Five Things I Never Worry About...and Neither Should You!

You may have noticed that making music is complicated.

Do I win the understatement of the year award? I never cease to be awestruck by the breadth and depth of what music demands from us, all the physical, cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and social skills it requires us integrate in real time and under pressure.

Isn’t it nice, then, to have a few musical things we can simply…blow off?

Here are five things I never worry about...and I don’t think you should, either! And while I can’t promise my list will be free of controversy, my hope is that it helps at least some of you say a guilt-free goodbye to something you’ve been sweating.

So let’s get to it!

1) Circular breathing. Do I circular breathe? No. Do I want to? Honestly, not really. Circular breathing is a cool party trick, and I can see how it might come in handy in some circumstances. But taking time to breathe can be such an intimate and beautiful part of music-making, so essential for making phrases and shapes, that it very seldom feels like a constraint. Done correctly, your breathing is part of the music.

2) Making low notes loud. The unique timbre and volume of the various notes on the recorder is a feature, not a bug! Embrace it!

3) Keeping my music pristine. Unless I’m working with an orchestral part that I have to relinquish when the gig is done, I have carte blanche to do whatever the heck I want with my page. I can mark my beats, mark my part, pepper the score with exclamation points and inscrutable phrases (“llama enters here”)...whatever helps. No one cares.

4) Making up unique ornaments out of whole cloth in the moment, every time. Look: here’s the truth. Yes, a few of us are up there extemporizing elaborate, novel flourishes inspired by the moment. But a whole lot more of us (including me) are doing what I call prepared improvisation. That means we’ve spent quality time experimenting during our practice sessions, exploring different ornamental patterns to discover what works. Then, when it comes time to perform, we have a repository of semi-rehearsed shapes from which to select. There’s no law that says you have to come up with something new and unique every time. In fact, the number of ornamental shapes that will work in any given passage is not infinite, and if you get too hung up on novelty, it’s easy to lose sight of whether your ornament actually supports what’s written.

5) What other people think of the recorder. My indifference is hard won, but at this point I can simply say: I make the most beautiful music I can on the instruments I have to hand. I can’t wait for you to hear it!