Pass the yams

Since this is the week of Thanksgiving and the start of all the traditional holiday festivities, I thought I'd demystify some of the common traditions that exist in a symphony orchestra; and more specifically, the string section.

Besides being divided into first violins, second violins, violas, cellos, and basses, we are also divided between INSIDE and OUTSIDE. This means we sometimes have to play different "divisi" parts in the music. In addition, the "inside" players are the ones that usually have to turn the pages while the "outside" players are still playing. The inside players also traditionally write things in the parts at the request of the conductor or section leader (doodling in the part, while frowned upon by the Orchestra Librarian, is done by either player as well as hopefully erased by either player). Said requests (i.e. "slower" "faster" "softer" "louder" etc) are written either in Italian (most common), English, German or French, depending on the composer of the piece, or the spoken language of the orchestra. There are also certain non verbal markings, untaught in music school, that have become traditional over time. These range from arrows pointing forward or backward for "speed up" or "slow down", eyeglasses for "look up at the conductor, you @#&*!!," slashes for figuring out rhythms, and my favorite, the all-purpose squiggle, which can usually mean either "slow down" or "look up." Other common doodles I've seen in music over the years are usually conductor-related and violent, involving guns, knives, skull-and-crossbones, and dead smiley faces/hangmen.

Other interesting string player traditions you may see in a concert: the old switcheroo, the quick change/sneak off, the bow tapping, and the spin. The "old switcheroo" occurs when either the concertmaster (or any other principal string player) or the violin soloist has broken something, most commonly a string. If it is a string broken by the concertmaster, he/she will switch his/her violin with his/her stand partner's violin (the guy on the "inside"). Then, depending on what kind of a piece is being played and how close to the end of the concert it is, the stand partner can either elect to heroically play the fiddle with 3 strings, or pass it back to the rear of the section. In the rear of the section usually sits the musician that carries the spare strings for such an emergency. This musician/pit crew guy will pass his/her instrument up to the 2nd chair player, and then quickly replace the string. The switcheroo gets even more complicated when it is the soloist, for then the change is with the Concertmaster/principal string player, setting the whole above routine in motion but adding an extra player to the mix. Also, the pit crew guy in the back doing the change then has the added anxiety of having to change Mr. Bigshot Soloist's Million Dollar Stradivarius, quickly and without scratching or dropping it, knowing the soloist desperately wants nothing more than their own instrument back as soon as possible, basically having the FATE OF THE ENTIRE CONCERT IN HIS HANDS....

The "quick change/sneak off" is what happens when the pit crew guy forgets to/doesn't bring extra strings on stage and so then has to sneak off unobtrusively with 3000 people watching to make the change backstage.

"Bow tapping" is how we applaud soloists or anyone needing validation but can't use our hands because they are full of instruments. It looks weird at first and makes absolutely no noise, since we are just waving our bows in the air.

The "spin" happens usually in the lower strings (cellos/basses) but also in the violas but hardly ever in the violins. In the cellos/basses, it involves twirling the instrument at the endpin while holding it lightly at the neck. In the violins/violas, its slightly more difficult and scary because we don't have that endpin and so must form a closed circuit with the thumb and 1st or 2nd finger of our left hand and then use another finger and a wrist flick for the impetus to twirl it mid air and not drop it. This could explain why most high-strung (ha-ha-- get it? High -STRUNG… their strings are higher so...ah, forget it) violinists WON'T do it and laid back, thrill-seeking violists, will. WHEN do we do it? Well, you just know in your bones when the right moment comes along and a little spin is needed for emphasis. One spot where it always happens traditionally, throughout the world, is rehearsal letter J in Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride."

Any questions about other mystifying traditions you see on stage? Let me know- and have a Happy Thanksgiving!