[HANASHIR:16419]

[Beth Schafer <bethschafer...>]

<<For whatever reason we developed a high
tolerance for low-quality music in our midst.  Many of us do alot of
"private cringing" and "hush hush" critiques behind others' backs - but 
no
public outcry against the plummeting level of musicianship...
 >>

Amen, Shirona. Content is only half of the equation when it comes to 
services/songsessions. Delivery is just as critical. Singing things in 
the best key for the performer AND the congregation is important, as 
well as being sensitive to tempo. I've heard great vocalists butcher 
songs by oversinging or singing too slow. I've also heard great 
musicians make poor choices for songs by not being sensitive to the 
natural rhythm of worship; either by pushing through a section of a 
service too quickly or dragging a section too slowly. And frankly, some 
pieces don't have strong enough melodies to really work at all. 
Sometimes I think of music for a service like a Chinese menu: "well if 
we do that Barchu from Column A, then we should do this Sh'ma from 
Column B...." certain combinations just work well together, and the 
whole needs to be considered, not just each individual piece. And of 
course, it's great if you can have the constant thread of a nigun 
keeping the whole thing together....

This is my bailiwick as a professional musician. I've yet to find the 
right way to present this type of criticism in a positive way. Maybe a 
CAJE master class with different folks leading different sections of a 
service where we could round table a critique and all walk away with 
more.


Beth A. Schafer
Jewish Music & Programming
www.bethschafer.com
bethschafer (at) mac(dot)com

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