Five Tools for Playing More Musically
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Deep inside many musicians there is a feeling of intense need to express themselves through music-making. If you have a desire to be expressive, and to create emotional references and connections, then learning music technique and interpretation has a raison d’être. It’s fine and good to learn how to play an instrument, and to read sheet music, which helps with so many areas of cognition, learning, and cultural interaction. But learning musical interpretation, to sound interesting and expressive, is why musicians develop a unique “style.”
Why do violinists, Mark O’Conner and Joshua Bell, sound so different? How did Edgar Meyer create his unique sound, as compared to Christian McBride? It is not only the genre of music that these players chose to play, but it also the way they interpret the music.
Interpretation is personal, and it should be! If you interpret a piece of music exactly like your teacher, then you have not found or developed your sound. Though your expression might be just exactly like your teacher’s, your sound matching perfectly, you will never be able possess the unique technique that your teacher developed. So, unique expression entails developing personal methods of technique (how you physically play your instrument, how you make sound) and methods of interpretation.
Today, I’ll present five “tools” that anyone can use to help make their interpretation of music more interesting to listen to. Equating your sound and interpretation to common emotions is the best way to connect to your audience, and it will keep them interested – wanting to hear you perform again.
Interpretation Tools
There are many methods that musicians use to create confident, expressive, and communicative interpretations. Some of these methods are instinctual, and are used subconsciously by excellent players. Here five of the concepts that I use to help me open the door of possibilities for how a music passage, or even a simple scale, can be made expressive.
1. Follow the Line Dynamics
The most simple and obvious technique. When a scale or passage is rising, we simply add more sound. When falling, we diminish sound. This technique seems rather obvious, and is a natural tendency of many performers (whether they are intending it or not!), but it is amazing how many musicians neglect focus on this. It is not a technique for all music passages, but for much of Classical, Baroque, and Contemporary music, the technique is a good starting point to introduce a lot of variety of inflection (discussed below). In Romantic music, there are often passages where the composer seeks to go against this natural tendency (for example, Debussy indicates diminuendo on many rising lines), so one must observe dynamic markings carefully. In early music there are few dynamic markings, so all is up for interpretation by the performer.
2. Dash – Dot Voicing
The concept requires some explanation, but once you understand it and apply it, you will find that your interpretation immediately becomes more interesting. In a passage of Bach, for example, you may find a note pattern where the top pitch changes while the next, bottom pitch, does not (a sort of drone or bass note). Clearly the interesting notes in this passage are the ones that change, so we want to bring them out. We play a longer stroke on the changing notes, and a shorter stroke on the unchanging or bass notes. This “dash – dot” pattern can easily make voicing more clear. And, especially in Baroque music, where voices are of necessity contrapuntal, this technique is almost “required!” The technique can be used anywhere and in any music that the performer wishes to emphasize one voice over another.
3. Neighbors – Strangers Bowing
In a passage that has a slur over it, look at the intervals between notes. If the interval is a major second or less apart, the notes are considered to be Neighbors. If the notes are more than a major second apart, they are Strangers. Neighbors love to be near each other, they like to be together – so we can slur them. Strangers, however, prefer to be apart, so we can bow them separately. This technique is not “hard-and-fast,” and can be over-ruled, but used as a starting point, you will find your interpretation will blossom when slurring becomes more thoughtful, creating more consistent expression that is informed by phrasing, interval relationships, harmony, and articulation.
4. Connect Length and Timbre to Dynamics
Dynamics are printed on the page as p, mp, mf, f, etc., but they are subjective and relative terms. We interpret these markings in many different ways. I like to think of dynamics as attitude, not just relative volume. But first let’s understand three of the many components and parameters in sound production: volume (or amplitude), color (or timbre – which is the harmonic makeup of the sound), and length (sound over time – so, how long does the string stay vibrating). I like to connect the length of bow (or how much bow I use for a given speed) to the dynamic. If I have a rising passage of notes, I can give the impression that the passage gets louder by brightening the timbre and increasing the length of each stroke (starting out short, and perhaps off-the-string, then getting more on-the-string and longer as the passage increases in volume: from p to f, and move closer to the bridge with the bow so that the timbre gets brighter). In this example, I have used two of these techniques: Follow the Line and Connect Length and Timbre to Dynamics.
5. Manipulate Inflection
Inflection is the result of how we use volume, pitch, timbre and length or duration of sounds in a varietal manner to bring out certain nuances, implying meaning. In English speech, we emphasize certain words with volume and pitch to change meaning (My DOG ate the cat! MY dog ate the cat? My dog ATE the cat? Etc.). In music, if you wish to infer an emotion or meaning to the sounds you are creating, you must equate the inflection with a known perspective or expectation. Certainly, if your interpretation is the same for Classical music as it is while playing Brahms, you will not meet the expectations of listeners who are familiar with the standard performance practice. Stylistically appropriate inflection must be considered so that your interpretation is accepted and understood by your audience. Though this may seem stifling to some, manipulating inflection is culturally connected and is a tool that a musician must focus on to be considered acceptably expressive and communicative, and yet reaching the goal of being described as having a unique style.
Patrick Neher, double bass player and professor, is recognized as one of the world's leading virtuoso soloists and composers of music for bass. He was Professor of Bass and Multimedia Collaborations at the University of Arizona from 1984 to 2012. He received his Master of Music Degree with Honors from the Juilliard School of Music. Send him a message and book a one-on-one lesson here >>>