Almost every banjo player I know does something wierd with their mouth when they play. They like stick their lips out or make some sort of contortion with their mouths. Are they just totally unaware that they look a little goofy when they are concentrating on playing well? Is this common to players of other instruments? Do pipers and mandolin or bazouki players do the same thing? What is the physiological connection between playing an instrument and strange movements or expressions on a person's face?
From first-hand experience, making strange faces while playing is caused by muscular tension. Players who wants to stop this funny habit need to examine how they're doing the actions nedded to play whatever instrument it is, and let it happen naturally (rather than "normally"). Some yoga/Alexander method can be useful. Tension habits can be changed if you've a mind to work on it.
Been there, and will probably revisit sometime in the future.
I have to admit, I am guilty of strange facial expressions when I play. My friends point it out to laugh at me every once in a while. I am unaware of doing it while I play (and I don't do it all the time).
Sometimes when I start playing and then look into a mirror I can catch myself doing it. It almost looks like I'm mouthing words as I play (one friend has accused me of mouthing the Black Speech as I'm picking).
And I have seen others do it in videos and such, most notably a bodhranist in an instructional video (whose name escapes me at the moment). He looked like he was blissfully ignorant of his expressions as well.
Flute players don't do that. Never quite understood why.
I know an accordion player who makes the funniest faces, it's really a pleasure to watch. Great entertainment when the session goes blah. No, not you, Tony!
Helen's advice is good, I think, except that once you achieve full relaxation other problems may develop. For instance, I tend to go so slack-jawed when I fiddle that I've been known to drool while playing (even sober). I've seen several other fiddlers do this, and we all agreed that it stems from a genuinely relaxed face, jaw, and mouth. Our friends want us to sit with the flute and whistle players when we do this--the "saliva section."
The one place I most often have tension when I play is in my vocal chords. I silently and mostly unconsciously shape them to the melody as I play, so by the end of the night I'm often hoarse, even if I haven't spoken an audible word. I imagine some people go the next step and mouth the notes as well, silently or not. And this probably explains some of the contortions going on.
The classical violinist Nadia Solerno-Sonnenberg (sp?), though a stellar player, was often panned by critics because she made such wild faces when she played. Get her going on a tragic piece of music, and it was like all the sorrows of mankind were playing out on her face. She said it was an unconscious expression of the same emotions she was putting into the playing. Personally, I thought that was obvious and that it added to her performance, critics be damned. But the bad press really bothered her, as much an attack on who she is than how she played. What a shame--I'd sooner listen (and watch) her play than anyone on the planet, and I'm not a big classical fan.
So contortions and stone faces and drooling are as much a part of a good session as the music itself, eh?
I have noticed that after playing for an extended period of time, my throat has often gone very dry and a little sore. I never thought about why that might be, but I suppose I could be tensing my vocal chords as you described.
The maddening thing is that I can never analyze myself doing it because concentrating on it makes the behavior stop (as well as turns my playing into the equivalent of a train wreck, more often than not).
I often wondered whether it was just peculiar to me...drooling while playing fiddle. Probably because I also play flute and dribble into that. But,Will, you do it too. I'm so happy I'm not abnormal!! (Well have good company being a drooler anyway).
Box players have hilarious facial contortions I think.
Mind you, I used to kind of grunt at the back of my throat while playing flute. I think I was 'singing' along!
As well as the faces, box players tend unconsciously to nod their heads from side to side. Also their breathing tends to be co-ordinated to the pushing and pulling of the bellows - that's for button accordionists - I don't know about Piano accordionists.
If I try to play the fiddle, I find that I concentrate so hard on thae bowing and fingering that I end up grinding my teeth. I think most people who've heard me play the fiddle reckon the tooth grinding sounds better than what I get out of the instrument...
