#273. Remove Randomness

I believe that students should mark every single breath they will take in every piece they play. I know that sounds crazy and a bit like busywork, but here’s why: To remove the only truly random technical aspect of their performance. Think about it: when do students typically breathe? Most often it is when they are about to run out of air. And sadly, that doesn’t always happen at the same moment every time they perform that passage. So every time we play a piece – even the night of the concert – their breaths will be at different, random places that often result in less-than-ideal musical choices. In addition, when students simply breathe when they’re about to run out of air, their tone and intonation degrades significantly in those final moments before the breath. Put simply, it would be like running your car until it runs out of gas every time you drive. No good can come of that! By having students mark every breath, we can rehearse those breaths – changing, altering, platooning, deleting, or adding as we see fit. We can then rehearse that aspect of their performance just like we do for every other technical demand. Think of it this way: we would never let students randomly choose their articulations, rhythms, pitches, or dynamics (in a non-aleatoric piece!), so why on earth would we let them randomly choose their breaths? Try it. You will hear such a difference.

Peter Loel Boonshaft, Director of Education
KHS America