GG: The Caterpillar Analogy

["Anne M. Marble" <amarble@sff.net>]

OK, now I understand the caterpillar analogy. And why Glenn Gould didn't
like answering those questions about _how_ he did something.

For those who haven't heard the analogy, it originates from a story about
how, when another animal asked him which order his feet moved when he
walked, the caterpillar found himself unable to move. Something like
that. GG borrowed this analogy from... Schoenberg, I think. (My
memory is... uh, I forget what I was going to say.)

Anyway, GG said that if he consciously thought about what he was doing
during a performance, he would be unable to perform the piece well. Perhaps
unable to perform it at all. This is probably similar to the way he
realized that if he tried to control the humming, his performance suffered
for it. Worrying about the humming kept him from being able to perform
smoothly.

For those on this list who are musicians, or performers of any sort...
Do you have the same feelings? Or are you able to approach the technique
without worrying where to put your other 99 legs?

The other weekend, I was writing a fantasy story while my cousin was
visiting my parents. There was activity all around me, yet I managed to
start my first draft. My cousin read what I'd written and wanted to know
what happened next. :-> But then, she started asking me _how_ I did it. How
could I write a short story while so much was going on around me? Uhm...
????!!! I dunno! I have never said "I don't know" so many times since
taking Mrs. Bartash's accursed trigonometry class.

Darn. Now that I've mentioned this, I'll probably have to go and finish
writing the story. <sigh>

------
Anne M. Marble
amarble@sff.net
I report spam (thwack!)