Conductor's Notebook
Writings, including academic papers and music criticism, as well as videos, audio, notes, and other content.
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Essay
“Pearson has managed a feat here by succinctly building on Klein’s earlier definition but expanding it to include a range of conscious activity that can be performed on and around the unconscious activity. Malcolm Gladwell famously called our subconscious ‘the locked door,’ but on Pearson’s account, there might be a few ways to slide some paper under the door, or to put an ear to the door for some helpful signals.”
…This is the type of practical analysis that interests me: the kind that aims squarely at enhancing the performer’s ability to consistently perform a desired shape. Tabuteau accomplishes this by first asking the performer to extending her mind - “offloading” musical thoughts onto the score for safekeeping. But it isn’t merely a way to store information; it is also a way to refine our musical thinking in the first place.
…With this view of the classroom came other ideas: that students are empty vessels to be filled; that students just need to sit still in order to learn…. However, even as the Wachowskis were writing, selling, and filming The Matrix, the first stirrings of a new milieu around human cognition and music education… these new ideas portrayed students… as capable (en)actors and co-creators of knowledge and skill…
According to Preston Smith (no relation), the core aspects of comedy improv include:
1. Listen – As simple as this seems, it is probably one of the most difficult skills to master. Listening will free you from having to think of what you are going to say a head of time.
2. Agreement (Yes, And…) – Assuming you have listened, you will be able to agree with what was said AND add information. Agreement is what allows a scene to progress!
3. Team Work (Group Mind) – Improv is a vast mechanism of give and take and support. The group mind is greater then the individual.
… students can get a diploma in music from a reputable institution without ever receiving any training in rehearsal technique…. It’s just not a thing.
It is for the conductor to decide, but how can a conductor know? Some of this boils down to expertise, having a plan, and having an easy-to-read clock to help stay on the plan. That said, it’s helpful to have some idea of what the norms look like, perhaps with a heuristic or model or guidepost.
. There are at least three categories of activity to think through on paper when aiming at professional reflection:
What worked/didn’t work this time?
What should we work on next rehearsal/class?
What should I work on in the meantime to improve my rehearsal technique/teaching?
“No, it’s not a record,” not really. It’s working. You have to work on paper and this is the paper. Okay?”
— Richard Feynman
