Musical Capability

A Modelling Project

NLP Master’s Programme

Dr. Martin Fry

December 2002 – January 2003

my horse clip-clopping
over the field – oho!
i’m part of the picture

Basho

2
Introduction

For the person who does not play any instrument or has but a fleeting or superficial
knowledge of music, musical capabilities are not easy to understand or to know.
While it is possible for us to detect a person’s dexterity upon an instrument visually,
auditorily and sometimes even kinaesthetically, it is the hypothesis here that there are
other sets of skills which are just as important and just as essential to musical
capability as the manual technique applied when playing the instrument.1

Specifically this research asks: “Given a piece of sheet music, what are the
capabilities a musician immediately employs in order to understand the piece?” And
yes, the word “musician” is a nominalisation. The exemplars I have chosen here are
not musicians in the sense of being “professionals,” that is they do not earn their
living from the pursuit of music. They are musicians in the sense of being able to
demonstrate (through dialogue, through performance) to other people that they
understand music, that they each play at least one instrument to a standard acceptable
for public performances and that they have the ability to articulate to others how they
go about their music.

I worked with Reinhard Schütz, in particular, for about 15 months before beginning to
set down the patterning2 as part of this project; it is to Reinhard that I am especially
grateful for giving me (albeit unknowingly) the idea for this modelling project.
Reinhard undertook, in September 2001, to teach me the tenor saxophone and ended
up teaching me much about musical capability in addition to that (mostly) patient
instrument. The idea for this project came to me when we were rehearsing a duo by
François René Gebauer. Try as I might I could not get the timing right with the soft
intonation required by the score. “Imagine,” said Reinhard, “Those lords and daintily
petite ladies dancing in a very formal way, as they did, a couple of centuries ago when
the piece was written…..”

Methodology

An initial session was used in order to build rapport and to explain the project to the
exemplars individually. Each major interview lasted between 50 minutes and an hour.
Subsequent interviews lasted around 20 minutes.

I videotaped the interviews - this gave me the freedom to concentrate on maintaining

rapport with the exemplar. It also allowed me to maintain my own state of “not
knowing.” After the interviews I went back over the videotaped material to complete
the visit summary sheet and the experiential array viewing each interview multiple
times.

The technique employed by David Gordon was the central methodology for the
interviews.With each exemplar I elicited all the components of the schema, first of all
through question and answer using Milton model then representational system and
meta-model techniques.3 I then gave each exemplar a piece of sheet music and asked
them to read it through, in effect, to “try their own methodology on..” I captured this
as a TOTE4

