Coping with stage fright

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‘Stage fright' by any other name can equally threaten musicianship

by Robert Rawlins, Ph.D. Robert Rawlins is assistant professor and coordinator of music theory at Rowan University in Glass-boro, New Jersey. He has published books and articles on various aspects of music theory and performance, including his regular contributions to the Bell. Igor Stravinsky was one of the most celebrated musicians of modern times. So when he walked onstage in 1923, at the height of his career, to perform his own piano concerto, he sat down with complete confidence and launched into the work without a care, right? Wrong. He was so nervous that at the conclusion of the first section he couldn’t even remember what came next. The conductor had to sing the next phrase for him because Stravinsky’s mind was a blank. “It was only by habit and sustained effort that I managed, in time, to master my nerves,” he later recalled. It seems incredible that a musician of Stravinsky’s stature could be overcome by performance anxiety, but his plight was not unique. Many of the greatest musicians in history have experienced stage fright, sometimes to an extent that hampered their performances or even compelled them to avoid public appearances altogether. Those of us who teach and perform music think about performance anxiety often. It simply goes with the territory. Through the years, we devise strategies to cope with or even capitalize on this phenomenon. Following are some of the procedures or approaches that I have found helpful. Be concerned, and do something about it. There is a difference between worry and concern. Worry is a negative and debilitating habit. But concern is often the appropriate response to an upcoming obligation that needs to be taken seriously. Begin practicing for an important performance weeks or months ahead of time. Prepare. First, this is a way of channeling anxiety into positive action. Second, being prepared will give you confidence when the big day finally arrives. The hard part is over before you play a note. Suppose you have an important recital coming up in three months. You want to do well. So you begin practicing regularly several hours a day. You attend all of your lessons, listen to recordings of the pieces you’re doing, pick out your best reeds, and work on your stage presence. If you’ve done these things, when the day of the recital finally arrives, you’ve already won. You still want to concentrate and do your best, but you can ease your mind by telling yourself that you have already accomplished most of your mission. It isn’t easy. We might think we’re encouraging ourselves when we say things like “This passage isn’t hard,” “This piece isn’t that difficult” or “There’s no reason I should miss this.” The problem is, we do make mistakes, and if we’re convinced that the music is easy, then we feel inadequate. In truth, playing a musical instrument is very hard. The amazing thing is not that we make occasional mistakes but that, with practice, we make so few. Even at lessons, students are likely to complain, “I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I could play this passage perfectly at home.” It’s supposed to be that way. Accept the fact that you may not be able to perform at your absolute best under pressure. A realistic approach is to practice to the point that you have some “reserve” so that the pressures of performance will not cause you to falter and stumble. Inexperience can work to your advantage. How do you view your inexperience? On the one hand, it might appear that more mature performers have little to worry about because they have so much stage and audition experience. But inexperience can be an advantage too. Audiences expect more of accomplished performers, which means there’s more pressure. Audiences are forgiving of young and inexperienced performers, as they should be. So if no one else is putting pressure on you, why should you put pressure on yourself? Remember what music is all about. A colleague of mine has a favorite saying: “There’s no such thing as a musical emergency.” Of course, a professional soloist who has just broken his reed ten minutes prior to performing a major concerto may not agree with that. But look at it this way. Some unknown paramedic living in the middle of nowhere deals with real emergencies every day. So do police officers, firefighters and parents. But musicians? A performer aspires to provide a significant and moving experience for the audience, but if he or she fails to do that, the only real harm done is to one’s own ego. Look and act the part. It doesn’t take years of experience to develop a winning stage presence. All you have to do is appear to be confident and enjoying yourself. Chances are, if you start acting as if you’re in control of the situation, you’ll start feeling as if you are. Professional actors tell us that when they play a role, they actually feel the emotions that the character is supposed to be having. This can work for musicians. Pretend you’re an actor and the role you’re playing is that of a world-famous concert soloist. You’ll feel better, look better and play better. The audience doesn’t know what you’re thinking. The only way they will know that you’re nervous is if you act nervous. I’ve seen performances that included numerous mistakes yet made a very positive impression. If a musician plays with poise, confidence and expression, the audience won’t ask for more. Smile. I know—this sounds like something your grandmother taught you, but we often forget the powerful effect a smile has on people. It exudes confidence, disarms enemies and wins friends. A performer who walks onstage, makes eye contact with the audience and offers a sincere smile wins them over immediately. After all, they came to enjoy themselves, not to watch you work. Other techniques can be added to this list. We all have our favorites, and some will be more applicable than others, depending upon our individual personalities and the nature of the performing experience. But all of these suggestions center on one principle: music is supposed to be enjoyable for both the performer and the audience. The next time performance anxiety nags you, remind yourself how diligently you’ve practiced, and say to yourself, “This is what I love to do. I’ve worked hard to be where I am now, and I’m determined to enjoy this experience.”

This article was made possible by G leblanc.

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Developing characteristic tone for your band and its individual players

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Developing characteristic tone for your band and its individual players

