6 Ways to Improve Your Musical Expression in a Performance
These audiation drills can help to hone your ability to internalize the score
The Problem
You have difficulty giving musical expression to a piece of music.
Further Resources
The Gordon Institute for Music Learning hosts a conference and offers certification. Visit giml.org.
The Solution
When I was six years old, I was convinced that music had possessed me. Concerned, I told my mom that music from a recording was continuing to play in my mind. “Don’t worry, that happens to me, too,” she said, seeking to reassure me. When I told her that it was the whole orchestra note for note, she said it sounded like quite a gift. Encouraged, I made it a ritual to replay a song a day in my mind.
What I had been experiencing at that time was “audiation,” a term subsequently coined by Edwin E. Gordon of the Gordon Institute for Music Learning.
Similar to how people think in words and find meaning in language, to “audiate” is to hear and understand a musical performance or recording. Whether listening to, reading, notating, performing, or improvising music, high-level audiation involves not only recalling and hearing music internally, but being able to identify its tonal center and beat, and to predict its patterns.
Though it will come naturally to some more than others, everyone can learn to audiate. Incorporate these ideas into your practice and you’ll be audiating in no time.
1. Immerse
Similar to learning a language, our ability to audiate begins with immersion. By immersing yourself in the music you wish to recall, understand, and play, you’ll become comfortable and familiar with its nuances. For example, just as dialects can reveal geographic locations, certain ornamentations can affirm fiddle styles.
2. Imitate
I frequently tell string students, “If you can sing it, you can play it.” View your instrument as an extension of your voice. Sing along with a syllable like “bum” or “dah” while listening to music. A great singing voice isn’t necessary, but you must attempt to imitate the pitches and rhythms, articulations, and dynamics. After listening to a piece, sing the melody and rhythm as you remember it.
3. Move your body
Dance! If you let music move you, music will eventually move through you. Take note of how the rhythm, tone, phrasing, articulation, and dynamics of the music inform your movements. What is the mood? Does it change?
4. Musical walking
Footsteps set the tempo while the mind spins the music. Take it a step further and imagine you are physically playing the music. By playing air violin, your nervous system fires many of the same circuits it would as if you were actually playing with the added benefit of not stopping for technical issues or practicing mistakes.
Further Resources
Read these tips from cellist Yo-Yo Ma on improving communication with your audience.
5. Read along
While listening to a piece, follow along with the score. Hearing music while reading it helps you recognize patterns and make sense of music notation, and sets the stage for better sight-singing and sight-reading.
6. Match inner and outer
Take time to “play” a piece of music internally first, and then add your instrument and connect to your inner recording. Try to reproduce what you “hear” in your mind through your playing. Learn to pay attention to every musical element, from intonation and rhythm to tone and dynamics. Building this connection between inner recording and outer reproduction is one of the fastest roads to great intonation, confident shifting, solid rhythm, and honest musical expression. Better listening leads to better playing.
This article, "6 Ways to Improve Your Musical Expression in a Performance," is part of the Strings Archive, which you can access with a paid site subscription.
If you have a paid subscription, you are seeing this message because you have not logged in.
What do you want to do?
Log in using my current paid subscription account.
Subscribe now and get our best offer.
ARE FULLY MODERATED
You must be logged in to rate and comment. Log in or Subscribe now.