focus - the hunger games

So I am performing at the UN tonight to premiere these two new pieces, so I had been rehearsing with this group this past week. It is a pickup group of about ten people, but the composer is conducting us. The problem with that is, he is a composer, not a conductor.... The big issue is actually not that he doesn't know how to conduct (most composers know basic conducting), but it is that he does not know how to rehearse... What is even worse perhaps is that he doesn't seem to know how to behave in front of a bunch of smiling instrumentalists staring at him waiting for his order - I am sure we look ferociously intimidating with our deadly instruments that produce pretty notes.  He hardly looks at us, he never says anything, we never discuss, we just play, silently....

The music is film music. It is plain to see that the music offered no significant philosophical meaning or artistic statement. So the rehearsals should focus on technical issues like articulation, tonal character, style, the groove, balance, unity, sonority, intonation, and rhythm, especially in a pickup group situation like this. But no, he is a composer, not a conductor, nor a performer, and therefore does not know what we need. At least he could have a sense of humor, but that doesn't seem to be included in the menu either.... (sigh)

I never felt this bored during rehearsals ever before. 

It is quiet, I mean dead silent, when we stop playing, so we may seem like a very well behaved and focused group if there were to be an onlooker from outside, but the truth is, our minds are drifting. By the second hour, I am convinced that no one in the room is thinking about the music that they are playing AT ALL, and the ensemble suffers from that. Nobody seems to notice, or care, if we are not perfectly together. And I thought, what an interesting side effect of bad rehearsal techniques....

In our chamber group, we may find ourselves having "discussions" about perhaps too many various topics, some are actually related to what we are doing, but at least no one is staring at their wrinkles in their fingers and thinking about how they kind of resemble the folds of dumplings, and then start thinking about what can go inside a perfect dumpling. And I am thankful of that.

During last rehearsal, we played our own version of the Hunger Games. No, we did not try to kill each other. Instead, we were to play the base notes of the chords to "Down on the Corner" without repeating two same notes in a row. When there are two or more of the same chord in a row, we were to switch octaves. Those who failed to switch octaves, or play an entirely wrong note had to drop out. The game was to see who could last the longest. 

We focused just on the bass notes because this was our first time trying this game out, but it proved to be difficult enough. Imagine extending this to all chord tones, and then ornaments, to non-chord tones... Things can get astronomically complicated real fast!

This teaches us how to be creative within a small confine, and the effectiveness, importance, and the difficulty of having VARIETY. If the bass notes hit the same exact note every time for each harmony, music will sound stifling. But it is not easy to do, especially when doing from memory.

I could write a whole book on this, but I believe in practicing this. It makes you focus on harmony, which is important and not enough classical musicians do, it stabilizes your rhythm, it teaches to get to know your instrument like nothing else, it teaches you how to form patterns, it teaches you "how" to be creative, while giving you a structure you can always fall back on, and if nothing else, it is a really nice, effective workout for your brain.

We also talked about how to listen to classical recordings. Will write a separate entry on that, so please check that out as well!