Well - I apparently have the slack jawed fiddle face as well. It's been getting better throughout the years. I remember seeing John Hartford with his mouth wide open. Looked like he was talking to someone. A band hit the stage after his segment. I don't remember the name real well. I think it was Red Clay Ramblers? Well maybe not. In any event, their fiddler was slack jawed as well. They invited John back on stage for a few closing numbers. That was enough cavernous mouths for one evening.
re Will's comment about those who relax too much when playing - I didn't mean or say total relaxation was the goal. It's not - there's something known in Alexander circles as "necessary tension". As with many things, taken to its logical conclusion relaxation's useless: we'd be nothing but lumps on the floor.
Take fiddle tone, for instance -- you need a certain amount of finger strength to hold a string down, but too much will just be wasted. Same with bowing -- just enough is beautiful, but too much will be scratchy.
Helen
The throat tension thing's an interesting one -- I've found I used to get a sore throat after teaching certain students, till I realised it because of a tight quality in their tone. I was reacting to the sound, and when I helped them improve their tone things improved for me too.
Helen
Helen, I hope you're not suggesting that I should learn to control my drooling. It's become an integral part of my session persona--and it keeps the chairs next to me clear so I have more room to thrash around--er, play--in. Although I have to admit that wearing galoshes puts a necessary but heavy damper on my fashion statement....
God, you should see Dirk's faces. His family has started sitting out front of us while we play and making fun of him. I've no idea if I make faces, no one's ever said. I imagine I get at least the crease between the brows thing, as that's what I do when I'm thinking. Sometimes I laugh when I play, but it's usually at Dirk. *grin*
Dear Perplexed,
If you want a real laugh, and some great music, try going to a Fiddlers 4 or American Fiddle Ensemble concert. There you'll find cellist Rushad Eggleston who makes incredible facial expressions while he plays. * - >
*
...geesh, makes me sound like one of those acid-drooling things Sigourney Weaver has to vanquish in the Alien movies.....'cept the babies look more like uilleann pipes, heh.
I should clarify: I don't *always* drool when I play fiddle, just sometimes, and it probably has more to do with the smell of the popcorn machine going than anything about the music. A Pavlovian response to butter and salt....But it wouldn't manifest itself so plainly if I weren't relaxed. It's similar to what the good sprinters (and other runners) learn--to go fast and breathe properly, your jaw has to be relaxed and loose. If it's not, the tension spreads to your neck and upper chest, interfering with your lung capacity. With fiddling it's more a matter of keeping your cranial capacity optimized. How's that for a off-the-hip, quasi-scientific, entirely fabricated justification?
Oooo, popcorn -- blast you, Harmon, you had to say something about popcorn, now I have to go upstairs and make myself some kettlecorn! Mmmmmmmm, kettlecorn....
Ewwwwwwww, groooooosssss....*snort* -- can you tell I've been hanging with the kids recently at class? The funny thing is that none of them say "dude" right. Don't puddle on my popcorn, Harmon. I'll bring you some in August.
I am sure none of you are as bad as this piano player I saw last week at a Jazz Club in Fullerton, Steamers. Every movement while he soloed looked like he was having a pseudo-erotic experience. He would start standing up, wave his head about like Ray Charles (no he wasn't blind) and his mouth was always open. I could tell he really got into it and he was the most amazing jazz piano player I have ever heard, so I guess I could excuse the convulsions.
If you're still hanging in on this thread, then you'll know whereof I speak when I mention the corollary, a certain banjo player whose face assumes a rigid mask of solemnity the instant he plays a note. (Mind you, same lad is not given to displays of spontaneous non-verbal expression, playing or no!)
However, does he let his fingers express, or what!
My opinion on the facial thing is that it arises from two sources - a) the nervousness/tension source but b) because the player, immersed in his/her tune is externalising some of the conscious or unconscious thought process that underlies their ability to express the tune in the way that they wish. Playing tunes can often be a pleasant agony ... you know how you want them to sound, but often you're at the brink of your ability level and never quite sure if the note or phrase will come out the way you'd like!
Aidan - Yeah Jack doesn't crack a light does he.
Same with Andy Martyn, legendary box player. The face is a picture of a zen buddhist trance state, but boy, does he let his fingers do the talking. His playing is nirvana-esque.
