February 2012 Archives - The Instrumentalist

Remembering McBeth

theinstrumenta — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:57:36 +0000

Despite a cordial and down-home manner, Francis McBeth was indeed very bright and thoughtful. He wrote often for us but declined to touch on any topic a second time. He chose instead to cover only new ground, and he did this pointedly. He never shied from stating an idea vividly, even bluntly. How many other prominent musicians would proclaim these thoughts in print:

“Many teachers teach by definition instead of explanation. There are a million light years of difference.”

“Most university faculty malinger without pressure from above.”

One of his wise rules was to never send a new work to press until several bands had performed the composition to find unexpected problems. If a passage caused the trumpets to stumble, he questioned himself as to why he had written it that way and substituted something easier.

Another distinction, especially from our viewpoint, is that he was as good a writer as he was a musician, a rarity. In public speaking Francis had a style worthy of any politician and made strong points with a twinkle in his voice. In one of his disparagements of 12-tone music he related how a composing colleague had exclaimed that after reviewing his latest creation he had discovered to his surprise that it was written entirely in 12-tone form. Francis went on, “Do you know the odds against that happening? If you gave an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters, the odds of one of them typing King Lear are lesser than someone accidentally writing a composition in 12-tone.”

We have never been able to match wits with McBeth, but once we came close. We sent him an early copy of one issue with an article of his. It was illustrated with a row of pictures of classical composers wearing long white wigs plus a photo of McBeth. However, on his photo we added a similar flowing white wig on his otherwise bald head. He saw this and went ballistic until his wife Mary observed that the wig was just pasted onto his copy. Then he laughed long and heartedly, and told us the story.

Oh, Francis, we will miss you.

– James T. Rohner, Publisher

W. Francis McBeth was born in 1933 in Ropesville, Texas and started playing trumpet in second grade. He earned degrees from Hardin-Simmons University and the University of Texas and served in the 101st Airborne Band at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and the 98th Army Band at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He taught at Ouachita Baptist from 1957 until retiring in 1996 and was professor of music, chairman of the theory and composition department, and composer in residence there. He wrote many compositions in a long and prolific career, including several that have become part of the standard repertoire of bands around the world. Here is a list of his most notable works.

Canto (Grade 2)

Chant and Jubilo (Grade 3)

Joyant Narrative (Grade 3)

Second Suite for Band (Grade 3)

Kaddish (Grade 4)

Masque (Grade 4)

Beowolf (Grade 5)

Of Sailors and Whales (Grade 5)

To Be Fed by Ravens (Grade 5)

When Honor Whispers and Shouts (Grade 5)

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Brushes with Fame

theinstrumenta — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:21:17 +0000

Andy Warhol said that everyone has their 15 minutes of fame. I can’t say with absolute certainty that I’ve had mine (unless you count having a story in Reader’s Digest) but I have at least experienced it vicariously.

I was an extra on the set of The Brady Bunch. In the summer 1972 The Brady Bunch had a three-part series filmed in Hawaii. Having just finished fourth grade, I was visiting my dad, who was on R&R from the Vietnam War. While my family was visiting Sea Life Park we saw Carol, Alice, and the Brady girls about to film a sequence where they looked through a viewing contraption at Rabbit Island. The directors of the film asked us to sit at picnic tables and act natural during the filming. My dad had our family look at a map as if it was the most interesting thing we had ever seen.

Of course, I went home and told all of my friends that I would be on The Brady Bunch. Imagine my disappointment and loss of credibility when I was no where to be seen when the show eventually aired. However, they did include the scene of Carol, Alice and the three girls looking at Rabbit Island. At least I know where I was sitting when it happened. I have learned since that the directors of The Brady Bunch used such tactics to get the crowd under control with no intention of using them. Such is life in show business.

Alabama governor George C. Wallace watched me play football. George C. Wallace, the once-controversial governor of Alabama, had a stepson named Jim Snively who was on my fourth-grade football team. In 1971 Governor Wallace came to one of our games and watched from his limousine. Jim was the center and I was the quarterback, so I know he saw me score two touchdowns. We won the game and I remember going over to the limo to see him after the game.

I almost shook then-president Lyndon B. Johnson’s hand. My earliest brush with fame was in 1966 at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. My mother was actually holding my hand out for LBJ to shake but at the last second dropped it to shake his hand herself. Over the years I’ve recalled just missing his hand but it wasn’t until doing research for this article that the full truth of why I missed it was discovered. My mom feels better after her confession.

I did shake President Gerald Ford’s hand. President Ford spoke at Harding University in 1981 (after his presidency). The Harding Band played before he spoke, so as a freshman trumpet player I was backstage with him. I managed to shake his hand without considering that I could have been put in a headlock by secret service agents. I guess I looked innocent enough, because they left me alone.

The Wayne Newton touched my sock. I wasn’t wearing the sock at the time, however. I took a small group of senior band members to see Wayne Newton in Branson, Missouri. During his act, he told the story of how whenever he sings this one particular song, ladies always throw various undergarments at him. As he sang the song, I threw one of my white socks onto the stage. (Hey, even I can let loose once in a while.) He picked it up after the song and showing a quick wit, said, “Whoever threw this needs to work their way up!”

I ate at a banquet with George W. Bush. I ate dinner with George W. Bush in 2010 at a quaint banquet for 700 people. I did not get to shake his hand but my daughter had a photo taken with him. I was not too embittered by this lost opportunity since I had unwittingly transferred half the topping of a Boston cream pie from the pie to my shirt sleeve to my pants leg.

I went to college with Stephen Mark Brown. Who is Stephen Mark Brown, you ask? I guess fame is relative, but in opera he has made quite a splash. He first attracted national attention in 1992 as a winner of the Opera Company of Philadelphia/

Luciano Pavarotti Competition, following which he sang on Pavarotti Plus! Live from Lincoln Center. Pavarotti once said of Mark, “Bravo! This tenor reminds me of myself!” All modesty aside, that’s saying something. My Uncle Furman once said the same thing about me, but I didn’t take it as a compliment. Brown has performed at La Scala and other famous operatic venues. Unlike others on this list, Mark (notice how I used his first name) actually knows who I am.

I have quite an impressive list here, but before you despair at your comparatively dull and uneventful life, let me say that all musicians experience brushes with fame much more than they realize. Interestingly, our regular intimacy with music gives us this opportunity, albeit in a different way. Music begins and germinates in the mind of a composer and makes its way to the printed page where it waits to come to life again when we perform it. Name a composer – Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, or Sousa – and you find someone with whom we can have an intimate connection despite the inexorable passage of time. That’s even better than having Wayne Newton hold up your sock.

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Taking Care of Accompanists

theinstrumenta — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:17:03 +0000

Although this telephone call occurred more than seven years ago, I can still remember it vividly.

“Hello, uh, Dr. Katzenmoyer?”

“This is he.”

“Hi, my uh, teacher gave me your phone number. I need someone to play the piano for the Hindemith horn sonata.”

My immediate thoughts were: I love the music of Hindemith! I can take a few weeks to study the score, listen to some recordings, and pencil in the right fingerings. I will do a formal analysis, study the phrase structure, and try to determine how the piece is constructed. Then I’ll set my metronome to a slow tempo and learn to play it the right way, increasing by a few clicks at a time. This will be terrific! I asked, “When is the performance?”

“Uh, next Thursday.”

I did not hang up on the young man – at least, not immediately – but I have had many good and bad experiences as an accompanist. Here are suggestions of how to treat accompanists so that they will be willing to come back to your classroom again and again.

Allow ample time for the accompanist to learn the music. Whether performing the Glazunov Saxophone Concerto, or “Variations on Three Blind Mice,” make sure to give accompanists the music long before the performance date. Even the best sightreaders appreciate having suitable time to study, prepare, and practice the music. For my story listed above, I expected at least three months, preferably six, to give me adequate time to prepare such a difficult piece of music. Teachers who provide minimal time for accompanists to learn to play the music may be left with a minimal list of accompanists to use.

Treat the accompanist as equal to the soloist. Ask accompanists questions about interpretation, expression, and phrasing during rehearsals. It is unnecessary to take every suggestion the accompanist provides, but keyboardists who are good listeners may provide valuable insight toward realizing composers’ intentions. I have learned from many excellent music teachers, but I have also learned a great amount from accompanists with whom I have worked. Depending on the student’s age, and the ability level of the accompanist, it may be beneficial to schedule a rehearsal at a time when you are not present. A talented accompanist can produce great results when working with a student.