3
Experiential
Array Reinhard
Calibration Right-handed orientation
Criterion Character
Many-layered. Looks at piece.
Looks for known phrases,
playing patterns, notation, clues
to how the composer meant the
piece to be interpreted. Clues to
remind R of images. “I taught
myself to associate certain
phrases with certain feelings. I
access pictures rather than
sounds.”
Definition
Feelings awoken by phrases.
Are there patterns “in his head”
about how to play piece. Goes
through patterns. Successful
comparison with known pieces.
Notation alone is sufficient.
Evidence Pictures “in his head,” mostly
& Test landscapes. Imagines a picture
the composer must have
imagined as he composed the
piece. Example of going to
second position on sad piece
“The Fallen Comrade” and
associating to feel how
Peter
Right-handed orientation
Access
Peter looks over the music, he
looks at the picture it creates:
chords, polyphonies, harmonies,
chords major and minor. He
looks to see who composed the
piece, what era it was composed.
Access is the place one believes
leads into the piece, technically
and conceptually. From there the
piece unfolds. The access point
does not have to be the
beginning. It depends on how it
touches him, how it touches his
internal world of emotional
states. If the piece is too bulky (=
technically or conceptually
unmanageable) he puts it away
for another time. “It is not just
note for note, that’s just spelling
and that’s wrong.” The world of
emotional states is behind
musical thought and opens up
new worlds. It is about quality,
there is a technical quality and a
quality of feeling.
Access can be found by finding
the character of a piece, the
essence of a piece which comes
when Peter has understood the
composer and his intention.
Peter has to find the entrance,
feel his way forward. Key is that
the beginning comes back to the
end. The circle must close.
Example: it is like meeting
someone at a certain point in
your life – not at the beginning –
you get to know the person –
find the beginning – even though
the end is open – but enter into
their essence: that is also the case
in music. You feel it, you know
it is so (how?) it feels true – it
applies to the music, not to the
Heribert
Right-handed orientation
My music or not
Heribert flies over the
piece (and as he says it his
eyebrows raise and his
eyes go to the top right) to
get an overview and to
estimate the degree of
difficulty of the piece with
regard to how well he will
be able hold up through
the piece and what degree
of effort will be required
to address the trumpet
correctly. Then he
rummages around in the
archive in his head to find
out whether he has
anything to compare the
piece with, whether he has
ever played anything
similar. If he finds a
comparison he says “Aha,
that’s how I’ll play it. If
there’s something stored
in the archive (extreme
look up, eyes up too, right
hand above head)
powerful stuff (gesture
with right fist, knuckles
up, out from chest) I’ll ask
myself if it suits me then I
search through it asking
myself in what direction it
is actually going”
Does it fit me, does it
please me, can I have fun
with it? Is it music that
comes from inside, that
gives me goose pimples
when I play it? Or is it
music which does not
come from inside, which I
can play but it does not
come from within. By
Associations, childhood
experiences, comparison
with memory, second
position on people who,
4
 Experiential
Array
Reinhard
someone having this experience
would play the piece. Can get
feeling by humming, too.
Evidence
& Test,
continued
Character can only be possible
if the piece is aesthetically
pleasing. It is aesthetically
pleasing if it gives rise to
associations (otherwise R feels
empty inside). Associations are
when you can imagine a
landscape. Film music is a good
example – a Western - you
Enabling
don’t have to be watching the
Cause-Effect
film to know which bits of
music are for the train, for
riders on horses, for the great
wide spaces.
Every musician interprets music
differently, so the piece must
Motivating awaken the same feelings in
Cause-Effect others. Character is important
because it reflects feelings.
“Music is, from the beginning,
Supporting
the search for commonality
Beliefs
with others.”
Peter
technique – at the same time he
would not be completely certain
on the quality if he did not have
the opportunity to play it there
and then. Without the
opportunity he would base his
decision on previous knowledge
of the composer, of a CD
recording. Sheet music is the
best and most interesting – it
does not include anyone else’s
interpretation.
The music takes me along. Time
gets switched off. Get to a place
where there is no time. That
means to submit to, to become
one with the piece of music
To have quality, the music has to
be true. The truth is intangible,
without substance. It is an
aesthetic which goes back to
comparisons. The comparison
must go to extremes. To highly
complex music on the one hand
and to extremely simple music
on the other. Sameness or
difference here are hard to
explain. It is about innovation.
Innovation is important. A
phrase may be better in a
particular form – the access and
the way the circle closes. Quality
comes through practice and
comparison. Innovation is a
thought and only then
comparison.
What is behind thought, the inner
world of emotional states. The
whole philosophy of music.
Musical thought can’t be learnt.
Music is the logic of the
irrational. In principle non-
graspable, independent of
thought. One is born a musician.
But one can awaken dormant
musical talent. It is like a seed.
And everyone should have a
chance.
Man needs comparisons to find
the mean.
Heribert
marched through dust and
dirt playing marches (MF:
which involve a gamut of
neurological levels of
identity, belief, behaviour,
capability, and
environment). Do I get a
kick out of it, Does it
uplift me? Heribert uses
images as state anchors.
Something really has to be
happening in the music,
for example it is loud,
shattering. (Gestures
outwards with first) I have
to be able to imagine
something, empathise with
the reason why the
composer wrote the piece,
for example, because of an
experience, for money,
and how the composer
felt.
I feel better, it improves
my feeling of self worth. It
lifts up the inner being
(lifts hands , raises body).
I don’t come out as the
same man I went in.
Everyone has his own
world of thought but we
are all very much the
same.
Through listening to a
piece of music you can be
transported back to a past
time to feel how people
