The Pencil
More than a writing utensil
Musicans will always bring three esentials when going to rehersal. One, of course, is the instrument needed. Next is the sheet music. Last but certainly not least is the pencil.
When people think of a pencil, they normally think of it as a mundane object. For a musician, it is a powerful and most useful tools. The pencil is used to mark music. While this may not seem like a lot, being able to mark dynamics, pitch, time, accidentals, and rhythm is a game changer. Being able to mark music helps musicians practice and perform with more accuracy. As a rule of thumb, all musicians carry a pencil on them. Whenever and wherever I rehearse, I always carry a pencil. It has saved me a bunch of occasions when I have a tough time on runs or pitch. Without a pencil, a musician's life is not an easy one.
When people think of a pencil, they normally think of it as a mundane object. For a musician, it is a powerful and most useful tools. The pencil is used to mark music. While this may not seem like a lot, being able to mark dynamics, pitch, time, accidentals, and rhythm is a game changer. Being able to mark music helps musicians practice and perform with more accuracy. As a rule of thumb, all musicians carry a pencil on them. Whenever and wherever I rehearse, I always carry a pencil. It has saved me a bunch of occasions when I have a tough time on runs or pitch. Without a pencil, a musician's life is not an easy one.
Marking our music is very important, but what are some of the visuals that we mark? Marking numbers helps us count when the musicans are resting or understand complicated rythms. Hairpins, which look like strectched out greater and less then signs (> and <) reminds musicans to get softer or louder, respectively. And one of my favorite is the glasses, which indicates to me that it is a critical point of the piece to be paying attention to the conductor. Next time you are watching any kind of concert, remember that you probably don't hear any mistakes thanks to the allmighty pencil.
Source:
Years of band and performance experience
http://www.cpr.org/classical/blog/pencil-it-one-thing-good-musician-always-remembers-rehearsal
Years of band and performance experience
http://www.cpr.org/classical/blog/pencil-it-one-thing-good-musician-always-remembers-rehearsal