God - I hadn't thought of the band Nirvana. I'm sure he wouldn't thank me for that comparison. He's played with Ron Kavana & Alias the Dog. You must have reviewed them, Aidan?
Glauber, who says flute players don't do it? I have been told that I move my eyebrows up and down. Does this count? Many years ago after a session I was approached by a woman who thought I had been giving her the glad eye as I had apparently been staring at her and wiggling my eyebrows at her. I hadn't even seen her as I had been staring into space! I must get those damned eyebrows under control!
I think the only three pieces of Ron's work I've reviewed are his curatorial stuff on "Farewell To Ireland" (for which the guy deserves a medal!), his collaboration with Terry Woods, Paddy Keenan and others in "The Bucks" (what a cracking album - The Bucks' Set is one of the most incendiary pieces of musicianship you're ever likely to hear) and the Alias Acoustic' Band's "1798-1998, etc.".
But what about Ron's "Coming Days" album? "Irish Ways" followed by that extended set of slides and jigs! Is the guy eligible for beatification or what?
Didn't know Jack played with him! That to me is an imprimatur. Ron doesn't carry any passengers.
Mind you, when we're on the subject of facial expressions ... his old guitar player, Mick Molloy(?), used to be just as impassive as Jack. Mick plays from time to time in the "English session" in Greenwich and is as nifty on the fiddle as on the guitar! (But then Jack's no slouch on the fiddle, either. All these talented crayturs... If I had that much musical ability at my command I'd be walking round with a big grin on my gub from morning till night. And these lachakoes can barely register a smirk! What is the world coming to?)
Miles - that's your Jimmy Galway impersonation!
Aidan - you're at it - winding me up again! Not Jack, but Andy Martyn plays/played with Kavana. Mick Molloy doesn't speak too highly of Ron Saddam Hussein Kavana.
I've noticed that a lot of banjo players rock their heads from side to side, much like the box players that Danny (Donal) mentions. It is not a rhythmic motion, but seems to correspond to the way they accent the tune,. I have tried affecting this myself (I play mandolin, and occasionally banjo, if anyone is willing to lend me one), but it doesn't seem to make me play any better, or make it any easier.
Although nobody has ever pointed it out as such (I was once asked how I can play such happy music, yet look so serious), I am aware that I do contort my face while playing. I think it's usually a combination of a grimace at having played a wrong note (i.e. a note that is not the one I intended to play) and an expression of the effort of trying to pull myself back on track. It probably happens more on the banjo, as I'm not used to the longer stretch.
I fear I am sometimes guilty of drooling while playing. This usually happens towards the end of the night, when I get to play a tune on somebody's guitar. I have the habit, when playing guitar, of resting my head on the side of the instrument and near enough falling asleep. I often find I have left a slight moist patch where my face has been... I'm far too honest - I'll never get to play anyone else's guitar now.
Susie, you're in good company if you think you're sub-vocalizing as you play your flute. The cellist Pablo Casals (one of the very greatest string players of the last century) was (in)famous for his chthonic groanings while he was playing the cello or conducting - and obviously quite unaware of what he was doing. His groans and moans can be heard on most of his recordings (made pre-1950), and in those far-off days before tape recorders were invented and recordings were made straight onto wax masters, post-production audio filtering wasn't really much of an option.
There was a lady jazz pianist (now no longer with us) - whose name escapes me (help, please!) - who early in her career got something in her right eye, which was on the audience side, while she was playing on stage, making her blink furiously. Her blinking sent an entirely unintended message to the audience and her career henceforth never looked back, so she thereafter incorporated a wink at the audience in every performance.
You don't get much grimacing in classical orchestras. It tends to distract the conductor and mesmerize the audience. The occasional slight frown of concentration is allowed, to show that the music must be a lot more difficult to play than it sounds, and a little smile is sometimes appropriate to indicate that you are enjoying the music and that the audience may therefore also enjoy it. Brass and woodwind players don't do much in the way of lower facial grimaces, for obvious reasons, but they are quite capable of having an interesting range of eyebrow and eye movements to compensate.
