It was astounding to me to consider the vast amount of information that was lost between recording and score. Then I realized that this much information could be missing from every score of every great master I’ve ever read. Trying to bring life to this score, when I played it myself, was like trying to animate a pale shadow of my original conception of the piece.
Read MoreIn the spirit of fast and fun progress, I want to talk about one of my favourite rhythms: a dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth. It may be a small and super common rhythm, but it’s actually an incredibly efficient tool for refining character. And because it’s so ubiquitous, you can apply what I’m talking about here to a ton of your repertoire.
Read MoreWhy are our musical tastes so different at Christmas than during the rest of the year?
Read MoreThe second in my series on my relationship and obligations to dead composers, this post explains why you shouldn't necessarily trust that score you just dropped a bunch of cash on. Or at least, why you should be wary of your interpretation of it.
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This is the first post in my series on my relationship and obligations to dead composers. In it, I look at what it might have been like to hear some old music when it was new music, and whether it can be as powerful today as it was then. Then I use science to disappoint you with the realization that no it can't; some things just sounded better 300 years ago.
Read MoreCarmen’s Habanera is easily one of the most famous pieces of classical music in the world. This post explains how it's rhythmically related to vibrant Latin American dance music, and what that might mean for our performances.
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