Date Your Excerpt: avoiding burnout with creative play
/DATE YOUR EXCERPT:
a journey into love, play, and right-brain wonder
No matter how much you absolutely love your instrument, adore the music you’re working on, or cherish the composer of your heart’s desire, every relationship (musical or otherwise) needs a creative reboot from time to time. For those of us who’ve been on the audition circuit, or in the umpteenth month of performance prep, you may be familiar with the feeling of #burnout: feeling overwhelming stress and pressure to execute that makes it almost impossible to cultivate a sense of juicy wonder and passion for truly “musical” and inspired performance. But how do you get “inspired” by your 200th run-through of Waltz of the Flowers? After all the drilling and recording and endless self-critique, is it even possible to rediscover that “joie de vivre” we may remember from that first time (if it even existed in the first place)?
When working with clients on optimal performance, we talk a lot about the process of moving from left-brian to right-brain, or from tactical instruction to big-picture flow. This is a practice of its own – one that can be learned through the process of “centering” (more on that here, courtesy of Noa Kageyama) – where you practice moving away from the self-critic and more into the sound/image-based right brain where story-telling, emotions, and peak performance thrive. But how do we cultivate a juicy story, image, or emotion in performance? If we’re talking Waltz of the Flowers: is it enough to just picture dancing ballerinas, or to just imagine the joy of Christmas time? Perhaps, but maybe that just doesn’t resonate with you - and that’s okay. What we really need is to delve into the following questions to develop *personal relevance*:
Why do we care about this music (or composer or genre)?
What is the entry point? (how does this music connect to our lives?)
What is the purpose of this creation (the juice, the “why”, the legacy)?
What does it mean to me? (not just what role do I play, but what role does the music serve in my life?)
THE EXERCISE:
From here, I designed a series of exercises I call “Date Your Excerpt” (or really any music you’re working on) as they don’t require the typical kind of work/practice approach, but are designed to enhance your relationship with the music away from the instrument (mostly). Each exercise helps to extrapolate meaning, image, and emotion from the excerpt utilizing a different intelligence (generally: a mode of processing) to fully engage the mind, body, and heart. Based on Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, each one of these exercises uses at least one of the following intelligences: bodily-kinesthetic; verbal-linguistic; logical-mathematical; musical-rhythmic and harmonic; visual-spatial; interpersonal (social); and intrapersonal (self-understanding). I’ll explain as we journey on!
Like any good coach, I knew I had to test this exercise out on myself first. So I picked an excerpt that’s been in my blood for over 20 years: Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”. To be completely honest, I really didn’t know how much deeper I could get with this piece: it’s a fairly straight-forward theme & variations with the clear purpose of introducing each instrument, and Britten was no stranger to me, having played many of his other works. Nevertheless, I stayed the course and found that I needed to remind myself of several things along the way:
When diving deeper, don’t let judgment stand in the way of your curiosity. Even if you may not see a clear connection to the endgame (i.e. playing “better”/with more conviction), follow the trail and stay open-minded. Give yourself permission to invest this time, knowing you are building your relationship with the music that will sustain your music-making for years to come.
There are no mistakes in creativity. Don’t feel compelled to live up to the high musical standard you’ve set for yourself when engaging in these exercises that are out of your comfort zone. If you find yourself obsessing over finding the right materials, doing multiple edits/takes, or getting stuck, let it go and move onto another exercise. The goal is not perfection - it’s engagement and play.
Sometimes we equate hard work with no fun, and that’s simply not true. In fact, the brain responds BETTER to a state of play rather than a regimented, harsh practice routine. Let these exercises be SILLY and spontaneous, and at the very least - expansive. The very act of reaching further is already increasing your courage, while the exercises will indeed fill you with the motivation and big-picture thinking your right brain needs to thrive.
After “Getting Started”, you can do these exercises in any order without feeling obligated to do them all. Time-permitting, start with the ones that call to you, that pull you in, that make your heart sing – and don’t be afraid to explore the exercises that push beyond your comfort zone. You may just surprise yourself!
So in summary: let your expectations go by the wayside and enjoy the ride. I’ll be with you every step of the way.