At the other end of the grimacing scale are those players, often world-class soloists, whose faces are completely expressionless while they are playing. Names that come to mind are Jascha Heifetz (violin), Artur Rubinstein (piano), and Horowitz (piano) who to me are collectively Mr Stoneface in person. Yehudi Menuhin didn't have much expression in his face when he was playing, and nearly always had his eyes shut, except when he needed eye contact with the conductor or another player.
All this, grimacing, sub-vocalizing, or indeed complete lack of facial expression, is a result of 100% concentration, which is something every musician has to be capable of if (s)he wants to get to the top, and if the musician becomes aware of the grimacing etc then concentration will falter and the performance will suffer accordingly. So the bottom line is, if you grimace while you're playing don't worry about it and just let it be. In fact, with experience it may sometimes diminish or disappear entirely.
Contorted Faces
Contorted Faces
Almost every banjo player I know does something wierd with their mouth when they play. They like stick their lips out or make some sort of contortion with their mouths. Are they just totally unaware that they look a little goofy when they are concentrating on playing well? Is this common to players of other instruments? Do pipers and mandolin or bazouki players do the same thing? What is the physiological connection between playing an instrument and strange movements or expressions on a person's face?
Perplexed.
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by RTP
Re: Contorted Faces
From first-hand experience, making strange faces while playing is caused by muscular tension. Players who wants to stop this funny habit need to examine how they're doing the actions nedded to play whatever instrument it is, and let it happen naturally (rather than "normally"). Some yoga/Alexander method can be useful. Tension habits can be changed if you've a mind to work on it.
Been there, and will probably revisit sometime in the future.
Helen
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by fiddlefingers
Re: Contorted Faces
I have to admit, I am guilty of strange facial expressions when I play. My friends point it out to laugh at me every once in a while. I am unaware of doing it while I play (and I don't do it all the time).
Sometimes when I start playing and then look into a mirror I can catch myself doing it. It almost looks like I'm mouthing words as I play (one friend has accused me of mouthing the Black Speech as I'm picking).
And I have seen others do it in videos and such, most notably a bodhranist in an instructional video (whose name escapes me at the moment). He looked like he was blissfully ignorant of his expressions as well.
I have no idea what causes this phenomenon.
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by RG
Re: Contorted Faces
Flute players don't do that. Never quite understood why.
I know an accordion player who makes the funniest faces, it's really a pleasure to watch. Great entertainment when the session goes blah. No, not you, Tony!
g
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by glauber
Re: Contorted Faces
Helen's advice is good, I think, except that once you achieve full relaxation other problems may develop. For instance, I tend to go so slack-jawed when I fiddle that I've been known to drool while playing (even sober). I've seen several other fiddlers do this, and we all agreed that it stems from a genuinely relaxed face, jaw, and mouth. Our friends want us to sit with the flute and whistle players when we do this--the "saliva section."
The one place I most often have tension when I play is in my vocal chords. I silently and mostly unconsciously shape them to the melody as I play, so by the end of the night I'm often hoarse, even if I haven't spoken an audible word. I imagine some people go the next step and mouth the notes as well, silently or not. And this probably explains some of the contortions going on.
The classical violinist Nadia Solerno-Sonnenberg (sp?), though a stellar player, was often panned by critics because she made such wild faces when she played. Get her going on a tragic piece of music, and it was like all the sorrows of mankind were playing out on her face. She said it was an unconscious expression of the same emotions she was putting into the playing. Personally, I thought that was obvious and that it added to her performance, critics be damned. But the bad press really bothered her, as much an attack on who she is than how she played. What a shame--I'd sooner listen (and watch) her play than anyone on the planet, and I'm not a big classical fan.
So contortions and stone faces and drooling are as much a part of a good session as the music itself, eh?
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Will CPT
Re: Contorted Faces
I think I know what you're talking about, Will.
I have noticed that after playing for an extended period of time, my throat has often gone very dry and a little sore. I never thought about why that might be, but I suppose I could be tensing my vocal chords as you described.
The maddening thing is that I can never analyze myself doing it because concentrating on it makes the behavior stop (as well as turns my playing into the equivalent of a train wreck, more often than not).
