It turns out that imitation/stealing is kind of an art of its own, and not only a fascinating challenge, but a fun one as well. Whether it’s a particular quality of sound, the way notes are connected together, or even the exact number of wiggles of vibrato per note, what might happen if we tried to imitate, borrow, and perhaps even steal, some of the elements that we love most about our favorite artists? Plus, there’s that quote often attributed to Picasso which goes something like “bad artists copy, great artists steal.” Which seems to suggest that we all have to start somewhere – and maybe imitation is the first step on the path to finding our own voice? Because while I couldn’t sound anything like Perlman, I do think I sounded like a better version of myself when I had a clearer, and more aspirational target to aim for. But in hindsight, I suspect my mom was right. I think we all instinctively have an aversion to copying or imitating someone else. To which my mom said that I needn’t worry – there was no way I was going to sound exactly like Perlman, even if I tried.
The stubborn little kid I was, I refused, arguing that this would be “cheating” and that I shouldn’t strive to be a clone of my favorite musicians. I have a vivid childhood memory of a time when my mom played me a recording of Itzhak Perlman and suggested that I try to imitate what I heard him doing.
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