According to Bee English Dictionary, the word musicianship is described as the artistry in performing music whether vocal or instrumental. Musicianship simply means the skill in performing music. Therefore, the topic ‘Improving Your Musicianship’ denotes improving your skills in performing music, that is, becoming a versatile and veteran performer with artistic excellence.
One key thing worthy of note is the fact that no matter our present musical status, we still need to strive to improve ourselves musically so as to stay relevant in the society. It is therefore paramount to consider ways through which we can improve our proficiency as performers.
In presenting this paper for proper understanding, we’ll consider the following sub-topics:
- Musicianship Basics
- Domains of Musicianship
- General Guidelines
MUSICIANSHIP BASICS
I titled this ‘Musicianship Basics’ because I believe they’re like foundation stones for us to become versatile, effective and relevant performers. An understanding of what i’m about to reveal to you here will give you an insight into improving your musicianship. Let’s Begin!
1. Music is never Static but Dynamic: Music, like fashion changes in time. What used to be prevalent in the society some five or ten years ago can no longer find expression in the hearts of men. Music was never static as this can be justified by the fact that music history was categorized into different periods with each period having its own characteristics and features that differentiates it from another period.
In present times also, music is changing; its dynamism is more pronounced and therefore we as performers must also be dynamic. As performers, we must search for newer information, follow the trend and pay less attention to traditions.
Relevance is the satisfaction derived from musical endeavors and the only way you can remain relevant is to pay attention to change
- Kunle shobowale
2. Music is Abstract not Physical: Music is an expression; an expression of your thoughts and feelings in aesthetic form. This is true for all the arts- theatre, poetry etc, in the sense that every work of art first existed as an ‘abstract’, that is, as a thought, idea or feeling. Music is all about sound and sound is not concrete. We need to have a vast knowledge of sound and be exposed to various sounds. You can’t perform beyond what you know! You therefore need to listen to various music; I mean good music; study, meditate on and analyze music materials, attend seminars and get information. This helps you develop original musical ideas that can make you a unique performer.
NB: It is after you can fully understand these ideas that you can begin rehearsing them. This is the application of knowledge.
You must first develop your ‘subconcious’ (knowledge base) before developing your ‘conscious’. It is true that theory gave birth to practical. Hence, the task is training the parts of your body that performs on the musical instruments (vocal mechanism- voice for singers, hands, legs etc for musicians) to produce the abstract, that is, what is coming from the mind.
The ability to freely express on your instrument what is on your mind is what makes you a good musician
- Gbenga Omotosho
DOMAINS OF MUSICIANSHIP
The performance of music is an enormous task not because it is a difficult one but simply because it performs a communicative function which is not really understood by everyone. Communication is the process of passing information, thoughts or ideas from one person to another. There is always a sender, process and of course, a receiver. Music performance may not be meaningful if it is not meant for any kind of audience. Therefore, since the performer has an obligation to communicate to whether to inspire, reproof, correct, entertain or encourage audience, he must understand that effective musicianship does not only mean acquiring musical skills but much more than meet the eyes.
I’ll attempt to present this under three domains according to bloom (1956).
- The Cognitive Domain
- The Psychomotor Domain
- The Affective Domain
THE COGNITIVE DOMAIN: This is the ability to acquire, retain, comprehend, understand, analyze and synthesize information. At this level, a performer must go all out in search for newer information and knowledge that can help him become vast and relevant. It however does not stop here, he should be able to understand the intentions of the author or know how it applies to him as a performer. He should also be able to analyze the information to see if there’s any that is not useful to him.
Many musicians and singers get music materials they only look at not to understand but for mere reading and for the purpose of arguments.
If you cannot comprehend or understand an information, Never move to the next stage, Application
- Kunle shobowale
THE PSYCHOMOTOR DOMAIN: This is the application of knowledge gained in practice. It is the stage where the performer rehearses new skills arising from knowledge. After acquiring and of course, comprehending information, you then apply the knowledge during rehearsals.
You must train your body parts e.g. voice, hands, legs etc to perform what’s coming from your mind. The major task is to build our ‘cognitive’ and then train our ‘psychomotive’.
Singers and musicians who try out new things they’ve not fully grasp and apply during rehearsals often make a mess of themselves in front of a million audience
- Kunle shobowale
THE AFFECTIVE DOMAIN: This last stage for me is quite important. It is the ability to communicate without any loss the intended message in any piece of music. It’s not so much of the skill! We as church singers and musicians have an edge in this area in the sense that we have a God that can help us minister to the hearts of men. All we need do is to connect to Him and Him alone.
You’ve got the knowledge, you’ve got the skill but you need the heart
- Kunle shobowale
Your audience should be able to feel what you’re feeling during performance. The affective is not only concerned with the skill but most importantly, the delivery, the charisma, the expression and of course, the passion. Never substitute all these for mere skill!
Singers and musicians whose chief asset is mere skill more often than not stunt the mind without touching the heart; leave the hears with overtones of notes rather than echoes of inspiration
- Kunle shobowale
GENERAL GUIDELINES
1. Rehearse extensively and make sure you rehearse the right things. Never be in a hurry to go through things.
2. Get exposed! Attend seminars, workshops and concerts and of course, make sure you go out to other churches once in a while to check out other church choirs.
3. As a singer or musician, you must be computer literate. You need to browse the net to search for new information you can apply that can help you become better.
4. Buy CDs of renowned artistes. People you know have excelled in what you’re doing. You indeed need to get a mentor you can pattern your ministry after but be sure not to loose your identity to imitation.
5. Believe in God and know that you can become better. Believe in yourself because all you need to be the best is in you.
6. Be exposed to sound! Listen to various good music and try do a little analysis of each music you listen to. By doing this, you are exposing your ear to training.
No matter the level of your musicianship, you still need to strive hard to improve yourself in other to remain relevant
- Kunle shobowale
