 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Morrigan
Date: 2003-05-05 12:25
I find it difficult to work with some people at college. Some people think their opinion counts more, some people are afraid to voice their opinion. I find it hard to work with people who don't want to 'work with'; they're more concerned about how they sound, that they're always right, and that the whole ensemble always follows their advice.
A particular pianist in the Khachaturian trio is completely putting off the violinist and myself through most of the piece, and when we work consecutively, there is no problem; add the piano and it all dies. She simply can't be told she's doing something wrong, she insists she is not speeding up or counting rhythms incorrectly.
How do you deal with these stubborn people? Do they really eventually make it into the professional world, am I going to have to deal with these people for the rest of my life?
I'm not only asking this question about the pianist, but also about musicians in general, because this is not the first time this has happened.
Thanks guys =]
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: msloss
Date: 2003-05-05 12:39
Well, you have one of two choices: If the personalities are a complete barrier to a performance anyone would want to listen to, break up the trio and start over. The other possibility is get an ensemble coach to speak as an authoritative but disinterested fourth party to critique what everyone is doing in a productive and even-handed fashion.
But, given that you are in school, you have a valuable opportunity here to learn how to get along artistically and personally, which will have immeasurable benefit to you if you are at all serious about becoming a pro. There are stories across this industry of tyrants with batons, a-holes in principal desks, idiot producers, deaf recording engineers, etc. You have to be an absolutely extraordinary and in-demand talent to be able to turn your back on these types and still get calls for work. Plus, people may have or may develop similar impressions of you if you create the perception of being difficult to work with, again resulting in no work.
So yes, you will have to deal with these types for the rest of your life if you want to be a musician. Find a way to get along, share constructive feedback and solicit the same from others, and get coaching if you have access to it.
Good luck with it.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-05-05 14:10
How about trying to say something to the affect of "Yes. You're right, we're wrong, but could you use your musical superiority to try to match our wrong tempos because we are finding it so dificult to play correctly that you could easily follow us cause you're really good." Or another way of emphasizing that in chamber music it's the "blend" that is very important, not who's wrong or who's right. And next time find a different pianist (it probably wasn't your choice for this one, but now you know who to avoid for next time).
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: hans
Date: 2003-05-05 14:37
To msloss's excellent suggestions, I would add only.... try to stay focused on the problem, not the personalities. You will have to deal with difficult people no matter where you go or what you do so it's a skill best developed early, along with a thick skin.
Another useful and related skill is being able to distinguish the symptoms from the problem; i.e., the pianist who is speeding up or not counting rhythms correctly (the symptom) may simply lack the ability (the problem).
Good luck,
Hans
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-05-05 14:48
I had a similar problem. I was in a trio with a violin and oboe, however the oboe player lacked the ability of the violin and I. We had a few measures of sixteenth notes that would start with the violin for two measures, go to the oboe for one, and me for two. Well, the oboe always played the sixteenth notes at half speed. The guy was about 70 years old and hadn't played an oboe in fifty something years (since highschool) and he simply couldn't do it. Our solution was just to play along at his tempo. So the piece went something like "80 bpm" to "40 bpm" for one measure, then back to 80. It wasn't too big a deal since this is a PURE amateur group formed just for fun at a college and the concert consisted of an audience of about 20 people. I would have preferred to get him to speed up, but it just couldn't be done.
So another thing to do would be learn the piano's rhythm and play along to it. If it's an ability thing with the piano, then that is your limit and you can only play up to the capacity of the least skilled person. The whole "weakest link determining the strength of the chain". So if it doesn't change soon, figure out where the piano player is taking these "liberties" and try to match her. That way even though it may not be correct, it'll sound correct (to the untrained ear who doesn't know HOW the piece is supposed to go).
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