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by RG
Re: Contorted Faces
I often wondered whether it was just peculiar to me...drooling while playing fiddle. Probably because I also play flute and dribble into that. But,Will, you do it too. I'm so happy I'm not abnormal!! (Well have good company being a drooler anyway).
Box players have hilarious facial contortions I think.
Mind you, I used to kind of grunt at the back of my throat while playing flute. I think I was 'singing' along!
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Susie-Lee
Re: Contorted Faces
Yep, Susie-Lee, your at least as "normal" as I am, and that should scare anybody, heh.
Really, I think it's common enough that I'm surprised no one has come up with a chinrest-spittoon combination gizmo for fiddle....
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Will CPT
Re: Contorted Faces
As well as the faces, box players tend unconsciously to nod their heads from side to side. Also their breathing tends to be co-ordinated to the pushing and pulling of the bellows - that's for button accordionists - I don't know about Piano accordionists.
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Contorted Faces
If I try to play the fiddle, I find that I concentrate so hard on thae bowing and fingering that I end up grinding my teeth. I think most people who've heard me play the fiddle reckon the tooth grinding sounds better than what I get out of the instrument...
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Ottery
Contorted Faces
Well - I apparently have the slack jawed fiddle face as well. It's been getting better throughout the years. I remember seeing John Hartford with his mouth wide open. Looked like he was talking to someone. A band hit the stage after his segment. I don't remember the name real well. I think it was Red Clay Ramblers? Well maybe not. In any event, their fiddler was slack jawed as well. They invited John back on stage for a few closing numbers. That was enough cavernous mouths for one evening.
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Mark Cordova
Re: Contorted Faces
Elite company we run in....
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Will CPT
Re: Contorted Faces
re Will's comment about those who relax too much when playing - I didn't mean or say total relaxation was the goal. It's not - there's something known in Alexander circles as "necessary tension". As with many things, taken to its logical conclusion relaxation's useless: we'd be nothing but lumps on the floor.
Take fiddle tone, for instance -- you need a certain amount of finger strength to hold a string down, but too much will just be wasted. Same with bowing -- just enough is beautiful, but too much will be scratchy.
Helen
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by fiddlefingers
The throat tension thing's an interesting one -- I've found I used to get a sore throat after teaching certain students, till I realised it because of a tight quality in their tone. I was reacting to the sound, and when I helped them improve their tone things improved for me too.
Helen
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by fiddlefingers
Re: Contorted Faces
Helen, I hope you're not suggesting that I should learn to control my drooling. It's become an integral part of my session persona--and it keeps the chairs next to me clear so I have more room to thrash around--er, play--in. Although I have to admit that wearing galoshes puts a necessary but heavy damper on my fashion statement....
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Will CPT
Re: Contorted Faces
God, you should see Dirk's faces. His family has started sitting out front of us while we play and making fun of him. I've no idea if I make faces, no one's ever said. I imagine I get at least the crease between the brows thing, as that's what I do when I'm thinking. Sometimes I laugh when I play, but it's usually at Dirk. *grin*
zls
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: Contorted Faces
Dear Perplexed,
If you want a real laugh, and some great music, try going to a Fiddlers 4 or American Fiddle Ensemble concert. There you'll find cellist Rushad Eggleston who makes incredible facial expressions while he plays. * - >
*
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Kallie
Re: Contorted Faces
No, Will, you don't have to stop the drooling, but isn't human saliva corrosive? Sooner or later you're going to have to get your fiddle revarnished.
Helen
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by fiddlefingers
Re: Contorted Faces
...geesh, makes me sound like one of those acid-drooling things Sigourney Weaver has to vanquish in the Alien movies.....'cept the babies look more like uilleann pipes, heh.
I should clarify: I don't *always* drool when I play fiddle, just sometimes, and it probably has more to do with the smell of the popcorn machine going than anything about the music. A Pavlovian response to butter and salt....But it wouldn't manifest itself so plainly if I weren't relaxed. It's similar to what the good sprinters (and other runners) learn--to go fast and breathe properly, your jaw has to be relaxed and loose. If it's not, the tension spreads to your neck and upper chest, interfering with your lung capacity. With fiddling it's more a matter of keeping your cranial capacity optimized. How's that for a off-the-hip, quasi-scientific, entirely fabricated justification?
