“Hey Biff! How’s it going today?”

“Your stomach hurts? Maybe it’ll feel better once we get started. Let’s get the instrument out of the case and get going, okay?”

“You can’t find your mouthpiece? Why don’t you look under the box of Milk Duds . . . Yeah, there it is. Okay, now sit up straight and let’s do a little mouthpiece buzzing. Remember to take a deep breath.”

“That did sound funny, didn’t it? But you didn’t really have to tell me exactly what it sounded like.”

“Let me see that mouthpiece for a minute. What’s that inside there? Can you see it?”

“Dirt? How did that get in there?”

“I wouldn’t suggest you toss it in the air to see which side lands in the ground anymore. Let me clean it out.”

(A couple of minutes later.) “Here you go.”

“Let’s take a look at some lip slurs. Where’s your music?”

“Let’s get it out of your case, then. It looks like you’ve folded that one so many times it’s unreadable. I’ll get you another one.”

(A couple of minutes later.) “Here you go. Play starting there at the top.”
“Well, your dog’s not here to howl when you play it, so just go right ahead.”

(A couple of minutes later.) “Let’s sit up straight and play the C scale I assigned you.”

“You can’t find the scale sheet either? I’ll get you another one.”

(A couple of minutes later.) “Here you go.”

“That wasn’t bad, but remember to play B natural in this scale, not B flat. Let’s sit up straight and try it again.”

“You played the first valve again on the way down. Let me explain it again. I may not have been very clear. See the two notes that I’ve highlighted, circled, put a natural sign in front of, and put a number two over? Those are the ones I’m talking about. Let’s play it again.”

“Very good. Now I want you to kick the third valve slide out on the Ds.”

“Where did your key ring go?”

“I’ll have to order another one. In fact, I’ll order four more. Let’s move on. By the way, how much did you practice this week?”

“I’m sorry about your cat, but don’t you think there was still some time during the week before and after the funeral? Well, let’s look at your method book a little. You do have your book, don’t you? Good. Turn to page three.”

“You’re missing just that one page?”
“I know I told you to spit out your gum the other day in class, but I didn’t mean for you to wrap it up in a page from your book.”

(A couple of minutes later.) “Here you go.”

“Sit up straight and play exercise number 24.”

“Pretty good job, but let’s look at some things we can do better. Did you take a big breath before you started playing?”

“You found out you have asthma? Well, let’s just do the best we can, then.”

“Besides taking as big a breath as you can, I want you to firm the corners of your mouth.”

“When you play like Dizzy Gillespie you can puff out your cheeks, too. Deal?”

“That was much better, thank you. Now I would like you to do it one more time and play very evenly. Remember that I want you to tap your foot as you play.”

“It hurts because you stubbed it on a stump at your cat’s funeral? How about your other foot?”

“I think you can. Let’s use the other foot.”

“That was much, much better. We have just a couple of minutes left, so let’s use our remaining time to pick out a song you want to play.”

“Exercise 133, ‘Rockin’ on the River.’ That’s kind of late in the book. Are you sure?”

“Okay. Let’s hear it.”

“Wow, that was nearly perfect. How come you can play that song and not the ones at the front of the book?”

“They may be boring to you, but they have concepts you need to know.”

“What’s a concept? Well, we’ll talk about that next week. Your mom’s here to pick you up.”

“Hello, Mrs. McGardsdell.”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

(Thirty minutes later.) “Well, I better go now, but I hope your nausea, migraines, rheumatism, arthritis, and diabetic problems stabilize as soon as possible.” 

The post The Lesson appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Eric Wiltshire is assistant director of bands and assistant professor of instrumental music education at the University of Oregon. He was previously assistant professor of music at the University of Dayton (Ohio) and received a master’s degree from Washington State University and a doctorate from the University of Washington.

The post My Take on Marching appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

      Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin’ off Nantucket Sound from the nor’east and the dogs are howlin’ for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the “Ellie May,” a sturdy whaler captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin’ and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.

    The same holds true in music. Like many young low brass players, I was repeatedly chastised in junior high and high school for playing too raucously whenever I had the melody. It was easy to mistake playing out with playing too loudly. Similarly, the first time I played P.D.Q. Bach’s Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion, the director had to remind us repeatedly that funny music had to be played with the same discipline with which we would play anything else.
    I eventually learned my lesson musically and approach every style I play with the same professionalism. In addition, my writing must be getting better (or worse), because one of my 2009 Bulwer-Lytton submissions was awarded a miscellaneous dishonorable mention:

    As Lieutenant Baker shrank his lips back to their normal size, he tried desperately to think of a situation in which his new-found power might be useful, as have I, your narrator.

For more on the information on the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, including an archive of winning sentences, visit .