Model appropriate behavior of how to treat an accompanist during a rehearsal. I have witnessed several rehearsals in which the soloist was reduced to tears. It is rare, but there are occasions where tyrannical music teachers berate their accompanists as well. Even if the criticism is warranted, it is advisable to temper such words. Moreover, it is far better to frame any comments in a positive manner. Many of our students will go on to teach other students, so be sure to model appropriate behavior when leading rehearsals with accompanists, lest your students become the types of teachers we do not want them to be.

Use rehearsal time efficiently. Do not plan rehearsal time with the accompanist the same way as a private lesson. There are few things more frustrating to an accompanist than wasting time in a studio while the teacher works with the soloist and the accompanist sits and waits. It is acceptable to address specific points with the soloist while the accompanist is present, but avoid spending the majority of the rehearsal time singling out the soloist while the accompanist sits idly by. If you feel the soloist needs additional instructional time, postpone scheduled rehearsals with the accompanist until you can spend an appropriate amount of time with both musicians, not just the soloist.

Teach students to acknowledge the accompanists after a performance. An accompaniment part is often as difficult to learn as the solo part. Many keyboard parts are conceived as equal to the solo parts they accompany, and on some occasions, the piano part has more musical importance than the solo part. I remember learning to play the accompaniment to Schubert’s “Erlkonig,” which has an exhausting right hand part. When the singer finished the performance, he failed to acknowledge my time and hard work. That performance was more than 20 years ago, and it was the last time I played for that singer. Had the singer simply motioned to me after the performance, my perception of the experience would have been completely changed, and I would have been happy to accompany him again.

Use genuine praise when appropriate. False praise is easy to recognize, and to a professional accompanist it can be perceived as condescending. Show that you appreciate accompanists’ work, but only if it is worthy of praise. If an accompanist is unprepared and struggles through a rehearsal, he will likely realize that more preparation is needed. It would be appropriate to ask him to stay for a few minutes after the soloist is dismissed to discuss some ideas. Your private comment to him could be, “I realize how difficult a piece this is to play, so I’ll look forward to hearing you at the next rehearsal after you’ve had some more time to practice the interlude at measure 64.” These comments show that you understand the accompanist’s plight, while at the same time offering clear directions.

Conversely, if the accompanist plays exceptionally well during a rehearsal, lauding their efforts is most appropriate. Every time I accompany a certain soloist from my church choir, he tells me, “Thanks for making me sound great!” and he always means it. He is an excellent singer, yet he appreciates how hard I work to help realize the composer’s intentions whenever we perform together. Something as simple as, “I can tell that you’ve spent a lot of time practicing the piece, and I sure do appreciate it!” will be well received by any keyboardist, and the accompanist will likely be willing to play for more of your students in the future.

Leave the door open for future work with the accompanist. If you find an outstanding accompanist, let him know how pleased you are with the performance, how much you’ve enjoyed working together, and that you would like to work together in the future. A successful business is one with repeat customers, so use this philosophy when working with accompanists. This attitude can be especially meaningful to an accompanist after a lackluster performance by the soloist. A mediocre soloist should not reflect poorly on the accompanist. If your soloist has not performed up to your expectations, the accompanist can probably sense this. A comment such as, “I realize the overall performance wasn’t what it could have been, but you played beautifully, and I look forward to having you accompany my students again sometime,” will encourage the keyboardist to work with you again.

Send a handwritten thank-you note. Some accompanists are professionals, and some are volunteers, but all deserve a thank-you note. An unexpected surprise in the mailbox a few days after a performance is meaningful to your accompanists. Just a sentence or two stating appreciation takes minimal time to write but can result in maximum benefit for future performances.

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Drumset Basics

theinstrumenta — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:12:04 +0000

Recent trends in repertoire selection include increased incorporation of popular, jazz, movie soundtrack, and Broadway tunes into programming. Ensemble directors who choose these pieces must be prepared to coach young musicians in fundamental technical and musical aspects of each style on drumset. Many composers and arrangers provide rather sparse drumset parts, so drummers are likely to need help interpreting score indications. A drumset part might just be skeletal, with one bar of pattern written at the very beginning or a note that says “boogie-woogie shuffle” or “swing jazz,” which leaves very little with which to work. If directors have a concept of a basic beat in a style, they can help students make sense of those terms. Well-prepared directors can also arrange or notate appropriate drumset parts for unpublished pieces.

When first seated at the drumset, even the best student percussionists may struggle in several areas, including coordination of three or four limbs, dynamic balance of multiple parts, complex notation, and mastery of stylistic nuance. Sequential development of drumset skills can bear efficient and thorough results over time, and wise directors should groom percussionists to play drumset well before it is needed. Here is a summary of basic patterns.

The Core Pattern

Many common styles are based on a core pattern, which is useful in rock, pop, and ballad tunes and is intended to provide a point of departure for all style variations that follow. Students can master drumset techniques by learning the core pattern first and then applying them to all subsequent patterns.

This pattern consists of a simple pattern of bass and snare drum notes, against the consistent flow of eighth notes on the hi-hat. Directors can proactively coach students in coordinating this pattern. Of primary importance is starting with a slow tempo and maintaining that tempo throughout the initial stages of development.

If students cannot coordinate all three limbs at first, they should try two at a time. The best approach is to start with the hands, because most percussionists will have used their hands a lot more than their feet. Have students play the hand parts together first; they are likely to be able to do this quickly. The difficulty is coordinating each hand with the foot separately, so try hi-hat and bass, snare and bass. When all possible limb pairings are easy for students, they should then approach three-limb coordination again.

Students should focus on the hi-hat hand for tempo maintenance, and attempt to align the snare drum and bass drum limbs precisely to it. If a particular vertical slice of the pattern is troublesome, isolate those notes, slow down the tempo, and repeat them until stable, before incorporating them back into the full pattern.

Latin

The influence of Latin styles on music in schools is increasing rapidly. Drummers with even the most basic command of appropriate patterns can bring great energy to Latin-style instrumental arrangements. The shift from the core pattern to the Latin variation is extremely slight. The hi-hat remains the same throughout. The snare drum on beat two is played as a cross-stick or rim knock, and the eighth notes on beat four are played on the tom-tom. This pair of notes can be played on one drum, as shown, or split between any two. Note that the accent has been shifted to the upbeat to provide extra flavor.

Shuffle

Young drummers can use a shuffle pattern for a variety of styles, including blues, jazz, rock, country, and show tunes. The core pattern and shuffle pattern are almost identical in notation, except for the addition of bass drum on beats two and four; the primary difference between the two is that all eighth notes in shuffle are swung. Students struggling with this pattern should return to the core pattern first, reinforcing the original physical movements and resulting sounds.

Modeling is a simple and direct way to help students grasp the rhythm and style of swung eighth notes. Students should practice swinging notes on a single surface, such as snare drum. In coordinating the limbs to execute swung rhythmic pairs in the shuffle, the same tactics apply as for the core pattern: start slow, coordinate two limbs at a time in every combination, combine all limbs when ready, and maintain focus on the hi-hat hand for tempo consistency, because it plays all possible notes.

Swing

Swing is a common but vague style indication in many compositions and arrangements for large and small ensembles. There is a close relationship between the basic shuffle and swing patterns. The hi-hat hand has simply switched to the ride cymbal, and the left foot has been added on the hi-hat on beats two and four. The ands of beats one and three have been removed, placing natural emphasis on the quarter-note pulse; developing and monitoring this pulse is crucial to a strong swing feel.

On the ride cymbal, which should be hit about a third of the way from the edge to the bell, students can practice alternating between just quarter notes and the pattern as shown, gradually reinforcing the integrity of the underlying pulse in the full pattern. The ride cymbal part in this pattern can also be played on the hi-hat instead, creating an open hi-hat sound on beats one and three.

Balance is especially important in swing style. The bass drum in a swing beat should be light, although beginning drumset players have clunky feet and tend to overplay the bass drum. The same is true for students who learn to play drumset on their own; many times it will be with a heavy rock beat, which naturally has a strong bass drum part.

