How similar is reading music to reading words? Is playing from written music something like reading a speech or a story out loud? If so, what happens if we read phrase by phrase, or word by word? What does it sound like to play music by phrase, by beat, or note by note?
When someone delivers a speech, it’s more effective to speak from notes, memory or extemporaneously than to simply read a text. Many speakers simulate directness with teleprompters even though they are reading. How does it feel when someone plays music from memory, or improvises, as opposed to reading off a music stand?
We enjoy storytellers and plays, yet we also enjoy having someone read a story or book to us. Which is the best model for music performance, or does it change from one type of music to another?
[Before going on, thanks to Valerie for her comments on memorizing music, and Derek on practicing, both responding to Is Music More Mental or Physical? Also, thanks to John for his survey of cancellations; he's interested in other people's figures on that, responding to Lesson Payments and Cancellations.]
And what does this say about learning to read music? It would be interesting to compare notes with reading teachers. These days everyone seems so specialized that people don’t have time to become acquainted with other disciplines. I spoke to a friend who is prominent in the field of linguistics and he says there’s hardly any work done on the linguistics of music. Now there’s an open field for someone’s thesis!
Sometimes the emphasis in learning to read music seems to focus for too long on identifying individual notes. In learning to read words, we do start with identifying letters, but then move on pretty quickly to reading groups of sounds and small words. A good reader reads a phrase at a time, just as a good musician plays or sings phrase by phrase.
Think of how it sounds when someone reads words out loud while sounding out letter by letter. This is how some students sound when playing music. They have trouble getting up to speed, and can’t quite figure out where the music is. And no wonder: try saying a sentence while visualizing how to spell each word as you say it. You can’t speak at a normal pace, and it takes a huge effort to remember what you’re saying!
When a student seems to plod through music, try helping him or her group the notes into beats. It’s not always helpful to play things slowly. Playing a short bit, such as a beat’s worth of music, or a measure, but playing it fast, is a great tool, for getting beyond note-by-note thinking. It helps group notes into recognizable motifs, like saying a word instead of spelling it out. This helps give a feel for the beat, helps build phrases. Playing short bits faster than a student can think about each note helps put some musical perspective into their playing, and helps move them along–from learning to knowing.
About the Author
Ed Pearlman has focused on performing, teaching, and judging fiddle music for over 30 years, offering performances and workshops throughout the USA and in Canada and Scotland. His original training was with members of the Chicago and Boston Symphonies, and he played with orchestras and chamber groups at Yale and in Boston. He currently teaches privately at two music schools affiliated with music stores in Maine. Ed directed the Boston Scottish Fiddle Club in monthly workshops for 18 years, directed major concerts and festivals, and recorded 2 solo CDs and several with a fiddle orchestra and top soloists. In addition to Scottish and Cape Breton fiddle styles, Ed plays other Celtic, American, and Canadian fiddle music, classical and some jazz, klez and Hungarian. Ed created and for 11 years ran a CD distribution company to bring music to the USA from Scotland, Atlantic Canada, Ireland, Brittany and Wales. He's the music columnist for Scottish Life magazine.
by Paul Heingarten — Wed Aug 22, 2007 @ 9:20 am