For Clyde McKaney, principal viola player for the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, all that touchy-feely stuff is bunk.
"People say you have to feel the music. That's not true," he says. "You just need to know how to perform it well; to make it come alive."
Clyde says that to make music successful and bring across the emotional aspect, musicians must know how to articulate phrases in a clear and sensible manner, whether the musician is feeling it or not.
“Many times I’ve not been feeling well and had to play something happy and energetic,” he says. “I certainly wasn’t feeling happy or energetic, but in knowing how to make happy energetic phrases, it was successful.”
Studying with Joseph Fuchs at Julliard, and performing for more than 30 years in a variety of community orchestras - from Lansing to Midland to Interlochen - Clyde has had plenty of practice.
He’s also an educator, teaching students since 1992.
To make music come alive, he tells his students, you have to know a bit of physics.
"The physical part of playing is just as important as the know-how. I try to teach that," Clyde says. "The physicality of the bow, the strings vibrating. That's where practice comes in: it's performance plus instrument plus body."
Clyde calls Jackson home because he's from here and he feels comfortable here.
"It's the best of both worlds: I play in a professional orchestra, and I get to stay home."