Vocalist.org archive


From:  John Link <johnlink@c...>
John Link <johnlink@c...>
Date:  Wed May 9, 2001  5:31 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] reading skills or rather a lack thereof.........


>Yep, all the music I ever studied (or heard, for that matter) is
>recorded in my brain....

Good!

>Then, under presure, you
>> go to the score for assistance that you don't find. As you say,
>"the
>> notes in fornt of me do not help". If that's correct, then I
>suggest
>> when you perform you do not hold and look at any paper with black
>> marks.
>
>I know I really don't need to, but somehow, when I have the paper in
>front of me, I cannot help but look at ik while singing.

So leave the paper at home where it belongs!

> I'm afraid
>I'll miss or forget anything (words, for instance)when I don't look.
>I'm holding on too tight, I think.

I once played with a piano player that thought the same thing. He
compulsively put that crutch on the piano, and I think it really held
him back. He certainly didn't listen as well as he might have, and he
couldn't see what was happening around him. But he did't actually
need the crutch, and neither do you.

>I suspect that those who suggested you improve your reading
>> could see that you were nervous and things got worse as you buried
>> yourself in the page.
>
>They certainly did, because I told them. (I was litterally shaking!)
>It's like "Oh my God, that went wrong! Why did I do that? Oh oh,
>another mistake!" It's like getting caught in a cobweb. The harder I
>try to get out, the more stuck I get! (Story of my life....:-))

I'm not surprised. When you practice, do you ever sing without paper
in front of you? If not, try it as soon as you can so and enjoy loads
of practice time that way so that you can be confident of your
abilities. As you say, the notes on the page do not help you when you
perform.

I'd like to repeat this one of mine:

>Remember that when we say "Do you have your music with you?" to mean
>"Do you have your paper with black marks on it with you?" we are
>speaking nonsense. The music is not on the paper, it is within you!

John Link


P.S. This discussion has provoked me to write the following rant. I'm
probably overstating my case, but see what you think:

It is amazing to me what nonsense is accepted as o.k. in the
classical music world. I go to a concert and I expect the musicians
to know the music inside and out, but there they are on the stage
buried in a book. Would we accept that from an actor? Only in a
reading, not in a performance for which we pay real money. Would we
accept that from a pop singer, or a folk singer? Only at a very low
level, like a high-school coffee house, and even there it is not done
by many performers. So why is the same behavior accepted in the
classical music world? I think it is a shame. Maybe a performance
that includes the use of sheet music should be advertised as a
recital (as in "recite"), rather than a concert (as in "concerted"),
so that the audience would be told in advance what to expect.

http://www.mp3.com/JohnLinkFeldenkrais
http://www.mp3.com/JohnLinkVocalQuintet




  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
11690 Re: reading skills or rather a lack thereof...... Nande   Wed  5/9/2001   3 KB
11708 Re: reading skills or rather a lack thereof...... John Link   Thu  5/10/2001   2 KB
11713 Re: reading skills or rather a lack thereof...... Nande   Thu  5/10/2001   2 KB
11725 Re: reading skills or rather a lack thereof...... Karen Mercedes   Thu  5/10/2001   4 KB

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