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• (A) Concept; in simple terms, you need to know why you are sat behind the instrument! You need to understand what the role of the musician is plus your creative supportive musical thoughts.
  
• (B) Facility and Technique; you must be able to get the creative thoughts from your head to your instrument. Technique can be viewed in many ways: it’s not just about power and speed. How slow and quiet can you play? Are you producing a musical and complimentary sound? Is your touch controlled? Do you have both mental and technical stamina?
  
• (C) Repertoire; it is possible to have the aspects of A and B above reasonably together, however, they are of little use if you don’t understand the music. The whole purpose of learning to play an instrument is to perform with other musicians; communication is the objective, it’s non negotiable. To do this you have to know the repertoire, both song and rhythmic. If there is one area that gets neglected by many young musicians, this is it.

© Dave Hassell 1998