by Donald DeRoche, Ph.D. DePaul University, Chicago

Dr. Donald DeRoche is director of bands and chair of the Performance Studies Di-vision at DePaul University in Chicago. Among his many activities, he has given premiere performances of some dozen pieces for winds with the DePaul Wind Ensemble, which he directs. Dr. DeRoche is a regular contributor to this column. One of the basic building blocks of wind-instrument playing is a well-developed sense of tone. A focused, characteristic tone is a “given” in good music making. In a band, the collective tone quality of all those individuals is fundamental to a beautiful ensemble sound and blend. In addition, a well-controlled tone is the starting point for the development of good intonation. Good tone depends on (1) having excellent and well-maintained equipment, (2) developing an internal concept of a characteristic sound and (3) practicing regularly and thoughtfully. Proper equipment. Before I say anything specific about instruments, I must stress how important it is to tune as closely as possible to the standard A-440 pitch level. Wind instruments are built to be “pulled out” some when they are in tune, thus giving room to “push in” if pitch needs to be raised. Attempting to develop a good tone when the instrument is very sharp or flat forces the player to use an incorrect embouchure. Without good equipment that is well maintained, it is difficult to produce a really excellent tone quality. While a superior instrument will not automatically guarantee a great tone, a poor instrument will make achieving good tone virtually impossible. It’s an unfortunate irony: of those students with poor equipment, those who suffer the most are our best students. A student with a good ear will intuitively try to find a way to make a good sound and play in tune, often straining his embouchure or developing some unorthodox playing mode to accommodate a poor instrument. In addition to using the best possible instrument, be very careful to select the best possible accessories and parts for those instruments. Mouthpieces, barrels, saxophone necks, leadpipes and bocals can all have a great influence on tone. While it should go without saying, it is clear that too many of us pay too little attention to reeds for woodwind players. I can’t overemphasize how important it is for your students to have knowledgeable advice regarding the selection, adjustment and care of their reeds. Instruments must be well maintained and adjusted. Are brass “spit valves” closing tightly? Are valve bumper corks adjusted so that the valves are lining up correctly? Are mouthpieces, bocals and leadpipes clean? Do woodwind pads seat well? Are tone holes clear? Are all serious dents removed? I know a band director who performs in-class instrument inspections every few weeks to check these things. He makes a big show of pointing out poorly maintained instruments. He also takes class time to show his students how they can clean, oil and care for their own instruments. Don’t forget that the tone and intonation of percussion and keyboard instruments depends on maintenance as well. Drum heads, resonators, bars, drum shells and mallets all have an impact on tone and intonation. Non-pitched drum heads can be “tuned” for tone, and mallet instruments can often develop pitch and tone troubles as the bars change. The mallets themselves must not only be chosen for the tone they produce; their yarn or felt wrapping must be maintained in order to maintain that tone. Keeping pianos in tune, well voiced and at a consistent pitch level is critical to their sound. I have spent years witnessing dramatic improvement in the tones of college freshmen during the first five weeks of school, as their teachers get them to the proper equipment. It’s a shame that more students aren’t taught the value of good equipment earlier. Developing an internal concept. A local high school director asked me to spend a morning with her clarinet section to see if I could help improve what she thought was their poor tone quality. She was right. They had an open, “honky,” thoroughly unpleasant sound. I worked with embouchures, changed the angles of their instruments from their bodies, adjusted some reeds and tried having them insert more or less mouthpiece. The successes were small at best. I played for them to ask if they could tell the difference between my sound and theirs, and they all said they could. When I asked them to try to match my sound, one student said, “That doesn’t sound like Marcy’s tone.” Marcy was the first-chair player, and she demonstrated all the characteristics of poor tone that I was hearing from all of the students. I realized that the entire section had developed an inner concept of Marcy’s tone. When they closed their eyes and heard clarinet in their minds, up popped Marcy. Clearly, it is important that students develop a strong, positive inner concept of tone. Their inner tone is the way they imagine the best, most characteristic sound for their instrument. You can help them to do that by first stressing to them the importance of developing the ability to hear good tone in their minds. Next you need to provide good models. These models can come from recordings of the best professional players or from hearing excellent players live. Private teachers, local symphony or professional players you admire or guests you bring to the school can all provide positive models. Talk with students about the similarities and differences in the tones produced by excellent players. Encourage them to pick their favorites and to try to model their playing after their heroes. The great brass teacher, Arnold Jacobs, used to tell very advanced students to imagine their favorite player and then to try to perform passages the way that person would. All he was doing was helping the student to develop an inner tonal concept. The most important thing is that the tones students choose to use as models must be really good. This idea of inner tone can be helpful for ensemble tone as well. Does your band know what you think a good band tone is? Do you listen to excellent examples of full-band tones, clarinet-section tones or low-brass tones? Do you take time in class to let your students hear well-blended, balanced sounds within and between sections of the band? Band sounds vary widely and you can have a strong influence on what yours will be. The ways students hear brightness or mellowness is important. Are woodwind sounds open or focused? Does your brass have an outdoor or indoor sound, a mellow-brass or an orchestral-brass sound, a lyrical or macho sound? There are a number of acceptable band sounds. It is not important whether you go toward a cornet sound or an orchestral-trumpet sound. It is important, however, that you choose a sound and try to be consistent with it. It is also important that your various sections can blend—and that your students know what that means. Practicing regularly. In previous articles, I have suggested that playing an instrument is like an athletic event for which the player must be in good shape and practice regularly. This is absolutely true for the development of good tone. Embouchure muscles must be strong and flexible. The physical feeling of intake and exhalation of air must be refined so that a wide range of tonal colors and tonal dynamics can be achieved. The great oboist and teacher, Marcel Tabuteau, stressed the importance of keeping what he called a “dolce” tone through the entire dynamic and pitch range of the instrument. What he meant was that the best, most beautiful tone, in your best range, at a mf level, is the tone you should produce in the highest and lowest ranges as well as at the highest and lowest dynamics. Well, achieving this depends on being in excellent playing shape, which in turn depends on regular practice of physical skills done in the context of a solid inner tonal concept. Here is not the place for me to offer specifics about how to form embouchures, or to discuss developing the breathing mechanism. In all probability, if I did try to address those issues in a single article, most of you would disagree with much of what I had to say. There is an ongoing, lively discussion in our profession regarding the physical details of tone production. I seriously doubt that there is a single correct way to approach tone production, so I’ll leave those details to you and to the private teachers with whom you work. What I would like to stress is that tone is so important that you cannot afford to clutter the road to its development with poor equipment, poorly conceived internal or external models, or bad practice habits. It takes time for even our best students to gain a sophisticated sense of the mental and physical aspects of developing tone. Start early by helping them the moment they walk through your door, and keep it up until they leave.

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Master Articulation

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Master Articulation

With surprising ease, and some practice, any player can master articulation

by Julie DeRoche DePaul University, Chicago

Julie DeRoche is coordinator of the woodwind department and clarinet faculty at DePaul University, where she teaches with Larry Combs and John Bruce Yeh, fellow members of the Chicago Clarinet Trio. She served as acting second clarinet with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during the 2000–2001 season and continues to perform and tour frequently with the CSO. In addition to her involvement with numerous chamber and orchestral groups, she currently serves as president of the International Clarinet Association. Her instrument of choice is the Opus model Leblanc France clarinet. This is the third in a series of articles in which Julie DeRoche details basic clarinet technique. Many clarinetists have a great deal of difficulty with articulation on the instrument. This is because it is one of the most misunderstood aspects of clarinet pedagogy. Students go through tremendous difficulties trying to create a good articulation and, ironically, are often working too hard. In fact, articulation, if done correctly, can be an almost effortless technique. Many of my own students, after learning a correct articulation, ask, “Is that all?” Or they tell me, “But that’s so easy!” In order to understand the basics of articulation, it is important to remember how clarinet sound is created. In part two of “Clarinet Basics,” we discussed ways to create a good embouchure and consistent tongue position so that the air can be directed at the reed in a small and focused stream. This, of course, causes the reed to vibrate. When the reed is vibrating, it will create sound. When it is not, there will be silence. There are two ways to create this silence. One is to stop the air. The other is to stop the reed. While there will be occasions when it is best to allow a note to stop by reducing and then eliminating the airflow (such as when we want a smooth diminuendo to silence), in most cases we will be required to use the tongue to stop the sound. Articulating with the tongue allows us to create silence quickly, cleanly and efficiently and in rapid succession. It gives our clarinet playing definition and adds an element of clarity to our music making, much as the consonants in our language add clarity to our speech. Therefore, we must find a way to use our tongue muscle to stop the reed cleanly, without noise or force, and lightly, so that we can develop speed. You may be asking yourself, If you stop the reed with the tongue, how do you start the reed? Starting a note merely requires letting go of the reed. Many clarinet players are under the mistaken impression that we must start a note with the force of the tongue. Rather, we must start a note with the air while simply removing the tongue from the reed, allowing it to vibrate. We then gently return the tongue to the reed in order to make it stop again. To learn how to accomplish this, first practice articulation motion without the clarinet. Close your mouth and think about the position of your tongue while it is at rest. It is most likely lying along the roof of your mouth, and the “tip of the top” of the tongue is resting gently behind your front teeth. This is the tongue’s natural and relaxed position. Now open your mouth slightly, keeping your tongue relaxed and high, without altering the forward or backward position of the tongue. Inhale, and then replace the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth (or gum line) just behind the front teeth. Think the syllable “tee.” Let go of the air, or blow, while “saying” this syllable; do not actually use the vocal chords. Merely blow the tongue off of the roof of your mouth, lightly and without any tension or force of the tongue. Let the air do the majority of the work. Repeat this action until you are sure that you are moving only the tip of your tongue. Most of your tongue remains stationary, and the tip of the tongue moves in a small downward motion. Be sure to articulate this syllable from the gum line behind your top teeth. Do not allow your tongue to touch the back of your top or bottom teeth or your bottom lip. Now try to repeat this motion while playing your clarinet. When you place the mouthpiece in your mouth, the tip of the reed will be just behind your top teeth, in almost exactly the same place as described above, near your gum line. However, instead of moving your tongue off the roof of your mouth, you will now move it off the reed. Inhale. Touch the reed with the “tip of the top” of your tongue, very slightly below the tip or top edge of the reed. Think the syllable “tee.” Using the exact same motion that you used while practicing without the clarinet, remove your tongue from the tip of the reed. When you release the reed, release your air. If you have taken a good breath, your reed will vibrate the very instant it is released. When you want it to stop again, return the tongue to the exact position from which you just removed it. You do not have to push the reed in order to stop it. Since you are now articulating at the thinnest point of your reed, you may merely touch it and it will stop. Practice this very slowly, on one note, repeating the “tee, tee, tee” syllable until you are sure that you are achieving the correct articulation motion. You will hear that your tone quality and pitch are consistent, you will feel that your tongue is relaxed, and you will find there is no noise associated with your articulation. Be sure that you do not stop the air between notes. Use your air as if you were playing a long tone. Your tongue is now creating the silence between notes. Very little of your tongue is moving, so it will be easy to gain speed. When you are comfortable with your articulation motion, it is time to address the coordination of your tongue with your fingers. Every clarinetist has had moments when this seems to get jumbled. This is because if you move your fingers while your tongue is off the reed, you will get more than one note—a slur. The secret to good tongue-and-finger coordination in an articulated passage is that they must work opposite each other. You move your tongue off the reed and back on while your fingers remain unmoving on the clarinet. Then you move your fingers while your tongue rests on the reed, during the silence. To practice this, play a scale, such as C-major, in slow motion. Begin with your fingers on low C. Take a good breath. Using the articulation motion that you practiced as described above, move your tongue off the reed to play the note, and then replace it. You have played low C. While the tongue rests on the reed, and while keeping the air support behind the reed, move your finger to low D. Your tongue has stopped the reed’s vibration and you are able to move your finger during the resultant silence. Once you remove your tongue again, the D will sound. Replace your tongue and you will again have silence. Continue practicing this for the remaining notes of your scale. Do not wait to move your fingers until just before you play the next note in your scale. Instead, move them immediately after you finish the note you have just played. As you gain speed, the space between notes becomes shorter and shorter, so your fingers must move quickly to the next note in your articulated passage during the short silences that are created by your tongue. After you have achieved a good articu-lation and practiced control of tongue-and-finger coordination, you will want to add variety to your style of articulation. This is done in two ways. One is by changing the length of notes, and the other is by changing the way you use your air. To change the length of notes, you merely change the amount of time that your tongue is off the reed. Using the articulation motion that you have just learned, move the tongue off and on the reed quickly to create staccato notes. To create legato, you do this more slowly. The word “staccato” does not mean to tongue in a harder way. It means to play the note shorter—or to create more space between notes. “Legato” means to play the notes longer, with very little space between the notes. Accents are achieved by using the air with a burst of speed, not with a harder tongue. Except for occasional extended techniques, your entire repertoire of musical articulation can be achieved with this one motion, while simply varying length and air speed. With practice, it will become clear that this method of articulation is really quite simple. The tongue is able to stay relaxed and in its proper position for good tone, whether slurring or tonguing. Because the tongue is relaxed and because it does not have to move very far, it is easy to achieve a light and quick motion. As mentioned in our previous installments of “Clarinet Basics,” all players, regardless of age or experience, can successfully make use of these techniques. In fact, if you teach this to your students, or if you try it yourself, you will be saying, just as my students often do, “But that’s so easy!”