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Will CPT
Re: Contorted Faces
Oooo, popcorn -- blast you, Harmon, you had to say something about popcorn, now I have to go upstairs and make myself some kettlecorn! Mmmmmmmm, kettlecorn....
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: Contorted Faces
All right, now I'm drooling again....
;o0....
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Will CPT
Re: Contorted Faces
Ewwwwwwww, groooooosssss....*snort* -- can you tell I've been hanging with the kids recently at class? The funny thing is that none of them say "dude" right. Don't puddle on my popcorn, Harmon. I'll bring you some in August.
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: Contorted Faces
If I said "fudge brownie sundaes" would you bring some of those too?
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Will CPT
Re: Contorted Faces
I am sure none of you are as bad as this piano player I saw last week at a Jazz Club in Fullerton, Steamers. Every movement while he soloed looked like he was having a pseudo-erotic experience. He would start standing up, wave his head about like Ray Charles (no he wasn't blind) and his mouth was always open. I could tell he really got into it and he was the most amazing jazz piano player I have ever heard, so I guess I could excuse the convulsions.
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by michael_coleman
Easter Island Man
Danny ...
If you're still hanging in on this thread, then you'll know whereof I speak when I mention the corollary, a certain banjo player whose face assumes a rigid mask of solemnity the instant he plays a note. (Mind you, same lad is not given to displays of spontaneous non-verbal expression, playing or no!)
However, does he let his fingers express, or what!
My opinion on the facial thing is that it arises from two sources - a) the nervousness/tension source but b) because the player, immersed in his/her tune is externalising some of the conscious or unconscious thought process that underlies their ability to express the tune in the way that they wish. Playing tunes can often be a pleasant agony ... you know how you want them to sound, but often you're at the brink of your ability level and never quite sure if the note or phrase will come out the way you'd like!
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Aidan Crossey
Re: Contorted Faces
Aidan - Yeah Jack doesn't crack a light does he.
Same with Andy Martyn, legendary box player. The face is a picture of a zen buddhist trance state, but boy, does he let his fingers do the talking. His playing is nirvana-esque.
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Key Maniac Lad
Nirvana
You mean he cracks out a great version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in pure drop mode?!
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Aidan Crossey
Re: Contorted Faces
God - I hadn't thought of the band Nirvana. I'm sure he wouldn't thank me for that comparison. He's played with Ron Kavana & Alias the Dog. You must have reviewed them, Aidan?
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Contorted Faces
Glauber, who says flute players don't do it? I have been told that I move my eyebrows up and down. Does this count? Many years ago after a session I was approached by a woman who thought I had been giving her the glad eye as I had apparently been staring at her and wiggling my eyebrows at her. I hadn't even seen her as I had been staring into space! I must get those damned eyebrows under control!
# Posted on March 10th 2003 by milesnagopaleen
Ron Kavana
I think the only three pieces of Ron's work I've reviewed are his curatorial stuff on "Farewell To Ireland" (for which the guy deserves a medal!), his collaboration with Terry Woods, Paddy Keenan and others in "The Bucks" (what a cracking album - The Bucks' Set is one of the most incendiary pieces of musicianship you're ever likely to hear) and the Alias Acoustic' Band's "1798-1998, etc.".
But what about Ron's "Coming Days" album? "Irish Ways" followed by that extended set of slides and jigs! Is the guy eligible for beatification or what?
Didn't know Jack played with him! That to me is an imprimatur. Ron doesn't carry any passengers.
Mind you, when we're on the subject of facial expressions ... his old guitar player, Mick Molloy(?), used to be just as impassive as Jack. Mick plays from time to time in the "English session" in Greenwich and is as nifty on the fiddle as on the guitar! (But then Jack's no slouch on the fiddle, either. All these talented crayturs... If I had that much musical ability at my command I'd be walking round with a big grin on my gub from morning till night. And these lachakoes can barely register a smirk! What is the world coming to?)
