One of the nice things about playing in an ensemble is the blended sound from a group playing multiple parts. While it is nice to sometimes have a lead part with the melody, if everyone played that, it would be boring to play and to listen to. I was thinking of this the other day when I heard a beginning student band play a piece and every part was the same. It makes it easier to learn to play when everyone plays the same thing because you can often match the sound of your neighbors. But unless it is my child playing in the band, I don’t want to listen to a whole concert of unison playing. So how do you decide who gets the first part and who plays the second (or third). In some bands, the best players play the first part, and the second or third part go to the lower ranking members. But what if your band doesn’t have a chair ranking. If it is a good band, you get to share the lead parts. But some people really like to play second or third part. They want to be part of the ensemble sound but don’t want to take the lead. Or maybe they like the challenge of not playing a melody part. Some people really like the lead part. I find that the lead part is often a little easier to play, especially if I am familiar with a song. If I know the song but I am playing the second part, it can be challenging because while I can read the notes, it doesn’t always sound the way I think it should in my head because my head is thinking melody. It also forces me to listen more to the sound of the ensemble. I listen for other instruments playing similar parts so that I can play with them. But an ensemble is a living organism that relies upon all the parts to do their particular job for the whole to function properly. Most of the time, the parts are divided among members for each song so that everyone gets a chance at playing the different parts. And that is fine because we are not competing for first chair. We are playing because we want to learn, challenge our brains and we like to play the music - we like the sound of an ensemble.
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AuthorDaniel Zarka Archives
March 2019
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