John L. wrote:
> I'm curious about just where this sort of verbalization comes from.
> Do instrumentalists tend to speak this way? I don't think so. How is
> it that singers come to talk about technique, which I understand as a
> _way of doing something, as though it were a thing itself? Is it
> because singers have no strings to change, no reeds to fuss with, no
> valves to lubricate, no skins to adjust? Is it because singers, going
> on stage with no external instrument, tend to feel vulnerable, and in
> order to calm their anxiety pretend that they take with them
> something solid (their technique!) to protect themselves against the
> risk of appearing foolish?
>
+++
I think instrumentalists talk this way just as much as singers. You need a
solid technique to play any instrument. I don''t think singers use the word
technique to avoid appearing foolish. I think it's just a way of talking about
getting around the instrument. And then ya gotta be a linguist and an actor,
too!
|