felt back then, share their
sentiments with them,
know how they were
thinking and feeling about
things.
5
 Experiential
Array
Reinhard
1. Be in a state of readiness,
of emptiness. A moment of
peace beforehand. Are
there phrases which move
me? (swallows hard). I
move into the music
(shoulders move upward).
2. It’s a trance. It takes me to
a quiet place. A rhythmic
upward movement as I go
into the sound with the
movement of my body.
3. Imagine picture, then play.
4. Play by thinking oneself
into the picture in order to
satisfy the picture.
5. If I know the text, I may
Primary
use that to get into the
Operation
piece.
6. The score gives a lot of
clues: syncopation, swing
etc I’m in a light and easy
mood. Sad pieces, I feel my
way in.
7. If I see pictures, colour, I
see them wrap-around out
of my eyes. The picture can
change, disappear giving
way to a feeling, perhaps a
space. Sometimes I have
pictures then the feeling.
The optimum state is to
have the feeling and forget
about the pictures.
1. Play the notes as they are
written.
2. Use a scheme and count the
notes.
3. Look at the movement in
the notation, the way the
notes move in waves.
4. Then reflect: does what I
am playing sound good
Secondary
(brilliant trumpet, but is
Operation
this a flute solo?)
Peter
1. Look at the whole piece,
form a picture, go over it
until the point of access is
found.
2. Look for the character of the
piece, understand the
intention of the composer.
3. Does it move me? Is it true?
Does the circle close?
4. I have to play it through.
1. Is the essence of the piece in
the rhythm, in the melody or
in the harmony? Each piece
is individual like that.
2. Look at the line, the up and
down movement, the
musical forms, the wave
within the music.
3. Try to hear the sounds, form
sound-pictures for simple
pieces. (Pictures,
landscapes, come later).
Sound-pictures are pictures
of character like a person’s
character – light and dark –
light and dark as a visual
quality not a tonal quality.
Heribert
1. Look at the piece of
music; study the
image of the notation.
Then compare it with
other pieces I know in
the archive in my
head. Ask myself “is
it My Music?”
2. Does it move me? Do
I get goose pimples?
3. Does it create a
picture in me?
4. Does it match my
ability. If so I’ll pick
up the trumpet and
begin to play.
5. I’ll identify with the
composer, go back
into his thought.
1. In a very difficult
piece I’ll start to blow
it. If I can’t get
through it I’ll look for
a place to pause
where someone else
can take that high
note.
2. I play it, I play the
instructions on the
page. I’d rather not
play it.
3. Look at the overview
to see whether it
might sound bright.
4. Look at who
composed it.
5. Wait until I was in a
good state, trained up,
6
 Experiential
Array
Reinhard
Secondary
Operation
To lay open the picture I have
unintentionally and then look to
see whether reactions have been
provoked in others, to see
whether they are quiet,
reflective and whether the
Sustaining
intention of the composer has
Emotion
been fulfilled in them. I am
looking for emotionally-laden
images which allow me to fall
into the specific state of feeling,
as for example, one can find
comfort even in sad melodies.
When I can just play without
further instruction, when I feel
good about my playing.
Signal Emotion
I like to sway to the music. I
can get into the basic rhythm by
just counting, by tapping my
feet, which helps me move into
the piece. Also it helps to
observe the movements of
others. Sometimes the position
External
of my head, down when the
Behaviour
piece is quiet or sad, up when it
is brighter, more joyous. When
I play drum rhythms I move my
body in a rhythmic way. When
I play for myself alone I might
close my eyes and would have
an open posture.
It supports me when others are
moving in the same way. I
notice the commonality, the
same musical wavelength,
Contributing which very much helps me feel
Factors my way into the music. For
quiet pieces it helps to have the
right atmosphere, soft light,
special spotlights, candles at
Christmas.
Peter
There can be light or dark
character pictures Scherzo is
an example – or other
pictures.
My interest in the composer and
my eagerness to know more
about a piece I heard on the
radio, for example. Also just
from a feeling I get. I will play
various pieces and then just stop
with one, it is a feeling of “true,”
of becoming one with the music.
A certain feeling which allows
me to feel my way forward. This
feeling can be caused by a scrap
of a melody or a tone interval
(hand gesture at side of head).
The siren of the fire engine
continues on in my mind to
become a melody.
There is no real observable
behaviour. Again, the tone
interval is enough. A perfect fifth
for example. The perfect fifth is
cosmic, spiritual and it shows the
way to the future.
Acoustics. If the room is “dry” I
have to play faster. If the
acoustics are good, I play slower.
Heribert
practiced and on top
form. Practice is the
point of access. Play
what you can play
well.
Something has to change,
move, give me new
insights. If nothing
changes, you leave as you
came.
The world around me. It is
different day to day. It
could be a rainy day sets
the whole thing off. You
put on a piano piece in a
minor key. You wouldn’t
want to play that at a
barbecue party in the
summer.
I am more active, excited
about the whole thing.
Others see that.
Music can be used to
access the past. Just as the
scent of dandelions calls
back a vivid picture of my
rabbit hutch as a kid. If I
have a new book, I’ll put
on music from the period
while I read. It helps me
understand the material.
7
 Experiential
Array
Reinhard
1. Atonal (12 tone) music,
awful pieces written by
friends. If I can’t feel my
way into it, I can’t listen to
it. There is a piece written
for two cellos to be played
Limiting in two helicopters hovering
Conditions next to each other….
2. Sometimes a piece is so
aesthetically pleasing (e.g.
Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt)
there is nothing there, I do
not see a picture, I don’t
create a picture. I am there.
Peter Heribert
1. If the piece is too “bulky” I 1. If I have to do it. If it
will put it away for later is no fun.
2. Pop music has its place, it is 2. If I don’t have any
clear about what it wants but pictures.
there is no complexity 3. If the melody is not
3. If I were unable to play the my music.
piece through for myself, 4. If the music is dry,
my feeling would be vague, something someone
not completely certain. composed on a
Sunday afternoon
because he had
nothing better to do.