Two-Beat

The two-beat style is quite common in Country, American folk music, and Broadway show tunes. Two-beat patterns are usually quite simple technically, but can be varied greatly for a wide range of musical nuance; because of the relative simplicity of the pattern, notes can be added, deleted, or emphasized according to the specific nature of the music. In the example, an extra snare drum note is added at the end of the second measure to provide direction to the line. Other embellishments of this pattern could include occasional hi-hat splashes with the foot, added hi-hat notes for emphasis, or quick doubles on the snare drum for rhythmic interest. The pattern in Figure 5 appears to be furthest afield from any of the other patterns above, but is actually a synthesis of elements from all of them.

Arranging

When writing drumset parts, less is more. Avoid giving students too much ink to look at or too many sounds to play. With these patterns from the article, there is still some responsibility on the part of the director to bring out specific notes as needed. A tune might be best helped by a strong hit on the and of three or by leaving out a snare hit, for example.

Look at the score to find the overall rhythmic spectrum of the ensemble at any given point; from there it should be easy to determine how the drumset can support the music without dominating or overplaying another part. Think of scoring for drumset as finding the instruments filling the function of a rhythm section in a group that may not have an actual rhythm section. Paying attention to the bass line will be extremely important, and if there are voices such as horns or saxophone parts playing chords that might be reminiscent of a keyboard part, then match those.

The gradual progression from the core pattern through each of the four variations presented above demonstrates how slight changes in instrumentation, rhythm, and articulation can create a variety of styles at the drumset. Students can practice these patterns sequentially as presented here, and then by mixing the order of styles. Percussionists who master these examples will have developed the basic versatility needed to play in a wide variety of styles, benefitting themselves, their ensembles, directors, and instrumental programs.

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How Students Should Listen

theinstrumenta — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:59:20 +0000

When I was in high school my band director often would shout, “Listen!” during rehearsals. That seemed normal at the time, but I now realize this was a classic case of miscommunication. He thought he was giving clear instructions and I thought I was listening as closely as possible, but little was actually happening. A director can certainly make a significant difference in a student’s ability to listen, but it requires more than saying, “Listen!” The ability to listen must be cultivated. Students must know exactly what to listen for and how to respond to what they hear.

Listen to Self

Directors should provide guidance on how to develop a characteristic tone. It is not accidental that tone is listed first on many adjudication sheets. Tone production is crucial to success as an instrumentalist, and listening to other players is an excellent way to develop a rich, full, characteristic sound. Directors can help their students identify outstanding artists and recordings that can help imprint a specific sound in their mind. This method of developing the inner ear is invaluable for producing a beautiful tone.

As a young horn student I listened to every Dennis Brain recording I could find. Brain had a beautiful, liquid sound and immaculate phrasing. He could make even a length of garden hose sound like an instrument, and I was determined to match his sound. Although I never equalled my idol, his model for expression, phrasing, and richness of tone improved my playing significantly.

Countless available recordings offer a comparable experience for music students today. When teaching students to listen, they should begin during private practice. Students should first listen to themselves, focusing on playing with the most beautiful tone possible, articulating exactly what is indicated on the page, and observing dynamics and other expressive markings. By emulating the tone and phrasing of the virtuosos on recordings, students begin to open their ears.

Listen to Neighbors

The second level of listening takes place when a student plays with others. During rehearsals directors can help develop this skill by frequently asking whether students are matching pitch with the players on each side of them and the entire section. Students should also focus on matching articulations and phrases.

One of the most ineffective ways to tune an ensemble is to use a digital tuner to tune each person separately, but this is what often happens at the beginning of rehearsal or just before a performance. Tuning students with a tuner causes them to believe that they are now in tune and need not be concerned with intonation any further. They tend to forget that matching pitch is a constant endeavor. It is much more effective to require everyone to use their ears by tuning to the tuba. Try tuning from the bottom of the band’s tessitura to the top at no louder than a mezzo forte. Everyone should always be able to hear the tuba. Lower brass and woodwinds should tune first, then the horns, then the alto and tenor saxophones and euphonium, then the clarinets, flutes, and oboe. The trumpets should tune last because they have the brightest overtones. If they tune earlier in the process, those who tune afterward may unintentionally tune to the trumpets instead of the tuba.

When tuning before a performance, most ensembles do so in a separate room before moving to the stage for the concert. Hot stage lights make a performance space warmer than the warmup room, and everyone’s instrument changes pitch under the influence of the new temperature. Likewise, the pitch will change as the concert progresses and the instruments become even warmer, making it even more important that everyone adjusts pitch constantly by listening to the lowest voice they can hear.

If players are out of tune with each other during a performance, they must adjust so the pitch will become more centered. Often each student is so convinced that his pitch is correct that nobody adjusts. When this happens the ensemble’s intonation suffers throughout the performance. All players have to concede that they may be out of tune. When everyone adjusts, intonation improves dramatically.

The key to adjusting intonation during a performance is to listen to the lowest pitch in the ensemble, because that pitch contains all the octave transpositions of that pitch above it. In most bands the tuba provides that low pitch, but other possible instruments include the bass clarinet, bassoon, or baritone saxophone. These players should sit close to each other, and listen when in unison to match pitches. This will make it much easier for the rest of the ensemble to tune to the fundamental. Skill in pitch discrimination improves with practice.

Articulation and phrasing can be addressed very effectively in sectional rehearsals. If a student is mindful of these issues during private practice, there will be a basis for comparison when listening to others who have the same line. If the ensemble is not articulating or phrasing together, the music becomes muddy and uneven. I often remind young bands to tongue where it says tongue, slur where it says to slur, and avoid breaking the phrase by breathing in the middle. There is no better way to add clarity and smoothness to a line than for everyone to articulate and phrase together, and there is no better way to make this happen than for students to listen to their neighbors in a sectional and make immediate corrections.

Listen to Everybody

The third level is to listen to every part in the ensemble, a difficult skill to master. In addition to solving the problems in the first two levels of listening, directors also must ask students where their parts fit in the texture and the phrase. Students also need to know whether they have the melody, and if not, should be able to hear it over their part.

Students should also focus on balancing and blending with the rest of the ensemble. I often hear bands that are out of balance because the accompaniment lines are too strong. When I give a clinic to such bands, it is relatively easy to adjust their balance by teaching them how to listen to each other. I discuss the idea of a transparent sound that allows the melody to be heard regardless of the dynamic on the page.

I use the analogy of a video of two people talking to each other on a busy street with other people passing between them and a building behind them. The conversation between the two people in the foreground, the most important thing in the video, is the equivalent of the melody. That conversation must be audible regardless of how much street noise is going on. The pedestrians passing back and forth behind them are the middle ground, the equivalent of a countermelody or a line that provides rhythmic interest. That countermelody or rhythmic line is certainly important, but less important than the melody, so the students playing that line must be subordinate to the melody. A request to those students to reduce the strength of their line by 10% often solves the issue.

Finally, the building behind the people is the background. The musical equivalent of the background is the harmonic foundation on which the melody and countermelody float. The harmony is important, but not so important that it covers up the melody; nobody wants to watch a video of just a building. Long tones are almost always less important than a moving line, and the long tones should, like the countermelody, be subordinate to the melody. If the students playing long tones cannot hear the melody, they also must reduce their volume to allow the melody to be the most important element in the overall texture. It helps to have the students with the melody play it for the rest of the ensemble, then gradually add other sections of the ensemble to the melody, while making sure that the melody is always the principal voice in the overall texture.

Sometimes the melody can be so strong that it covers up the middle and background voices. This can happen when a large number of students are playing a unison line marked forte. This is the equivalent of the two people in the video shouting at each other rather than speaking in a normal voice. When I point out that the composer really wants a unison forte rather than twenty individual fortes, the melody usually softens to a more appropriate level. I then encourage the students to listen for those times when both the flutes and clarinets are scored in this fashion and adjust their volume accordingly.

Astute listening from everyone in the ensemble is essential for a successful performance. The ability to listen at all three levels directly relates to how well students know their parts. When players focus intently on the notes on the printed page, such as when sightreading and during early rehearsals, their listening skills are hindered. The more familiar the music is, the easier it becomes for students to engage these listening skills. Likewise, the more proficient and familiar the players are with their music, the more responsive they also will be to these essential elements of listening. The key is to encourage students to listen to themselves, their section, and the entire ensemble every time they play.

