Pablo Casals on the Perfect Musical Technique

Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Find more here. Enjoy!

“The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all.”

Pablo Casals

Writer Alan Watts once spoke of the perfect pair of shoes. These shoes, he suggested, would disappear. You wouldn’t even know you were wearing them. You wouldn’t think of your feet at all, but instead just live your day.

Like shoes, our technique is a tool with which we do something. More than that, in music technique is a tool with which we do everything.

“Technique” is the sum total of our ability to move and our understanding of the needs of the music.

It is often reduced down to the act of playing scales and exercises. But these, too, are tools.

An actor is more than his voice. An actor communicates through movement, created by muscles. An actor brings psychological insight and understanding of human nature. All these together make us forget the medium (play, movie, etc.) and immerse into the story. The technique becomes invisible and we witness the art it creates.

Likewise, on guitar, we bring our full selves to the party. And over time, we develop our ability to “act naturally.” We learn to connect our notes. We learn to stretch time in realistic ways.

In our guitar practice, we discover the vocabulary of technique. Then we work to become fluent in the language. We strive to ingrain the movements such that they become gestures. We study how music breathes and flows forward.

On an instrument as complex and difficult as guitar, few people completely master technique. Some become very good at playing the correct notes in the correct rhythm. But this, like an actor’s script, is only part of the job.

Luckily, the journey is more reward than any destination. So we can relish the study. We can embrace the pursuit of technique and mastery. We can break through barriers and rise above plateaus. We can bring new meaning and purpose to our scales and exercises.

And as we reach higher rungs of the spiral, we can both marvel at the new and feel at home in the ever-present fundamentals.