A participant in my research recently described a part of my creative practice as 'fitting into things that are going on outside of tradition' and later they mused that as 'people get further out, the more of this sort of thing that traditional musicians do the further out they get...when they approach traditional music'.
I am wondering if that is always the case?
I don't think it is the case for me. It is true that I explore ways of being creative that take me completely outwith the traditional idiom, and my work can be placed at different points all along the convention - innovation spectrum, but equally I can approach a traditional tune (or tune within the traditional idiom) in a historically informed way and can achieve a very traditional sounding result. Yes my eyes are open to many creative possibilities and I have an expanded set of skills to apply but I consciously choose the musical outcome of my interpretation/arrangement/composition/performance.
However, perhaps it can be said that the more experimental and alternative approaches that traditional musicians explore, the more of these they can continue to employ in their practice, without necessarily impeding on their 'traditional' output?
Any thoughts?
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1 comment:
The more any musician listens to the more they learn and are the better for it I think. If they choose to use this new information then that's great however they have the choice. I love far-out experimental music but I make the choice when playing a ceilidh to adhere the common structures.
I have a distinction I sometime use of musician or player. A musician is someone who is interested in 'music' and is able to decipher its many forms and work with them - maybe creating something new or simply bringing a new facet or feel to the tradition. A player (and I don't mean this derogatively) is someone who is happy within in their musical structures and are not really interested in investigating new techniques or rhythms etc. They get enough out of what they already have. These folks are very important because they keep the music on an even keel and allow others to go and experiment. In time the best bits of the flourishes will enter the repertoire of these players and become part of their tradition.
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