Tuning Slide 5.15- Teamwork as Harmony

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

You don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note.
— Steve Honey

The teamwork required of musicians is something we can

~ take for granted,
~ ignore (at our own peril), or
~ find ways to take hold of and learn to use.

It seems to me that musicians playing in ensembles of any size absolutely must find ways to build that teamwork. We all know that part of it is to learn to listen while we play, paying attention to the dynamics of the group, and learning how all the sounds meld together into a sound richer than the sound of any one instrument. A few years ago Esther Murimi wrote an article on the website for the Merriam School of Music highlighting nine lessons that musicians can give about successful teamwork. It came from members of a group called “A Far Cry”. Reflecting on music and life and how they can interact will almost always come to look at this. In my (sort-of) humble opinion, the lessons from musical teamwork are as significant as what can be learned from athletic teamwork.

Here are several of them, in italics, with my comments included between them.

• Play Your Part
      ⁃ The musicians [in the group] spend countless hours scrutinizing their individual parts so that they not only play their individual roles well but also to ensure their interpretation of the music is accurate. This requires a significant level of human thoughtfulness.

~~ I will be the first to admit that I don’t always know my part well enough I really have to. The quintet had a few new numbers and when we rehearsed last week I was not prepared on one of them. I thought I knew it well enough to get by at that rehearsal, but I didn’t. It was not that the part I was playing was difficult, it was how my part fits with the others. I was not prepared for that. I just could not put it together with the whole quintet sound. This week I am working at it and listening to a recording of the piece to get the feel of the overall fit. Teamwork!

• Don’t Compare
      ⁃ Although any good musician will have several external influences, he or she will ultimately need to let go of comparisons and make the music personal.

~~ There are all kinds of ways to make comparisons of ourselves. Sometimes it is to show how much better we are than others; then it can be how much worse we are (as an excuse to give up?); or it can be the style of some mentor or famous musician. Some of this might be helpful when trying to get the feel for something new or to learn a new style. In the end, though, what is YOUR style, not just you, but you and the group? Make it yours!

• Spend Your Energy Wisely
      ⁃ When a violist’s part is similar to that of the violin, the violist should put his or her energy into adding depth. In contrast, when a cellist’s part is a variation on the melody, he or she will try to echo the other instruments’ parts while giving it his or her own spin.
• Anticipate Needs
      ⁃ Musicians need to watch one another intently so they can sense where they are taking the music and how the rest of the group should support that.

~~ These two remind us that we are each to play our part- and sometimes our part isn’t the most important at that musical moment. Sometimes it is our task to support another part. My colleague trumpet player in the quintet and I were working on a couple pieces together one evening. We came to a certain place and I realized that what I was doing should not be played “forte” like the music indicated. I was a sound floor under a far more interesting first part. We decided that I should stay at no more than a “mezzo forte” to give the more interesting part something to build on. It worked- it was teamwork.

• Know The Score
      ⁃ When there’s no conductor to point out changes in the melodic or harmonic structure, each musician must fully understand what other players are doing so they can fully understand what they need to do to enhance the overall performance.

~~ The big band ensembles I have been playing with, like the quintet, do not have conductors. Our biggest issue can often become an understanding of the whole picture. No matter how good we may be at listening, what is happening in our part will often skew what we are hearing. How do the trumpets, whose sound goes out over the top of the band, help the sound merge into a balance? That’s where all of us working together in rehearsal can point out what any one of us individually is unable to hear. We often don’t know what is supposed to be happening in the score at certain points. We need to let each other know. Teamwork!

It is important to remember that each team is a unique blend of personalities, skills, and levels of ability. Teamwork takes those differences and helps us meld into a cohesive organization. Each team has a set of goals for that particular project, music, or performance. When we take the time to listen, distill the differences into strengths, and then put the parts into a whole, the vital importance of teamwork becomes the foundation. In music, business, athletics, or just plain old play, Ken Blanchard says it well:

None of us is as smart as all of us.

(Link for the nine lessons on teamwork.)