Suggested Listening

Flute: Jean-Pierre Rampal, Emmanuel Pahud, William Bennett

Clarinet: Richard Stoltzman, Larry Combs, Sabine Meyer

Oboe: Allan Vogel, Wayne Rapier, Elaine Douvas

Bassoon: Judith LeClair, Jeffrey Lyman, Arthur Grossman

Alto Saxophone: Eugene Rousseau, Donald Sinta, Steven Mauk

Tenor Saxophone: Lynn Klock, Roger Greenberg, Harvey Pittel

Trumpet: Alan Vizzutti, Carole Reinhart, Wynton Marsalis, Maurice Andre

Horn: Dale Clevenger, Mason Jones, Barry Tuckwell

Trombone: Joseph Alessi, Mark Lawrence, Christian Lindberg

Euphonium: Brian Bowman, Adam Frey, Tormond Flaten

Tuba: Arnold Jacobs, Patrick Sheridan, Sam Pilafian

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Chamber Music with Young String Quartets

theinstrumenta — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:48:45 +0000

Chamber music provides an excellent opportunity for students to improve musical abilities and gain confidence. However, even good players may struggle initially without the leadership of a conductor and the support of a full section playing the same part. Before students begin work on their selected piece, some preliminary preparation and exercises will help build communication and ensemble skills and decrease frustration.

Getting Started

Copy a score for each member of the quartet and have students highlight their parts in the score. Students should use the score for silent study, with a recording, and for rehearsing tricky ensemble passages in the future. Before handing out parts, take the time to put in unified bowings. Often the first violin parts are more difficult technically than the other parts, so the student may need fingerings or extra help. Students should number the measures themselves, which saves time during rehearsals and makes them look at each line. A careful look at the whole work highlights sections that are more difficult and will require extra practice.

Students should listen to several recordings of the piece to compare tempos, dynamic range, use of rubato, and sound quality. While listening to the recordings, students can air play their parts or even quietly hum along. YouTube videos allow students to hear several versions or their own part played separately.

Before the first rehearsal, give students a list of basic questions to research:

• When did the composer live?

• When was the piece written?

• What is the style period?

• What is the form of the movement?

• What are the primary keys in the composition?

• What is the meter of the piece?

At rehearsals each member of the ensemble can share something new about the composer or composition.

Tuning

As a general rule small string ensembles tune to the cello. The cellist should check the A with an electronic tuner or reliable piano before sharing it with the rest of the group. Then the other members of the group should tune separately. After everyone has tuned, the violist and cellist should check the C strings, and the violinists should check the E strings.

Warmups and Scales

It takes time for newly formed groups and inexperienced chamber players to become comfortable with prolonged eye contact, breathing, and leading an ensemble. Group scale practice is a wonderful way to establish camaraderie and comfort. It also provides an opportunity to work on sound quality, intonation, rhythm, listening skills, bow strokes, and physical communication without the pressure of reading music.

Have the students identify the primary keys found in the composition. To avoid confusion, stick to scales in one or two octaves. Start with a scale played in unison with separate bows. Rotate the leadership role so that each student has an opportunity to breathe, cue, and start the ensemble. As they play the scales together, students should focus on bow division and blend of sound. Ask students to use a full bow and try to stay in the same part of the bow as the rest of the group throughout the scale. Have students practice listening to the person directly to their left, then on their right, and across the group. Practice the unison scale forte, mezzoforte, and piano. Once students become more adept at listening to the sound of the group, play the scale as a canon, with each person starting a third apart.

The next step is to add slur patterns. Start with two-note slurs and have students place sticky notes at the exact middle of the bow. They should try to reach that point for the second note of the slur. To develop coordination and quick thinking, try such asymmetrical slur patters as two notes on a down bow and three notes on an up bow or five-note slurs.

If the group struggles to play the scale in tune together, add a drone tone. Each person should take a turn playing the drone or tuning note.

To improve eye contact and communication pass the scale around the group. Each student plays two notes of the scale and then passes it to another person. Start by passing in a planned way, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Once the students are comfortable passing and receiving, they can pass the scale in an undetermined order, using eye contact and body language to keep the scale moving.

Another scale exercise develops communication and leadership skills. Designate one student as the leader and ask him to stand, while the others remain seated. (If the cellist is the leader, he can sit in the center of the group or on a podium.) The leader decides how to play the scale and can incorporate rubato, dynamic changes, and varied bowings or bow strokes. The physical motions should be clear and purposeful so that the other members of the group can follow.

Students should practice scales with many different characters and styles. Each member of the group should be able to cue and lead a scale with an energetic bow stroke, a delicate attack, spiccato, or with crescendos and diminuendos. Unison chords are often found in string quartet literature. Ask students to practice a scale with all down bows played at the frog. This teaches them how to execute the approach and follow through for chords without the added pressure of playing double stops.

Look at the rhythms and bow strokes that are prevalent in their composition. In the case of Haydn’s “Horseman” quartet, for example, dotted rhythms, spiccato triplets, and grace notes are found throughout. Students could practice a G-Minor scale with a dotted rhythm in a hooked bowing, or a B-flat major scale in a brush stroke, playing two, three, or four strokes per pitch.

Rhythm

Chamber music groups should work with a metronome. A good option is to hook the metronome up to speakers so everyone can easily hear it. In addition to the external metronome, create an internal metronome by having one member of the group play a consistent rhythm (all quarter notes for example) or count aloud.

Rhythmic simplification is a valuable tool when students have difficulty playing together. The first time through a passage, tell students to play only the notes on beat one and count the other beats out loud. Another option is to have one person count out loud while watching his part or the score as the rest of the group plays. Students can also practice in pairs; this allows them to pinpoint and fix rhythmic problems.

To work on rhythmic precision, practice passages pizzicato. If the passage is too fast to play pizzicato, students can tap rhythms on their hands or music stands. This is a useful rehearsal technique when students do not hear that they are not together.

Students may have trouble understanding exactly how the rhythms of the different parts fit together. Have students subdivide their parts into eighth notes or sixteenth notes, with and without the metronome. If the group subdivision is confusing, have one person provide a constant subdivision while the others play their parts. The person providing the subdivision can play fortissimo while the others play pianissimo.

Communication and Listening

Have students sit in a circle during the first rehearsals so that they can hear and see everyone. Quartet members should switch seats every ten minutes so they have a chance to sit next to and hear every person in the group. The coach should sit or stand next to each member of the group at some point during the rehearsal. The coach can also sit in the middle of the group to work on balance and blend.

To identify who has the melody, ask students to stand up when they play the melody. The cellist can lean forward or say me. In rehearsal the person with the melody can play fortissimo while the others drop to pianissimo.

Find rhythmic motives in the piece; students can pass a motive around the group as they did with scale passages. Make sure that each student plays rhythmic and melodic motives in the same part of the bow, with the same amount of bow speed, and with the same articulation.

As students become more comfortable with the piece, challenge them to look up at another member of the group at least once per measure. As passages of the music become memorized, practice without music stands. Place an item in the center (a metronome will work fine) and have students focus toward it to create a group blend of sound. For advanced listening practice, have students play while they face the corners of the room and are unable to see each other.

Performance Preparation

As the quartet prepares for their first performance, record them and listen to it together. Each member of the ensemble should take notes on what did and did not sound good. Students should offer constructive criticism and come up with creative solutions for ensemble problems.

Encourage the group to find a name. Even something as basic as “East High School Quartet,” develops an identity and personality. Students should practice walking on stage as a group, with the cellist or violist leading and the violinists coming last. As the quartet lines up to acknowledge the audience, have them use peripheral vision to bow together. To ensure that they bow for the same length of time, they should mentally say the name of the group, or an appropriate multi-syllabic word, as they pause in a bowed position. Work on leaving the stage after the performance. It looks sloppy when some members of the group stop to pick up music while others race off the stage. Have a policy and practice it multiple times. Under pressure, students will forget what they planned if it is not well practiced.

Be creative with performance clothes. Go beyond the stereotypical serious string quartet dressed in all black. Encourage students to bring some color to the performance though clothing or music stand decorations. Ask students what associations they make with the style of the piece; perhaps a certain color or style of clothing will help set the mood.

For the stage set-up, one creative idea is to have violinists and violists stand up. This gives them greater freedom of movement and assists with communication. Experiment with the viola and cello placement. The cellist might sit on a platform if some of the students stand. Often young groups achieve a better balance and blend with the cellist on the inside of the group so that everyone can hear him.

The overall goal is to be generous and communicative on stage. Students have already worked on communicating with each other; the final step is to work on communication with the audience. For dress rehearsals, quartets can practice with an audience of fellow orchestra members or parents. One idea is to place the mock audience on stage surrounding the quartet. Ultimately, remind the students to smile and enjoy the performance.

