JAVS Fall 2005

often involuntary visual cl ues to the inner workings of your col leagues' wo rking musical imagina tion, and Lo look up and see the others ready to react can only encourage spontanei ty. Also, I have often noticed students able to play with greatly increased similarity to each orher if they arc not only lis tening bu t also studying the way each other is us ing the bow. Just as

the sense of smell enhances rhe sense of taste, so can the visual sense enhance the aura l. r'm sometimes asked, "llow poli te should we be to each other? Isn't it a waste ol time and efforr lr::~ ming your comments with civilized tact when you know each other so well ?" Yes, we can all tell when somebody is rrying too hard to

wrap up a barb in velvet. Bur my answer is that it is very beneficial to work in a good atmosphere. T he amount of time spent in rehearsal is sufficient reason in itself, but I also know that 1 am much more li kely ro want ro collaborate with rhe utmost musical in timacy on stage with somebody I've just shared a joke with th~u1 with some body whose wounding comment has just made me fume. I guess the art is to use humor where possible and to make all remarks with the implied assumption of mutual respect. Above all , we should all remember how much easier it is ro play when we're feeling buoyed up and happy than when we're sure we can't do anything to please any body. Speak so as to get the best our of each other. "How much time should we spend on intonation?" is another frequent and plaintive ques tion. An old col league, then in his third quartet, used to say" [ musr have been a very good person in my last life to have been allowed to play quartets all my li fe- oh but maybe not - I have to play them in tune!" It's been estimated that a profes sional quartet spends more rhan 60C% of its rehearsal rime on into nation. T he most frustrating thing for students is when they put in a lot of time on a passage and then find thar the next day it's pretry much back where it starred. So it sometimes seems worth spending some derailed coaching rime on the basic principl es. Mal<.ing sure every body is identifying when they are playing in octaves, 5ths and 4rhs with another parr; keeping thirds

PETER ZARET & SONS VIOLINS, INC. l-888-VIOLIN2 (846-5462) 5767 Mayfield Rd. , Cleveland, OH 44124 email: pzaret@concentric.net

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