Maybe you are waiting for an example of some great musicality by an awesome tanguero couple, right? No, sorry. Okay, if you know my blog, you know it is now time for a video clip. Yet, nothing is as powerful as my tango experience with this intuition. My improvisational jazz experience may be wonderful, even mystical.
Musicians experience this all the time, and it is truly wonderful. Nearly everyone experiences a “musicality moment.” Isn’t it wonderful when you and your partner listen and dance some special nuance in the music? Isn’t it magical when you intuit what is going to happen next–when the music takes over even though you have never heard a particular piece. The player piano which plays all on its own from a scroll of programmed paper has no mother that will be outraged that her child did not win even though “he hit every note perfectly.” The transitions within the music were poetically expressed. It is all about the dynamics (changes) within the music. The winner of such a competition did something SO MUCH MORE than pounding out the notes. The “Player Piano” plays all the notes perfectly,but wins no musicality contests! They look for one thing to acknowledge the truly impressive musician – Musicality. Then imagine that they all play every note perfectly. Regarding “hitting all the notes” Imagine a piano competition in which all musicians must play the same piece. I want my non-musician dance partner to have sat down next to Pugliese on his piano bench even though she cannot play piano. I believe a dancer must become what I would call an “aural musician,” fully aware of the music.
On the other hand, dancers have to grow on the side of musical growth. This is not easy, but once it happens, you may see a huge change in that beginner dancer who happens to be a musician. Musicians must become dancers and embody music. Simplicity may win out for musicality in the end. However, I am reluctant to suggest a hierarchy to musicality. A much higher level is to hear and react to the dynamics - the myriad changes in the music, such as expressing the sweeping or staccato parts of the music, and then poetically knitting these dynamic changes all together. The next level is “hitting the notes,” which includes hearing and responding to the actually rhythms. Done correctly and simply can be a very wonderful musical expression. This level of musicality is like snapping one’s fingers to the music in time. Can dancers, then, do the reverse? Yes.ĭancing exactly on the pulse, is the first level of musicality. We musician/dancers then return to our instruments as better musicians, better at musical expression–without any changes to our technical abilities. Many musicians who become dancers have a common experience: We learn more about musicality as musicians through dance than in any course! We can feel the dynamics of the music, how the notes can fill the body with a dance response. The best musicality course for a musician, however, is dance.
In academic settings, musicality is addressed especially under musicianship courses. Musicality is a subset of every course on music a musician takes and is the goal of every musical performance. If you have seen musicians or dancers who perform and you are deeply moved, it was more than the music or graceful movement to the music: Musicality was on center stage. The expression of musicality creates a response that accentuates a mood or feeling. Musicality, as I learned it formally, is the ability to express music in a way that goes beyond the correct notes or literally what is written in the musical notation. Musicality is not originally a dancer’s term, although dancers sometimes use it as if it were. Musicality is, simply stated, a sensitivity to, knowledge of, or talent for music. Music, Movement and eMbrace Tango’s Musical Terms: “Musicality” Reflections on the powerfully therapeutic
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