The post Chamber Music with Young String Quartets appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Words of Wisdom from Francis McBeth

theinstrumenta — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:37:22 +0000

Francis McBeth was a skilled writer of both music and words. As the son of an English teacher he took justifiable pride in his usage of the King’s English and contributed a long series of articles to the pages of The Instrumentalist. Included here is the first of two installments of selected excerpts.

In the Beginning

How did you develop a passion for writing music?

I grew up in a family of good musicians. My father was taught Greek and Hebrew most of his life and was also a fair amateur horn player. My mother had degrees in music and was the church organist. In a church service the organist can choose what to play only for the offertory. So before I even started school my mother and I had a thing going between us, and I got to choose the offertory. I often chose Schumann probably because she played lots of Schumann. So, the offertories were our own little concert between my mom and me. If you hear good music before you start going to school, it never leaves you.

As a junior high student in west Texas I thought something was wrong with me because I was the only human I knew outside my family who liked jazz and serious music. When a movie came out about the life of Schumann, it was the first time in my life I had heard symphonic music other than through the scratches of the old 78s at home. The scratches were often louder than the music. In the movie, with Paul Henreid playing Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara, and Robert Walker as Brahms, there was a good sound system and the music was played by a symphony orchestra. The orchestra played a lot, and I stayed through the film twice that day just to hear the orchestra. It was one of the greatest things that ever happened tome. I went back the next day just to hear that orchestra play music that I liked a third time.

I attended a Dallas Symphony rehearsal at which Antal Dorati conducted the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. For a fifteen year old the repertoire couldn’t have been better. I had never heard anything like that sound in my life and thought that playing in a group like that would be the greatest experience of a lifetime. When I did play in a symphony orchestra, I thought conducting would have to be the greatest experience on earth. Then when I started conducting, I thought that writing the notes for these people to play would be the ultimate experience. All three have a special happiness in them. (1998)¹

The Voice of Experience

In 1961 I conducted my first high school honor band. I was 27 years old and had the confidence that youth brings, but after the first day of the clinic I was smart enough to realize that I had much to learn about how to work faster. At home I could hold sectionals with my band or talk to individuals in the hall or over a Coke at the student center about their approach to the 7th bar after rehearsal letter J. A two-day session with an honor band doesn not afford this luxury.

The most important secret of clinic work is knowing what to leave undone. I have taught theory to college students for 40 years. A large portion of all theory books deal with the rare problems of unusual harmonic usages. It takes more print to explain the exceptions or oddities than to explain a common usage. I now forgo the oddities until we have learned and perfected all the common usages.

An efficient clinician starts with what he considers the number one priority and subsequently works through the others. I believe that the first priority is interpretation. I place it above all else because of imprinting. If the technical aspects precede this, students usually learn the incorrect interpretation, and then have to unlearn this. Never allow incorrect interpretation, no matter what technique is being repaired. Even more important, when this aspect is poor or wrong, all else is to no avail. Because I have written extensively on the subject, I will only mention that tempo and volume variants are the most important elements in interpretation. I spend the first day of rehearsals working mostly with volume variances, which are not just a matter of how loud or soft, but graduating to and from them. Phrasing involves volume variances, and even a phrase ending is affected by it.

Only when I get the interpretation close to what I want, do I turn to the mechanics. Not so much now, but in earlier days, I would have directors point out that the clarinets were missing notes in the run at letter D. I would reply that I was aware of it, but there is plenty of time after we achieve the attitude to fix notes. They didn’t understand the importance of the famous quote by Beethoven, “Wrong notes are of little consequence, but to play without passion is inexcusable.” To make music is the first priority, to clean it up then follows.

* * * *

Be Careful

Some years ago in Knoxville, Tennessee I stepped into the hotel coffee shop following a concert and saw Wynton Marsalis sitting with his high school band director, Peter Dombourian. Because I knew Pete well, I thought it a great opportunity to meet this trumpet virtuoso. As I approached the table Wynton Marsalis got up, walked toward me, and called me by name. I was so surprised and asked him if we had met before. He replied that he was in the Louisiana All State Band in Shreveport when I was the guest conductor.

Marsalis proceeded to list the entire program that we had played, piece by piece, and during our visit quoted many things that I had said. It was after this visit that I began to reflect on the seriousness of every comment front of an ensemble. Here was a world-class performer who remembered what I had said when he was in high school. It brought home to me that anything I say in front of an honor band had better be correct, especially the criticism, because those students will never forget it. That’s a heavy responsibility. (1997)²

Repertoire Evolution

How much has the repertoire for band changed over the past 40 years?

The big change happened in the 1950s and 1960s because everybody as mad and excited and sparks were flying. Band directors were screaming that this wasn’t music. It was a wonderful time.

The hallmark piece that brought everything to the fore was Clifton Williams’ Fanfare and Allegro because it didn’t make everybody mad and was viable music. It brought the 20th century into the brains of high school band directors, and from that point everything grew. We would not have heard the music of Persichetti in the 1960s if it weren’t for Williams. With the passing of the guard, things changed tremendously because the old guard would never accept the new literature, but the younger conductors loved it.

When Persichetti’s Pageant was played at a major state contest, some of the judges were so upset that they called him that evening. He wasn’t home but they got his hotel number in Miami from his wife and called him there. They asked if at a particular place in the piece it went “bang-crash-boom” or did it go “boom-crash-bang-thump” and then hung up. The new music made some directors extremely agitated. Even the students were excited in the sixties because they would try anything. (1998)¹

The Dark Side

What music did you have in mind when you spoke of ugly music?

Some of the experimental music that we were afraid to challenge and almost all of the twelve-tone music. I am thrilled to have lived long enough to see twelve-tone music vanish. What a wonderful time, the Russians embracing Capitalism, the Berlin wall is down, and serial music has just gone away. Are these not causes for rejoicing.

The twelve-toners tried to lower music to the level of science. The dodecaphonic period lasted as long as the Classical period, and what do we have to show for it? You can count them on one hand. Alban Berg was good because he cheated. He said, “I still want to use my ears.” it was tough on students at many schools in those days; if you wanted to make an A in composition, you had to turn in a piece where in the stretto, retrograde, inversion and augmentation, every third note formed a recipe for kidney pie, and if you held the score up to an incandescent bulb, it formed the outline of Sandra Dee. Fortunately, we are trying to return to music that touches the soul instead of perplexing the brain.

* * * *

Advice to Directors

What is your approach to rehearsals?

I plan rehearsals so I know what I will end with because I don’t want the bell ringing while working with only two players on a duet while the rest of the band has sat for six minutes. This would leave a bad taste in their mouths. I want to end big with everybody participating. I have also quit working on a passage that needed more time because too many people have to sit for an extended time. I force myself to rehearse as fast as possible and limit talking to the fewest words necessary to achieve what I want. Rehearse the sections that need rehearsal; skip those that don’t.

One of my favorite stories happened to my son. After a public school concert we discussed a particular work they played, and I said the first half was excellent and the second half was terrible. How could that be? My son said, “You know Dad, the spot where it got bad is the place where the bell rang every day.” (1991)³

On Tempo

In discussing the elements of interpretation, tempo would seem to be the simplest to correct or perform right, but it is the one element that if incorrect will destroy a good work immediately. In 19th century music tempo is usually indicated by terms. In the 20th century it is more specifically denoted with actual metronome markings. How, then, can there be any mistake in tempo in a work marked by a metronome indication. Easily.

First, composers very often put the wrong tempo on their music. This would seem impossible, but the tempo that seems best at the writing desk is very seldom the best on the podium. Most composers are not conductors, and the true tempo for a work can only be felt in a physical performance. Tempo is like water, it seeks its own level and this seeking only occurs in actual performance.

To avoid this problem I never publish a metronome marking until I have conducted the work at least five times in public performances. I say pubic performance because this is not always the same feel as at rehearsals.

Much band music and some orchestral tempi are chosen by the conductor solely from the gymnastics approach. At a concert last year two conductors seemed intent on showing how fast the outstanding band could play. The performance was a musical disaster by a great band solely because of tempo. I judged a tape this year in which the percussion variation in James Barnes’ Paganini Variations was impeccably performed at almost twice the tempo it should have been played. It caused this wonderful variation to sound silly.

****

On Volume

When I speak of volume variants, many think that I am talking only of playing loudly or softly. Volume variants include so many aspects of playing – articulation, the accent is a volume variant; phrasing, the phrase ending is a volume variant; the complete curve of a phrase is a volume variant, the crescendo, the decrescendo, the timpani volume, and just plain louds and softs.

