I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine today. Hes a very well known pianist who will remain nameless to respect his privacy but he said - when he was coming up as a kid he was struck by pianists not for the notes they played but because of the different sounds they had. It didnt really matter what the genre was. He was just fascinated at how their sounds were speaking to him. Each ones sound told a story to him and it made him want to play the piano. So he got me thinking about that and it struck me that this was a great way to look at what originality is in general. This is because as I’ve said before by this point in time all the notes have been played in every order under the sun. But not all the sounds. Thats still where the individual can be found. Try as you may the truth is that you can never reproduce someone elses sound. You may get close but you will never get the exact same one. If you think about it sound and rhythm are THE 2 key elements that we as human beings produce from something that’s deep inside us. Something beyond the intellect. Yes you need to know your scales and harmony because sound and rhythm without good notes would be just as empty as good notes without sound and rhythm. But what my friend said made me realize that sound and rhythm is a true measure of the players individuality. They’re like your musical fingerprint. It’s what they talk about when saying you have to find your own voice. It’s also why players who are not innovators still have originality contrary to the view of many writers today who focus on some new scale or mixture of genres to find it. You’re born an original you just have to believe in yourself and allow that to show. THAT, however, can be easier said than done.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 18:11:23 +0000
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