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Become the musician you want to be by simply allowing yourself to do it

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Become the musician you want to be by simply allowing yourself to do it

by Robert Rawlins, Ph.D.

Robert Rawlins is assistant professor and coordinator of music theory at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. He is the author of A Simple and Direct Guide to Jazz Improvisation (Hal Leonard, 1995), Intermediate Serial Duets for Two Flutes (Southern Music, 1990), and has published many articles on various aspects of music theory and performance, including his regular contributions to the Bell. One night Dizzy Gillespie walked into a jam session where the band was working on a new tune with a difficult chord structure. He asked the piano player to call out the chords while he played, and in minutes Dizzy had memorized the entire harmonic sequence and was improvising fluently on it. A few minutes later, Charlie Parker walked in. The piano player again started to call out the harmonies, but Parker asked him not to. Listening intently, Parker worked through a chorus or two of the tune, and soon he too was jamming on it without difficulty. Though both musicians shared similar styles and both were highly accomplished on their instruments, they approached their music in different ways. Gillespie preferred to consciously memorize the sequence of chords and think about them as he played. Parker took a spontaneous approach, relying on his ear and natural instincts. While this incident specifically concerns jazz improvisation, it demonstrates contrasting ways of learning music that apply to many areas. For example, which is the best way to teach instrumental tone—to describe specific muscle placement or simply have the student strive for a desired sound using whatever means seem most natural? Should music be memorized by first learning the form, key areas, cadences, and so forth, or should the student simply repeat a piece until the sound of it is permanently established in the ear? Is it better to learn the intervallic structure and theory behind various scales and arpeggios or simply practice them until they lie comfortably under the fingers? The answer is both. True, to some extent, individual temperaments will play a role. Some people are more comfortable with analytical approaches and theoretical explanations. Others prefer a more direct approach to the music. But optimum learning is more likely to take place when both approaches are utilized. Having said that, it seems that the natural or intuitive part of musical learning is often given short shrift. Students, particularly more advanced ones, sometimes try too hard and overanalyze their playing without realizing it. Imagine the conscientious student having these thoughts during a practice session: “Okay, breathe deep, use the diaphragm, and support the air column. Now open your throat. Hold your head up, relax the jaw, and keep the lips firm. Gently curve the fingers, but don’t use too much pressure.” And so forth. These are all wonderful suggestions, in themselves, but this kind of incessant self-nagging is bound to have negative consequences. The human body is a highly complex mechanism and regularly performs many intricate skills on its own. Tedious minute-by-minute instructions given by the conscious mind can easily turn into distractions, inhibiting rather than promoting optimum performance. Paradoxically, with improved opportunities for formal music instruction and advances in instrumental pedagogy, the danger of this kind of calculated approach to musical performance is more prevalent today than in the past. Yes, to a large extent there is a “correct” way to play a musical instrument as opposed to an “incorrect” approach. But too much attention to particulars can drive both student and teacher crazy. As one exasperated piano teacher exclaimed after a student had stopped during a piece a half-dozen times to ask which fingering to use: “I don’t care! Use anything! It doesn’t matter—just play!” The most important factor in any endeavor is to have a clearly defined goal. For the musician, this goal will be in the form of an aural image. The student must clearly hear the sound that is desired and then allow the body to reproduce that sound through the instrument. It’s the objective, not the means of achieving it, that is the object of concentration. The following suggestions are intended to help the student stay focused on the real goal of musical performance—to form an aural image of the sound and reproduce it as accurately as possible. The analytical side has its place, but once a student knows the correct way to play, it’s time to stop thinking about mechanics and concentrate on making music. These tips might help: Concentrate on sound. The one primary area of focus that should always receive a performer’s full attention is the sound that is desired. This should not be taken for granted. It may take years to develop a clear and accurate aural image of the precise tone quality that an instrumentalist seeks. It is one thing to have a vague notion of what a good clarinet tone is, but quite another to have that sound so ingrained in your head that you can truly imagine it coming out of your own instrument. Listen to recordings and attend live performances. Beyond this, a student must literally practice hearing tone quality. Before playing a single note, the desired sound of that note must resonate in the inner ear. With attentive listening and a conscious desire to grasp and retain the sound, this can be achieved. Practice sightsinging. Once an integral part of every instrumentalist’s early training, this valuable skill, sadly, is often neglected today. Of course, we don’t learn how to sightsing so that we can sing; we learn to do it so we can hear music in our ear before we play it. If you can’t aurally conceive of the pitches associated with the notes on the page, then how are you going to form a clear aural image of the sound you’re trying to get? You can’t have tone without pitch. What the student must avoid is simply pressing the key and depending on the instrument itself to create the note. Sure, the note might be the correct one, and it might even be reasonably in tune if the instrument is well made and the embouchure well formed. But if the pitch of the note that is going to come out is a mystery to the player until it is sounded, the same will be true of tone, attack, release, rhythm, and so forth. Don’t try too hard. Or, more precisely, learn the correct way to try hard. We should, of course, strive to put everything we have into every performance and practice session, but ironically, students sometimes perform at their worst when they are trying their hardest. This often occurs at lessons. Students say things like “I could play this perfectly at home. I don’t know what happened! I just fall apart at lessons.” Every teacher has experienced this. The problem is that we sometimes get in our own way. Our natural self might be quite capable of performing a given task, but then the conscious mind comes along and ruins everything by interfering. We tell ourselves things like “don’t miss it this time” or “this has to go right or I’m in big trouble.” The best way to try hard is to completely dismiss such thoughts. Think only of the music, and trust in your natural abilities. Transcend the moment. It’s a good thing brain surgeons don’t have to operate on stage before an audience. And I wonder how Einstein would have fared with his theory of relativity if he’d had to work in a tuxedo before a spotlight with a crowd of people watching every calculation he made. Sure, these are comical scenarios, but they underscore the difficulties of the performing musician. Not only do musicians perform an extremely difficult skill, but they have to do it under difficult circumstances and pull it off with grace and panache. There is only one way to perform well before an audience, and that is to transcend the moment and concentrate on the music. I’m not saying to ignore the audience. Many performers are at their best before a large crowd of people. But that is because they include them in their absorption in the music. They are taken with the collective attention that all are devoting to the aesthetic experience. But without a doubt, the focus is on the music, no matter how many may be sharing in the experience. Go easy on the verbal instructions. Giving instructions to yourself while playing is generally not a good idea. How can you concentrate on the music if you’re thinking about a teacher’s instructions to “use less lip pressure”? Still, there are times when corrections and changes do need to be made. Shouldn’t you then be thinking about those instructions when you practice? Shouldn’t you constantly remind yourself? There is a way out of this dilemma, and that is to translate verbal commands into aural images. If a teacher tells a student to use a certain lip pressure, it’s obviously because something was wrong with the sound. Most likely, the teacher heard a pinched sound and knew from experience that too much lip pressure can cause such a problem. The job for the student is to find the improved sound that results from less lip pressure and to hold that as an aural image. Instead of thinking of the feeling in the lip, be on guard for the sound that results from too much pressure and focus on the improved sound that results from less pressure. Remember the good moments. All performers have moments, sometimes entire days, when everything feels just right. This could involve tone, technique, sight-reading or even expression and interpretation. We don’t want to waste these learning opportunities, but we don’t want to ruin them either. Trying to analyze what is going right could very well cause everything to go wrong. The way to learn from such opportunities is to remember the feeling and sound of the moment. Focus on the total sensation that you are experiencing. Don’t think about what the muscles are doing, and don’t try to describe the sensation. Just absorb the feeling. If you can truly remember what it felt like to get the sound you’ve been seeking, your muscles will find a way to reproduce that sound in the future. Seldom do students’ difficulties stem from not knowing how to play their instruments. Fine music teachers are readily accessible, and there are many good instruction books on the market. But good education is only half of the equation. It’s one thing to know how a musical instrument should be played and quite another to actually do it. Learning the mechanics is definitely the first step. The next is to internalize this knowledge and let the inner self take charge. In truth, the best way to become the performer you want to be is simply to allow yourself to do so.

