It's all in the details

I had a rehearsal tonight for the New American Symphony Orchestra. We have our pit orchestra for the Clytie Adams Dance recital next week. My favorite piece that we play is the 3rd movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony. It has a whole lot of notes that go really fast. You have to let your bow bounce to get a nice, light sound, but if you are too much in the "sweet spot," where the bow bounces the most, then you get too much bounce and you can't go fast enough.

And just when you get into a rhythm for it, the bowing changes so you have two notes going the same direction on the bow. I get so frustrated sometimes, because I am trying to get the two notes, but only the first one comes out. I'm thinking it. I'm hearing it in my head, but it is just a tiny bit too fast for me to get both of the notes.

It's all a matter of getting just a little bit more control of my pinky finger on my bowing hand. That is the finger that makes the bow bounce...most of the time. Apparently, viola players have an additional magic finger that comes out whenever a solo passage appears in front of a violist. We so rarely get the melody, that it comes as such a surprise. This magic finger makes the bow bounce whenever you have to play a solo. The big joke is, "how do you get a viola player to play down bow spiccato(that means that the bow goes in one direction-down and bounces the whole time)?" The answer is to write a whole note (a long note) and write solo over the top. I so fit that joke. It's sad really.

The other pieces are deceptively easy. We are playing F�r Elise, orchestral arrangement; Minuet by Beethoven (you may recognize it from the "think system" with the Music Man, but Beethoven didn't write it for them); selections from a Bach Suite, several dances (which is appropriate since it is for a dance recital) and some others I can't think of at the moment.

A good junior high group could play these, but if you don't put life into it, then it sounds like a good junior high group playing it. That is where the details come in. Those subtle things at the end of phrases that let the music breath and round out the phrase. Playing the dynamics (the louds and softs in the music) and the different nuances in tambor.

I get a bit grumpy when people don't mark their parts so that they play it the right way each time. Of course, sometimes the conductor tells you something and you just sit there, looking at your music, wondering, what the heck am I supposed to do to mark that? For example, we have one piece that the first section is repeated and the 2nd section is repeated. Okay so far. The second time we only play 8 measures and then we go back to the same section and play it again to the end, and repeat that whole section again. Huh? Okay, 1st time to the end..repeat..2md time..shorty repeat..3rd time play to the end and repeat..4th time to the end. So what do you mark?

I also get grumpy when I make all the rehearsals and others miss a few. Of course, if I need to miss, I have a really good reason, so it is perfectly okay...??

Our first rehearsal last week sounded much more musical. We really made the music come to life. I think we got all new people to impersonate the people that were there the first week for the rehearsal tonight. Okay, so we didn't have new people, but it was like everyone was having a "full moon" moment through the whole rehearsal.

Thursday's rehearsal should go better. We only have two days to forget what the conductor told us. We may actually remember some of it. Also, every little bit of practice helps (except the ones that happen when we stop in rehearsals, haha).

It is weird in music. It is like the group is a lump of clay. As you start to mold it into shape, it begins to sound like something you recognize. As you learn to put more details in (you get better, more accurate, etc.) it gets closer and closer to what it is supposed to be.

Then the acting comes in. You have to act like you are playing the right notes, just the way you want to, even if you don't. (of course, if it is jazz, do it several more times, to emphasize that you meant to do that) Nine times out of ten, the audience doesn't know whether it was right or wrong. If you give it away by putting your instrument down or make a funny face, or look appalled at someone else, then the audience will know.

That is probably why people think I'm really good on the bass. I'm not, but I get a lot of comments on how well I play. I move with the music and play with confidence. I'm actually kind of famous for getting into my music. It seems to put the listener at ease and fools them into thinking I know what I'm doing.

The final steps defy all reasoning. Parts we have never played correctly, magically fix themselves at the concert and so it usually goes without a hitch. Well, we are a semi-professional orchestra and when we get the details, the music has energy.

Pictures are before a concert several years ago. As I am the one taking pictures, I am not in any of these.