I. WHY PLAY CHAMBER MUSIC?
Chamber music, defined as music performed with one player per part, is a unique opportunity for performers to express themselves. Chamber music is rehearsed and performed in a collaborative setting without the intervention of a conductor. As a result, the individual parts become an expression of the individuals who perform them. As well, the process offers a rich opportunity to explore music in an intense method and to experiment with rehearsal techniques and musical ideas.
II. RULES FOR REHEARSING
You must show up. There will come a time during the semester, regardless of your major, when you'd rather be somewhere else (studying for exam, doing a paper) than at the chamber music rehearsal or coaching that you have scheduled. Plan on one rehearsal and one coaching per week for the whole semester and expect to attend all of them in order to sound good.
Be on time. “On time” means five minutes early, with your instrument and music, so you can have a full hour (or more) of rehearsal. It's a good idea to schedule rehearsals the way you would classes, taking travel time into account so you won't be late.
Respect the other members of your ensemble. The first points will go a long way to accomplishing this, but respect takes many forms in an ensemble.
- Assume that the other members are giving their best and give your best as well.
- Be open to trying out musical ideas. (Arguing is a much less effective way to make musical decisions than playing a passage a number of ways.)
- Compliment each other’s playing regularly.
- Criticize carefully, and in specific, non-judgemental terms.
Tune Carefully as often as you need to. For a start, tune at the beginning of every rehearsal, and once you're all warmed up (about twenty minutes in). The regular practice of tuning your instrument to the other instruments in your ensemble will make you more aware of tuning in general, make your ensemble's tuning more consistent and will make it easier to tune in front of the audience when it comes time to perform.
Learn your part. A few hours of practising early in the semester (when you're more likely to have time) is actually worth more than the same amount later on (when you're busy with midterms).
Listen to several recordings of your piece, if available. Just listening a few times can save a lot of practise and rehearsal time. Almost every piece we tackle will have a recording available somewhere online.
III. REHEARSING TOGETHER
Here are a few basic ideas (or ideals?) to aim for in a chamber music performance.
Play together: In a “bean counter” sort of way, playing together means starting and finishing your notes together. In a more artistic sense, playing together extends well beyond this, to playing notes in the same way, and with the same “intention”. An extension of playing together is to:
Phrase together: For a start, everyone should pay very close attention to the clues that the composer has taken the time to sketch in for you: dynamics and other words, often in Italian. From there, each group needs to make its own decisions as to what these markings mean. (For example, does pp in a given place suggest sadness, nervousness, expectation, etc.?) It is this sort of decision that is at the heart of rehearsing chamber music.
Keep a consistent tempo together: his is best accomplished by constantly counting, whether in your head, or aloud (during rehearsals, obviously, not during performances). Counting not only helps to re-enter after rests and stay together during difficult rhythmic passages but helps you to understand how the pulse of the music contributes to the ebb and flow of the phrases.
Play in tune: It should be noted that playing in tune with other players is as much a process of give-and-take and compromise as decisions on phrasing, musical meaning, etc. Even in the presence of a piano, there can be a wide variety of opinions on the “location” of an in-tune note, the validity of which are dependent on whatever system a group decides to use. This is all just to say, please do not assume that what you hear as “in tune” will be more valid than what another musician hears as “in tune”.
IV. PERFORMING
Here are a few pieces of advice for performing, mostly gleaned from mistakes I have made (and continue to make).
Bowing. (That is, bending from the waist). The purpose of bowing is to acknowledge your audience, to make them feel comfortable with you and to show that you appreciate that they have agreed to come and listen to you share what you've created. Walk quickly to your spot. The audience will clap for you. Once you arrive at your spot, smile at the audience and bend deeply from the waist before you put your music on the stand. Even if the audience's applause seems to slow down before you start to bow, bow anyway.
Tuning. Please remember, there is Always time to Tune! Tune exactly as you would in a rehearsal. It will always seem to take a long time, but make sure you tune thoroughly.
Dress. Rarely do chamber players dress in tuxes anymore, but it is important to convey to your audience that you and your colleagues are unified in your commitment to the music, and that you take yourselves seriously. Black is always in fashion.
Communicating. Performing can be very scary, and a big part of this has to do with the internal dialogue most of us go through when we step out in front of people, whether it be a couple of your friends or a crowd of hundreds. Luckily, as chamber musicians, we have a built-in remedy for this: colleagues, who can help us get out of our own heads and focus on the task of creating beautiful music together. During every chamber performance, continue to look each other in the eye, listen to each other play and give each other support. Wonderful things happen when an ensemble becomes their own best audience during a performance.
Post performance. When you've played your last note, smile at your colleagues and stand up proudly to receive your applause. Look at the audience, look at each other again and then bow deeply from the waist. If your audience is applauding strongly, bow again and then walk quickly off stage. If your audience continues to applaud strongly after you have left the stage, they are encouraging you to return to the stage for another bow. Walk quickly to the middle of the stage, bow quickly and leave again, smiling the whole time.
Ben Bolt-Martin, ICE director