Monday, June 27, 2011

"Nixon in China" and video game practice

In John Adams' description of the creation process for Nixon in China (recently reposted here), one description which stuck out to me addressed the technical demands of Adams' music. 
At the end of an act the expressions on some players’ faces resemble someone who’s just survived an A-level Japanese video game.
The relationship between video game proficiency and musical proficiency is a striking simile, and one that (at a very low level of interaction) I enjoy. Sometimes I enjoy practicing piano with the same low-level ambition with which I enjoy a good game of Frogger 3D: similar pitfalls, new places, new sounds, eye-hand coordination. Perhaps if I was more ambitious at video games, I'd practice the piano more!
Funny.