The Good Musician

After the numerous comments on the wildly successful post about John Williams, I thought I’d share my ideas with you all the same, concerning his performance we so heartily discussed in that very post.

(Side note: I know, I’m a great sarcast, but understand the humiliation of begging for comments and getting none ).

Here are some things he did that really struck me.

He smiles. I think this is an important aspect: If you can convey a feeling of happiness over a piece or performance, your audience will feel the same.
He is humble. Of course this is subjective, but to me, he seemed to have a very humble attitude towards what he was doing, and paid his respects to the audience through low bows and acknowledgement.
He takes his time before jumping into the piece. He puased, focused, the smile vanished, and he was in the mood of the piece. I loved the fact that he didn’t get hurried, as so many amateurs tend to do, and I almost do it every time.
He played with full employment of his ability. Now before you say “Yeah well, he’s John Williams after all”, I want you to know that just because you aren’t as famous or talented as him doesn’t mean you’re performance has to suck. If you put all you have into a concert, and aren’t playing a piece out of your range, you can shine – if you just prepare properly and give it your all.

Just a few observations, I’m sure you have thousands more, just like last time .

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