Like most composers, I am always testing my music. I test it for the following reasons:
- To know what works and what doesn’t.
- To know what is difficult for the performer and what is easy.
- To know if the piece sounds as I intended it to sound.
But above all, I need to know if my piece makes a connection with the musician. This is especially true in writing pedagogical music. If it does not connect with a student at some level, then I know I need to rethink the piece and perhaps even toss it in the “just practicing pile.” Though my pedagogical pieces are first seen and approved by an editor, then evaluated through the eyes of a teacher, my first responsibility is to write music that connects with the student! A good editor of course will be an expert at knowing what music connect with students.
As I was reflecting on this evaluative process that I go through for my music, I also thought of the unique perspective that a non-musician can bring to the evaluative process. I count it a privilege to have a husband who is not a musician and his perspective on my pieces is often the most valuable to me in understanding what connects with people as human beings, not merely as musicians. Through the years of going to concerts together and having many deep talks about the nature, creation, and value of music, he has become what I would consider a “sensitve amateur listener.” He is exactly who I thought of when I read this great statement by Aaron Copland in his Music and Imagination lecture:
The sensitive amateur, just because he lacks the prejudices and preconceptions of the professional musician, is sometimes a surer guide to the true quality of a piece of music.
This just further validates to me that I do well when I pay attention to the amateur, for what connects with him or her as a human being gives me insight into what connects with all human beings, musical or not. The amateur does not feel the need to hide behind the knowledge that he knows he is supposed to have. Their response is usually from a connection with the music rather than musical analysis or judgement. And at least in my case, this honesty is invaluable to my evaluative process.