GETTING STARTED: Listening with curiosity
Intelligence: musical+
I like to set the pallett with a fresh listen of the piece, pretending I’m listening for the first time. Try to turn off your critic ears, or to start mentally rehearsing the music in your head. Instead, see yourself as a naive audience member whose only job is to simply listen, absorb, and allow your curiosity to take hold. If you feel inspired, you can jot down a few questions, observations, or notes.
EXAMPLE: For me, I started to wonder about Britten’s choice of Purcell’s theme for his variations. Why Purcell? Where did that excerpt come from? Is there any special relevance behind it, besides the fact that Purcell is British like Mr. B? Another question: what was going on in Britten’s life when he wrote this? What was the motivation for this piece, when I know he wrote so many “serious” compositions that have nothing in common?
2. DO THE ‘SEARCH: every good date starts with google
Intelligence: logical, interpersonal, intrapersonal
The previous list of questions led me to my first step: googling the ol’ Mr. B and pulling up his surprisingly thorough wikipedia page. That’s right, folks, wikipedia is and always will be my primary source for the juiciest “goss” I need about any given composer or piece. Of course, don’t let me stop you from downloading all the articles or books on the topic, but remember, the key here is getting deeper, not necessarily knowing every life detail of the composer of choice.
When delving into the life of said composer, read the biography as a documentary, or even a theatrical representation. Imagine the emotional state of the composer – what were their relationships like? What hardships did they face (in addition to successes)? Who/where were they when they wrote the piece of the hour, and what was the reception of the piece? What did they write before/after, and how did this work compare? Some of this context may seem irrelevant, but it only takes one key point to change your entire view of the piece.
EXAMPLE: Case and point: when reading about Britten, I was absolutely stunned to learn that Britten, a life-long pacifist, had just returned from visiting a recently-liberated concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen, in 1945, when he got the commission for YPGO. Reportedly, the experience he had performing for holocaust survivors was disturbing that “...he refused to talk about it until towards the end of his life, when he told Pears [his partner] that it had coloured everything he had written since…” And in spite of this, “…Britten recovered his joie de vivre for The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1945)...It became, and remained, his most often played and popular work.”
To know that Britten wrote this beacon of light and playfulness despite the trauma he witnessed and would remember for the rest of his life provided me with perhaps the most epic emotional entry point I could have asked for. My new process cue, or right-brain-activation word, would be “joie de vivre” in honor of this triumph over darkness.
3. LET’S GET VISUAL: embracing your inner Piccaso
Intelligence: Visual-Spatial/Interpersonal
Full disclosure: this one really scared me. I hadn’t drawn or even doodled in years, nor did I have any appropriate writing or art utensils, save a few flimsy highlighters and an overabundance of non-sharpened pencils. But as soon as I felt myself getting stuck, I knew I needed to just go with something: so I grabbed a pen and started imagining what scene I might try to draw from the piece. BONUS: it helps to listen to the music while you’re creating. You can even pick a particular section, phrase, or movement that you find particularly stimulating; and remember, the drawing can be as abstract or specific as you like.
EXAMPLE: While listening to YPGO, the first scene that came to mind was the fugue at the end of the piece when all the instruments “come together” for a grand finale. I started imaging what each character would be like – and rather than just generalizing instrument stereotypes, I listened *again* to the music and let the character dictate whom each instrument would be. And soon I had a whole party scene in my head: the harp right in the center, known as the “belle of the ball”; the trumpets were acting like jocks, playing loud and fast as they always like to do #showoffs; the cello was sad and emo (next to a box of tissues), as per its slow, heart-tugging, lyrical variation, etc….
Was the end result something I would frame or hang on my fridge? Probably not. But did it give me a juicy image and emotional entry point into one of the trickiest technical excerpts? Absolutely!
4. DANCE IT OUT: anything goes!
Intelligence: Kinesthetic-bodily/musical-rhythmic
One of my favorite ways to get unstuck is by moving my body. That’s right –not just my hands/fingers/feet and elbows, but to really and fully allow my body to respond in any way it wants to the music I’m listening to. Remember: IT DOES NOT HAVE TO LOOK PRETTY at all. It does not have to be choreographed or consistent. All we need to do is select an excerpt of the piece (30-60 seconds), and allow your body to take the reins an an improvised, interpretive dance. Taking a moment to identify a character, mood, or emotion, might also help in harnessing the direction forward.
