Thanks to a much older brother, I have listened to this music for 65 years and Nahre Sol is an absolute genus. Her videos are utterly revelatory. I am so grateful to your presence on youtube.
Very well put! It's great to hear someone who does so much research explain their findings in the language of a practicing musician instead of a traditional researcher. The metaphoric or synaesthetic vocabulary may not be the most accessible approach for non-musicians, I guess, but for musicians this channel feels, like said above, highly appreciative. Please keep it this way.
I would have to agree with @Eric Gross. She is a genius. I've learned more from her videos and garnered a deeper understanding of musical style, history and theory than all my college courses. I've taught music for 28 years now. Thanks, Nahre Sol, and keep up the good work.
i had a very good composing teacher who said that making great sounding music wasnt as hard as one may think. creating great sounding passages as those illustrated here is not as challenging as finding the right place for them. so its not about how the music sounds but rather about the narrative, the form of the whole. what all great composers had in common was their ability to put the structure of the piece to the service of the music
YEEEEES!!! Absolutely agree! Thats why I always disagree when my fellow composer-friends or anyone tells me thats its only about harmony. The form, orchestration, develompent, motiffic work... these are the true tools for writing great music ! Not only the harmony, altough its not less important.
This is a crucial point. Obviously you must know counterpoint, harmony, invention, and all that; but without being able to actually "compose" it all into an effective whole, you get little more than an interesting comp exercise. Yet, once you can grasp the long-range form and the "story" to be "told", then you will "form" something that will "speak" to people.
The same goes for performance as well. Sometimes a passage has to be played less-beautifully, so that the piece as a whole can be more beautiful in its total effect.
So nice! I like how you point out that any little change to a great piece will likely just kinda ruin it. I feel like composing your best piece is like building a house of cards. Care and delicacy for the emotional story 💯 or it’ll collapse to a flat stack.
Actually I think that’s kind of the brilliance of jazz-endless variations (that work) in realtime on a theme. You could argue that the same logic applies for the original composition, but the interpretation of the composition is at least as important as the original in this case..finding out just how many related stacks of cards you can make from that particular deck, if you want to say.
Nahre you are one of my prime inspirations as a autodidact in music. I learn a lot of theory, but your view of music helps me learn to use the heart tovturn it from theory robot to actual music. Thank you
This makes me think that there is less of a gulf between us improvisors and composers overall! I had always thought that composing was more of an intentional matter of taking theoretical elements of music and using them to "paint a picture" with a known palette of theory and technique. It seems that the idea of "just letting it flow" applies to both!
A weird thing about improvising into an audio recorder, with the intent to listen back later and keep the better stuff... I started to hear instances of "oh wait, that should be like THIS" moments, where I'd be in the middle of a jam and play something almost good, and then immediately afterwards a better version of that same phrase, and then continue with the rest of the jam. IOW, while I was playing, subconsciously I'd set it up so I could go back and edit out the bad phrase. And the timing and cuts almost always worked out perfectly, if done in the moment like that. I think that developed because previously, I had to go back later and punch in, and all my excessive little micro-timings would be different, and it was so obvious it was edited. The weird thing is that it was a subconscious development. I'm not quick or observant enough to notice a poorly played but good phrase, and fix it, consciously, well enough so that the edit will work later. Therefore, if other people are like that, then your realest and best music is probably improvised... And with our audio and MIDI recording tools (even just onboard digital pianos) it makes sense to build compositions around improvisations, even for people who consider themselves to be composers first. Not if it's a procedural compositional method etc, but if you're conveying emotions? Of course! Improv is the most direct way to get emotions out musically, so... yeah.
@@GizzyDillespeean online jazz teacher said many classical composers actually improvised like jazz musicians, even in performances. I thought was so cool
I have often felt that great music and great literature are the same, in how they are intricately build worlds subject to an endless exploration. A great story always feels right; you don't feel like changing a single word, let alone a scene. Your analysis reminded me of that idea. Thanks for the great work as always Ms. Sol. Looking forward to more insights like these.
i think this video is also a great example of how important sheet music is. sheet musc standards allows for nearly every intricacy to be communicated even to someone who has never heard the piece before. without even just a few missing notations, lots of this crystallization can be lost in translation.
