Practice until you can't get it wrong!

by Yunamari Mamoto (reprinted by permission)

"Sometimes the mind goes way ahead of the body." We all have the urge to play the music we are working on the way we want it to sound, while the body is not ready to produce it. The result is careless playing with notes missing, wrong notes being hit, mushy sound, etc. etc. And if you play that way over and over in practice, the mistakes are not corrected. Practice doesn't make perfect, but rather it makes permanent.

We need Zen-like focus and patience, which is increasingly difficult in this fast pace of life that is getting even faster and faster, and where multi-tasking is the norm. But, my teacher tells me, slow practice is the fastest way to get there. So, I'm constantly reminding myself, as soon as I feel I'm not in control, to slow down. "I'm not ready to play at that tempo! Play slow but precise, more focus and more attention..."

It is ironic, when you think you finally have a piece in control after spending hours, days, and months on a few pages of music, and you start working on something else, that piece doesn't stay the way you accomplished it very long. You play it again in a few months, you realize you have to work on it again!

It's like all that time of nurturing and tending and you only get to enjoy a flower blossoming such a short period of time and you have to wait till next year. But you have to patiently nurture it in order to enjoy that beautiful flower.

I do this because I enjoy the process. Even when I first strike the first few notes of a new piece of music with much hesitation and realization that this is going to be a daunting task and a LONG process. It's like a beginning of a new adventure, with many new discoveries on its way.

So, I spend as much time as I can. Still, too much music, too little time! So many treasures out there to discover!

The Future of Art Music 

by Dr. Sy Brandon (reprinted by permission of the author)

As a composer, performer, and educator, I am constantly concerned with the future of art music. A recent newspaper article about the Pittsburgh Symphony budget deficit is the impetus for this posting. The article mentioned a deficit of $500,000 or more for the 2004-05 season and attributed the deficit to lower than expected ticket sales for the classical subscription series. Ticket sales for the classical subscription series have grown only 2% over the past 22 years while ticket sales for the pops concerts have grown 8%. In my opinion, this is reflective of three national trends that I feel need to be addressed.

Because of outside influences, music education in our schools has been watered down. In an effort to be more inclusive, classroom music, music ensembles, and college music courses for the general student have indirectly equated vernacular music and art music. There is nothing wrong with being inclusive, but I feel it is the music teacher's responsibility to point out the similarities and differences between vernacular music and art music. Each offers its own rewards, but art music involves more understanding of musical elements and their relationships, and therefore functions on a higher intellectual plane. I feel it is the educator's responsibility to help the student grow in the intellectual understanding of music and not succumb to pressure from administration, parents and students by allowing vernacular music to be equated with art music.

Most performers display a lack of interest in music being written by living composers. Unfortunately, the trends of composition in the middle and late 20th century contributed greatly to this problem. However, performers should realize that there are many composers writing art music that is accessible to both performers and listeners as it is based on the traditions established prior to the mid- 20th century. John Winsor, in his book "Breaking the Sound Barrier: An Argument for Mainstream Literary Music", makes a wonderful case explaining why music went astray in the mid-20th century. I feel his book is a "must read" for any educator, performer or composer. A way for performers to show their audiences that music composition is an art that is still alive and vital is to include a recent composition composed in a "mainstream literary music" style on every program.

Many of today's composers emphasize intellectualism and innovation over perceivable craft. There is nothing wrong with innovation except that it has become an end within itself. Intellectualism and innovation are rewarded through composition contest prizes and grants that are judged by other composers, therefore perpetuating a style of music that is no longer accessible to both performers and audiences. I would like to quote from the final chapter of my book "A Composer's
Guide to Understanding Music with Activities for Listeners, Interpreters, and Composers" regarding composing trends. "Throughout musical history, the balance between the classic (of the mind) and romantic (of the heart) modes of thinking has alternated. The center of the pendulum can be thought of as equal treatment intellectualism and emotionalism. The pendulum swings that occurred prior to the twentieth century have not eliminated the other mode of thought. They have just changed the emphasis. During the early to mid-twentieth century, the swing towards classicism went to extremes by over emphasizing the intellectualism and rejected anything associated with emotionalism. The composer, Igor Stravinsky, stated that "music is powerless to express anything at all". He later retracted that statement, but it clearly illustrates the rejection of emotionalism in
music. The intellectualism that dominated much of twentieth century music, and still exists today, has been a contributing factor to alienating audiences and performers from new music. The majority of the relationships between unity and variety are mostly perceivable through in-depth score study, rather than by active or passive listening."

Educators, performers and composers must work together to ensure the future of art music. I welcome your feedback regarding my comments and invite you to visit my web site at http://cooppress.hostrack.net to learn about the programs that Co-op Press has established to encourage partnerships between composer, performer and audience.

Dr. Sy Brandon
Professor Emeritus
Millersville University of Pennsylvania