There!
Now I don't have to keep running to my calendar to count the boxes!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Musical Performance: Self-Inflicted Torture and Other Insanities
For months, musicians practice the same pieces over and over and over until they want to scream and throw the pages off a 30-story balcony, watching the pages flutter serenely down atop taxis and man-hole covers.
And laugh maniacally as the pages turn to dirt-stained rubbish.
Take choir, for instance. Choral musicians learn multiple languages to perform singular pieces. It becomes a mad dash to research exact pronunciations, stresses, and word phrasing of languages the musician will never speak again.
All musicians repeat their failures until they can correct them. Whether this is foreign language learning or note learnings, it is a continuous loop of reiteration into all hours of the night and minutes in the lunchline in public places. "Atchi no mi zu wa nigai zo. Atchi no mi. Atchi. Ah-tchi. t-chi. t-chi. t-chi. Ah-tchi. Atchi. Atchi!"
For months, musicians beat themselves to near-death extremes (I may exaggerate, but there are many sleepless nights that create the feeling of being "undead") to learn these pieces for a single performance. This performance could last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour (in a school or small orchestral setting) but they take months to prepare. Months to perfect.
Why? WHY?
I have absolutely no clue. I could get mushy and say "it's an emotional experience, a medium of expression and release", but it's not always that. When I pick up my flute and practice the same three measures consectutively or I grab my piccolo and try to work my high range even higher, the only emotion I feel is anger and determination, which usually results in a headache.
So why do MILLIONS enjoy creating music?
Masochism. Insanity. Obscure Freudian concepts.
For me, music is expression, but it also a challenge that I need to overcome, that I need to master. It's a puzzle to be solved. It's a Rubix cube, it's labyrinth. Music teaches me about myself; about my motivation, my hidden emotions, my potential, and my ability to create something from nothing.
I could explore this topic even further, but, ironically (or perhaps fittingly) I have to leave now for my band concert.
And laugh maniacally as the pages turn to dirt-stained rubbish.
Take choir, for instance. Choral musicians learn multiple languages to perform singular pieces. It becomes a mad dash to research exact pronunciations, stresses, and word phrasing of languages the musician will never speak again.
All musicians repeat their failures until they can correct them. Whether this is foreign language learning or note learnings, it is a continuous loop of reiteration into all hours of the night and minutes in the lunchline in public places. "Atchi no mi zu wa nigai zo. Atchi no mi. Atchi. Ah-tchi. t-chi. t-chi. t-chi. Ah-tchi. Atchi. Atchi!"
For months, musicians beat themselves to near-death extremes (I may exaggerate, but there are many sleepless nights that create the feeling of being "undead") to learn these pieces for a single performance. This performance could last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour (in a school or small orchestral setting) but they take months to prepare. Months to perfect.
Why? WHY?
I have absolutely no clue. I could get mushy and say "it's an emotional experience, a medium of expression and release", but it's not always that. When I pick up my flute and practice the same three measures consectutively or I grab my piccolo and try to work my high range even higher, the only emotion I feel is anger and determination, which usually results in a headache.
So why do MILLIONS enjoy creating music?
Masochism. Insanity. Obscure Freudian concepts.
For me, music is expression, but it also a challenge that I need to overcome, that I need to master. It's a puzzle to be solved. It's a Rubix cube, it's labyrinth. Music teaches me about myself; about my motivation, my hidden emotions, my potential, and my ability to create something from nothing.
I could explore this topic even further, but, ironically (or perhaps fittingly) I have to leave now for my band concert.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)