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The Ethnic Clarinet The C4 standard

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Re: Greek Clarinet Pieces

Author: Kalakos
Date: 2004-01-21 00:39

Hi Steve:
No, it's not just "faking it" but it's lots of fun; here's how it works. There is a sort of skeleton melody that can be ascertained by distilling what every body plays, but noone plays it that way. There are many, many formulaic "tsakismata" decorations that an experienced musician learns or "picks up" over the years. These decorate or embellish the melody as the mood of the musician prompts him. Thus you are improvising the decorations differently every time you play. More kefi, more fancy; more creative time or mood, more beutiful. It's kind of like "mix and match" but much more complicated and intuitive. You don't just make up things; you throw them in where and when they are appropriate. It takes years to know what to do and when and on which songs and in which styles. Actually, taximia are similar. The "dromos" (road, mode, or scale) is what it is. The taximi improvisation is composed of formulaic creations on the moment.
So, you learn the song, but you make it live at the moment by the experience and backlog of tsakismata you have in your soul. Therefore, every time you play it, it can be different. I could show you faster than I can ever describe it this way. It's like trying to explain blue or red to someone without showing them the color.
Best regards,
Kalakos
(John Pappas)

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