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‘Paganini of the tuba’

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‘Paganini of the tuba’

‘Holton builds on its low brass legacy with the ‘Paganini of the tuba’

Anyone who knows Harvey Phillips knows of the man’s drive for excellence in all pursuits, from performing, to teaching to managing the activities his Harvey Phillips Foundation Inc. from his Indiana-based TubaRanch. So it was no surprise that when Leblanc/Holton collaborated with Phillips in 1995 on his namesake instrument, the results were no less than spectacular. Foremost, Phillips wanted to create a CC tuba that would be ideal for young beginners as well as advancing students and professionals. For this purpose, it was agreed that a three-quarter-size instrument would be built, based on a Holton design from 1911. This allowed a tighter wrap with a more easily reached valve pack. Working on the first tuba created entirely using engineering software, Holton technicians were able to reproduce their intended designs more accurately than ever before possible. The result was a tuba ideal for the majority of the world’s tuba repertoire, from orchestra to jazz ensemble. Featuring the sought-after American taper design, the instrument produces an air column that exits the valve section through a perfectly smooth and uninterrupted path all the way to the bell, resulting in an incredibly pure CC tuba. By popular demand, a BBb Phillips tuba was produced soon after the introduction of the CC model. Harvey Phillips says of his instrument, “The Holton TU330CC tuba gives players immediate response with a subtle resistance that allows flexibility and control of every tone. Players are able to apply personal nuance to every music discipline and utilize their full range from low to high.” This article was made possible by G leblanc.

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

‘Pressure ribs’ of Bonade ligatures offer better tone to players at any leve

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

‘Pressure ribs’ of Bonade ligatures offer better tone to players at any leve

In his book Clarinetist’s Compendium (Leblanc Educational Publications P-74), legendary clarinet performer and pedagogue Daniel Bonade stated, “I want to emphasize the importance of a good ligature. A bad ligature can spoil a good reed on a good mouthpiece by binding the sides of the reed and thus preventing the reed from vibrating freely. Many clarinetists never realize that their reed troubles actually stem from a poorly designed ligature.” Rather than wait for an ideal ligature to meet his standards, Mr. Bonade took it upon himself to design one. His concept utilized “pressure ribs,” which grip the reed firmly at points just off center of the reed, but with as little reed/ligature contact as possible. Bonade found that this allowed the edges of the reed to vibrate more freely. The result was 20 to 30 percent more tone, providing greater dynamic range and carrying power in large concert halls. Additionally, with the Bonade ligature, more reeds are playable “out of the box.” The offset savings in reeds makes the attractively priced Bonade ligature even more cost-effective. Since it was introduced, the Bonade ligature has won critical acclaim from students, educators and professionals, who found an overall improvement in tone. Available only from G. Leblanc Corporation, Bonade ligatures are offered in standard and inverted models for Bb and Eb soprano clarinet and bass clarinet. Standard and inverted models are also offered for alto, tenor and soprano saxophones. Gold-lacquered Bonade saxophone ligatures are available for those saxophonists seeking subtle changes in response and tone coloring. What’s more, gold lacquering offers an extra “touch of elegance” to all performances. For more information about Bonade ligatures, phone accessory products manager Tom Belotti at Leblanc headquarters. He may be reached by e-mail at tvbelotti@gleblanc.com.

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PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Motivation, attitude and enthusiasm should be the musician’s best friends

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Motivation, attitude and enthusiasm should be the musician’s best friends
by Robert Rawlins, Ph.D.

