What make a great musician?

[Kenneth Palmer]

You can have two individuals, with similar musical technical ability, play the same exact notes on a guitar and receive completely different reaction from the audience. You can also have musicians who train day in and day out and become extremely good at technically manipulating their instrument but when you hear them play, they hardly evoke any emotional reaction in the audience. On the other hand, you have the other kind of musicians, who may either be technically good or not, but their delivery always triggers a palpable emotional reaction in their audience. So what is the element that makes the difference?

[Chris Alpiar]

for guitar, its all about facial expressions! :D

[Kenneth Palmer]

For real?

Chris Alpiar said:

for guitar, its all about facial expressions! :D

[Bob Morabito]

Hi Kenneth-

I believe its the ability to be inside of, and actually be part of the music, as opposed to being outside of it, and simply performing or playing the notes..

A kind of merging and being one with the music, and letting it play you...

Bob Morabito

[Kenneth Palmer]

Sounds right to me------- THANKS!!

Bob Morabito said:

Hi Kenneth-

I believe its the ability to be inside of, and actually be part of the music, as opposed to being outside of it, and simply performing or playing the notes..

A kind of merging and being one with the music, and letting it play you...

Bob Morabito

[Adrian Allan]

For me it means complete technical mastery plus interpretive genius.

[Fredrick zinos]

Jasha Heifitz, lengendary violinist of the mid 20th century was said to play without emotion. This was due to his stone face and military looking posture, his lack of swaying and gyrating when performing. However when one listens to his recordings they are filled with passion, certainly as much so as any of his contemporaries.

So perhaps to some extent anyway, the performers ability to engage in extra musical calisthenics may determine what the hearer thinks is going on and thus takes a slightly different message from the performance of the stoic vs the gymnast.

The difference, if this is true, has nothing to do with the sounds being produced but has much to do with what the audience is perceiving.

It may be similar to the situation in which a speaker IMPLIES something but the hearer INFERS something else.

I had an opportunity to see Perlman play a few months ago. I sat as close to the stage as i could, not so that I could hear him better but so that I could see him "schivtz".

[Kenneth Palmer]

Perhaps knowing greatness in a musician is directly dependent on each one's innate sense of musicality. I use to believe most people don't know squat about music they just know whether they like it or don't. Iv'e since come to believe that people generally know great when they hear it. On the other hand, too often people listen with their eyes instead of their ears and so it goes.

[Adam Weldon]

I definitely subscribe to Bobs comment as I've had that feeling many times when performing. Hard to describe, but it feels like you're not actually you doing it, more like your channelling energy or a force. Sort of an auto-pilot sensation where your normal characteristics and mannerisms have been put in a limbo or trance-like state allowing this connection to happen. I think it has alot to do with the intent of the musician, their state of mind and also how the piece affects them. A very interesting subject!

[Kenneth Palmer]

My experience performing is usually one of figuratively disappearing. All thought stops and I am totally enveloped in a world of sound. For me when the thinking stops the music starts------

Adam Weldon said:

I definitely subscribe to Bobs comment as I've had that feeling many times when performing. Hard to describe, but it feels like you're not actually you doing it, more like your channelling energy or a force. Sort of an auto-pilot sensation where your normal characteristics and mannerisms have been put in a limbo or trance-like state allowing this connection to happen. I think it has alot to do with the intent of the musician, their state of mind and also how the piece affects them. A very interesting subject!

[Kristofer Emerig]

RE: Gyrations, facial contortions, etc mentioned above:

Watch Natalie Dessay here. Keep in mind this is a rehearsal (wow). I'd travel across the globe to watch her perform Mozart any day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgWG6qtxxrs

I think the technical difficulty of this piece is vastly underestimated, btw. I tried singing it in the shower the other day, and it didn't work out well. Try it.

[Simon Godden]

Imagination is a vital component.

[Fredrick zinos]

This discussion reminds me of a true story that illustrates the question posed in the topic heading.

Pianist Loren Hollender used to go into a black community where classical music was virtually unknown, he would set a upright piano on the sidewalk and play an all classical program for free for anybody who wished to listen.

After one such performance a very young boy, 7-8 years old, asked Hollender how he know what to play. Hollender replied that the composer had left notes for him.

The young boy then asked the most difficult question in all of music; "Yes, but how do you know what he meant?"