After the initial discussion and excitement over the A subsides, I predict to the students in my Friday class that it will not be long before a voice in their heads will whisper something along these lines:
Why should I bother to go to class today? I already have my A. And I've got so much to do; I really need to practice on my own. Anyway, it's such a large class, he probably won't even notice
I tell the students that this is the first symptom of a widespread disease called "second fiddle-itis," popularly known as "playing second fiddle." People who perceive their role in a group to be of little significance (second violins for example) are particularly vulnerable to its ravages. The string players in an orchestra often see themselves as redundant foot soldiers, virtual cannon fodder for the egoistical whim of the conductor. Many other players, after all, duplicate their part. This is not true for the lead trumped or the main wind players, who are soloists within the orchestra.
A string player just entering a new position in an orchestra will often start off with great enthusiasm, take his part home at night, and continue to do careful and regular practice in his spare time. However, when it begins to dawn on him that his stand partner stopped practicing years ago and that conductor does not seem to care or even to hear when players are out of tune, he too quickly begins to show signs of the onset of the disease.
A first oboist, on the other hand, is unlikely to give up making reeds or to miss a rehearsal. It is simply too noticeable. In all my years of conducting, I do not believe I have ever known a first oboe to be late for a rehearsal. Is it because the oboe has to be there at the beginning to tune everyone to the A?
"So," I tell the class,"the next time you hear the little second-violin melody in your head that says,"I am not going to class because I'm too tired,' or 'I have too much to do, and I know it won't make any difference anyway' remember that you are an A student. An A student is a leading player in any class, an integral voice, and the class cannot make its music without that voice."
One, in Spain, I saw a big sign outside a little shop. It read:
ALVAREZ
Shoemaker
and
Lessons in
Second Violin
I found myself hoping that Alvarez's great humility did not irrevocably limit the aspirations of his students.
However, when I myself had the privilege of playing string quartets with Robert off, the founding second violinist of the Julliard String Quartet, I came away convinced that the real leader of the string quartet is the second violin. Not because Koff dominated the rust of us, but because in his part he had all the inner rhythms and harmonies, and he gave them such clarity and authority that we were all tremendously influenced by his playing. He was leading us from the "seconds". In a truly great string quartet, all four players are doing that simultaneously.
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