The composer primarily speaks through volume variants and dissonance with melody and rhythm a distant second. I have sat many times with composers as they listen to their own works. They always mumble throughout the entire performance. The mumbling invariably goes like this:

“Too fast – louder trombones, louder – too loud trumpets – come on timpani, we can’t hear that – no, no sffzp, band, sffzp – can’t hear the tubas.” When it’s one of my works, my wife has to listen to all the mumbling.

I never hear composers mumble, “Oops the flutes are sharp – poor subdivision in the clarinets – brass balance is poor,” they always speak of tempi and volumes.

Why are volumes so difficult to sense? One seldom hears the Brahms Second performed with different volume concepts, but you surely will with Fanfare and Allegro. I have never heard a composer conduct one of his pieces without pleading for more volume from the timpanist. Most high school timpanists just can’t play at a fortissimo, and it’s so easy. The same is true for French horns.

After I have rehearsed an all-state band for two hours, I invariably hear from a player or band director, “Oh you want the horns and timpani to play real loud,” to which I reply, “No, not at all. I want the same volume at an ff from them that Hanson wants in his music or Ansermet uses in Stravinsky. I want the same timpani volume at ff that the timpanist in the Chicago Symphony uses.” It’s not a matter of skill or technique, experience, or age.

* * * *

In my work Masque (pronounced Mask by the way not Mosque) there are two measures that I have seldom heard done correctly. there are two adjacent measures in which the band has an sffzp⁴

Inspiration and Perspiration

The world of creativity is one of fantasy, and fantasy is one of life’s greatest states, which so few of us choose to enjoy. All children live in a world of fantasy, but unfortunately most grow out of it.

Fantasy is a magnificent vehicle that transports one out of time and to a place without danger or fear. Fantasy allows a person to be all he wishes to be even if just for a moment, but it is these moments away from reality that bring such comfort and pleasure to existence. Without these flights, this earthly travail is deprived of the beauty that makes the heart soar. It is the soaring of the heart that gives the greatest pleasure and joy.

Why does a person desire the experience of hearing a great piece of music? Many don’t, but of those who do, why is it such an experience? What do we derive from it? Wagner said, “Music allows us to gaze into the innermost essence of ourselves.” I can give a list of other quotes, but they are all as hard to comprehend as the original question is to answer. I have asked many people what they receive from great art, and the usual answer is happiness or joy. I am not sure.

I experience happinesss and joy in many ways, especially from my children, but this is a different emotion than I receive from the Shostakovich Tenth or Andrew Wyeth’s Helga paintings. It is different from just happiness or joy, it is a feeling that I know no words that can accurately describe it.

When I experience great art, it seems to expand my lungs and change the chemistry in my physical body. It releases the ultimate sensation of contentment coupled with exhilaration. There is nothing in our lives outside of religion that quite equals this mental and physical state.

If this is true, and it is in my case, why do the majority of people not seek it out? The answer is one that I will never discover. It will always be one of life’s greatest mysteries, so I will not pursue it further.

If to experience this gift of art is so grand, to create the experience is a state that is even more beyond description. If the passive recipient of art is so affected, just triple, quadruple, quintuple it for the active participant in its creation. In music the performer is exalted to a higher plane, the conductor to an even higher, and the composer to the highest. The creation of art may be the highest level of personal satisfaction that is achievable. I have never found any other endeavor that supersedes it.

The act of creation is not in itself a particularly grand experience. That comes after the fact. The act itself is very hard and frustrating work. Many first year composition students struggling with this frustration have said to me, “This is not as much fun as I thought it would be.” I reply that hard frustrating work is never fun. The pleasure comes after th work is finished. Everyone wishes to be able to play, but only a few will practice. Everyone wishes to have written, but few want to write. Creative work is difficult, frustrating, and laborious.

In all creative arts the process of composing music is the least understood. The basic process of writing plays, of painting, of sculpture is comprehended by most of the public; but the ability to put sounds on paper that creates music is a mystery to most people. To write a simple song is more or less understandable, but composition beyond that is considered magical to the layman. to put colors on a white surface has been done by almost all people; to write words on paper, the same; but to organize sound in a logical manner is very foreign to the general population. (1994)⁵

The Art of Programming

A pre-clinic priority is choosing the program and its order. I am often puzzled why some programs and their order have been chosen. I have always liked Harold Bachman’s programming advice, which was that when you thought you had settled on the perfect program, you could always make it a degree better by cutting one number.

When Howard Dunn, who I considered one of the top music educators in America, took a course in programming from a very famous American orchestra conductor, one of his assignments was to turn in a sample program. This teacher remarked that he could tell that Howard had never conducted for money. Howard asked what this mean, and the teacher said, “You are ending the concert with Strauss’s Don Juan.” Howard answered by saying that Don Juan was a great masterpiece. His teacher agreed, but said, “that has nothing to do with the problem. The problem is that you will be leaving the audience and your season ticket holders for the evening with a pianissimo pizzicato in the strings.” His point was not about the quality of the music but the placement. A program should not be a potpourri of compositions the conductor likes, but a dramatic progression to somewhere. A program should be constructed just as a composer plans a composition. The chosen works must complement each other as foods do at a good meal.

I have had many young people tell me that they planned to major in music education until they played under a particular director in an all-state ensemble. There are so many horror stories from the 1940s and 1950s, and they always depress me.

A good clinician must have great patience and do anything to help the students while treating them with respect and kindness. There is a time when harsh words are appropriate, as when dealing with unacceptable behavior or bad attitudes. Poor behavior or bad rehearsal discipline is usually not the students’ fault but reflects the norm for behavior at their schools during band rehearsals. They are usually surprised when you won’t accept it. This can always be handled with firmness on your part and without meanness.

Bad attitude is something else. It deserves harsh words, and I will give them. I will not overlook a bad attitude and may overreact to it, but that’s my problem. In 40 years of teaching I have encountered it seven times, four in freshman theory classes and three in all-state bands. I can vividly remember each case, and I immediately threatened expulsion from the class or band. I will not stand for bad attitudes; there is no excuse for it. There will be times, though few, when a bloodletting is not only appropriate but mandatory for bad attitude. (1997)²

On All-State Bands

Today the goal of all-state bands is to bring in an exceptional musician and conductor who can give the group a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience. This is done through the choice of literature and the conductor’s ability to communicate the musical interpretation of the literature. A few conductors are only concerned with precision of rhythm and pitch. Good rhythm and pitch are techniques that must be attained, but technical precision does not make music. Technique is the frame to which musical expression is attached. Some high school directors rehearse with a loud metronome because they think the tempo must stay strictly the same. This is in direct opposition to the way that musicality and interpretation are achieved. Music does not stay at a set tempo unless it is a very specialized piece, like a march. For good musicality and expression the music must move ahead a little and slow a bit where needed. The places that these occur are determined by the musicality of the conductor because they are not marked. If they were indicated, they would be overdone. They must be felt.

The greatest change that I have witnessed over 50 years is the huge advancement in the level of playing, which has opened the door to performing excellent literature. It has also encouraged the new generation of composers to look to bands as an artistic medium that would support their work. I recall a piece that several all-state bands played in the 1950s that is now performed by good junior high bands.

There has also been a great change in the students. They have changed in attitude, dress, and discipline. It is much harder to get good rehearsal discipline today, and the beginning of the first rehearsal is spent getting boys to remove their caps. I have found that sloppy dress and the wearing of caps contributes to sloppy playing. The majority of band members still have excellent rehearsal discipline, but a small handful thinks that it is a pep rally.

The breaks in the rehearsal present another problem. Most schedules have a 30-minute break at mid-morning and mid-afternoon. This is too short a time to go to town and much too long to just sit in an auditorium. I much prefer to take a ten-minute break every hour. This is plenty of time to visit the water fountain and the restroom. During a four-hour morning session this gives 30 minutes of breaks. During a three-hour morning session the breaks would be 20 minutes. I have found that students stay fresher with a break every hour than a 30-minute break in the middle.

Programming for the all-state is my biggest concern and problem to solve. The program must do three things: be appealing to the players, appealing to the audience, and be of high musical quality. Programming must be chosen and placed in an order that produces a dramatic concert. I have found that five works is just right. I choose three large strong works and place these 1-3-5. Of the three I choose the best opener and the best closer. For two I select a slow work and for four I put a march or a light piece. If I have overshot the playing level of the band, I might delete the difficult work in the middle and spend more time on the others.

