Chapter Nine

The Equipment

and Education of a

Musician (1971)

Ear: Discrimination, at least relative if not necessarily absolute, of all discern-
ible pitch that meets the ear; ability to recognize all forms of meter and to rec-
ognize all rhythmic values that have any discernible consistency of proportion;
ability to recognize the basic chords and functions of conventional harmony;
suffi cient aural memory to recognize thematic organization; sensitivity to dif-
ferences of timbre and volume.
Voice: Ability to emit a sound on pitch and in time corresponding to any note in
any composition in any style whatsoever.
Hand: For instrumentalists, ability to negotiate the entire known literature of
the chosen instrument; for non-keyboard players, the ability at least to play
chorales and chordal accompaniments in such a way as to show that, while not
necessarily agile at the keyboard, they are capable of deciphering the musical
sense of any score; for singers, the ability themselves to perform at the piano
all that is usually demanded of the average accompanist of average skill; mas-
tery at least of the rudiments of conducting.
Eye: Ability to sing or read fl uently at an instrument in all clefs; ability at an
instrument to read fl uently average, nonacrobatic keyboard music; to read
open vocal scores at least up to four parts; to read orchestral scores that do
not make exceptional demands on physical coordination; in short, to be as
independent as possible of any need for the use of piano reductions of instru-
mental ensemble music.
To the above mentioned categories of physical skill, I would add the cultiva-
tion of breath, bodily movement, and dance with special reference to their use
and connotations in music. To the above-mentioned physical skills, I would add
a list of correspondingly desirable intellectual abilities and accomplishments:
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