8
 Visit
Summary
Reinhard
Behavioural Patterns
Rapportful, easy to lead,
mirrored position, open,
relaxed, eager to cooperate.
High, clear voice, extended
neck, ectomorphic body
type. Visual primary system
in this context. Reinhard has
distinct synesthesia. He sees
the length of notes in colour
and forms coloured groups.
Physiology As a child he saw numbers in
colour and, as he explains
this, he slips from the
number system into his
colour system without
noticing at first “ As a child
nine was red and green
was…” then catches himself
and corrects “…six was
green, seven yellow and five
blue.”
Hand gestures, palm in
towards the chest when
talking about feeling. Shrug
of shoulders when talking
about moving up into music.
Gestures
Much up right (visual create)
and down right (internal
feeling). Secondary up left
(visual recall). A check in
dialogue revealed that
Eye Reinhard believes up-right-
Accessing down-right to be an eye
cues movement he never makes,
despite video evidence to the
contrary.
Peter
Rapportful, open, attentive,
cooperative. Also a little nervous.
Endomorphic body type, thick set,
short neck. Kinaesthetic primary
system, in this context, deep
voice, intonation often downward
at the end of sentences. Keeps
torso and shoulders very still in
general.
Hands often folded in lap. Raised
facing inward to chest when
talking about feeling. Fingers
intertwine when “closing the
circle” Fingers touch tip to tip.
Passes right hand across eyes from
top to bottom when he says “Look
at sheet of music” When talking
about an access point looks left
and both hands gesture to left
with rhythmic circular movement
(like a rod driven wheel). When
talking about the French composer
who used colours instead of notes,
with his left hand Peter touches
below his left eye when he says
‘colour’ and then his left ear when
he says ‘notes.’
Much up right while listening,
then defocused middle before
replying, then down left/up right
movements while speaking.
Movements down right tend to be
very quick and follow from down
left. Clear movements to left
middle when reminded of what
was just said. Clear movements
down left when asked to verify
what happened internally.
Heribert
Rapportful, relaxed, eager to
cooperate, easy to pace and
lead.. Mesomorphic body type.
Even, melodic, voice in the
middle register, even breathing
from the mid-chest. Tempting
to say that the auditory
channel is the primary system
in the context of the activity.
This is not borne out by
predicates, gestures, or eye
movements which indicate a
balanced use of V, A and K.
Anecdotally, Heribert reports
how he often uses the O
channel to refresh memory
images.
Heribert exhibits a wide range
of gestures synchronised with
his words. These range from
hand gestures (pointing,
rotating, parallel gesturing to
onside or the other, finder
movements, movements to or
away from the chest, to the
mouth, around the ear or back
of the head – where the
‘archive’ is), gestures with the
body (uplifts as he says
‘uplifting’), with the neck
which stretches as he talks
about images. The gestures
can be easily calibrated to the
channels he is using when he
makes them as well as to
locations in his body or in
space to where the image,
sense, feeling etc resides.
Much up right, down right,
middle unfocused. When
explaining about a quartet he
plays in: middle right while
composing sentence, middle
left immediately on beginning
to explain with a look over left
shoulder. Heribert underlines
his eye access with body
movements. “Something
stored in the archive:” extreme
look upwards, brows up right
hand up above his head.
9
 Visit
Summary
Reinhard
Visual predicates: ‘look,’
‘see,’ ‘imagine,’ ‘reflect,’
‘mirror,’ ‘observe.’
Lack of auditory predicates
Predicates Kinaesthetic predicates:
‘feel,’ ‘sense,’ ‘move,’ ‘get
in mood,’ ‘sway,’ ‘tap’
Frequent use of deletion
(“it”). Mind reading on
intention of composer.
Meta Model
Complex equivalent of
‘Character.’
Cognitive Patterns
See TOTE below,
Motivation C-E and
Strategy Enabling C-E
Panorama, colour, associated
images
Critical
Sub
Modalities
See experiential array
Criteria
and Beliefs
Confronted with a foiled
primary operation, in the
secondary operation
Reinhard chunks down to
segments of the piece of
music he calls phrases. A
phrase is either a sequence of
notes and notation familiar to
him or easily accessible to
him (i.e. can be broken down
mechanically, using a
Meta scheme such as counting) in
Programmes both cases it is distinguished
by clear phrasing marks. He
is orientated towards
aesthetics and away from
pieces he considers lacking
in character. His frame of
reference firstly is internal (I
have to reflect and think
whether what I am playing
sounds good) but then
external (I look to see
whether the feelings I am
Peter
Visual predicates ‘look,’ ‘see’
Lack of auditory predicates
Kinaesthetic predicates: ‘feel,’
‘touch,’ ‘move’
Complex equivalent of ‘access.’
Mind reading on intention of
composer. Nominalisations: the
world of emotions behind thought.
The ‘truth’ of a piece of music
See TOTE below, Motivation C-E
and Enabling C-E
Light and dark in sound-pictures.
Is the chord of A minor light or
dark? Dark. What happens if you
turn the brightness up? It changes
to C major. My favourite keys are
A flat major and E flat major
because they are warm. C major is
bright, but cold.
See experiential array
In the secondary operation Peter
chunks down from the overall
picture to mechanical, smaller
pieces: harmony, rhythm and
melody –because “each piece is
individual like that.” The essence
of the piece can thus be elicited.
Peter demonstrates the double
pattern of sameness with
difference and exception in his
enabling criterion. He makes, for
example, the comparison between
the Moonlight Sonata and the
Ballade pour Adelaine (R.
Kleidermann) emphasising that
there are phrases in the latter
which are simply expressed better
in the Moonlight Sonata
underlining that while it is about
sameness and difference what he
is expressing is really innovation,
something new. In this context,
Peter’s frame of reference is
internal. His feeling tells him if
Heribert
Visual predicates: ‘imagine,’
‘clear,’ ‘see,’ ‘look,’ ‘present’
Kinaesthetic predicates: ‘play’
(hand moves), ‘hold up,’ ‘hold
on,’ ‘comfy,’ ‘fits,’ ‘feels,’
‘get a kick,’ ‘touch,’
‘rummage,’ ‘uplift’
Auditory predicates: ‘hear,’
‘sound’
Complex equivalent:
“image/good”. Frequent
deletions (‘it’, ‘that’). Mind
reading on thoughts of
composer. Create a picture in
me = move me
See TOTE below, Motivation
C-E and Enabling C-E
Movement in images. The
movement is directly linked to
the speed of the music. Slow
down the movement, the
melody slows until it becomes
‘wrong.’
See experiential array
When familiarising himself
with music (or with a book)
Heribert chunks down on
information, wants to know
whether the composer wrote
the piece for fun or money, in
what room he wrote, out of
what sentiment. He’ll go and
get a book on Oregon and
study the detail of the
landscape in the photos. He is
motivated towards feeling
better, improving self worth,
having fun whereby his
feedback is internal. If nothing
changes inside you, you leave
as you came. External
feedback when playing in a
quartet (Barebell’s Canon)
because all play well together,
though each has his own
images. Anecdote about the
old folks’ home: you can see
in their faces what images they
10
 Visit
Summary
Reinhard
feeling have been provoked
in others). Reinhard will
chunk up from the phrase in
the piece of music to the title
of the piece to see whether
the composer has left a clue
there (e.g. Die Moldau – a
piece about the Czech River
which evokes images of
Meta
rolling landscapes). Reinhard
Programmes
is primarily interested in
people as evinced from his
choices of hobby (playing
with others in an orchestra,
his voluntary work in an old
folks’ home, his voluntary
work with children’s groups
and his voluntary work with
the church).
Macro Modelling
Spiritual: “Music is, from the
beginning, the search for
commonality with others”
Neurological
Levels
Time Frames
Associated position with sad
pieces such as The Death of
a Comrade. Puts himself
into the position of a person
with a comrade-at-arms
dying at his feet. Second
position on others around
him, swaying or moving to
Perceptual the music. Strong second
Positions position (and mind read) on
intention of composer.
Peter
the music is true, if the circle
closes. In his sustaining emotion,
Peter is orientated towards
knowing more about a particular
composer, towards knowing more
about a particular piece; towards a
feeling which he finds by trial and
error. Oriented towards process,
rather than option. This in itself is
a TOTE: the general orientation is
towards, but at each program step,
if the result is “error” (no, NOT
that one) the next loop
commences after an away from
reaction. Peter is primarily
interested in people. He is a
teacher. He enjoys family and
having people around him.
Belief: Music is the logic of the
irrational
Identity: One is born a musician.
Capability: One can awaken
dormant musical talent.
Spiritual: Everyone should have a
chance. Certain tone intervals, for
example, the perfect fifth, are
intensely spiritual
The perfect fifth shows the way
into the future
First position only. Deliberate
questioning and examples did not
elicit other positions within the
context of the capability
Heribert
are having, see the old lady
whose son is a professional
trumpeter and know she is
thinking of him. Heribert is
interested in people, what they
think and feel, what they
experienced, how they lived,
in accessing those
experiences. In the context of
music his relationship sort is
sameness with exception –
everyone playing the same
piece, each with his or her
images or feelings; he’ll
search his mental archive for a
similar piece.
Spiritual: music can transport
you back to the past to share
the feelings and thoughts of
other people, we are all the
same.
Identity: My feeling of self
worth.
Belief/values: Is it music that
comes from inside?
Capability: Maurice Andrea as
role model “I want to be able
to do that.”
Environment: using the sense
of smell to travel in time;
allowing the weather to
determine the music.
“I like to go back and refresh
my pictures from the past.”
Runs a movie on pieces such
as Oregon big pictures,
landscape, dust, movement,
horses, coaches off to right.
Puts himself into position of
people who played marches,
marched through dust and dirt
to sound of drums. Imagines
himself in context, as if he
were the musician or the
composer, riding through the
canyon, seeing it as the
composer saw it. Strong
second position on how a
composer thought and lived,
which room he wrote in, what
his life was like. Example of
Mozart after father’s death.
11
Outcome

