Musical phrasing and interpretation are affected by the way the instrumentalist moves. It often marks the difference between cold, dead music-making and compelling, electrifying results.
A lot of dynamic effect can be achieved with a very efficient and slight movement, as when a hammered dulcimer player uses mostly his fingers to flip the hammers in just the right way, with shoulders and elbows moving the hammers to the note locations.
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When we play music on our instruments or when we sing, our ears hear what we’re doing the very instant each sound is made.
Our brains --- consciously or subconsciously --- immediately make an assessment: Is it in tune? Is it exactly in time with the overall flow of the piece? How well are the tone and the volume and the phrasing matching the goals of the performance?
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Throughout a lifetime of listening to Classical music and making my own music in a broad variety of genres, I've come to the conclusion that there are two primary approaches to how the performer relates to the music.
One is experiential: the musician takes the music as it comes to him or her and purposely cultivates an active experience of response to it, living in the present and developing a unique personal event associated with the amazing original art coming out from the page.
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Do you know what the letters ‘SATB’ mean?
That’s the shorthand for the common choir and hymnal arrangements in which there are four parts for the four ranges: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.
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If you’re a musician, do you keep in mind the whole length of the piece you’re playing? At the beginning, do you see ahead to the end and work with every phrase as a part of the journey toward that ending?
When I listen to a symphony or a piano concerto, my subconscious mind seeks to follow along on that trip, and the performers who speak to me the most are the ones who seem to be tapping into that overall arch.
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