Robert Rawlins is assistant professor and coordinator of music theory at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. He is the author of A Simple and Direct Guide
to Jazz Improvisation (Hal Leonard, 1995), Intermediate Serial Duets for Two Flutes (Southern Music, 1990), and has published many articles on various aspects of music theory and performance. Dr. Rawlins has performed extensively on flute, saxophone and clarinet in both jazz and classical venues.
A book in my library contains a marvelous picture of Thomas Edison taking one of his famous catnaps. He’s lying on a hard wooden table, fully clothed in a drab Edwardian suit, sound asleep. No doubt, within minutes he was wide awake and back to work.
Edison considered himself a regular employee of his company and even punched the time clock like everyone else. His time cards reveal that he often spent more than 100 hours a week at the laboratory. Whenever I think I’m working hard, I just think of Thomas Edison to remind myself what real ambition is.
Edison was totally dedicated to every task he set for himself. He was typically so enthusiastic about his newest project that he was too excited to sleep or to think of anything else. We’ve all experienced at least small doses of this feeling.
I recall the summer when I wrote my first master’s thesis. Like everyone else, I harbored some doubt as to whether or not I could complete such a project. But once I gained momentum and I knew I was making progress, there was no stopping me. From the instant I woke up in the morning, sometimes as early as 4:00 a.m., I was mentally “writing” and couldn’t wait to put the actual words down. I was locked in battle with the beast, and it looked as if I was going to win. I wasn’t about to rest for a moment.
The difficulty lies in sustaining such enthusiasm. How did Edison do it? After all, what do you do after you’ve invented the phonograph? Why, you invent the light bulb, of course. New goals must replace those already achieved if we want to keep growing. But what if our goals aren’t so lofty? What about those of us who are just trying to find time to practice and survive the semester?
I think a lot about motivation, and I believe it’s part of my job to motivate students. With this in mind, I’ve compiled some techniques that I have found useful in motivating myself and others. Many of these suggestions have been around for generations. Some are my own. Others have been retooled to apply to musicians. They are all designed to help musicians—students and teachers alike—to work smarter, accomplish more, and enjoy the process.
The practice equation. Musicians like to discuss practice routines, teachers, natural ability, early training, schools of playing, and a host of other parameters that do, in fact, have a bearing on progress. But we must never forget the undeniable equation that lies at the heart of learning any instrument: hours invested = results achieved. To a great extent, the more skillful performer has simply spent more time with the
instrument.
Of course it matters what and how you practice, but divergent approaches are more likely to affect the type—not the quality—of performer you become.
Jazz trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, for example, had so little guidance on the instrument that he actually played wrong fingerings, yet he went on to complete mastery of the instrument.
As an undergraduate, Bill Evans neglected to prepare the material assigned at lessons, yet he spent eight hours a day sight-reading and improvising. While he never learned the standard repertoire, he developed into one of the most influential jazz pianists in history.
Examples are legion. Don’t get hung up on methodology. Find a practice routine that works for you, and stick to it. Just play.
Enthusiasm is self-perpetuating. You’ve heard that enthusiasm makes the difference and that the enthusiastic worker is the better worker and so forth, but you might not have considered that enthusiasm tends to sustain itself.
When you’re enthusiastic about something, you think about it a lot, work hard at it, and become good at it. Of course, it’s easy to be enthusiastic about something you’re all wrapped up in. Conversely, if you dislike something, you put it out of mind, avoid it, never learn to do it well, and come to hate it even more. We might call the first example “the enthusiasm circle” and the second “the drudgery circle.” Once you get caught up in either one, it’s hard to get out.
Consider this scenario: a new policy is adopted that requires all music majors to pass a language proficiency test in German.
Student A thinks this is ridiculous and repeatedly says so to himself and others. Reluctantly, this student studies a minimal amount, hating every minute of it, and takes a whack at the exam, knowing it can be repeated three times. He fails. Next year he studies a little more, hating it even more, and fails again. Finally, he forces himself to study in earnest, all the while cursing any and all things Teutonic. By sheer, brutal effort he manages to pass the test, vowing never again to look at another page of German. Result: two years of pain, worry, and inconvenience, with almost nothing gained. (This scenario takes place in graduate schools all across the country every year.)
Student B knows something about how the human mind works. Without hesitating a moment, this student jumps into the enthusiasm circle, tackling the study materials and indulging in “the game” by buying a collection of Goethe’s poetry, recordings of German lieder and tickets to a Wagnerian opera. He greets his friends with German phrases, conjugates German verbs on his napkin over lunch and belts out, “Alle Menchen werden Brüder,” in the shower. Within a few months he’s ready for the exam, passes it with ease, and retains a knowledge of and respect for the German language that will last for the rest of his life.
In the long run, student B has in-vested less time than student A, but that time was well spent, productive and rewarding.
It’s supposed to be hard. The best things in life are . . . difficult. Consider the man who had a euphoric experience while reading Kierkegaard, not because of anything Kierkegaard said, but because he couldn’t believe that he was really reading Kierkegaard and understanding him. The satisfaction to be gained from mastering a difficult task is immense.
One way to avoid frustration when something seems incredibly hard is to interpret the difficulty as a reflection of the value of the task. The harder it seems, the more precious it will be when it is mastered. When learning new pieces that seem nearly impossible, keep your sights on the prize. Think of yourself as acting out the Pilgrim’s Progress—few have trodden where you now go.
Keep a positive attitude. If you don’t have a book by Norman Vincent Peale on your shelf, maybe you should. (If this is too prosaic for your taste, then a volume of William James will give you the same stuff in loftier terms.) Your mental disposition has everything to do with how well you perform a task.
If you don’t think this is so, then watch a baseball pitcher’s performance deteriorate after an argument with the umpire, or recall an incident when stage fright affected your ability to perform on your instrument.
Mental attitudes also affect our productivity when we practice or study. Certain emotions are conducive to learning (determination, confidence) while others are not (anger, fear, frustration). We don’t have to enter the realms of hypnosis or mind control to achieve a desirable mental state. Alarms should go off when you think thoughts such as “I don’t want to be doing this,” “I hate this” or “I stink at this.” The next time you fly, imagine your pilot muttering those words as he enters the cockpit.
Focus on your own progress. Sometimes musicians become discouraged when other students seem to be improving more rapidly than they are.
It’s too easy to jump to conclusions. You don’t know how much other students practice. You don’t know how much they’ve practiced in the past. And you don’t know how well they perform in other subjects. In short, you’re simply not equipped to judge their progress, much less compare it to your own.
Even if another student seemed to be getting better faster but practicing less, what difference should it make to you? Who’s in a hurry anyway? Just be confident that if you keep working, you will improve.
Get some sleep. A recent study found that subjects who were sleep-deprived performed more poorly on standardized tests than those who were legally drunk. There may be professions in which “being there” is all that matters, but music is not one of them.
Whether you’re in the classroom, an ensemble, or the practice room, you need to be alert and focused. Out of 24 hours in the day, surely seven or eight can be allotted to sleep. Don’t let work pile up toward the end of the day. Get up earlier and do it then. Many people claim to be “night people,” and you may feel better late in the day, but almost everyone can concentrate better early in the morning.
The 15-minute principle. While you’re up early, try this. Choose one subject or skill that seems to be lagging, and devote 15 minutes to it each morning. The greatest advantage of doing it first thing in the morning is that you’re sure to get to it. It’s one thing to promise yourself to spend some extra time on sight-singing, but quite another to block out 15 minutes every single day and keep it up for a month.
I wonder how Thomas Edison would have approached the tasks that confront music majors.
When he was employed as a telegrapher as a young man, he used to come in after hours to practice and improve his speed. Others thought this absurd. Imagine if a store clerk practiced extra hours to get faster on the register or if a carpenter set aside extra time each evening to practice his hammer technique. I suspect if Edison were a music major, he would show up early to practice writing German sixth chords.
And I’d sure want him in my class.

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Discovering new respect for the valuable lessons of the not-so-lowly march

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Discovering new respect for the valuable lessons of the not-so-lowly march

