I approach everything as chamber music. Even with Beethoven symphonies, I lead from the violin and basically encourage the orchestra to think of it as a giant string quartet.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes collaboration and a personal touch in music, even with grand compositions.
Joshua Bell likens his approach to conducting orchestras to that of chamber music, suggesting a focus on intimacy and collaboration, rather than hierarchy. By leading from the violin and encouraging the orchestra to see themselves as part of a smaller, cohesive group, he highlights the importance of communication and unity in creating music, even in larger symphonic works like those of Beethoven.
In practice
Using this quote in a workshop on music collaboration to emphasize the importance of teamwork.
I always have loved the Stradivarius. My teacher, Josef Gingold, he had a Stradivarius. As a treat, he would put it under my chin and let me play a few notes, and I remember that feeling of the overtones, the complexity of the sound. It's like a great wine.
So much of performing is a mind game. You're memorizing thousands of notes, and if you start thinking about it in the wrong way, everything can blow up in your face.
Rock 'n' roll offered me a platform to speak what I felt. It also offered me a platform to support my mama and my brothers and sisters - twelve children.
When you break out the acoustic guitar, the words are the focal point unless you're the Jimi Hendrix of the acoustic guitar. So the words have to have meaning.
If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know.
I can't really say enough about Chris Potter. He is one of the greatest musicians I have ever known, and every second I have been on the band stand with him has been an absolute pleasure.
Sonnymoon and Quadrants are a couple of bands that really inspire me in terms of the melodics of things and certain tones and just what feels good. It takes me back to the type of music that I grew up on in my household. We played a lot of gangsta rap, but we also played a lot of oldies, and I think that mix is part of what inspires my sound.
When you start your first band and it has an impact on the rest of the world you go through a lot with those guys and you become very protective of that legacy.
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