Each of the three exemplars knows he has achieved his outcome when there is a
specific change, when a threshold has been reached:

Heribert is uplifted and receives a kick. Reinhard has a specific feeling, a space. Peter
feels that the music is true, the circle closes, the beginning is the end. Additionally
Heribert becomes strongly associated in a strong second position. This is expressed
though movement. Heribert and Reinhard are strongly associated in a strong second
position on the intention and (in addition Heribert and Peter on the) biography of the
composer. For Peter time gets switched off and for Reinhard there is a quiet place as
the music takes them along. All exemplars have strong feelings about what matters.

Try it on

After eliciting the experiential array, the three exemplars were each associated into
their strategies in the present by giving them a context (a piece of sheet music) where
they could demonstrate their strategies immediately:

Try it on5 Reinhard Peter Heribert

Reinhard takes the sheet
music, begins to read, moves
his head and begins to sway.
I asked him exactly what he
was doing. He tries to form
an overall picture of the
piece, imagining the rhythm
and the melody, but does not
quite get the whole melody.
He finds the movement up
and down in the piece. He
pays particular attention to
the phrasing marks, then
looks to see how fast the
piece should be played. He is
pleased to verify that it was
“allegro.” This substantiates
his own feeling. The piece is
amusing. Reinhard says: “I
had a feeling of amusement,
no real pictures. It is a brief
melody which sounds
‘fresh.’ The character I found
is a happy character. In the
middle it gets a bit solemn
and then it livens up.”
Reinhard starts with the
rhythm. The rhythm causes
the feeling of amusement or
happiness. Then he checks
back to the title (Scherzo)
Peter takes the sheet music, begins
to read. He remains still. I asked
him to tell me exactly what he had
done. He first forms an overall
picture of the piece, and then
looks more closely at the
movement up and down in the
piece, then at the key, at the
speed, and lastly at the title
(Scherzo). He begins to la the leap
of the music to underline deletions
in his sentence while stating: “I
sort of have (gestures right hand
to right ear) the sound a bit, not
concretely, but a bit. He also
comments that I should have
concealed the composer’s name
(Hummel) since this gave him a
clue to the character of the music
score (actually, the object of the
exercise, of course). “I know,” he
says, pointing at his chest, “From
the name of the composer.
Actually, one should not do that.
But a certain classification,” chops
with his right hand at 90° to his
chest, “Is already there.” “It was
the first glance,” he says as he
stabs with his right index finger
on the musical score adding that it
would be similar to the early
Heribert’s reading of the sheet
music was prefaced by an
anecdote and finished with
another anecdote. The first
anecdote concerned the origin
of the sheet music we used. It
was a French piece Duo
mélodique which Heribert had
had in a folder for some time -
he had never had time to read
through or play this piece,
since it was one of many. It
was given to him by a French
colleague from the town with
which Nierstein is twinned,
Gevry-Chambertin. Heribert
had very much enjoyed
playing music with this
colleague and had had lots of
fun.
Heribert takes the sheet music
and begins to read. He
swallows hard, remains still
until he has read through to the
end. I asked him exactly what
he had done. He forms a
picture. He begins to explain
through the piece, underlining
his words with hand gestures.
“It is a quietly flowing piece,”
he says, “And it goes quite

