end. After an hour and a half the audience was still asking for more.
Cheers,
Buri
Jennifer, check out footage of Steve Reich and friends - it's awesome.
I went to see Evelyn Glennie perform in my teens, and she was absolutely inspiring. She played Intro and Rondo on the xylophone; it was the first time I'd heard the piece and it blew me away.
Greetings,
I saw Evelyn Glennie when I was in nappies. Fantastic. I still wear them....
If youu check out the Midori website she has an excellent essay section where she expresses her thought rather well on interpretation. I think this is well worth reading. If you scroll further down you will find an excellent recipe for chocolate cookies too so their is manna for both body and soul.
Cheers,
Buri
PS You can also emial her so I might give he ra call and ask why none of her recipes involve prunes.
I fully understand the need to express one emotions through rhythm. I use irish step dancing for my percussion outlet. I looked at Cape Bretton, Clogging and tap, but the irish rhythms seemed better able to express my feelings. And it may not exactly be singing, but you might here me in the car or shower going duh-duh-da-da-duh, duh-duh-da-da-duh,
da-da-da-duh, da-da-da-duh,
da-da-duuuuuh.
You guys are all so cool.
JW
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August 31, 2004 at 09:40 PM · Pretend you are playing your pieces to somebody besides yourself (and maybe besides your teacher). Such as friends or family. From time to time actually do it instead of pretending. Think about how to play a piece so that they will like it, that it's not just an exercise.