In sectionals, we get to concentrate on technical aspect of playing, which are usually too specific for the instruments that we don't really get to talk about in regular rehearsals.
I enjoy this (sectionals) over discussing techniques in private lessons. In private lessons, the technical aspect of the playing can get taken out of the context a lot. We shift positions here because that's what this etude fingering says. I need to practice this rhythm with this articulation because that's what my teacher says, and there is no other reason. Depending on the teacher, these things can happen sometimes, or all the time. And when the technique is taken out of context, it ceases to make sense.
In sectionals, technical discussions arise from the needs, and therefore we cannot avoid mentioning the context. At any rate, there is always a good reason to be technically proficient in orchestra, and that is, so you can play perfectly well together with your colleagues. You don't want to be the only person in your section who is not able to play a certain passage in a certain way, and kind of sticking out from the crowd in a negative way, right? Which alone, I think should be a good enough incentive to make one practices their technique. You also want to contribute by mastering the techniques, and lead your section by inspiring them and showing them that it can be done better. So the leaders push their sections limit, while everyone tries to catch up to the speed as best as they can. And sectional is a great way to find out and clarify what your individual roles are at each given moment. You can be a leader in some sections, you might have to be the one running after everyone else in others, and playing both roles are expected from everyone.
And the greatest thing about sectionals is that, when we discuss technique, we almost never discuss it for the sake of technique, but we discuss it with clear musical, artistic, creative, poetic, and aesthetic reasons and intents. And even if it is a small thing that does not seem like a big deal, like playing at the tip of the bow, when it is done together with a group of people, the effect is magnified exponentially, and makes a huge difference in overall sound. In fact that already did happen once yesterday. I'm not sure any of you string players caught it, but in Spanish Dance, when we started playing from mm. 52 with very little bow at the tip and gradually increased the amount of bow as we went on, we were able to create a very controlled, and extremely long crescendo (32 measures of crescendo!!), perfectly paced, perfectly coordinated, and perfectly effective. I wish I had recorded that. But there are hundreds of more chances for me to do that I guess, and each one will be even better than the previous ones!
So for the most part, any technical discussion should occur after a musical, poetic, philosophical one. Thereby being able to choose appropriate technique for each given sections. However, I do love talking about techniques, even out of context, because I think it opens the doors to so many different possibilities - if I can make this sound doing this way, what happens if I do it this way? Once you discover new sound, you can practice it and master it, and now you have that sound as a part of your vocabulary, a part of your palette, a part of your own expressive voice. And where you use such sound becomes your art, at an individual level. And if we can do that as a group, well, then we would have a pretty amazing orchestra!
I tried to go over everything in both pieces for the strings yesterday, so I didn't get to hear the winds, but I trust you guys had an awesome sectional with Mr Luckenbil, and I look forward to hearing your newly improved sound next week!
Continue to be curious. Continue to explore!
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