The One Thing That Will Change Everything

 I used to read a charming old book called Lion by William Pène du Bois to my children. It tells about an angel who is designing a new animal, and the drawing looks wrong to him. He asks another angel to tell him one thing that's wrong with the picture. After he corrects that flaw, he asks another angel, and so on until he comes up with a picture of a lion. I love the message of that book. There were so many things wrong with the initial drawing that the designer might have decided to rip it up and start over, but once he started correcting each flaw in turn, he came up with something superb. You can't correct everything that's wrong all at once.

Musicianship is similar. So many factors are involved in playing an instrument, that you can't approach them all at once. You have to pick one problem and deal with it, hoping that one thing will lead to another. Saxophone players, to take a personal example, might address their breathing, their embouchure, and their fingering, but they have to figure out what's the most important problem or the one that's easiest to address first. YouTube is full of videos giving us useful advice.

Sometimes one imagines that the problem is with one's gear. Even if you have a decent instrument, you might not be producing the sound you want, so you experiment with mouthpieces and reeds, hoping that once you've acquired the ideal mouthpiece, you'll play like one of the musicians you admire. 

Recently I tried out three of the baritone saxophone mouthpieces I've bought over the years, because the one I was using was giving me problems. Surprisingly, one of the mouthpieces that I had given up on long ago turned out to be exactly what the doctor ordered, as it were. In a recent rehearsal of the big band I play in, I was happier with the way I was playing than I have been in a while. So maybe that mouthpiece is the one thing that will change everything - but I doubt it.

In my case the one thing that would improve my playing immeasurably would be to go back in time to my high school years and practice clarinet more intensively.

Failing that, I've been listening occasionally to talks on Youtube by Molly Gebrian, a professor of viola with a strong academic background in neuroscience. A recent series of hers fascinated me: The Power of Attentional Focus. Much of the research she refers to focuses on studies of performance in sports but is clearly applicable to musical performance. The lesson I drew from her talks was that, for a wind player, to improve your sound, for example, you won't get anywhere by concentrating exclusively on your embouchure and breathing. You have to focus on your goal, the kind of sound you want to produce. As you approach that goal, your muscles will find the way of doing it. Thinking about your lips and opening your throat can get in the way of using your lips right and opening your throat! 

Gebrian says that you have to focus on something outside yourself. I'm trying that, and it works. Her videos assume an audience of music educators and young musicians aspiring to become professionals. Although I don't fit into that category, I find them insightful and useful.

Hosting a Great Concert

Trio Noga played in our living room last night. All three of the musicians are superb professionals. Idit Shemer is an extraordinary flutist whose tone has exceptional intensity. She also plays baroque flute and is a consummate artist. The cellist, Orit Messer-Jacobi, is an equally distinguished musician, the first cellist of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, where Idit also plays when there is a call for a flute. The pianist, Shira Shaked, made our aging Yamaha baby grand sound fantastic. The three women are clearly good friends and communicate with each other as they play.

They also communicated with the intimate audience that gathered in our living room, creating a warm and enthusiastic atmosphere. Their program was varied and creative, from a Beethoven trio in which the cello played a part originally written for the bassoon (Op. 37). They then played a lively piece, written for them, by Aharon Harlap, a contemporary Israeli composer. They followed it with a piece by Mel Bonis, a French composer who was neglected in her lifetime because she was a woman. They concluded the recital with a trio (in which the flute part was originally written for clarinet) by Nino Rota, who was mainly known for his film scores.

The creative variety of the program is a reflection of the unusual composition of the trio, as it is much more common to hear a piano trio consisting of piano, violin, and cello. Having a wind instrument take the upper part gives the trio a unique flavor: the percussion nature of the piano, with its hammers, the suave, bowed tone of the cello, topped with the clear notes of the flute offer a fascinating range of tones, making them almost a miniature orchestra. Of course it is challenging to blend the voices of such different instruments, and Trio Noga does so to an outstanding degree.

Only about thirty-five people could squeeze into our living room, while another ten or fifteen listeners sat in the adjoining room, where one can hear every note but not see the performers so well. Usually the audience consists mainly of friends of ours, but in this case Idit, Orit, and Shira invited friends of theirs. We were afraid too many people would come, but we fit everyone in. The concert was a great success both for the musicians and the audience. 

It gives my wife and me great satisfaction to host concerts like this. We don't make a penny, of course. In fact, between keeping the piano tuned and providing the refreshments, we are out of pocket, but it's money well spent. Especially in tense and conflicted times like the present, hearing such great music strengthens one's soul. For us it is a privilege and a blessing to open our home to the Noga Trio and musicians on their high level, and share their artistry with guests.

We're fortunate to have a roomy home and to own a decent piano (a wedding gift from my wife's parents), what better use could we make of our privilege than to share it with music lovers?