12
Try it on Reinhard
and finds it fits. He says:
“Around bar 59 I thought
about pictures. (MF: At bar
59 there is a change for a
couple of bars. Two of the
instruments repeat single ¼
notes while the third goes
and explores a brief melody
in very low notes,
melancholy in character)
Before that I worked with the
mechanical rhythm. Then I
looked to see what the
composer had called the
piece. It’s the 1/16ths very
controlled, up and down and
up and down, very
symmetrical, very harmonic.
Otherwise I’d not have
recognised the character.
There is movement in the
piece.”
Peter
Mozart, but of course, still
different. “A merry little piece,”
says Peter, “Joyful, relaxed,
polyphonic lines. Then I must…”
gestures with right hand as if
playing a piano chord.
Heribert
high, it will need a good
address to the mouthpiece.
The piece moves quietly. It
will be fun to play. It is a
demanding piece, the
composer has thought about
what he was doing.” When I
ask him how he knows he
replies: “I can see how it will
sound.” He elaborates on
visiting his mental archive:
“It could be like that piece
‘outside’ [his head] that I
played with him or him.”
When he tells me about his
mental archive, his right
hand goes to the back right
of his head. When he talks
about comparisons with
other pieces of music, his
right hand goes to the height
of his left ear above his left
shoulder. He can hear the
piece, hear the melody. He
can strongly imagine playing
the piece in church or at a
wedding or where people
congregate. He bounces up
and down a little nodding his
head slightly: “It’s the
sound-picture, harmony,
melody, interchange of the
two voices. I could get a kick
out of playing it with a
friend.”
Heribert closes with an
anecdote concerning a
concert he gave during
Advent at an Old Folks’
home. He says that there
were lots and lots of images,
he got a kick out of it, it was
uplifting. The pictures
allowed him to get into the
old people who were
listening, allowed him to
share their images, put
himself into their shoes, to
see they are having images
they haven’t had for a long,
long time. You can know
that from their faces, from
how they look.
13
Remarks on some neurological levels

For all exemplars, the first step in the process is to gain a picture or form an image of
the music. Reinhard and Peter then look at the movement up and down in the piece.
Both of them have some difficulty in “hearing” what they have read; both can more or
less make out some phrases, enough to compare with other pieces. Heribert can “hear”
the whole melody without difficulty. Heribert is closest to his stated primary
operation.

Heribert has prefaced and post scripted his “try it on” exercise with anecdotes. The
name of the composer does not appear on the notation of Duo mélodique. He does not
(yet) know this as he prefaces his read with the moving story of his French
acquaintance and their musical excursions – the only language they have in common.
The biographic details become drawn into his analysis of the piece, into the warp and
weft. Instead of hearing about what the composer felt and in what room he was, I hear
the details of the musical adventures of Heribert and his French colleague. There is a
substitution, but the principle remains: there is a strong sense of “who else” which is
underlined by the anecdote of the Old Folks’ Home. Reinhard similarly reaches into a
spiritual neurological level which Peter attains by means of attention to tone intervals.

Minimum Set of Conditions for the Strategy to be effective6

Each exemplar has a well-defined representation of the outcome and exits the TOTE
with a satisfied criterion. The sequence of the steps differs somewhat from exemplar
to exemplar; there are key similarities.

Reinhard plays the alto saxophone (E flat) and the clarinet (B flat) (as well as many
other instruments). The phrasing and the speed are important to him because they
indicate the technical difficulty. Peter plays the piano. The key and the speed are
important indicators of difficulty to him. Heribert plays the trumpet (B flat). The high
notes - he is concerned about the high ‘A’ – are an important indicator of difficulty to
him. Speed does not concern him – the faster the better7.

All exemplars are using V, A, and K channels by forming pictures or images of the
notation (Vd), by hearing the melody (Ait) and by feeling the movement (Kic)8 up and
down in the piece.

All exemplars are using comparison. Reinhard references the title; Peter references
the title and the composer and his knowledge of the period; Heribert compares the
piece to other pieces he knows. This is important because the comparisons serve as
external checks, empirical points of verification.

