When thinking of myself as a performer, I cannot help but identify with something I was told by one of my former teachers on one occasion: when performing, safety last.
Of course there is an important distinction to be made when it comes to playing ‘unsafely’: you better not do too much of it when practising!
Since a very young child, ‘safety last’ seemed to be my assumed motto; of course it was an impulse, totally unconscious and unidentified. This meant that my practice, however, was also governed by this attitude, and when growing out of teenage and as the repertoire grew in complexity, I was at pains in trying to reconcile an intuitive approach with the fact that practice, in order to make perfect, needs a certain methodology and patience.
But, you may wonder, what do I mean by ‘safety last’? Let me answer with a question: is the purpose of music to entertain and inspire, or is it a means for somebody to display and show off their skills? I would pick the former without a second’s thought; although it could be argued that it can serve both purposes simultaneously, showmanship seems to me much less noble a pursuit.
Music is about communicating ideas which come not in words but in sounds. Would you rather listen to an audio-book read by a human or by a machine reader? If a musical idea needs to be executed in a certain way, withholding its natural course for the sake of accuracy produces a clear but unexciting reproduction. The problem is that there are times when ‘going for it’ will add difficulty to an already difficult passage. Some players will choose to ‘play the notes’ without much care for emotional content. Others will feel that without that ingredient, the piece has not been mastered. I feel a duty to the composer and the music, and will always strive towards being musically accurate even if that means longer periods to master the music. When on stage, the excitement of the moment and other factors may take you further towards the edge than on a previous performance or when running through the music in the comfort of the studio. This is the moment to remember the words, ‘safety last’! Your audience will thank you for it; plus, there are too many ‘safety first’ inspired performers out there already.