EXAMPLE: For me, I had no trouble coming up with a dazzling “look at me” dance for the solo harp variation, or throwing in ridiculous head-bobs and twerking for the final fugue. Of course, I felt so silly I had to close my office door to ensure TOTAL privacy but it felt SO GOOD to embody the music on a deeper level than my fingers alone would allow. And hey, dancing and movement are good for the soul!!!
5. HELLO, DRAMA: Story-telling, lyrics, and screenplays, oh my!
Intelligence: verbal-linguistic; musical; intrapersonal
We all know the power of story-telling. Transforming the notes on the page into transcendent steps in a meaningful narrative is one of my favorite ways to elevate my music-making. But how do we do that if the music isn’t programmatic, or has no storyline? Do we make one up? What if the story isn’t meaningful to me?
For this exercise, I like to keep it open to any form of story-telling. This can be as simple as describing the opening scene to a play or opera, if this piece were to be staged. You could imagine what the characters would be (instruments, voices, lines) – what they would look like (costume, mannerisms, appearance) – and what would they say to each other? (actions, voice type, personalities, and plot). This can take the form of a script/screenplay, composing lyrics to the notes of your excerpt, or even imagining a dialogue between the composer and the instrumentalist he/she wrote for.
Here were the examples I came up with for YPGO:
Lyrics for Britten’s fugue (harp excerpt) complete with accents in bold: “Hi my name’s Grace and I’m a harpist; here is my doggie her name’s Annie; here’s my cat Pippa, she’s in a teepee; here we go, here we go on a walk; it’s so cold; oh my gosh; here we go….”
Writing an alternate narration: I actually wrote an updated script back in 2013 with the New World Symphony. Check it out!
Me pretending to be the Diva harpist about to play her cadenza: “Hi, yes, can you please quiet down? I’m trying to tune here…no, this isn’t about you, this is MY moment. By the way, how do I look???” etc. etc.
Making a TikTok imagining a first date with Benjamin Britten (this one was fun!)
6. COMPOSE YOUR OWN: let’s go maestro!
Intelligence: musical+
For this final exercise, we get to sit on the throne of the composer and write (or improvise) our OWN version of the excerpt/cadenza/solo section. Like all of these creative pursuits, there are no right or wrong ways to do it, but I found the following reflections to be helpful when getting my bearings:
What is the purpose of this excerpt?
What role your instrument is playing: is it a bass line/melody/texture?
What’s the vibe energetically?
What techniques, structural devices, or harmonies is the composer employing?
From here, borrowing a few similarities while integrating some personal differences can make for a really interesting creative process. Benefit: when you create your own version of the excerpt, you get to be in the driver’s seat – emulating the same creative process of the composer whose work stands before you. Approaching the excerpt from a bird’s eye view allows you to reframe the piece on your own terms, choosing to repurpose or dispose of certain thematic materials while employing technical devices on your own terms, thereby EMPOWERING you as an artist and performer.
EXAMPLE: In YPGO’s harp cadenza, I knew the point of the excerpt was to show off the instrument’s capabilities and wanted to utilize some of the same techniques: double-handed arpeggios, big chords, and flashy glissandos. But I decided to change the harmonies and key signature by borrowing the Purcell theme from earlier in the piece, and came up with a new variation. Who knows - maybe the next time YPGO is on my stand, I’ll throw in my own version and see if anyone notices! (JK…)
CONCLUSION
For those of you who are chronically crunched for time or overwhelmed by stacks of music to learn, I get that this kind of “practice” may feel like the last thing you want to do. In our field, we are so socialized to believe that the only kind of “real” practice to do is physical practice: hands on the harp, bow on the string, etc. However, the more we learn about processing and the power of the mind, the more we can be open to alternate methods of learning. A simple state change, a shifted perspective, and a connection to source can often serve as the missing link to burnout and technical roadblocks. This guide is by no means a strict script of exercises, but a tool to allow your imagination to take the front seat and for curiosity and play to lead you out of the cyclical left brain into inspired action and right-brain expanse.
After doing these exercises myself, I not only developed a deeper appreciation for Britten and his composition, but also enriched my own relationship with the music in such a way that the notes became my color palette, the variations grew into my friends, and the orchestra transformed into a massive collage of timeless characters. I can’t wait to incorporate this play into my future practice and would love to hear from you on how your “dates” went!