# Posted on March 11th 2003 by Aidan Crossey
Re: Contorted Faces
Miles - that's your Jimmy Galway impersonation!
Aidan - you're at it - winding me up again! Not Jack, but Andy Martyn plays/played with Kavana. Mick Molloy doesn't speak too highly of Ron Saddam Hussein Kavana.
# Posted on March 11th 2003 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Contorted Faces
I've noticed that a lot of banjo players rock their heads from side to side, much like the box players that Danny (Donal) mentions. It is not a rhythmic motion, but seems to correspond to the way they accent the tune,. I have tried affecting this myself (I play mandolin, and occasionally banjo, if anyone is willing to lend me one), but it doesn't seem to make me play any better, or make it any easier.
Although nobody has ever pointed it out as such (I was once asked how I can play such happy music, yet look so serious), I am aware that I do contort my face while playing. I think it's usually a combination of a grimace at having played a wrong note (i.e. a note that is not the one I intended to play) and an expression of the effort of trying to pull myself back on track. It probably happens more on the banjo, as I'm not used to the longer stretch.
I fear I am sometimes guilty of drooling while playing. This usually happens towards the end of the night, when I get to play a tune on somebody's guitar. I have the habit, when playing guitar, of resting my head on the side of the instrument and near enough falling asleep. I often find I have left a slight moist patch where my face has been... I'm far too honest - I'll never get to play anyone else's guitar now.
# Posted on March 11th 2003 by granama
Re: Contorted Faces (and sub-vocalizing)
Susie, you're in good company if you think you're sub-vocalizing as you play your flute. The cellist Pablo Casals (one of the very greatest string players of the last century) was (in)famous for his chthonic groanings while he was playing the cello or conducting - and obviously quite unaware of what he was doing. His groans and moans can be heard on most of his recordings (made pre-1950), and in those far-off days before tape recorders were invented and recordings were made straight onto wax masters, post-production audio filtering wasn't really much of an option.
There was a lady jazz pianist (now no longer with us) - whose name escapes me (help, please!) - who early in her career got something in her right eye, which was on the audience side, while she was playing on stage, making her blink furiously. Her blinking sent an entirely unintended message to the audience and her career henceforth never looked back, so she thereafter incorporated a wink at the audience in every performance.
You don't get much grimacing in classical orchestras. It tends to distract the conductor and mesmerize the audience. The occasional slight frown of concentration is allowed, to show that the music must be a lot more difficult to play than it sounds, and a little smile is sometimes appropriate to indicate that you are enjoying the music and that the audience may therefore also enjoy it. Brass and woodwind players don't do much in the way of lower facial grimaces, for obvious reasons, but they are quite capable of having an interesting range of eyebrow and eye movements to compensate.
At the other end of the grimacing scale are those players, often world-class soloists, whose faces are completely expressionless while they are playing. Names that come to mind are Jascha Heifetz (violin), Artur Rubinstein (piano), and Horowitz (piano) who to me are collectively Mr Stoneface in person. Yehudi Menuhin didn't have much expression in his face when he was playing, and nearly always had his eyes shut, except when he needed eye contact with the conductor or another player.
All this, grimacing, sub-vocalizing, or indeed complete lack of facial expression, is a result of 100% concentration, which is something every musician has to be capable of if (s)he wants to get to the top, and if the musician becomes aware of the grimacing etc then concentration will falter and the performance will suffer accordingly. So the bottom line is, if you grimace while you're playing don't worry about it and just let it be. In fact, with experience it may sometimes diminish or disappear entirely.
# Posted on March 11th 2003 by lazyhound
Re: Contorted Faces
A session friend who knocks out some lovely tunes on his piano accordeon looks like he's chewing a wasp most of the time.
# Posted on March 13th 2003 by Twiz
Re: Contorted Faces
Unless my memory is going doolally I seem to recollect that the lady jazz pianist I referred to earlier on was Winifred Atwell.
# Posted on March 13th 2003 by lazyhound