Exactly right Ms Sol. All compositional decisions need to be guided by a very clear emotional intention directing the musical storytelling and every detail of rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, colour etc. Without emotional clarity there can be no musical clarity or consistency in either composition or interpretation. Musicians young and old need to hear this every day! Thank you for your wonderful work. I love your pianistic skills and the workings of your creative and analytical musical mind.
Yes, please! I would love for you to explore this topic deeper! I agree with you on the importance of conveying a particular emotion with music. It's a tricky thing to explain, so I think these types of videos are SUPER valuable
this video is genius, this is probably what separates a great musician from a good musician. Super informative and affects how I think about music and practising. I always imagine how it would be like if I have a professor like you when I was an undergraduate🙇🏿♂️🙇🏿♂️🙇🏿♂️
I totally agree with the others calling Nahre Sol a genius! The feeling that is created by certain works of music by certain composers is a familiar but abstract concept, which she's somehow articulated in a concrete way that makes so much sense. I've been watching her videos for years now and I have to say that this is my favourite channel on RU-vid :)
In theatre dance we talk about "finding the breath" of a choreography. It's pretty much the same concept. And you can hyperhanalyse it into constituent parts (accents, dynamics, single notes/movements etc) or keep the focus on the general intention, but breath (influencing both your psychological and physical states) ties it all together. However, more than one kind of breath might work for a piece (see Bernstein on Gould's interpretation, and yet it moves). As an offshoot, towards another musical world, but from this perspective, check out how Victor Wooten talks about music.
For me great music not only conveys emotions but the more you listen to it, the more you like it. Great music grows on you, it's not the most accessible.
I write electronic dance music and not classical music at all, but this video really helped me think about ideas I've danced (...) around for a long time. Thanks.
Memorable & thoughtful content as always! Truer words have never been said about crystalization being an art and not a science which is why it's beauty varies from composer to composer and reaveals why everything Nahre creates doesn't sounds like any other.
I love this channel! I'm not that much of a musician but I do love the piano, and you breaking down the complexity of learning about the technical aspects of music is so interesting and captures my short attention span unlike any book of lecture would do. Thank you so much! I actually think I'm learning something! You're awesome!
If you put the notes together ,the rhythm and every last bit of information about the piece and then look at it and get into the head of the composer you can create that magic that is so elusive
To your point about interpretation: I have recently realized that the greatest gift we musicians acquire is Sensibility. This gift, as you say is an art rather than a science, we can only get through years of immersing ourselves in music and more than allowing us to perform better, I think it also makes just the act of listening to music more enjoyable too. Should I ever lose the ability to play my instrument, I will still have my musical sensibility.
This was super interesting! I'm just a classical music listener, and I feel I'm missing a lot compared to musicians, which are able to appreciate the music more deeply because they understand the feeling, the techniques, and all that. These kind of analysis help a lot, I specially liked the small changes you made to the pieces to show how it makes the mood change! Thanks for your hard work, looking forward to more videos like this!
A listener can perfectly understand all that counts in a musical piece. What can lack is the strictly technical competence and the ability to play an instrument, but it has nothing to do with understanding and feeling the music.
@@andsalomoni Liking or not liking something is available to everyone at the first listen. But to understand the feeling, it does take a bit more knowledge. Yes, it's not just musicians that understand that, but they pick up on it more easily. I'm talking about myself, I wouldn't be able to say what feeling the pieces played in this video were portraying
@@auricia201 Musicians understand more easily because they play and listen all the time. A non musician who listens all the time, understands like a musician.
@@andsalomoni Yes, exactly, musicians understand better because they play. But a non musician doesn't put the knowledge into practice. They can understand and appreciate phrasing, but a musician that is used to practice it and experiment with different phrasings, will appreciate the work of other musicians more deeply
your ability to put across ideas with the visualisations is so good, thanks for your videos. They always makes me want to play piano, I am self taught and never took it seriously but I am naturally skilled with music
I wish I could buy a book with a glossary of all the wonderful words you use to describe musical sounds, like "chattiness" and "punctual" to describe Bach. You always find the perfect words to describe how music sounds and feels.
It's great to see a pianist who is truly a musician, I've come to see music as a living person, a woman with moods, hard to understand, but truly worth getting to know well... thank you for your work in this field...
