The Electric Guitar and the Halle Orchestra

It has been rather a strange few days.
As the school holidays came to an end son number one discovered a talent for drumming.
The whole drum kit wasn't set up, but he made use of what was available, and he has requested a new bass drum pedal for his birthday....
Not to be outdone on the noise front, Robin has been playing his electric guitar.

Now this may seem strange to regular readers, as they will know that he is soon off on a trip, and has many programmes to be working on.
But, in an unprecedented move, Robin decided to take a few days off from the classical guitar, to allow his nails to rest and grow, before going away.

Hence the electric guitar.
You didn't expect him to be without an instrument in his hands did you?
I must say it has been a delight to hear, and, Robin has been thoroughly enjoying himself, and now has a new, very funky piece, nearly written.

What he enjoyed most of all was playing along with son number one.
Not to be outdone, second son joined in with his Christmas triangle, and a shaker.

But now school has resumed and we are all getting on with our work.

I read an article by Ivan Hewett today, where he talks to Mark Elder about the forthcoming 150th anniversary of the Halle Orchestra.
If you remember, I spoke to Mark Elder back in November, you can remind yourselves here, and was very impressed with him as a conductor, and his ability to engage with the younger generation.
So, if you are in the Manchester area on January 30th, you can see The Halle's 150th anniversary concert at the Bridgewater Hall. For more details go here.

Listen To The Music

Ivan Hewett has written an interesting article, 'Open your ears and let the magic in', which is worth reading.
The general gist is highlighting the importance of really listening to music and giving it our full attention.

The report was prompted after 'hearing' some youths 'listening' to music through their mobile 'phones, and realising just how dreadful the sound actually is.

As Hewett says, "When listening intently sounds and music take on a special glow. When mingled with the world's noise and bustle, they shrink down to just another annoying distraction that has to be filtered out if we want to hang on to our sanity." Well said.

From a musician's point of view, sound quality is all important. Such a lot of time and effort goes into creating the best possible sound from your instrument, which isn't an easy process in the recording studio, especially for the guitar.

Listening to music intently is something we are very used to in our house.
Especially at the moment.
As Robin records another track for the new CD, each piece is scrutinized and agonized over.
Has the sound been captured?
Does it have the right feel?
Are there any extraneous noises?

This is a long process which requires many, many takes of each track to get it just as Robin wants it.
I'm sure it is the same for most musicians.

People listen to music in different ways.
They may have sit down purely to listen, or, in the background whilst socialising.
For Robin, a life time of dedication to music makes it very difficult for him to join in a conversation when music is on in the background, as his ear is naturally drawn to the music.
If we play music at home it is to listen to, not to supplement an atmosphere. If we have friends round for a meal, naturally we will play music, but invariably the conversation is drawn to the piece currently playing.
Years of intense listening seem to have affected our ability to 'filter out' the sound.

But we do realise that often people want to listen in this way and that is fine.
But do take the time to sit back and 'really' listen to music. The benefits are incredible.
You will 'hear' so much more than you initially realised was there.
Apart from that, we owe it to our musicians to listen to the music in which they have invested so much time.

From Learning New Pieces to Julian Lloyd Webber and Elgar

As Robin is home for a few weeks, it is a chance to try out new pieces and revisit old ones, to keep up with the eternally evolving programme.
Robin was waiting patiently for the postman to deliver a package containing two pieces he wanted to look at.
Mid morning they arrived and he has shut himself away in the music room.
At this stage it's hard to identify exactly what they are.
There's a reason for this. Read this quote:

'I always practice the technically difficult passages first - separately and slowly - so that I learn to control and phrase them. One must resist the temptation to try out the right tempo until one has perfect control at the slower tempo. I never play such passages mechanically with the intention of adding the phrasing later. A technically difficult passage needs to be played more slowly until you learn to control it - but with the right musical expression. To separate the technical from the expressive side in music is like separating the body from the soul.'

Daniel Barenboim

Robin used this quote in his book, 'The Guitar Gymnasium', when discussing his approach to new pieces, and his own interpretation is:

'We are all impatient to play the piece up to tempo, or beyond, but, unless the firm technical and musical foundation has been laid, we will not gain mastery over the music.'

Robin Hill

So, for now, I'll have to listen to a phrase endlessly repeated, until I can identify the piece. I'll keep you posted...

Meanwhile in the newspaper, two interesting articles.
The first, by Ivan Hewett, 'Time for a ceasefire in the classical 'class' war', which has some great points, and, for Elgar week, Julian Lloyd Webber explains how Elgar's Cello Concerto had an inspirational role in his career.
Happy reading.