by Donald DeRoche, Ph.D. DePaul University, Chicago

Dr. Donald DeRoche is director of bands and chair of the Performance Studies Di-vision at DePaul University in Chicago. Among his many activities, he has given premiere performances of some dozen pieces for winds with the DePaul Wind Ensemble, which he directs. Dr.DeRoche is a frequent adjudicator and a regular contributor to this column. Over the last few years, I have gotten out of the habit of playing marches, but this winter I included a couple on one of my programs. I needed to fill some time, and I wanted something easy that wouldn’t take a lot of rehearsal. After spending nearly an hour on the first march, I began to realize that there is a lot more to these little gems than I had previously noticed. They are compact forms, are short in duration, have a stable pulse throughout and have clearly defined melodies with accompaniment. These attributes make them appealing to audiences, but more important, make them perfect vehicles for teaching the basics of ensemble playing. What can you teach from marches? Form. Students always play a piece more intelligently when they understand its structure. A basic military march form is straightforward: introduction of four bars; first strain of 16 bars; second strain of 16 bars; trio with a first strain of 16 bars and a second strain of 16 or 32 bars. This basic form may be altered with “break” strains, extended introductions, and such, but even the altered forms are usually simple. You can quickly point out the form to students during a rehearsal. The double bars and repeat signs will clearly outline the form for them. It is equally easy to point out how dynamics support the form and to help them hear ways in which orchestration changes in each section. Students find it interesting that most trio sections change key and almost always add a flat (or subtract a sharp). Pulse and rhythm patterns. A solid, steady sense of pulse is fundamental to developing good rhythm in a group. Marches, with their steady bass lines and constant bass drum beat, help develop this sense beautifully. An established pulse is a real help when teaching subdivision, and that pulse behind subdivisions of two and four (in 2/4 and “cut” time) and three (in 6/8) is very helpful in producing an easy, accurate division of the beat. As a junior-high student, I didn’t have a well-developed understanding of 2/2 or 6/8. The idea that a beat could be represented by a quarter note, a dotted quarter or a half note was confusing. Dotted rhythms in 6/8 and syncopated rhythms were difficult for me. It was through the playing of marches that I finally became comfortable reading a variety of rhythmic patterns in basic meters. Dynamics. Because each section of a march is so short, there are usually a lot of dynamic indications on the page. The intro might start ff, have a diminuendo at the end of the fourth bar and start the first strain at f. There will often be a variety of crescendi and diminuendi to follow. Trios often have soft first strains, loud break strains, and more than one dynamic in the concluding sections. Certainly, each march is different, but their shared beauty is that the dynamic changes are clear and dramatic, fitting the melodic materials very well. This is great for teaching students to read dynamics and for helping them relate dynamic changes to changes in melody and orchestration. Variety in articulation. Among the rules I learned for playing marches were: Unless notes are slurred, they should be separated. Longer notes get more stress than shorter notes. Syncopated notes get accented. These are all good rules, and you need to keep them in mind when playing those little flip-folder-sized pages or when reading editions that are not highly edited. Frederick Fennell and Keith Brion, among others, have done a great service by publishing clear, highly edited versions of marches that strive to capture articulations as they were intended. Fennell has taken great care to make real distinctions between a staccato, a tenuto, a normal accent, a pointed accent, sfz, a note with both an accent and a staccato, and a tenuto with a staccato, to name only some. It’s important that students understand the different sounds of those articulations and know how to produce them. Staccato, for example, does not imply any accent, only separation both before the note and after it. The normal accent is like a quick diminuendo with a kind of down-bow stress. The pointed accent is shorter and more aggressively attacked. Well-edited versions of marches offer an excellent opportunity to teach this variety in articulation and to have students learn to execute it. Phrase. The short phrases of marches usually fall into clear four-, eight- and 16-measure sections that are perfect for demonstrating phrase structure. The melodies have clear beginnings, middles and ends. Half phrases are clearly heard, and pairs of phrases that form larger sections are easy to find. Teaching that phrases are like sentences, with commas, periods and inflection, is accomplished easily in marches. Trio sections are often contrasting, with a softer dynamic and a much more vocally inflected shape. Teaching this contrast is also important. Variety of style. Some interesting facts about marches: Did you know that the Sousa Band marched only seven times in all the years it existed? Marches were staples of Sousa’s concerts, but they were concert pieces, not intended as “stand-up” works. Did you know that many marches at the turn of the 20th century were actually dances? One of the most successful was Sousa’s Washington Post, which gained considerable fame as a two-step. The two-step was a popular dance that gradually came to replace the waltz as the preferred social dance of the time. On many old editions of marches, you will find the designation “two-step,” “quickstep” or “fox trot” under the title, indicating the dance step to be used with that music. Variety of style involves more than simply recognizing the dance, song and marching qualities of various military marches. There is a wide range of kinds of marches, including circus marches, concert marches, college marches and fight songs, as well as marches from opera and musical theater. If you include processionals, it is possible to teach an even wider variety of styles with these simple, direct works. Warm-ups. A high school band-director friend of mine is convinced that the normal practice of a warm-up at the beginning of a rehearsal is a bad idea. He avoids the Bb scale or the chorale and instead reads a march at the beginning of every rehearsal. He says it helps his students’ sight-reading greatly, gets everyone in the class involved immediately, forces percussionists to get set up quickly and gets students thinking about pulse, dynamics, articulation and following the conductor. The whole process takes less than five minutes, and he can move quickly to the next work. Not a bad idea. Some marches you might use. The list of marches that can be used successfully in teaching is huge, but I’d like to offer some suggestions. Sousa’s King Cotton is a good piece to introduce young bands to 6/8 meter. Another Sousa march, Manhattan Beach, can be used because it is so “uncharacteristic” in its form and dynamic content. I like Amparito Roca (Texidore), Circus Days (King), March op. 99, The Florentiner (Fucik), and Barber’s Commando March because of the possibilities for teaching a variety of styles. The marches from the Holst and Vaughan Williams suites are wonderful for teaching phrase and singing lines. How about an all-march concert? Several years ago, I proposed a concert consisting of all marches to my community band. After the groaning stopped, I offered a program that included The Earle of Oxford’s Marche by Jacob, Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral by Wagner, March from the Symphonic Metamorphosis by Hindemith and the march movement from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 5. These were included along with my favorite Sousa marches, some Karl King, 76 Trombones and some British marches. Clearly, we found a wide variety of repertoire for the concert, and the audience had a great time. Sometimes the basics of musical playing and ensemble development are not apparent in performances of the more difficult and sophisticated music we choose for our students. Marches provide a perfect environment of obvious musical choices that can help us to teach those basics more efficiently. Once the basics of music and ensemble are clearly understood, it may be easier to transfer those skills to more challenging works.

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Helping students strike the perfect balance in each practice session

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Helping students strike the perfect balance in each practice session

by Robert Rawlins, Ph.D.

Robert Rawlins is assistant professor and coordinator of music theory at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. He is the author of A Simple and Direct Guide to Jazz Improvisation (Hal Leonard, 1995), Intermediate Serial Duets for Two Flutes (Southern Music, 1990) and has published many articles on various aspects of music theory and performance, including his regular contributions to the Bell. Several weeks ago, I asked a colleague how his summer was going, and he replied, “Oh, just trying to find time to practice.” Another said, “I’ve got so much administrative work to do that I hardly have time to practice.” But a more fortunate acquaintance mentioned, “I practice in the morning and go to the beach in the afternoon.” Lucky him. It seems you can’t talk to a musician without the word practice coming up. It’s what we do, what we think about. It’s what bonds us as few nonmusicians would understand. All of us—music students, teachers and performers alike—recognize and accept the need to practice regularly. Yet we never seem to have the time to practice as much as we want. With such restrictions on our time, we want to make the most of each practice session. How should we invest these precious blocks of time? Veteran musicians generally have worked out a strategy to deal with restricted practice time. Years of experience have taught the seasoned musician what needs to be practiced in order to keep in shape and to meet upcoming challenges. But students need to give some thought to the subject. To assert that “my teacher tells me what to practice” does not suffice. You won’t always have a teacher. Some teachers work only on specific material at lessons and assume that students are practicing in a well-rounded fashion. Others are there to offer help and guidance, but they allow students to develop according to personal strengths and interests. Clearly, it behooves the student to give some thought to structuring practice time. Deciding what to practice during a given practice session is largely influenced by how long that session will be. It is important to understand what can and cannot be effectively practiced within a given period of time. Trying to cram five or six activities into a 30-minute session, for example, would be foolish. On the other hand, spending 30 minutes on a single activity will limit overall development and progress. A half-hour of scales and arpeggios could be an effective component in an extended practice session, but it would be a wasteful way to spend a complete session. A happy medium must be struck. Students must learn to pace themselves through longer practice periods. When practice sessions become extended, it is important to make sure they don’t turn into hours of drudgery. If something isn’t fun, we simply won’t do it, at least not for very long. An hour of tonguing exercises or two hours of scales out of a pattern book are not activities that any human being should be subjected to. The longer a practice session becomes, the more it should resemble actual performance. Drill, isolation and repetition are essential elements of practice, but you can’t do these things all day. Go easy on such activities. Remember, the ultimate goal is to make music. Charlie Parker is reported to have practiced 15 hours a day when he was young. Later in life, Parker owned a farm in Pennsylvania where he would relax when he wasn’t working. But he still practiced. I once spoke to a man who had lived near Parker, and he told me that Parker would improvise on songs all day—sometimes playing the same song for hours on end. Was he working and concentrating? Yes. Was it hard work and drudgery? Not at all. If I played like Charlie Parker, I’d play all day too. So let’s get to specifics. Assuming that we don’t have 15 hours a day to practice—and we don’t play like Charlie Parker—what should we do with our practice time? A daily routine. It’s almost impossible not to fall into a daily routine. All of us find a sequence of drills and practice material that appeals to us over time. We learn what works for us and what doesn’t. This is a good thing, but we want to be sure that our daily routines develop through thought rather than habit. We also want to keep them flexible enough to accommodate practice sessions of varying lengths. Long tones. I always begin my practice session with long tones. Some musicians don’t do long tones; others swear by them. I like them. To me they feel like stretching before exercise. It’s a way of easing into things. I never fret, worry, strain or become exasperated about my tone when doing long tones. Instead, I just try to relax and get a big, unrestricted sound. I think about breathing, posture, finger position and all of the physical elements of performing. The magic of long tones is that they afford us an opportunity to examine our playing habits at close range. It’s our chance to have complete control. How many times have we all tried to correct a bad habit, such as a faulty finger position or poor posture, only to find that we fall back into the same rut when challenged by difficult music? Long tones take the heat off. We can stand in front of a mirror and fine-tune every detail of our performing technique, a big first step toward establishing permanent good habits. Remember, when you practice, you are reinforcing how you sound and how you feel at that moment. If you don’t like how you sound, or if you feel nervous or tense, then stop. Find something else that works for you. How much time should be spent on long tones? It depends on how much time you have. Some days I spend a couple of minutes on them. Other days I spend five or ten minutes on long tones and then come back to them several hours later if I feel that tension has entered into my playing. Use long tones as a tool when you need them. Melodies. Playing melodies is a great way to develop tone, intonation and interpretation. Like long tones, they can be used to reduce tension and focus on the most basic skills involved in playing an instrument. In addition, they embody a central concept. Sometimes we become so involved in working on scales, technique, pieces and range, that we forget what our priorities are. Of what use is playing any instrument if you can’t play a simple melody and make it sound good? I’ve known students who could play all their major scales, read well and play difficult pieces accurately, but sounded terrible playing a simple song. Obviously, such students are on the wrong track. I pause to play a few melodies many times during practice sessions, just for fun. I especially like slow movements by Bach, Verdi arias, and Billy Strayhorn songs. (How’s that for mixed company?) Playing from memory is important, as it helps get us past transferring written notes to sound and puts us closer to understanding the song as a whole. Scales and arpeggios. Scales and arpeggios prepare us to play patterns we are likely to encounter in real music. No matter how many pieces you practice, you will never cover all of the possibilities that can be included in a simple scale-and-arpeggio routine. Generally, once all of the major and minor scales are learned, with their associated arpeggios, it’s a good idea to turn to one of the many pattern books that are available. These often have titles such as Daily Studies, Finger Exercises and so forth. Since it would be nearly impossible to play through one of these volumes in its entirety each day, most musicians just pick a few favorites or rotate them over the weeks and months. It is important to understand why we practice scales and arpeggios. I once asked a student if he was working on his scales, and he replied, “I already know them.” That’s like asking a baseball player if he went to batting practice and getting the reply “I already know how to bat.” We do the same exercises over and over again because they are, in fact, exercises. They are never “learned” in the sense that we can put them away and are done with them. The first step, of course, is to learn the correct notes. Then they must be played evenly, at a reasonable tempo, with proper articulation. But an important benefit of scales and arpeggios that we sometimes forget is that they are tone studies. It’s one thing to single out a note and play it with a big expressive tone; it’s quite another to get that same tone when passing through it in a series of sixteenth notes. This is a skill that the best instrumentalists work on all their lives. Etudes. Although étude is simply the French word for study, the designation means something more to a musician. Music that fits under this description generally goes beyond the “daily exercise” and qualifies as a musical composition. On the other hand, the purpose of such a work is pedagogical. So we might call an etude an exercise whose purpose is to instruct while sounding as musical as possible. Since etudes are intended to instruct, it is important to go back to them once they are learned. Review is important. At some point, most musicians find it more advantageous to continue practicing the etudes they already know, rather than learning new ones. The real value of an etude begins only after the notes have been learned. Then it becomes a valuable instructional tool for future use. It would be folly to work through an entire etude book over a period of several months and then permanently abandon it, placing it on the shelf. Learning should be cumulative. The musician seeks to create a repertory of music that has been mastered, not a list of pieces that were learned and then forgotten. Pieces. Scales, studies and exercises have one overriding purpose—to teach. Musical pieces, on the other hand, may not have been written for this purpose at all. A musical composition stands as a work of art and is not necessarily intended to be instructional. This calls for a different practice strategy. Etudes and studies generally include something of educational value in every measure. It is expected that students will practice such exercises in their entirety, often playing them start to finish without stopping. This is rarely a good approach to learning an extended musical composition, except in the final stages of preparation. Pieces require much thought and fine-tuning. Passages need to be isolated and carefully worked out. Articulations, dynamics and countless nuances need to be considered. Pieces are essential in the development of interpretation and musicianship, but these skills won’t be acquired through sheer repetition. Patience and concentration are required. Putting it all together. So what should a typical practice session consist of? This, of course, depends on many factors—the instrument, time available, personal goals and level of development. For advanced wind players practicing between one and two hours a day, dividing the practice session into thirds is a common strategy. For instance, you might begin a two-hour session with 40 minutes of basic exercises, including long tones, tonguing or vibrato studies, scales and arpeggios. The next 40 minutes will consist of etudes, with part of that time spent on learning new material and part on review. The final 40-minute segment will then be devoted to pieces, orchestral excerpts, improvisation, and sight-reading. This basic plan leaves room for flexibility, includes much variety and provides a working strategy toward effective use of practice time.