Loops inside the TOTE can be exited: Peter can exit as soon as he knows the
composer (though this is somewhat of a mind read: occasionally composers do go
outside their usual style). Heribert can exit (= it will be fun) as soon as he can “see
how the music will sound.” Reinhard can exit if the rhythm leads him to the character
of the piece9. Let us take a look now at the TOTE:

14
TOTE Reinhard Peter Heribert

Test Criterion Character Access My Music

Form a picture of the Form a picture of the Form a picture of the

notation notation (check who notation (exit if you
Step 1 composed it and exit if can see how it will
you ‘know’ you’ll have sound and the
access) criterion is fulfilled)
Chunk down to Assess the movement Assess the movement
Step 2 imagine melody and
rhythm
Work with the rhythm Read or assess the key Assess the technical
Step 3 and exit if character is difficulty.
given
Hear the melody Assess and verify the Chunk down to
Step 4 speed melody and harmony
Operate

Read the title Read the title Hear the melody

Step 5

Assess the movement Hear the melody Compare with other

Step 6 pieces

Read the phrasing Form a picture of a

Step 7 context in which to
play
Assess and verify the
Step 8 speed

Form a picture
Step 9

Test Exit because criterion Exit because criterion Exit because criterion
satisfied (character satisfied (access satisfied (my music
apparent) apparent) Enter next apparent)
TOTE – play the piece

The logical sequence of the activity commences in the TOTE from the initial contact
with the notation. In each case, there is a TOTE within a TOTE. However, these sub-
routines are dependent on different criteria than the ones elicited here and may be
associated with an intersecting set of skills or knowledge: in the case of Peter it may
be associated with his extensive knowledge of musical history and scores. In the case
of Reinhard it may be associated with his ability to move into the trance state by
means of rhythm alone as evidenced by his work with African drumming. In the case
of Heribert it may be associated with his ability to transport himself into other times

15
and contexts by means of biographical details, picture books, music from a specific
period etc10. The steps inside the TOTE do not yield a logical sequence in the sense of
strict logical entailment; they yield a neurological, or wet logic continuum11.

If we were to extend the strategy beyond the TOTE, it would be enriched, for
example, by much of the reasoning and learning from the primary and secondary
operations as well as by the limiting conditions. However such an extension would
not yield the least number of steps in the same way that the TOTE efficiently executes
this requirement, though the primary and secondary operations, as well as the limiting
conditions, contain information which may be of use in implementing the strategy

The strategy must be teachable.

Proposal for Implementing the strategy

State preparation

Be in a state of readiness, of emptiness, of not-knowing, linking the state to an

observable sense of excitement or anticipation. Recall a time in your past where you
experienced such a state. Anchor it by a word or a sound, a touch or a memory, a
scent or an image.

Then think of something that matters to you, that moves you, that gives you goose
pimples. Anchor it by a word or a sound, a touch or a memory, a scent or an image.

Strategy

1. In the appropriate state, take the notation in your hand and study it. You may
want to ask yourself: “What is the character of this music, how do I access it,
is it my music?”
2. Form an overall picture, an image, of the notation
3. Take in all the information given you including
a. Notation (all markings)
b. Movement of notes up and down, waves, etc
c. Length of notes and any patterns
d. Composer
e. Title
f. Period when written
g. Comparison with other pieces you may know
4. Find an access point, a point where you know, or have a sense of how a phrase
or a bar might sound or feel. Chunk down to rhythm, melody or harmony, if
necessary, and move to the rhythm if you can feel it.
5. Using the access point and the information derived in steps 1-4 form an image
or an association which is meaningful to you – test: it feels right
6. Revisit the overall picture
7. Repeat steps 3-6 until you have the feel or the character of the music and can
“hear” the melody or at least some parts of the melody.
8. Check congruence
9. Give it a name, and anchor it.

16
It would be feasible to chain the anchors on the wrist, elbow and shoulder.

The following table summarizes the core strategy in terms of Strategy Notation12:

TOTES VAKOG Operation Description

A question, internal or external:
“What is the character of this
Test Ai or Ae music, how do I access it, is it my
music?” about which you are
congruent in the appropriate state
Form an overall picture, an
Operation 1 Vc
image, of the notation
Take in all the information given
you including notation (all
markings), movement of notes up
and down (waves etc.), length of
Operation 2 Ve and Ve / Vr
notes and any patterns, composer,
title, period when written,
comparison with other pieces you
may know
If (Aic or Ai) or Ki then exit to operation 4 Find an access point, a point
where you know, or have a sense
Else (xor) of how a phrase or a bar might
Operation 3
sound or feel. Chunk down to
(sub TOTE) Ve (visual chunkdown on score) and if rhythm, melody or harmony, if
Ki(rhythm) then Ke(move your body) and exit to necessary, and move to the
operation 4 rhythm if you can feel it.
Vc then Km / Ki = K+ Form an image or an association
which is meaningful to you using
the access point and the
Operation 4
information derived from
(sub TOTE)
previous operations including the
test. Test: it feels right (uplifting,
happy, merry, sad etc)
Vc, or to be more precise, Vcr, that is, Revisit the overall picture
Operation 5 visual constructed image, remembered
If ((Ki and Ai ) Repeat operation 1-5 until you
Then exit to next operation (i.e.Test) have the feel or the character of
Operation 6 the music and can “hear” the
(sub TOTE) Else (xor) melody or at least some parts of
the melody.
Repeat Operation 6
If (Km / ΣKi = K+) then exit and anchor Check state / congruence
(i.e. if your feelings about the previous
Test, Exit
metastep – being the result /sum of all
the previous steps – compared with the
sum of your feelings is a positive feeling)

17
The strategy can stand on its own and may be tested with someone who has a degree
of musical knowledge, for example, someone who is able to read musical notation and
has some ability with an instrument or with the voice. The outcome will be an
understanding of the “character” of the piece. The strategy can also be used to prepare
oneself before sitting down to play an unfamiliar piece of music. In this case the
outcome will be a better understanding of the “character” of the piece, but also an
improved ability13 to express the piece as the composer meant it to be played – and
more fun!

