I often call myself a "euphonium player" because is a good way to tell people a lot about me (assuming they know what the word means!). But I'm also a musician. In my heart and mind, I know that being a musician is the more important piece. As I posted in the blog years ago, it's not the instrument that makes the music. It is just a special amplifier for our musicianship.
Most of us work daily on technical aspects of playing. We have to! If you can't comprehend anything shorter than a quarter note, then your realm is very limited, so you work to make more and more music available to you. I often tell students to be sure to put music into even simple scales - they should sound like musical lines (they ARE lines, after all).
I've know players who have their head too exclusively into expression and some who have the head too exclusively into technique. Both are necessary, of course. We all face a very natural trap hiding inside complex technical phrases. When we have to work so hard to get notes out, music often gets slighted or even disappears.
Russian trumpet/flugelhorn player Sergei Nakariakov manages to balance both nicely. There are times why my jaw drops over his technical prowess, but he is still making music, not just notes. Here is a link to a live video of Sergei playing a cello concerto on flugelhorn. This link drops you into the 3rd movement, just before his entrance. Listen for a few minutes and see if your jaw drops, too! But then go back to the beginning and listen to the whole piece. Lovely...and astounding:
https://youtu.be/KltZ4rn7QUs?t=1171
If you want to hear more, here is a 6-CD set:
https://www.amazon.com/Trumpet-Orche.../dp/B005E1JA92
Most of us work daily on technical aspects of playing. We have to! If you can't comprehend anything shorter than a quarter note, then your realm is very limited, so you work to make more and more music available to you. I often tell students to be sure to put music into even simple scales - they should sound like musical lines (they ARE lines, after all).
I've know players who have their head too exclusively into expression and some who have the head too exclusively into technique. Both are necessary, of course. We all face a very natural trap hiding inside complex technical phrases. When we have to work so hard to get notes out, music often gets slighted or even disappears.
Russian trumpet/flugelhorn player Sergei Nakariakov manages to balance both nicely. There are times why my jaw drops over his technical prowess, but he is still making music, not just notes. Here is a link to a live video of Sergei playing a cello concerto on flugelhorn. This link drops you into the 3rd movement, just before his entrance. Listen for a few minutes and see if your jaw drops, too! But then go back to the beginning and listen to the whole piece. Lovely...and astounding:
https://youtu.be/KltZ4rn7QUs?t=1171
If you want to hear more, here is a 6-CD set:
https://www.amazon.com/Trumpet-Orche.../dp/B005E1JA92
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