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Leave it to Ethel Merker and Holton to challenge the ‘big horn’ status quo

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Leave it to Ethel Merker and Holton to challenge the ‘big horn’ status quo
Hornists seeking an instrument with great volume and big sound have traditionally chosen an American-made Holton competitor that has become “status quo” among extra-large-bell models. While their horn does indeed provide the sought-after sound, those who play it find that they sacrifice upper-register control and tone as well as playing comfort. Holton recognized the need for a French horn with a deep, centered hall-filling sound that also provides effortless response and even tone throughout its entire range. Holton brasswind engineers turned to the design enhancements created for the Holton H175 and H183 “Merker-Matic” French horns. By combining an extra-large bell and branch with the innovative Merker dual bore, they crafted a horn equal in power and depth to the status-quo brand that yet allowed the artist to reach those difficult high notes with greater ease, accuracy and efficiency. Unveiled in 2000, the H189 has since been garnering much attention from hornists who are seeking a better, more easily playable alternative to their current instrument. Because of its dual-bore design, the H189 gives unprecedented evenness of tone and response from Bb to F, combined with upper-register control that single-bore French horns just can’t achieve. The H189 also benefits from the versatility of Holton’s independent Bb/F tuning system. Along with the adjustable finger hook, standard equipment on all Merker-Matic horns, the H189’s short-stroke valves with closer center lines make the instrument extremely comfortable to play for hornists of any age or size. Also present are the domed heavyweight valve caps that allow the horn to be played at great volume with no breaking up of tone. The Holton H189 is well on its way to becoming the new standard for the “big horn” player.
	Specifications: Key: F–Bb, Bb–F Pitch: A445, with reversible 4th valve to Bb–F Bore: F: 11.89 mm (.468") Bb: 11.68 mm (.460") Bell: Nickel-silver, extra-large-throated hand-hammered specially annealed with overlapping seam Mouthpipe: Newly developed taper with .296" venturi Lever action: String action with stainless steel springs Valve rotors: Tapered hand-lapped brass with nickel-silver outside casings Bearing plates: Tapered brass Material: Solid nickel-silver Finger-Hook: Adjustable Waterkeys: One on mouthpipe and one on 3rd slide Case: Deluxe wood-shell double case Options: Available with detachable bell as H289; with mechanical linkage, fixed bell as H189M; with mechanical linkage, detachable bell as H289M

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A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Knowing what and how to practice will produce the incentive of progress

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Knowing what and how to practice will produce the incentive of progress

