Students who come to me who I would say are musical, have the language already embedded in them. They just need the skills to express it. Like a baby who has been listening and babbling in the mother tongue, they have all they need to play musically. These students have a good sense of rhythm and can sing relatively in tune.
The students who I would say are not musical are the ones who don't have a good sense of rhythm or have dyspraxia. Very rarely, a student does not have a sense of pulse and this is essential for a musician.
If a student has a high sensitivity to sound and touch, good body awareness and are highly motivated, then they can become good musicians with the right training.
The word "prosody" refers to all the elements of music (pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tone) which the artist manipulates to help convey the meaning of a musical phrase. Go to Rhythm for examples of manipulating the prosody.
This performance of The Swan by Nathan Chan is a great example of musicality. He has internalized the music helped by his creation of a story, based on what he feels the music expresses.
Nathan Chan's mother is a professional musician. This has given him the educational advantages of:
- Having heard live music being played from birth
- Having encouragement to express himself through music
- His parent knew what is important for his musical development and could give him pointers and inspiration on a daily basis
- He was given wonderful teachers and opportunities from an early age
Listening to live performances is essential so go to concerts and listen to rehearsals and get yourself a good seat!
How do you learn a new piece of music? In the first stages of learning, you internalize the music by listening and if you can read notes, by studying the score. Studying the score allows you to reflect upon as much detail as possible. Even if you don't play the piano well, it's a good idea to play some of the piano part while singing or imagining your part.
Another thing to try is, find a video that has a score you can watch while listening. Here's an example:
Although the wonderful teacher and cellist, David Garrett, is just telling the students what will be on the test, he is giving them important technical tips so that their playing will be musical according to the composers' wishes (never mind the judges' wishes!)
A sense of pulse is crucial for musicality. A very small minority of all people do not possess a sense of pulse. They cannot sync with the pulse of a piece of music. This is unfortunate because the students I've had who are deficient in this regard, can do well in so many other aspects of playing the cello but they struggle when playing with accompaniment and their sense of rhythm which is the basis of musicality is affected. I believe that if a student lacks a sense of pulse but is highly motivated to learn, then they should be encouraged to play.