No matter the reason to start the all-state movement, it has grown into one of the best activities we have. To start a concert program and finish it three days later gives students an experience that they can get nowhere else. With the right conductor and the right programming of good literature it will prove an experience that students will remember the rest of their lives. (2003)⁶

The following excerpts are from W. Francis McBeth’s The Complete Honor Band Manual – A Guide for the Preparation and Organization of Honor Band Clinics:

• The Opener

“Many years ago I was reflecting about the past year of clinic concerts and wondering why some of the opening works had been a bit shaky when they should not have been. The first or opening work cannot be shaky or it will affect the entire concert because fo the destruction of the players’ confidence. It dawned on me that the three concerts that had had a shaky or not up to par first work all pulled the curtain on the band. The following year I experimented with this phenomena and learned that when high school students are seated behind a closed curtain, they feel warm and secure; but when the curtain is opened, the adrenaline hits their spines, bounces off their brains, and dries out their mouths.

“When a band is seated with an open curtain, the players have a chance to warm up in full view of the audience, to give a slight wave to mother, and to feel comfortable before the downbeat.”

• The Great Escape

“Get to the church on time – or don’t make the plane departure an Olympic event. The clinician is tired, you are tired, but go ahead and get up and take the poor man to the airport. To leave the tired clinician to the mercy of an airport bus, which God only knows when it will arrive or get to the airport, isn’t the best end for the clinic.

“I once waited for an airport bus that never arrived. I ended up stopping a man that I recognized from the clinic and asked for help. He got me to the airport (30 miles away) in a 20-year-old car with smoke billowing from under the dash. The car would not stay running unless I held two wires together the entire trip. I’ll never forget his kindness – never knew if he ever got back. I doubt it. I don’t know how he could have shifted and held those two wires together while driving in that snowstorm. I wish I had written his name down.” (2003)⁶

Random Reflections

• It is difficult to learn if you are not enjoying the experience.

• It is a shame that when teachers and doctors finally figure out how to really do it, it is time to retire.

• When I hear Mozart, I hear a man touched by the gods; when I hear Beethoven, I feel that I am shaking his sweaty hand. That’s why I love Beethoven. He was the first composer to combine direction with the catastrophic.

• In my opinion one’s best work is achieved through pressure. When there is a lack of pressure, I take a nap.

• When you step on the podium, whether it is in front of a high school all-state, the Marine Band, or the Chicago Symphony, the players will decide in the first 15 minutes of the first rehearsal whether you have got it or not. If you don’t do it then, it can take days to alter a first impression. It is the same in teaching except it will take not days but weeks to change the first class period impression.

• 60% percent of the great music shown us by our teachers and heard in a concert is very dull and boring. Of the remaining 40%, 30% is quite good, the remain 10% is great music, and 5% of this is so superb that it is almost not of this world.

• There also can come a time when discouragement is necessary to prevent disaster, but it must be a last resort, and the teacher must be completely correct. I had a composition major who was smart and a hard worker, but after a year of study I had to discourage him. When I did it, he had tears running down his cheeks, and I felt terrible for weeks. The following year after he had changed his major, he came to me and again with tears in his eyes, hugged and thanked me and said that for the first time in his college career, he was happy.

• The desire for knowledge, whether it is in music or animal husbandry, is so exciting. The acquisition of knowledge is an excitement that cannot be matched with wealth or position.

• It’s a frustrating time in life to work with younger teachers who have never heard of Booganville, Guadalcanal, the Ardeine, and Audie Murphy. The spiritual gap is huge and we will never completely understand each other.

• If it were not for football and graduation, most universities would not want a music department.

• How has teaching changed? To quote Lou Holtz, “students today (1997) are concerned with rights and privileges. Twenty-five years ago they were concerned with obligations and responsibilities. There is a lot of truth in what he said, but there are always one or two students each year who have the commitment, and these few make it all worthwhile. (2000)⁷

References

¹It’s All in the Score, An Interview with W. Francis McBeth by Jeffrey Renshaw, August 1998, p. 10.

²Rehearsing Efficiently by W. Francis McBeth, August 1997, p. 40.

³ Band Music and the Paper-Plate Mentality, An Interview with W. Francis McBeth by Roger Rocco, December 1991, p. 12).

⁴ Interpretation, Unlocking the Drama in Music by W. Francis McBeth, December 1992, p. 14.

⁵ The Creative World by W. Francis McBeth, November 1994, p. 12.

⁶ The Growth and Change in All-State Bands over the Past 50 Years by W. Francis McBeth, August 2003, p. 12.

⁷ 50 Random Reflections on Music and Teaching by W. Francis McBeth, June 2000, p. 17.

The post Words of Wisdom from Francis McBeth appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

The Nuts and Bolts of Good Rehearsals

theinstrumenta — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:22:17 +0000

Good rehearsal techniques are the same for all ages. Perhaps the only difference between a beginning band rehearsal and a university band rehearsal is the difficulty of music. How a student plays an instrument and how the director puts everything together are similar in both situations.

Rehearsal Prep

Entering the classroom in a disorderly fashion or with too much socializing leads to poor music making. Students should enter the classroom with the correct degree of respect for learning and approach the upcoming rehearsal as their job. Students will need instruction on how to enter the room and may need reminders until it becomes habitual. Placement of lockers can separate the business and social aspects of band. Students benefit from social time to interact with each other and create the family bond in the band, but lockers should be separate from the rehearsal area if possible. When students enter the instrumental section this should create an immediate response of work related habits. There should be some excitement in the room, but it should be about making music.

It is best for students to enter the room and immediately prepare for the rehearsal. This includes assembling instruments and accessories, retrieving a tuner from the classroom set, making sure they have a pencil, and preparing a music stand by adjusting it to the correct height and placing music in order as it is listed on the board. A section on the board for announcements should include the guideline for the day’s rehearsal. This gives students an opportunity to organize the selected music accordingly and begin practicing those spots before rehearsal begins. This eliminates the need to discuss what is happening that day. Instruction should be as specific as possible; rather than just listing pieces to be rehearsed, include what parts of the piece and specific aspects of musicianship that will be covered.

The physical setup of the rehearsal room, including everything from chair set-up to the placement of storage lockers and podium position, directly affects rehearsal techniques. Supply a stand for each student. This allows students to spread out and forces them to be responsible for their own music, part, and sound. It also gives everybody room for a fingering chart, pencil, tuner, and mirror. Students’ bodies will act as mutes if they are too close together. Students need ample room to play the instrument correctly and for the sound to resonate. Pitch, dynamics, overall phrasing, balance, and listening skills are affected by the chair set-up. The percussion section creates the pulse and rhythm of the ensemble, and placement of percussion equipment will demonstrate to the ensemble whether the percussion section is significant. Provide enough room for each percussive instrument and place the instruments accordingly; timpani should be close to tubas, bass drum and snare close to the low brass, keyboard percussion closer to the woodwinds. Do not bury the section in the back of the room.

We have student leaders check their section to make sure that each student has a chair, stand, tuner, and pencil. Other students begin an appropriate individual warm up and practice. Students are accountable to each other and take pride in how their section operates. All classroom logistics, procedures and rituals are designed to enhance the music, not the social. Directors should permit students to have sufficient time to set up and warm up without letting procrastinators slow things down.

A director’s expectations determine the response and respect of the students toward rehearsals. Decide in advance what students should do when you are on and off the podium. The example of a military sergeant building his troops to handle every possible scenario can be a good analogy for on the podium. When the director is off the podium, develop leadership, responsibility, and thinking skills. With explicit expectations, students will perceive the rehearsal as a business-like environment, and there will be more fruitful rehearsals and fewer discipline problems.

Warm-Up and Tuning

We teach students that the instant the conductor’s foot hits the podium the room is to be absolutely silent and still. We simply point to the first clarinet player who plays a concert F, a signal for students to cease all movement, sit correctly on the edge of the chair with both feet flat on the floor, place the instrument to the face, set the embouchure, breathe, and then match pitch upon the director’s downbeat. Beginning instruction time with a tuning note is a better way to get students to focus than pleading and nagging.