The crystallization is a great point. The comp prof I had would say, "Compose something everyday"- he wanted us to get into the a pattern of crafting a work. That then put the reason the orchestra director would correct people, "don't call it a "piece", it is a work of music". Like a gem cutter, a composer will pull the music from what other wise would be unorganized noised. And then we learned to enjoy unorganized noise too! Love it al!
You always get to the essence of things and every point is made concisely and clearly. I would love to hear you explore Bartok and the influence of Hungarian folk elements in his music. I also loved your exploration of flamenco. It was one of your best clips although it’s impossible to pick a favourite. Thankyou for your inspirational work.
Great video. I would love a video where you interview pianists about what they are thinking in the moments before they perform, both before going on stage and the moments before they begin a piece. I often see pianists pause before starting a piece and wonder what they might be thinking, whether something technical about the piece or a thought that gets them in the right emotional mindset.
I love how you answered this question. I want to know more about how you define and see crystallization in music, and why you find it useful even though it is mysterious and kind of abstract to me. keep up the incredible work!
You are a gift. I'm just in awe of someone expressing these thoughts I unconsciously felt but did not have the expertise or experience to express. It's an honour to learn from someone as capable and enthusiastic as you. I'm in awe of how on point you are, and how I can get access to all this crystallised knowledge for free. I'm a professional writer actually, so I felt honoured when you compared the magic of music with that of poetry and stories. 💛 Stay blessed. I love your teaching! 💖
1. All great composers use the flow state to make their masterpieces. 2. They´d all have loved Dragonball Z. 3. They´d all have hated Frieza. 4. They´d all have refused to touch the Death Note (did you notice how that guy never wrote any music piece?). 5. They all understood how time works - enabling themselves to be ahead of the game. 6. They did not care what anybody else thinks, including other great composers. 7. The put themselves into the shoes of their audience rather than taking their audience for granted. 8. They understood the atmosphere of the times they were in. They are all immortal now. Thanks for your video! Best wishes from Ásgeir in Iceland who loves your channel!
I agree completely that the whole communicative effect of great music cannot be broken down into analyzable elements. But, that said, there's more to the Beethoven passage than meets the eye. I found this descending scale (actually scale+1) difficult to memorize until I realized that each time the 8-note pattern is repeated over the 9 eighth notes which constitute 3 beats in a 12/8 measure, it outlines a new octave which descends in a beautiful and ominous hemiola from Fflat->Eflat->Dflat->Cflat over 3 bars, leaving the whole of the last bar of the phrase to an inevitable Bflat...Eflat/Aflat! That's, in my opinion, why the pattern works perfectly this way and not at all any other way. In general, I think that a consensus is slowly (too slowly!) being arrived at that those of us from a classical music background were taught to study pitch and harmony much more than rhythm, to the detriment of our understanding. The great composers were more sophisticated and powerful in their use of rhythmic structures than the lesser lights were, and some of these differences can be specified if we look for them. By the way, this applies just as well to your Mozart example...
I would say music, like all great art, is ultimately in some mysterious way about the depth and profundity of the human soul. Great composers can capture this in aural form and reflect it back to the audience in a way that brings into a greater light, some deep appreciation and awareness of this. It's a kind of revelation of some aspect of the seemingly endless ocean of truth about what it is to be human.
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Just wanted to say thank you. So much to digest.. I'd love more examples of great pieces made "less great" by changing something simple. And of course more ideas about what make great composers great would be wonderful. Thank you so much!
This video truly opened my eyes! I felt that I already knew a lot about interpretation in music but I've never thought of playing a piece with a slight alteration which even more shows the beauty of it. Thank you, this is really valuable :)))
Ha, ha, ha! I thought I was good at analysing, but your insights are brilliant, and not only that, you are a great pianist! I have a Masters in Music, but have already learned more from your videos than I did from most of my music classes! Thanks, Nahre! PS, it’s great that you are sponsored by Henle. Their scores are so beautiful to use.
I simply love your videos. Even as just a hobbyist pianist, this inspires me so much that I wish I could make my thoughts fly into a score and smash the pentagram with at least half of your understading of music and it's depth. It is out of the box, and I thank you infinitely for sharing it.
