In a "tip of the month" I suggested the importance of playing with an appropriate musical style. It occurred to me that this is an issue deserving more discussion…
What does "style" mean? Young musicians might be totally confused by the term. Where can one find style? Isn't it only important to express one's feelings in music?
Style is inherent in everything. Most obviously, you see it every day in how we walk, talk, and dress. Kids are particularly sensitive to style. Every time I head out the door for a jog, I have to hear that my baggy athletic jacket with striped sleeves is so "eighties". Teens wouldn't be caught dead at school or the mall in an outfit that didn't meet the prevailing dress mode. For instance, my sixteen-year-old daughter tells me that Uggs are "in" for girls, Wallabees for boys, and Moccasins work for both boys and girls. I don't quite understand the fascination with Indian footwear, but, to be cool you should have one of these native skins adorning your feet. Basketball shoes are always good for boys, especially, if left unlaced. You risk being anal if you lace 'em up…
Even the car my daughter inherited from her grandmother wasn't immediately accepted with gratitude. She had to determine first just how an old green Subaru Imprezza with a dented door would be viewed by her peers. She had to explain the embarrassing cavity in the driver's door - she didn't cause it, her grandmother did and she didn't bother fixing it. It helped that the car is a "stick", so she earned points from the guys there. Gradually, the kids decided the car kind of looked like a duck - a mallard duck - and christened it "Mallory". Fit with a new iPod hook-up, the word "love" written on the window, and a couple of streamers with the school's colors dangling from the luggage rack, Mallory is now a full-fledged member of the family and friends are not too embarrassed to climb in.
What we eat is all about style, too. For instance, you wouldn't go to the restaurant Maxim's in Paris and order a hotdog and coke. You might get escargot or foie gras for the first course, something you'd never cook at home for the main course, and probably a nice and fluffy soufflé for dessert. You'd order wine, too, and it would have to be the right kind of wine (red/white, dry/sweet, Bourdeaux/Bourgogne) and professionally served. By the same token, if you go to the famous Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington, D.C. you'd enjoy the hotdog of your dreams with a heap of chili, cheese, and mustard, and a beer to wash it down. No confusing these two august establishments!
In music, style is also "everything". Whether it's the Beatles or Mozart, there are certain traits associated with each. Such style isn't always easily defined in music, however, especially when it's written by people who've been dead for hundreds of years. It's actually easier to know what doesn't fit than to pin down exactly what something's all about. It's like how a sculptor starts with a block of stone and gradually chips away at what is concealing the sculpture which he sees in his mind's eye. Or, like a jeweler who forms a diamond: he starts with the rough stone and with skill and instinct cuts away the flaws and polishes it until he has honed the purest, most perfect gem possible. And this is a measure of true artistry - getting the "feel" for what is to be revealed and how to most effectively render it. It is accomplished in large part by indentifying what isn't appropriate, what isn't fitting, and what doesn't belong.
With experience and talent, the best players process this very quickly, especially, music of composers with whom they've become very familiar. There's still the sense of discovery every time a piece is prepared and performed, but they're mainly one step away. A group like the famous Guarneri Quartet will have played a Mozart quartet thousands of times, but when they sit down to rehearse it they want to discover new things, almost like it's the first time for them, because the genius of Mozart's music always leaves something more. Through repetition, listening, observing, they're quick to identify the composer's intentions and every decision they make will help support that. It's the same process for budding musicians, too. Study, listen, learn, and try to express yourself in a way that is in sync with the style of the music.
You must also trust that your individuality and your own feelings will convey when you perform - it's inescapable. If you try too hard to make a piece of music your own you only weaken it. One needn't be that insecure. A lot of talk can be heard among musicians and music lovers who are always comparing different performers. They're judging the adaptability and sense of taste of various musicians. For instance, there are probably thousands of recordings of Bach's cello suites. They are the perfect vehicle or "litmus test" for gauging differences between performers. If a player is a "slave" to a romantic style of expression (a style that didn't exist in music in Bach's time) he will play with a very intense vibrato and probably slow tempos - things that he is comfortable with. This approach could be deemed as weak, flawed, or even ignorant, because the player wasn't able or willing to venture out of his own realm, to shed his ego, if you will. Players like this sound the same with every piece they play. Whether it's Bach, Mozart, or Brahms - it all sounds relatively the same.
So, I only scratch the surface here of some concepts that may seem complex but really aren't. I hope I have encouraged some of you to work hard to discover what a composer is trying say and let yourself be guided by it.
I'll try to follow up on this subject at some point…
