Mattresses, tutus and Midori.

Yesterday was quite a day on our little campus.  The famous violinist Midori came and gave a really wonderful class to our music kids.  4 or 5 kids played for her, and she gave really great lessons for a group of violinists, cellists, pianists, faculty, board members.  It’s always so much fun to build associations with these people who’ve had such legendary careers and are willing to share their experience.  Do you remember the famous performance where she broke a string on her violin while playing a concerto and then swapped it out with the concermasters without stopping the piece?  Then it happened again and she swapped again?  This was when she was 14 by the way….

Then last night we had the first Dance performance of the year.  It was really varied and interesting.  I’d never really thought about how the angle of a tutu on the stage could create such a visual impression.  Or that horizontal and vertical placements of mattresses (and prospective sleepers) could truly give an impression of the mental state of an insomniac.  Pretty cool stuff.

Memory.

I promised a few weeks ago that I’d say something about Memory.  Not the Andrew Lloyd Webber song.  Playing from memory.  Once again we move into piano land as I start to prepare for some winter concerts I have planned.  Ever since Clara Schumann in the 1800’s played concerts without taking the printed music onto the stage, pianists have followed her lead and played from memory in public.  Thanks, Clara.

I can really only speak for myself, but I am a MUCH better pianist and musician when I am playing from memory.  I am also a MUCH more stressed, neurotic, paranoid, careful
pianist when playing from memory.  And why not?  In a typical piano recital a pianist might play tens of thousands of notes!  So these notes (and only these notes) must be played in the right order, at the right time, with the right sound, color, etc.  Now, you may say, some of those notes are in chords.  True.  My right hand can play five or six notes at once and so can my left.  Although you do remember these chords as a whole, much like you remember words and not individual letters, each of the notes has musical purpose and has to be remembered as such.  No free pass here.

Memorizing is pretty easy.  It’s learning.  It’s understanding.  Demonstrating the results of that memorization in front of a group of interested listeners is something ALTOGETHER different.  It’s stressful, worrisome, terrifying.  It’s walking the tightrope without a net.  Okay, so nobody dies if you screw up.  Instead with memory failure, you experience embarrassment, public humiliation, disgrace, the horrible feeling of panic when you’re in the middle of catastrophe in front of an audience….

So to me, the idea of memory has two distinct components:  Learning–understanding, analyzing, comprehending, internalizing, memorizing– and testing–going through every possible scenario, testing knowledge, making sure not only that disaster is not terminal, but that there IS no disaster.  Going through every possible scenario isn’t really what it seems.  Every possible scenario is not really possible.  With tens of thousands of notes, just imagine how many possibilities that might be? Instead there are tricks, ways of seeing and hearing that provide a redunancy of resources of knowledge and confidence when you’re on the stage.

Okay, so I’ll stop there.  It’s a blog, not a textbook.  More later on what learning is—to me, anyway—and what memory testing is.

What a Week!

I know I keep using that title.  But sometimes it’s just so appropriate.

We had an excellent election theme day at school.  I turned forty-something!  I saw my very first Madonna concert at Dodger Stadium last night!  And, oh yeah, our nation elected its very first African-American President.  I won’t say much here, because in this particular week, you’ve probably had enough to read and watch.

Forty something.  No comment.  A new President.  Well, let’s just take this exciting new start and let it breed some optimism?  Regardless of party affiliation.   Our students were completely respectful of other’s beliefs and opinions on election day.  Maybe it will seep out into our world.

But Madonna!  What a blast.  You know, what a study for our students.  It’s like opera.  No, I’m serious.  What other medium do you have singing; serious, athletic dancing; stage movement; tech theater design, construction, lighting; writing;  music; film; visual art?  (Plus Britney and Justin, but I digress)  Kind of like our school.  But I’ve gotta say, if it hadn’t been Madonna, I’m not sure I would have waited until 10 pm for the start of a 7:30 show.  And yes, I returned at 3 am, but only 3 students were affected by that.  They got better lessons than usual because I was so excited!