Three notes to collaborate

I was lucky enough to hear an outstanding leader, John Maclay, lay out the steps to collaboration to 135 musicians in New York Greenwich Village. They  all volunteer their time, whilst  some are skilled amateurs,  others are professionals.  John had picked a very difficult piece by Beethoven (Missa Solemnis) for the chorus to perform. The rhythms are insane, the dynamics are schizophrenic and the singer’s voice is stretched to its maximum with high highs and low lows on nearly every page. Even the most advanced professional in the room had been questioning their ability to learn and perform this piece in just a few weeks time.

John laid out the process that they were to follow:

Assess: Look at the big picture. What is the work in relation to an audience today? What is the history of the challenge? Why did the composer select such a complex dynamic structure to convey his meaning? What about my line, my voice? What preparation can I do?  How will I find where the notes live in my voice and what skills do I need to learn, practice or dust off, to graduate to the next step? 

Assessing is singular and requires great personal commitment & discipline.

Learn: This is where we unlock the score’s potential as a combination of sounds and dynamic inferences. Each note has its place in your voice. You have done the work required of you – at home, in the rehearsal booth and with your teacher. You now come to the main rehearsal group fully accountable for your contribution. Now, we can learn the music.

 Learning the score is about experiencing the rewards of your preparation

Do: Transitioning from learning to doing happens in those moments when repetition transforms into production/performance. It’s when the abrasion of learning becomes something greater than the one voice. Your voice only exists because of its complementary nature to the voice next to it – soprano to tenor, alto to bass.

Doing is when the singular contributions become something greater than the many individuals; it becomes a unified experience, a chorus, and a creation.

This is collaboration, when we assess, analyze, master and perform with the focus of one voice, one vision and one outcome

Now read this again and think about the cross agency new business pitch you were in or the company that boasts collaboration as a key attribute of its culture and see if it stands up to the Maclay approach.

Next blog: naughty monkeys

 

Comments

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[Petre Hirsch]

The choral analogue is a challenging one because the obvious need for collaboration in the choral setting is rarely so clearly and elegantly expressed in a business collaboration. However, one aspect of the analogy seems potentially very pregnant: listening (without agenda or impatience)to the voice(s) of the collaborator(s) is indispensable to good choral singing. It probably is in business, too.