Reading Music Versus Performing Music

There is something special about watching an artist or band perform. The performance can transport the audience in time and give them the space to sit in a particular mood, feeling or energy. Making the music come alive takes many years of intentional practice of the basics but more importantly an awareness of the moment. Some of the best performances I have had the pleasure of experiencing are often not a virtuosic display from years of training but rather an artist that has a real connection to the music they are performing. One way to create that connection with the music and more importantly the audience, is to take the music off the page.

Start by taking a phrase that is already familiar to you. Take the music and explore it away from the page. You could make up hundreds of different exercises to explore one little phrase. For instance, change the dynamics, start the phrase soft and grow to the loudest point or play with the length of the notes to give the phrase a different feel. You can try slowing the tempo down and connecting the notes or trying to emulate a machine. By taking one phrase and playing with the timing and dynamics, you are forced to remove yourself from the page and in turn will be more in tune with the moment you are creating as the performer.

– Sam Bryson, B.M., Drum Instructor