Re: Playing with Feeling
I'm no expert on the subject, but my first question would be: what are you feeling when you play? I sing many folk songs, and sometimes find that I do better if I remember to take a few seconds and get into the song before I start -- the audience never seems to mind. I'll put myself in the place of the song-maker; am I being funny? sad? complaining about work? I often sing better after doing this. Similarly, my fiddle playing improves when, for instance, if I play the jig "Little Burnt Potato," I picture myself playing at the cottage with Mom on the pump organ, my daughter step-dancing, and everyone having a great time. For a Scottish lament, I may picture myself leaving Cape Breton to return to the city, while not wanting to depart from either my loved ones or a place I love. If I'm playing the blues on mandolin, I might imagine myself in a club with other musicians and people drinking and dancing. In summary, if I want to play with feeling, I must summon the feelings.
That being said, matters of technique are important. In singing, for instance, dragging out the vowels makes the music more "emotional." Try singing the first lines of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" or "Summertime" evenly, then with dragged-out vowels, and you'll see what I mean. However, I'm a person of strong emotions, and sometimes have to detach myself from them to get through a sad song. Technique is especially important in these cases; I'll sing and let the listeners feel. (I can't imagine that Eric Clapton is truly feeling every time he sings "No Tears in Heaven," about his son's death, or he'd never finish it.) Finally, I was listening to Cindy Thompson, an excellent local fiddler, with her impressive group of students, at a fiddle concert a few days ago. She said, "Music is what happens between the beats," but I'm not sure if that helps people like you and me or just confuses us further.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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