Musical Skills!! 35they don’t necessarily have the feel of a studio musician, because
astudiomusicianknowswhatgoeswithaparticularkindof
music. That can be said for all musicians—for drummers, for
guitar players, for saxophone players—they have a feel—the best
thing I can say about them is that they have a good sense of
music like a chamber music player. They are very sensitive to
each other[’s playing]. You can come into a room and read the
music down once, and by the second time, you’ve got a very
good idea of what the music feels like—what it sounds like—
what the nuances are, and what the leader wants. One of the
most important things is that we have no time to rehearse, and
you have to read it [the parts] almost like a performance. People
like David Nadien [past concertmaster of the New York Philhar-
monic] can read beautiful solos in a way that sounds like a fin-
ished performance. There are severe time restrictions [because of
budget], so everything has to be done as quickly as possible.
MZ: How does one train to become a studio player?
Alfred: The only training that I know of is by actually doing it. I
think that playing chamber music is the best training. They have
to feel the other players in the room—to be sensitive to the other
players around them. When you are looking at a part, you might
hear that part somewhere else in the orchestra, and you listen to
the way that person plays it or that person might have heard you
playing it earlier—no part in the orchestra is by itself. You
always listen very carefully to what is going on around you.
MZ: Do you think that rhythm section players are categorized
more than the other sections?
Alfred: I would say yes. [Many section players specialize in a par-
ticular style.]
MZ: How about brass players?
Alfred: They tend to be categorized into jazz players or classically
trained players, but many of them cross over. Jazz players are
not called upon to play strictly classical music, so they can cross
over if they are really good.
MZ: How do classically trained players become familiar with pop-
ular styles?
Alfred: I think you have to listen to different kinds of music. [In the
case of string players,] you have to listen to the articulation of the
bowings, for instance, and how a section plays, because sections
usually play together—they play pretty much the same feel. Pop
phrasing is very often different than classical phrasing.
MZ: Is there any other advice you would like to offer?
Alfred: Be open and play chamber music as much as possible—
ensemble playing.