How to play musically?

[wcao9311]

How do you play musically? How do you interpret a piece? Any techniques for both?

[faulty_damper]

Is this a technical question or a musical one?  The latter is more difficult to answer as it requires understanding musical language which can take years to learn and years to learn to express.  You need to be more specific about your question which makes answers easier to come by.

[savvygal]

I'm no expert, but you play musically with your body and not so much your hands.  There is a lot involved from what I'm finally learning as an adult and never having learned this as a child!  You have to have everything in sync.  It's complicated; I know.  Please correct me if I'm wrong! 

[gregh]

I suppose first you have to think musically, to know what you want to sound like. Listen to good performances.

[theholygideons]

How do you play musically? How do you interpret a piece? Any techniques for both?

two options, take it in the ass, or grow a big nose and deal with lots of money.

[pianoplayer51]

I think playing musically means playing with proper dynamics not simply hitting the correct notes.  If you compare playing a piece with dynamics or the pedal and then play the same piece without those, then you can tell what it is to play musically.   Obviously not all pieces require pedal but all pieces require dynamics

[quantum]

IMO, musicality begins when music stops fussing exclusively about technique, or playing all the right notes.  Musicality begins when the performer steps out of the mentality of "how do I play this piece" to "what do I want to say about this piece."