The Know-how of Musical Performance

Abstract

Musicians make music; that is, the performance of music involves applied knowledge or know-how. Can we attain a discursive understanding of what the musician does, and does the attempt to achieve this put at risk the very art it aims to capture? In other words, what can be said of the nature of performance and does what we say turn a living practice into a dead object? In this discussion, aim to clarify the issues in terms of which these questions can be developed. Consider acquired practical knowledge or 'knowing how/1 It involves a learned skill or capacity to do something-typically, to perform an action-as in I know how to ride a unicycle.2 'Knowing how' can be subdivided into types. A first variety is always conscious. For most people, mental arithmetic is of this kind. It is not mental arithmetic they are doing if they do not follow an appropriate rule, algorithm, procedure, or principle, even if they fluke the right answer. Many practical skills are of this sort. know how to fill in tax forms, immigration documents, and hire purchase agreements. In all these cases, the working of the skill and the steps through which it is exercised are held inevitably before my mind. A second type of 'knowing how' might be termed retrievable. know how to drive a car. Most of the time, am not aware of the processes, judgments, and procedures that are