Maybe I have watched too much of your videos, but actually I got right both of your examples of how interpretation and articulation could change the perception of who the composer is. We also owe it a lot to how you helped to crystallize their work in your previous videos 😊
I think everything you said resonates with me, in terms of the idea of crystallization. That said, I do feel that we tend to put composers and musical pieces on a pillar, in that of course a particular piece by Bach or Mozart or Beethoven couldn't be written any other way and still be as good, and therefore they almost end up defining the concept of crystallization in a way that I feel isn't necessarily that useful aside from reinforcing the pillars that they're on. And while I do agree the modifications you made to those passages "break" the overall feel, I think we're also so familiar with them and the associations we've already made that it's hard to imagine a change that wouldn't be jarring, and thus it sort of only serves to paint that music as being compositionally "perfect". Perhaps I'm more interested in crystallization from the point of view of Beethoven going through a couple lousy drafts of a passage and approaching the crystalline ideal rather than defining crystallization through the final product that we all inherently accept as a finished work. I think a more useful exploration of the concept of crystallization would be to take two pieces of a particular composer and compare their relative effectiveness, why one is perhaps more successfully crystalized than another, thereby reducing the gods versus mortals aspect of analyzing music. Of course, publicly critiquing music can be a minefield, so I understand if there's hesitation, but hopefully you understand where I'm coming from in terms of wanting to dive deeper into your concept.
I think your point brings necessary notice to romanticizing a given piece. Sure, they are great as they are known, but behind doors, under the ink and pen, where they pruned and polished as it took form, or was a perfect one-off as we are oft to believe? I incline for the former, especially when you consider these composers wrote literarly hundreds and hundreds of pieces, yet their most well known pieces are probably in the dozens. I am in awe to many of these greats, but it is important to recognize that behind master pieces there were also many student works and discarded drafts. Genius is nourished, not pulled from a crystal ball.
Weirdly I had the SAME reaction as @Eric C and @__ posts ~ (went away for a day - thought / "Thunk" about it for a bit ) THEN watched the video a second time and NOW I kinda lean in on @Nahre Sol 's beginnings of a "Thesis" a focal theory*. Honestly what these "Greats" (as such) had was this core need to take (for their respective times) pretty gigantic leaps and (most importantly) near massive RISKS and yet at the same time make the listener feel included and important; from personal human resonances to the near EPIC - from personal internal reflections and partcular facets of the human psyche seemingly scaled up to monumental truths. In this respect the listener is made to feel important and included in spite of works wrought by some of the most awkward, difficult, pig headed and cantankerous people that any contemporary would ever be likely to meet. "They" - literally could not help themselves but BE who they are in spite of the "Norms" of their own respective times - hence the challenging and groundbreaking nature of their most significant works. Beethoven's 9th being a great example of a very MUCH beloved total trainwreck. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ * However I suspect the need for the illusion of immediacy probably comes from the fact they ALL had excellent teachers, C.P.E Bach, "Papa" Hyden, etc. AND hand in hand having the need to also TEACH for a living really forces one to figure out what IS important to communicate, given that time is always limited. Teaching / coaching forces one to constantly seek out ever more impactful and efficient ways to get the point across ~ unlike this post. ** Interesting parallel is Miles Davis' take Autumn Leaves with an introduction that pulls out a very particular sensibility and set of human facets in a very brave new way - not unlike the cited piece of Mozart (as above Nahre's Vid ). ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tguu4m38U78.html ^^^ If you don't know it definitely check it out :-)
Yeah I have also noticed that a lot of the classical music I love has this extra "life" - for want of a better way to put it - to it, that I have not been able to really figure out. I think you are on to something!
This speaks to a wider subject where some kind of art intelligence and creativity gels to create a chemistry in some humans. For example, if I hammer nails into a TV set, it is called wanton destruction. If Günther Uecker does it, it ends up in an art gallery. I have a friend with this vision. I see a pile of firewood in the yard. He sees art waiting to be born. With a rock, a cup of concrete, three nails and a blow torch, in 20 minutes he has created an artwork that sells in an art gallery (it really does). I on the other hand keep warm by burning the firewood.
You are doing absolutely wonderful work, teaching us all in multiple enjoyable and articulate ways. Sometimes as i watch I am struck by the artistic/musical composition of the video itself.
A very serious university music major told me years ago that a key element which a great composer needed was their own style. So, that when classical music is heard, the composer can be quickly identified. This desire for clear individuality emerged in the 17th century and gradually increased in the 18c, until by the 1800s this goal by composers, to be distinctive, was clear.
