Posted by Erik on March 22, 2001 at 22:37:57:
In Reply to: Do the "pros" study? posted by Wondering on March 19, 2001 at 16:18:04:
As a few posters have commmented, often a pro will take lessons periodically just to "shine the flashlight into dark corners." I would suspect that many of the players in the top orchestras don't take that many lessons simply because they are continually exposed to other musicians who can shine that light during rehearsals, after a performance, etc. While as an techically refined (pro-quality), one may go to someone like Floyd Cooley or Gene Porkony simply to bask in their ideas about music or playing--to get exposure to them. But if you ARE Mr. Porkony, you are getting exposure to the ideas of some of the greatest classical musicians almost daily, so the need for lessons is much less. However, too much reliance on this circle might be analogous to interbreeding (ok, a rather harsh example, but bear with me). Without new ideas flowing in, some of the bad can be exagerated as well as the good. This is simply a hypothesis, though, so treat it as one.
Erik