Here's a little number I think you'll like. It's called 4'33"...
I've spent most of today practicing, programming and writing vocal arrangements. At this moment, running more music through my head is just about the worst thing I can imagine.
By any measurable standard, I've been primarily involved with music, and specifically the piano, all my life. And if you stick with any one thing long enough, an interesting thing happens. Somebody shows up in your brain. Somebody who does that one thing all by themselves. One of the chess grandmasters (I don't remember who) said, essentially, that after you reach a certain level of proficiency, you don't make decisions - you just watch the pieces move.
That person in your brain is a flipping nag. He (and I'm pretty sure it's a "he" - I was raised to believe that no woman would be this inconsiderate) continually does the mental equivalent of tugging at your sleeve, and saying, "Play this in your head!" "Figure out this voice leading!" "Try THIS chord!". Sheesh.
One of the few things that'll put a lid on that guy is reading - which is funny, because something that has stayed with me all my life is a self-congratulatory piece that Reader's Digest wrote about the debut of their Braille edition. They had an interview with George Shearing, who said (sic)"There are many days that go by where I don't play the piano, but I can't go a day without reading." TV doesn't do it - I don't hear background music the way most people do.
I started taking piano lessons when I was three, and music has been my constant companion (I will NOT say "dark traveller") ever since. It would be surprising if a love/hate relationship didn't develop.
Another story I love to tell comes from Pablo Casal's biography. He was Basque, and would frequently come back home to hike in the mountains. One time, he was hiking with a group of people, and they got caught in a rockslide. Casals was knocked unconscious. When he came to, he was covered in stones of various sizes. He was afraid to move, not knowing what bones might be broken. As he told his biographer, "The first thing that went through my mind was 'Thank God I never have to play the cello again!'".
Sometimes the rockslides are metaphorical, but they're not any less a hindrance. My students, and younger musicians in general, may read this and say, "I could never get tired of music." I would respectfully point out that people who say that are at a point in their musical development where the majority of things they're doing are new to them. Don't get me wrong - I can always find something new & challenging in a musical situation. But it gets harder and harder the older you get. And there are undeniably times when you hit the familiarity saturation point way too soon. And that guy can NAG...
So.....I just may read some James Tiptree, Jr. tonight. He (yeah, I know - she) always shows me a place and then says, "Go on - fill in the details." I think tonight I'll make it a very quiet place.
By any measurable standard, I've been primarily involved with music, and specifically the piano, all my life. And if you stick with any one thing long enough, an interesting thing happens. Somebody shows up in your brain. Somebody who does that one thing all by themselves. One of the chess grandmasters (I don't remember who) said, essentially, that after you reach a certain level of proficiency, you don't make decisions - you just watch the pieces move.
That person in your brain is a flipping nag. He (and I'm pretty sure it's a "he" - I was raised to believe that no woman would be this inconsiderate) continually does the mental equivalent of tugging at your sleeve, and saying, "Play this in your head!" "Figure out this voice leading!" "Try THIS chord!". Sheesh.
One of the few things that'll put a lid on that guy is reading - which is funny, because something that has stayed with me all my life is a self-congratulatory piece that Reader's Digest wrote about the debut of their Braille edition. They had an interview with George Shearing, who said (sic)"There are many days that go by where I don't play the piano, but I can't go a day without reading." TV doesn't do it - I don't hear background music the way most people do.
I started taking piano lessons when I was three, and music has been my constant companion (I will NOT say "dark traveller") ever since. It would be surprising if a love/hate relationship didn't develop.
Another story I love to tell comes from Pablo Casal's biography. He was Basque, and would frequently come back home to hike in the mountains. One time, he was hiking with a group of people, and they got caught in a rockslide. Casals was knocked unconscious. When he came to, he was covered in stones of various sizes. He was afraid to move, not knowing what bones might be broken. As he told his biographer, "The first thing that went through my mind was 'Thank God I never have to play the cello again!'".
Sometimes the rockslides are metaphorical, but they're not any less a hindrance. My students, and younger musicians in general, may read this and say, "I could never get tired of music." I would respectfully point out that people who say that are at a point in their musical development where the majority of things they're doing are new to them. Don't get me wrong - I can always find something new & challenging in a musical situation. But it gets harder and harder the older you get. And there are undeniably times when you hit the familiarity saturation point way too soon. And that guy can NAG...
So.....I just may read some James Tiptree, Jr. tonight. He (yeah, I know - she) always shows me a place and then says, "Go on - fill in the details." I think tonight I'll make it a very quiet place.
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