I for-shadowed this blog post in my blog about the Fredericksburg Brass Institute. It's something I believe very strongly in speaking about. Music for the majority of musicians in this world is a fantastic catalyst for the promotion and enrichment of communities everywhere, but whether musicians engage themselves as a band/orchestra/choir member or as a featured soloist, their development as a musician and experience of music's positive effects is greatly stunted by a lack of exposure to all elements of being a fully trained musician.
Playing in a large ensemble helps develop a musician's musicality with others, but it helps in many ways to solidify bad habits on the instrument. As a brass or woodwind player in a band or string player in an orchestra, a young and growing musician can learn how to play with others but is often times severely under-challenged with music that only explores a small section of that instrument's range and almost always includes a great deal of counting rests rather than performing music. In some cases, since most composers are not experts on every single instrument in a large ensemble such as these two, one particular instrument might get a part completely atypical of music that this particular instrument is able to practically perform with quality or precision. In a rehearsal, a clarinet player might sit unoccupied for quite a long time while the director refines the low brass sound, and the focus of that clarinetist has dropped from the band and has to be regained when it is time to perform.
Playing as a soloist is greatly conducive to the mastery of an instrument, but it doesn't teach a student how to cooperate musically with others. Sure, it alleviates many of the issues of playing in a band or orchestra; the soloist is generally not counting rests and cannot hide behind other players, and the composer generally knows much more about the instrument and can really show off the instrument's range, style, and other artistic features specific to that instrument. A soloist can never lose focus of what he or she is doing. However, the all-too-important task of learning how to cooperate with others musically speaking, and listening and adjusting to the actions of those around oneself becomes lost. Music is referred to as the universal language, yet speaking to oneself is generally not nearly as riveting as engaging in conversation with a good friend, and let's face it: we learn a LOT opening ourselves to other people's experiences than we do simply going about life on our own island.
Undoubtedly, a member of a large ensemble or a soloist is deprived of many of the essential elements of enhancing one's musicianship. But we can't have the best of both worlds, can we?
Yes, we absolutely can.
In a CHAMBER ENSEMBLE, one can enjoy exploring the fantastic challenges that come with a solo piece while engaging musically in a conversation with those around oneself. Chamber musicians don't have to worry about not being engaged in rehearsal, and they have to stay focused and committed throughout the entire experience - they can't hide behind another player or sit out on the job because it has a huge impact on the musicians around them. The balance between personal mastery of the instrument and perfecting the art of being an effective team player forces the chamber ensemble musician to master both the art of playing the instrument as well as the art of playing musically with others.
One of music's greatest aspects is that it forces people to be reflective and cooperative with one another. Chamber ensembles greatly enhance these aspects in an intimate setting that those not familiar with performing in one could greatly benefit from. Where I grew up, chamber ensembles in the public school setting are almost completely nonexistent, which means tens of thousands of students are never challenged to apply both technical mastery and musical sensitivity to their craft as one. What a shame. If you're a student or teacher reading this, I greatly encourage the exploration of chamber ensembles and their fantastic benefits to both young and seasoned musicians.
If you need a perfect example of the fantastic advantages to placing a focus on chamber ensemble skills, check out anything from the Baylor School Of Music - anything.
Marcus Grant
Teacher, Composer, Trumpeter
http://www.msgrantmusic.org
http://www.facebook.com/msgrantmusic
http://www.soundcloud.com/msgrantmusic
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