Signal-Boosting...

just cause I thought it was cool.     Meant to post this on Wednesday.

From dreda   (AFAIAC, the less said about the thread which prompted it, the better):

"So what I do is try and make it more visible (audible) - do more period music, not less. And from time to time, people say "wow, cool!" or "could you do that one piece again?" Avoiding it, I feel, just exacerbates the problem.

(And here as in so many other places, "period" is HUGE. The filthiest, rudest songs I know are totally period. The simplest, prettiest songs I know are totally period. And there is an enormous panoply in between. Correctly assessing your audience is the principal skill of a performer - there is something for nearly every audience between 600 and 1600AD, if you give it a chance.)"

One of my gauges for how often I repeat a piece is "Did anyone ever ask to hear it again?"      This is not foolproof, because audiences take their cues from the performer--if you're having fun and look like it, they'll have more fun listening.    Many things can cause a performer to be tense and to unintentionally project that tension, including Trying To Remember The Words / Chords / Fingering and Worrying That People Would Rather Hear "Barrett's Privateers".    Even if there's no tension, performing the piece also includes things like making eye contact with the audience and smiling if the piece warrants it.    Personally, I can't focus on the audience AND remind myself of the words at the same time.     Others' mileage may vary.    

I would like to have a positive, proactive response the next time such a topic comes up, because I suspect it will come up over and over, and the only way to eradicate a prejudice is to add to the general pool of knowledge.