Posted by Don't tune. on March 08, 2003 at 14:42:51:
In Reply to: Quintet Fundamentals posted by Arnold on March 08, 2003 at 03:36:49:
Don't show up late. It's as rude as hell, particularly with only five parts.
Don't waste time tuning. "Tuning" one note won't help anyway. The intonation is going to be as good as the general intonation of the weakest player, regardless of any tuning ritual. Rehearsal time is valuable.
Discuss without arguing. Demonstrate what you want by playing, rather than trying to verbally describe what you want. It saves time. If you can't demonstrate by playing what you want the other four to do, you probably don't deserve a "say" in how something should be played.
Compromise on some things. Misplaced unisons sound far better than "I'm right. - They're wrong."
Playing in a quintet will sharpen your aural skills, whereas when playing in student or amateur "large" ensembles, one can/tends to get by without listening and matching other's playing styles and intonation.