In a 45-minute class period, we may warm up, tune, and work on getting a characteristic band sound for at least 20 minutes. Many directors believe the purpose of warming up is merely to warm the instrument, so they have students doodle on the instrument for a few minutes. The warm-up should be like a choir, which will warm up on syllables and spend a great deal of time working on balance and blend. We define the warmup as time for students to recall pitch, tuning characteristics, blending in the section, balance among the other instruments, and ensemble sound. Spend time helping students recall how you want entrances and releases, dynamics, accents, and articulations, especially within the band sound.

Initially, we hold concert F for a minute with the beginning band, two minutes with our sixth grade band, and three minutes with the advanced sixth grade wind ensemble. We train students to enter and exit the F with only minute changes in the embouchure and no audible fluctuations in pitch. Students are trained to know their instrument pitch tendencies. Barrels, headjoints, reeds, mouthpieces, necks and tuning slides are kept consistent from day to day and rarely moved from their designated places. This way students learn to tune as they play the instrument. They must be able to correct pitch in the heat of battle rather than by pushing and pulling on the instrument all the time.

Because we tune to concert F, we will usually play the F scale in unison and sometimes in thirds. Scales should start slowly with no set tempo to teach students to watch the director. Next, play with a pulse, but with rubato, then with metronome and articulations. To vary things, play a single scale overlapping among instruments, then two scales overlapping. Although we play the F scale daily, we also play the scale of the selection that is to be played first. Include rhythms of the selection in warm-up scales. After scale work, we use chords and chorales to help establish blend and balance.

We check pitch of instruments only after warming up for 20 minutes. This means the band will not be in tune at the beginning of the warm-up. We tune the bottom of the band, then make sure the top of the band is listening and matching. Section leaders especially should listen across the band to each other. A variety of tuning exercises can be used. We check flutes on an F in octaves followed by the first five notes of the Bb scale to check tonehole placement. Clarinets play an open G, ascend up to C, then keep going up to G5, followed by C6. Saxophones play written F# and check D to see if students can adjust within the section. Brass players work on lip slurs or chromatic exercises.

Determine which section is matching pitch the least and take the time to fix this by asking that section to match pitch. Do not tune one player at a time; this is a shot in the dark and a waste of precious minutes. Students tune better and more quickly with a pitch to match. You may have to go down the line adding one instrument at a time, requiring them to match their leader, their tuner and their neighbor.

Pay close attention to the tonguing and to the entrances and releases during warmups. Do not wait until working on music to demand that students play with a characteristic sound, blend, and balance.

Individual Instrumental Coaching

Each student should play alone each day for the instructor to remedy any playing concerns. This can be an assigned test or quick chair audition, but every student should receive advice on how to play better each day. It is a waste of time to tell students to practice without showing them how to practice. Fingering the correct note will not create music.

Telling a student to sit up just because it is right and looks good is fine, but when students hear their sound improve, then the sound becomes your proof that your instruction is true and beneficial. When you correct someone in rehearsal, allow the student and other students to hear that your advice made a difference, and then praise the student exceedingly.

Students should know what kind of tonguing you want. The brass players use a da tongue generally, switching to la if more legato is needed and to ta for crisp articulations. Woodwinds use the syllable doo. Other things students should know are where you want the tongue placement for each instrument, what kind of sound you want from each instrument, and which sections ought to use vibrato and how much. Students will need to learn what to do with the stomach, mouth, lips, tongue, teeth, shoulders, neck, toes, back, wrists, and fingers to be able to do these things. We withhold no information; intonation skills, flaws of the instruments, alternate fingerings, and appropriate vibrato are all explained.

Never forget to praise students for what they do well, especially when they are successful at adopting suggested changes. While you work with a woodwind player, the other woodwinds should pay attention to the advice you give while the brass players study and finger passages to prepare for the rehearsal. The reverse is true when working with the brass. Every student should be engaged at all times.

Rehearsing the Music

Be sure to play the scale applicable to the piece or passage you intend to rehearse. Play thirds and any other intervals and chords that will get students’ ears accustomed to that key. Many directors get entirely too caught up in teaching the notes and rhythms, but students will eventually get these. It is more beneficial to address all of the physical elements of playing the instrument correctly when teaching the music. Rather than re-teaching students how to count sixteenth notes, or even worse, singing a passage to them, tell students what you want their tongues to do to make the notes speak correctly. Coach by addressing the fundamentals of the instrument.

When rehearsing the music, ask for large portions of the music to be tongued on one note; we usually use the tonic. Using one note eliminates the need to worry about fingerings, and leaves room to work on sound, breathing, pitch, articulations, and balance within the section and in the ensemble. After students can do this well, have certain sections play the music as written while others play the rhythms on tonic. Students will be jumping out of their seats wanting to play all the notes.

Directors should do a chord analysis for works they rehearse. Break the band into four groups to balance chords at key places in the composition. At each rehearsal square or other important places in the chord progression, sustain the chord long enough for students to find good balance and tuning. For instance, we divide the band into four groups. Group one is composed of the tubas, baritone sax, bassoon, and bass clarinet; group two members are the trombones, euphoniums, horns, and tenor saxophones; group three is the trumpets, alto saxophones, and the 2nd and 3rd clarinets; and group four is composed of flutes, oboes, and 1st clarinets. When the sound is satisfactory, use that chord to play from one rehearsal marker to the next.

This works with other aspects of music as well. A common misconception is that everyone must accent when the music says to do so. This is incorrect. Assign certain students to accent notes when written and keep others just moving air through the instrument. This will preserve the balance and tone of the music.

Break down all the instrumental skills that will be needed to successfully play and perform a particular piece of music. Students do not know the details of what it takes to play their instruments well in an ensemble. Tuba players must tongue slightly ahead of entire ensemble to be together, and trombonists must move the arm and elbow ahead of the tongue. Low reed players should have an extremely fast airstream and excellent reeds. If they are not tonguing well, check to see what reed and mouthpiece combination they are using. Brass players should explore the tessitura of a particular line often to learn what the muscles in their mouth and ear should do for a particular passage. The best way to do this is by having them buzz their mouthpiece often.

Any necessary alternate fingerings will have to be pointed out and taught, and the trombones are likely to need time to find each note position. Other obstacles include crossing the break, unusual finger combinations, flawed notes that need special attention to tuning, and unusual skips in the tessitura for the brass. Work the skills of the piece more than the piece itself. Run-throughs do not give the students the information they need or the education they deserve.

Peer Teaching and Leadership

Students should be involved in each other’s success and trained to listen to and diagnose both their playing and that of their classmates. Section leaders may at any time stand up and move through their section correcting skills they see and hear not properly performed. Even in fifth and sixth grade, we expect section leaders to be in their seats for only about 40% of the class period. It takes a while for students to know how to do this. For weeks you will have to instruct them to find the member of the section that is not matching pitch, tapping their toes, tonguing in the right spot, using vibrato (flutes) or breathing and blowing correctly. The list of things to check is long. After a few weeks, they will be comfortable enough to do this without prodding, and suddenly you will have a dozen assistant band directors in the room. The smarter your band becomes, the better their performance skills will be.

We tell section leaders that they are responsible for the performance of their sections. One of the hardest things to teach leaders is how to praise their peers. Being critical is difficult at first, but the students will learn how to correct each other. Praising, bragging, smiling, and pats on the back are often more difficult for young students. You will have to model this with praise that is frequent, creative, and sincere.

To keep all students paying attention, ask questions that require them to think about their skills. Students should learn to identify and solve problems on their instruments. A clarinetist who cannot tongue at a tempo of q = 112 should know enough to wonder whether the reed is too heavy, thin, or old. He should check whether he is pushing enough air for the reed to respond or taking in enough mouthpiece. Students who know enough to fix their playing find band much more enjoyable. All students should be asked for solutions in a rehearsal. The teacher should not provide all the answers. This is boring and telling students what to do all the time will make them into unthinking robots. Ask such questons as “What was the last sound you heard?” “What is supposed to be the last sound you heard?” “Which section is dragging?” “Who is rushing?” “How can the clarinets fix their note A?” “Did it sound like the trumpets used their 3rd slide or did they

forget?”

Closing

Study the score as a director and as a player. Define the skills necessary to play the piece of music and coach the physical elements of performing to your students. The best bands focus on the future. These ensembles practice all scales daily, devote plenty of time to warmups, and encourage, if not require, students to take private lessons. It will take longer than a few weeks to teach mouth placement, tongue placement, hand position, and other elements of musicianship. Band pieces should be used to teach these topics. This knowledge then transfers to other music selections and builds over the years to a higher level of performance and sightreading.

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