by Julie DeRoche Director of Performance Education G. Leblanc Corporation

Julie DeRoche is Leblanc’s newly appointed director of performance education. Prior to joining Leblanc, she served for many years as coordinator of the woodwind department and clarinet faculty at De-Paul University, Chicago. She served as acting second clarinet with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during the 2000–2001 season and continues to perform and tour frequently with the CSO. In addition to her involvement with numerous chamber and orchestral groups, she now serves as immediate past president of the International Clarinet Association. Her instrument of choice is the Opus model Leblanc France clarinet. This is the fourth in a series of articles in which Julie details basic clarinet technique. One of the most important things that a teacher can do is to provide his or her students with strategies and information that will allow them to develop strong fundamentals in all areas of their playing. And one of the most important things that a student can do is to practice properly so that he or she can achieve correctness in these areas. Too often, students enter a practice room with few strategies for developing their performance skills. They know they must practice, but they do not know how to practice. And while teachers often give assignments, they are not always clear in their description of how to prepare the assignments correctly. What does one practice, and exactly how does one practice it? Developing good practice habits from the start can be achieved through knowing the answer to both of these questions. In past segments, I have addressed other basics of clarinet performance—good tone through good embouchure; methods for achieving clean, correct articulation; and proper techniques for holding the clarinet and positioning the hands and fingers. Each of these subject areas can be learned in clear and logical ways and must be practiced regardless of what the student is working on or performing. In this segment, we will discuss what types of materials can be used to facilitate practicing in all areas, and we will explore specific ways to develop fluid, rhythmically accurate and, eventually, fast finger technique. To begin with the first question—What does one practice?—I recommend dividing practice time into three segments, their lengths depending on the student’s age or experience. The first segment is scales, the second is etudes, and the third is music such as band music, solos for contest, orchestral excerpts or chamber music. Scales can be used to work on finger technique, even rhythm, smooth airflow, consistency of embouchure and tongue position (especially over the break) and proper holding and hand position. Etudes are often more interesting to the student and, depending on the type of etude, they can be used for practicing articulation, combinations of slurring and tonguing, phrasing, legato, rhythmic accuracy, etc. Music, of course, is the reward for all of this detail work and allows the student to prepare for ensembles and contests; what’s more, our basic repertoire allows us to introduce artistic ideas. A beginner may have a schedule that allows for twenty to thirty minutes of practice. A scale sheet that contains slow, slurred scales in several forms (returning scale, thirds, chromatic), their band method book and an elementary duet book can be a good combination. Five to ten minutes can be used to practice slurred scales, slowly, with metronome, up and down. For example, young students may start with C major in half notes. Instruct them to set the metronome to an appropriate tempo, such as quarter note = 60. Direct them to play the scale and its forms while thinking of good tone, proper embouchure and consistent tongue position while slurring—all while paying attention to correct rhythm and the metronome. Demonstrate this in a lesson, and ask them to repeat this every day. I recommend that the scale be performed slurred so that articulation does not interfere with the “long-tone” quality of a slurred scale. (Of course, the tongue should release the reed at the beginning of the scale.) Remind them that scales are the basic building blocks of music and that repeated practice of scales will put patterns into their muscle memory that will help them learn all other types of music. The next ten minutes can be devoted to the band method or the elementary method book that the student is using in school. Be sure that each exercise is given a goal tempo for performance by using a metronome, and emphasize that students should try for zero mistakes. We should let our students know that we should try for perfection, and then forgive ourselves when we do not achieve it. Show them how to use the metronome to guide their practice from a slow, easily obtainable tempo, up to a challenging goal tempo, by gradually moving the tempo faster. And be sure to tell them the purpose of any particular exercise, such as practicing tricky fingering combinations, difficult rhythms, correct articulation and such. Let your students know what “prepared” really means. Ask them for a clean result, at your assigned tempo, with all articulation marks correctly played, all notes in control, a minimum of squeaks, and with attention to all musical marks on the page. Be sure that, as a teacher, you are aware of why you are assigning an exercise, and then be sure that your students are aware of it also. Conclude the practice session with music that will be fun to perform. Perhaps they can learn a duet that you or a fellow student can play with them. Or they can practice their parts for an upcoming concert. Apply the same standards to the “fun” music as you would to any other, and reward them with congratulations when they do well. Your opinion of their work is very important to them when they know you have high expectations. Do not underestimate them, and do not feel uncomfortable with expecting them to do well. Intermediate and advanced students are much the same as beginners, but farther along the time-line of technical and musical advancement. They too must practice a combination of scales, etudes and repertoire. The time allotted for each of these segments of practice simply increases as their interest level and age increases, and the difficulty increases in all areas. For example, each day, an eighth- or ninth-grade student might spend twenty minutes on scales, ten to fifteen minutes on etudes and fifteen minutes on repertoire. This can vary slightly depending on the needs of the student, such as whether or not a contest is approaching. An older high school student may work thirty minutes on each of these segments of practice, sometimes more. College students may spend up to an hour practicing scales, an hour on etudes and an hour on repertoire, then finish with orchestral excerpts and ensemble music. Now, then—exactly how does one practice all this? Whether you are a teacher making assignments or a performer at any level, using a metronome is a great way to indicate at what point you should start practicing, where to stop and how to get there. For example, rather than simply playing scales, practice them in a specific and reasoned way. An intermediate or advanced student might use a good scale method book that contains all forms of scales in all keys, in sixteenth notes. It is best to practice one key each week (the same set of scales each day for the week) and to practice all forms of a scale in the same key signature, rather than one form of scale in various key signatures. By repeating the key every day, and at different tempos, the keys are placed in the muscle memory—and after all, we read music in key signatures. Slur the scales so that they become, in effect, long tones over which you move your fingers. Listen for smooth intervals, even rhythm, constant tongue position and accurate and complete control of finger movement. Control the fingers by using muscular strength, but strength without tension. Fingers that are completely relaxed are difficult to control, as are fingers that are very tense. Do not attempt to keep the fingers too close to the clarinet, but instead lift them in a natural way, keeping the middle knuckle slightly curved. Begin by deciding on a challenging goal tempo that is slightly beyond your “comfort” tempo, one that you can reach after approximately one week. Also, establish a time period for scale practice, such as thirty minutes per day. (If you are teaching, always decide goal tempo and time period for your student.) Then begin practicing at a much slower tempo, such as quarter note = 60. Play this tempo until the scale (in all of its forms) is clean and under control. Then move the metronome to quarter note = 66. Repeat what you had just done at 60. Continue to repeat this, continually moving faster—72, 80, 88, 96, 104, 112, 120, 132—until you reach your goal. Each day begin again at quarter note = 60. Go as far as you can in the thirty minutes. At the end of that time, no matter what tempo you have achieved, stop. Begin the next day again at quarter note = 60, but this time you will achieve a faster tempo in the thirty minutes. As you become more familiar with the scale, you will progress through the slow tempos more easily. Continue this pattern until you eventually reach your goal tempo. When you achieve this, it is time to move to a new key. By the time you are finished with your week, you will have an almost automatic response to the key signature and patterns, and when you come across these patterns in other music, they will be much easier to learn. Applying this type of organized practice to all music will help you to learn the technique in your etudes and repertoire much more efficiently and thoroughly. If you learn it well the first time, it will always stay with you. With answers to the questions of what to practice and how to practice, any performer is able to make better use of his or her time in the practice room and will see greater, more efficient results. Of course, we all know that practicing is sometimes fun, but sometimes seems to be a chore. As teachers, we know that students often do not make it into the practice room. And as performers, we ourselves can sometimes be reluctant to practice. In order for any of us to be motivated to practice, we must feel that the work will be profitable and that, once we begin, we will enjoy the time we spend. It is important to tell students (I frequently acknowledge this myself) that they will not always feel like rushing to the practice room. There will be times when it seems as if it would be better to watch TV or chat with friends online. But part of the joy of performance—of doing anything—is doing it well, and this takes a commitment of time and effort. Knowing great things can be accomplished by following these guidelines (and they can), will help to make the job much easier for everyone. I have often been asked, How do you get your students to practice? My initial answer is that I expect them to. But there is more than that. It does not take long for students to realize that their practice is producing positive results, and success is the biggest motivation of all. Performers of all ages have no better incentive to practice than being witness to their own progress.

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Yanagisawa combines bronze construction with unparalleled keywork

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES

Yanagisawa combines bronze construction with unparalleled keywork
Since Leblanc became its exclusive North American distributor in 1985, Yanagisawa has demonstrated its dedication to perfecting the saxophone by regularly introducing new models, each with important improvements to sound and construction. In 1992, Yanagisawa unveiled the “Silver Series” saxophones, with bodies made of solid sterling silver, affording saxophonists unprecedented power and flexibility of tone. In 1998, their entire artist line benefitted from improvements in tone-hole placement, bore taper and keywork modifications. Yanagisawa added yet another color to its palette in 1999 when it introduced the 902 Bronze Series, with neckpipes, bodies and bells constructed of their namesake alloy. Bronze contains more copper than does yellow brass, giving not only a darker coloration to the instrument’s appearance, but an added warmth and richness of tonal color not found in regular brass. A short time later, the 992 models were introduced, built of bronze but with all the keywork improvements found on Yanagisawa’s top-line saxophones. The A992 Bronze Series alto saxophone model provides this unmistakable and much sought-after timbre along with the unparalleled keywork quality for which the Yanagisawa name has become synonymous. Many players have, in fact, likened the sound of the A992 to that of their favorite vintage horns while greatly appreciating Yanagisawa’s superior playability and construction. Aside from the Bronze Series alto’s obvious appeal as a solo instrument, jazz players are also delighted to find that the A992’s tone blends effortlessly with the saxophone section. Classical saxophone players will find this model to be of particularly great interest for the very same reason.
	Specifications: Key: Eb Range: Low Bb to high F# Neckpipe: Lacquered brass Body: Lacquered brass Bell: Lacquered brass, hand- engraved Mechanism: High F-sharp, distinctive octave key, “sway-free” F-auxiliary and low C-sharp mechanism, contoured independent palm keys, double-action table keys, rib-mounted upper and lower stack posts, double-armed low B and C Mouthpiece: Yanagisawa Y-3704-5 steel ebonite Case: Deluxe wood-shell

PLEASE VISIT DOMINIC'S MUSIC FOR
A FULL LIST OF INSTRUMENTS AND PRICES