A Little Bonus Gesture

While it is not central to the strategy, both Heribert and Peter have a nice gesture I am
going to call the “90° chop.” It is simple to learn. So, if you are right handed (reverse,
if not):

1. Make a loose fist of your right hand and hold it, knuckles out, to your chest at
the level of the solar plexus,
2. Turn your hand 90° (see!) so that the knuckles are facing upwards and your
thumb is facing to your solar plexus.
3. Now rotate your lower arm out about 30° twice, in quick succession returning
each time to your chest, saying “powerful” the first time and “stuff” the
second.

Now, how do you feel?

18
Footnotes:

1
Cf Joseph O’Connor: “Listening Skills in Music,” Lambent 1989, and Joseph O’Connor, Not Pulling
Strings, Lambent 1987
2
Grinder claims that unconscious uptake of the patterning of the model (refusing so-called f² filters) is
essential to secure deep, tacit knowledge of the patterning. Cf John Grinder & Carmen Bostic St.Clair:
Whispering in the Wind, J&C Enterprises, 2001, p. 349ff
3
At the same time I was conscious that the “dosage” of the techniques is critical for the interviewer to
get right. It is possible, as the interviewer collects information on the exemplar and as the interviewer
paces the cognitive maps and experience of the exemplar’s world, to elicit, through the use of specific
language patterns, responses in the exemplar that the interviewer desires to hear from the exemplar and
the exemplar will comply with rather than break rapport because s/he is being led. Cf .Donald Moine:
A psycholinguistic study of the patterns of persuasion used by successful salespeople, 1981.
4
The videotape also enabled me to capture nuances in the phase of “trying it on.” and to identify and
refine what is core to the ability. The language of the interviews was German. It was particularly
interesting to me to experience how the various NLP models and tools transcend the vocabulary and
syntax of a specific (indo-Germanic) language.
5
Eye accessing cues are limited during this “try it on” since the score/notation is being read and left to
right movements of the eyes are (also) caused by the layout of the score
6
Cf Joseph O’Connor, NLP Workbook, Thorsons, 2001, pp. 123-124
7
I am going to bracket out the technical difficulty here since it is part of a different TOTE
8
The NLP strategy notation used here comes from O’Connor, op. cit p. 122
9
It is possible that steps 2 and 3 for Reinhard are expanded parts of step 1 and that chunking down
even more inside step 1 for Peter and for Heribert would reveal a similar sub-structure as a sub-TOTE.
For reasons of simplicity I have not pursued the sub-routine. It would be interesting to compare the
sub-routine in a wider sample. Reinhard’s step 6 is arguably part of his step 2.
10
When I asked Heribert to summarise what he would do if he were in my position and were to build a
model he said: “Get informed about the piece before ever you hear it. Who wrote it and how, on what
occasion, for what occasion, in what room did he write it, was it a simple room or was it a palace? Get
informed about the composer, how did he interface with others? Then you’ll have more fun playing the
piece. Try to see the world through the composer’s eyes.”
11
Dry logic would be the logic of circuits, mathematics and classical symbolic logic. Wet logic would
be the logic of so-called neurological systems.
12
The NLP strategy notation used here comes from Joseph O’Connor, NLP Workbook, Thorsons, 2001,
p. 122. I make no secret that I am sceptical of this notation – at best it is but an impoverished
representation of the operation; at worst it is a mystification. Standard NLP notation is not rich enough
to express the operations or the logic behind the present strategy. In the following alternative steps I am
amending the notation by the sensory system “M” Many Asiatic languages, for example, posit that
humans do not have five, but six senses, the sixth being mental operations, hence the “M.” Then what
is written in superscript quantifies over the operation:

If (Aic or Ai) or Ki then exit to operation Find an access point, a point

4 where you know, or have a sense
of how a phrase or a bar might
Operation 3
else (xor) sound or feel. Chunk down to
(sub TOTE)
rhythm, melody or harmony, if
Mchunkdown and if Ki(rhythm) then Ke(move necessary, and move to the
your body)
and exit to operation 4 rhythm if you can feel it.
Vc then Km / Ki = K+ Using the access point and the
[Or Associationc, designated as a information derived from
variable, ‘a’, such that: previous operations including the
Operation 4 (∃x)((Fxa and Gxa) and x = you)) - test, form an image or an
(sub TOTE) i.e. if there is something which forms a association which is meaningful
meaningful relationship (F) to ‘a’ and to you Test: it feels right
‘a’ feels right (G) to x and x is identical (uplifting, happy, merry, sad etc)
with you]

19
Footnnote 12 continued:

If ((Ki or Mcharacter ) and Ai ) Repeat operation 1-5 until you

Then exit to next operation (i.e.Test) have the feel or the character of
Operation 6 the music and can “hear” the
(sub TOTE) Else (xor) melody or at least some parts of
the melody.
Repeat Operation 6
13
In comparison with what the ability would have been if the exercise had not been carried out.

20