Extraordinary video! Even if I barely understand what you mean because I have just started my piano journey for 4 years~ as an adult. I can't imagine how much time you have spent on the piano and music books. Hopefully one day I gonna be great as you are. Respect.
Really well done! Your examples were excellent and I loved how the small changes you chose illustrated your point perfectly. I remember being tortured as a young pianist playing Carl Czerny's pieces, which superficially sound very much like Mozart or Haydn and asking "What is the DIFFERENCE? Why is one composer considered 'Great' while the other is simply workmanlike?" What I think is wonderful about your approach is that it is a tonic to the "Amadeus" school of thinking about "Greatness" which is "you know it when you hear it," which is kind of reductive and comes from the viewpoint (In my opinion) of a non-musician. Your theory is well defended and as good as any other. I hope you have read Leonard Bernstein's The Joy of Music especially Bull Session in the Rockies, where he discusses why Beethoven is considered "Great." It changed my whole perception of how to judge music or any other art. Although it goes back to Aristotle, Bernstein's theory that "greatness" involves both surprise and inevitability (which is completely shown especially in your example from the Appassionta") might be something worth exploring in a future video...
@@NahreSol One of many voices here! I do come back to your videos to read the comments from others! You strike such a great balance for your audience between those who have loved this music for (cough) decades and those who might be just discovering it because of you! (lucky them!) Happy New Year, BTW! (I think I already used up my exclamation point ration for the year in this comment...)
Oh this is a very interesting comment. The wonderful thing about music is that it is so multi-faceted but also so very universal to humanity. I think there really isn't a 'right' or 'wrong' way to theorise about it. Your explanation of Bernstein's theory is very interesting (I haven't read The Joy of Music, yet) and I too think it's worth exploring in a future video.
You've been brainwashed like every other classically trained musicians. Who are the greats? Of course, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and other German composers or people that we want to consider German. If you don't understand your own biases how can you can say you really like something.
@@alvodin6197 normally I don't engage with this sort of foolishness but I feel the need to point out the obvious. Nowhere did I say the 'greats' had to be German. This is something you're reading into my comment. Of course I could name dozens of composers from every country in Europe, each one 'great in their own way. And then there are the ones from the Americas and Asia, etc. etc. I am not familiar enough with the music of Africa and Asia to speak to their traditions, or even whether the idea of "greatness" is universal. Perhaps you are. Nahre chose to stay within the classical pantheon because it is the one most familiar to her viewers (I'm guessing). She also chose all White male composers. And if you watch any of her other videos you'll see that she holds no bias there either. I do hope your comment wasn't addressed to her as she used Ravel as an example. So no brainwashing here. It's a fascinating topic for discussion- I'd hate to see it sidetracked by comments like this.
This idea of "cristallization" is very interesting and inspiring ! When i'm working on my own scores, I like the idea of "polish". Like a sculpture, you modify music and sometimes try many variants until you get a feeling of something so perfect in every detail, consistent and well-balanced that any change would spoil it. This process is both exhausting and exhilarating.
I really enjoyed your very thoughtful analysis of the music of such great composers. I would love to see more of this, even though my knowledge of music theory is barely above beginner level. You are a great pianist.
This may be one of the most important subjects you have tackled. And indeed, one cannot quite define exactly what all composers had in common, since one of the thing they had in common is that they were unique and original. But I'm always reminded of a saying that goes something like "Do not seek to imitate what the composers did. Seek what they sought". It's like, all these composers (and creators) are all seeking for something, and it's that search/quest that defines their process. If you ask them, they may tell you that no, they actually never quite found it. So I think a lot of it is that search, that never feeling quite happy with the result and always being like "I'll get it next time". Another thing I notice about great composers is that they do two things very well 1) Absorb the influences from previous composers and manage to integrate a lot of the elements that they brought, while at the same time, doing so in a way that is unique , 2) Find a creative way to break the rules. Composers such as Beethoven and Debussy are good examples of this.
This is what I love most about Rachmaninoff's music. Most of his melodies, countermelodies, harmonies, rhythms are all very simple (stepwise diatonic motion, arpeggiated chords as melodies/harmonies, chromatic bits), no crazy funky jumps like e.g. Prokofiev's wild and rambunctious melodies and harmonies, but somehow they combine in a way that encapsulates the entire emotional universe. For instance in the 3rd piano concerto and 2nd symphony, there is a passage where the strings go back and forth between two notes (basically the most boring melody possible), but the rhythm and harmony is so that it's this massive, heart-stirring climax.
