Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Drawing on the right hand side of the brain

In art we are told

"draw things, not nouns"

We have to look at the shape and see it as it is, not analyse it using words. It is this turning off of words that is key. Words are on the left side of your brain, and you need your right side for art.

I can't claim this link - my mum just came out with it - playing trad music, paying complete attention to the shaping of the phrase in a very sensory way is playing music with the right hand side of the brain. It produces completely different results in music making. We were talking about learning by ear and she just came out with this link.

I rather feel that playing from dots is like drawing nouns. It's not even painting by numbers.
So...

"play music, not dots"

1 comment:

Qatar Qamel's travels said...

I love your thought about playing music not dots. It's a very good way to express the idea that without musicality, correctness of execution is meaningless. You can have all the right notes and rhythm but if it isn't musical, it isn't music, it's just noise. Thank you.