Your next series should be "Nahre crystallizes (insert piece name)"!! I love your videos on a certain piece (e.g., Autumn Leaves or Happy Birthday) in the style of many Classical composers but... ultimately I'd love to hear what YOU'd do to them! P.S. Henle was very smart to sponsor you -- you're a perfect fit and advocate! P.P.S. As a piano teacher who uses analogies all the time, I LOVE your analogies as they go one step further than most do and are so fitting. Not to mention you have amazing graphics to go with them!!
Brilliant! Thanks a lot for your hard work and insights, Nahre! Yours videos are always eye-opening! If you can, please dig deeper into the “art” aspect of composition that you mentioned in this video. I think all good composers are like method actors but for music. They can feel the emotions of their subjects/characters (which are often themselves) and through the mastery of their craft they are all able to convey the same feelings (and/or tell the story) to their audience.
Superb presentation, thanks. It's so refreshing to have a discussion about "what makes music..." that stays away from the meaningless cliches, but rather, engages the subject with authentic, thought-provoking curiosity and first-rate creative intelligence.
what's interesting is hearing different interpretations of the same piano pieces-- you imagining them performed different ways, like when you replaced the bass line with Alberti bass. What it makes me think of is, I get an image of these composers sitting on their instruments, feeling something very specific in their music as they were playing it. Maybe they're pulled by a certain sense of rhythm, or a certain harmony in their ear. It's some indescribable desire to bring out what you're feeling. I don't have much experience or skill, but I do get hints of this allure, this ghostly pull when I'm thumbing out notes, trying to find inspiration for a piece. I really think music is alive. When we're making pieces, they don't stop changing. Every time we play it back we hear something new, something that just *has* to be there. You hear it there, but it isn't in the music yet, so you change it. The piece lives and grows with you until you've decided to step away from it.
Merry Christmas Nahre! My parents were very talented amateur musicians who met in an orchestra, she played 1st Violin and he 1st Trombone and encouraged me to start playing piano at the age of 5. In this one single video is the coalescence of most of my thoughts about playing as an amateur musician myself. Of course, many of these thoughts are the result of listening and talking to musicians who were great (IMHO). I often choose to learn a piece of music because of the way it makes me feel, so I find it easy (relatively speaking) to infuse that feeling into the music. Now I will reveal the other edge to this sword...it takes me a long time to learn to play a piece because I try to capture that original feeling from the very first bar. Is this what professional musicians do? Do they follow the same process, but more efficiently than me or is it that they are pulled along by the need to meet deadlines and spend more hours in a day practicing. Although amateur, my parents would talk about practicing for 8 hours on a Saturday. Am I being too hard on myself? My next goal is to start writing my own music which I have started but am often left at the end with these miniatures that are emotional. How can I combine multiple ideas and emotions together to write a larger piece? Thank you Nahre for paying it forward with you knowledge and talent, so if you have any words to the wise about composition, then I'm up for it in 2023. Cheers!
Interesting point Craig. When I played with an orchestra, there were deadlines. Normally 8 pieces and 12 weeks. I would sweat the hard parts over and over, but rarely enjoyed being able to listen even in rehearsals. Then we would play and in some venues, would not even be able to hear my own playing. It was purely mechanical. Then immediately afterwards that music went back into the library never to be seen or played again. I felt a sense of loss at that.
Music and the human ability to appreciate music is a miracle. The ability to hear and process sound is very much hard-wired in the human brain’s “emotional centers”. Not all folks have the same connections to ‘feel the music’. In some lucky folks, the sensation of sounds are also connected with visual senses. Imagine, one recognizes a favorite tune within a few notes. On one day, upon hearing the tune, one can instantly feel ecstasy/joy; on a different day, the same few notes can elicit profound despair or sadness. Goosebumps, chills, tears. Memories of a first love, the last dance, the long goodbye, the death. Absolutely love Music…..as a listener, as an amateur pianist.
This is right on point. The space in-between the notes, the loudness or softness, the holding or quick releasing creates a sort of sonic animation. Victor Wooten talks alot about these same concepts.