The post The Art of Performing Poorly appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

     Give your cellists longer endpins and they will play in tune better. Sound silly? It isn’t. You can dramatically improve your cello section if you pay attention to the basics: the player, the cello, the bow, and even the chair.
     Imagine that one of your cellists is unable to play these notes in tune:

     Most likely, the extension from A to C# is to small. In other words, the cellist is not stretching far enough. Perhaps he cannot negotiate the stretch because the left thumb is immobile. (In a forward extension, like the one above, the thumb should move in the direction of the extension.) Immobility occurs because the entire left hand is squeezing the neck of the cello to support the instrument. The instrument should lean against the chest, but it is leaning instead against the stomach, which is too soft to offer any support. The cause of this: the cello is to low, because the endpin is too short. A seemingly insignificant matter like the length of the endpin can affect students’ ability to play in tune.
     The most frequently overlooked fundamentals are posture, holding the cello, bowing, extensions, vibrato, and the instrument itself.
     A good cellist leans into the instrument slightly when playing. In an attempt to make room for the cello, many beginners lean to the right instead. The resulting stiff neck tells them why they shouldn’t. The solution is to lean the cello more to the left.
The cello rests on the player’s left knee and chest. The right leg should touch the instrument but not squeeze it. The feet should not be shoved under the chair; otherwise the legs will be drawn away from the cello and prevented from supporting the instrument properly. With cello in hand, the player should look natural and at ease, but ready for action.
     Many students have trouble learning to hold the bow properly, so be prepared to devote considerable time to teaching this concept. The right forearm should be turned so that the first finger leans on the stick; otherwise the bow path will be incorrect and the tone quality will suffer. To avoid fatigue and muscle cramps, the bow should be held very loosely. (Excess tension is especially common in the right thumb.) Keep all the fingers slightly curled.
     The bow should always remain parallel to the bridge. If it does not, the tone becomes scratchy and the bow tends to slide toward the bridge or the fingerboard. Remember that students cannot judge the angle of the bow from their visual perspective, so don’t ask them to watch toe bow angle. Instead, remind them that when playing in the upper half of the bow the elbow should open and close. In other words, the forearm is used.  In the lower half, the whole arm is used.
     Two of the most common special bow strokes are spiccato and détaché; spiccato is best performed about an inch or two beyond the wrapping. The bow should actually bounce on the string, otherwise the sound will be rough and muddy. Keep the fingers and the arm very relaxed. You cannot actually force the bow to bounce; you can only allow it to bounce.
     For détaché, use the middle of the bow, moving the forearm – not the whole arm – back and forth. Think of the elbow as a hinge. Many students try to play détaché at the frog of the bow, using the whole arm. The result is that the bow can’t be moved fast enough, and the tempo slows down.
     It’s important to know when to use these two bow strokes. Here’s a general rule: at metronome markings from 80 to 120, repeated eighth notes should be played spiccato; repeated sixteenth notes should be played détaché. At tempos faster than quarter = 120, play repeated eighth notes détaché.
     The bow arm is not the only potential trouble spot. When the left thumb squeezes too hard, extensions, vibrato, and shifts become all but impossible. To help the left thumb relax, try playing a scale in whole notes. After starting each note, lightly tap the thumb on the back of the neck of the cello. Practice this exercise in the early months of cello playing to improve intonation. Later, vibrato and shifting will be easier to learn.
     Extensions constitute an area of cello technique that often requires attention, yet most students – and many teachers – don’t understand exactly what an extension is. It is more than just a stretch between two fingers.    Without extending, there is a half step between each finger:

In an extension, the interval between the first and second fingers increases to two half steps.

The intervals between the first finger and each of the other fingers also increase by a half step.
     To avoid playing extensions out of tune, be sure that the left hand is always pronated. In other words, the back of the hand turns more toward the scroll. When making a forward extension, such as one to four, the thumb must be mobile enough to slide down the neck and remain opposite the second finger.
     If taught incorrectly, vibrato can be a nervous uncontrollable quiver, so narrow that it adds nothing to the sound. It cannot be turned on and off, made wider or narrower, faster or slower. Poorly executed vibrato creates tension in the left hand, making extensions and shifting difficult. Further-more, performed like this for many years, it is sometimes uncorrectable. If you decide to teach vibrato – and it’s no crime if you don’t – find a method you like and take your time.
     Introduce thumb position early. Begin by having students practice sliding from first position into thumb position and back again, without the bow and with almost no left-hand pressure. This exercise familiarizes the students with the mechanics of thumb position without concerning them with intonation. When playing in thumb position, students should remember the following points:
•  The thumb should always rest on the string.
•  The hand tilts back toward the scroll. (In other words, pronate.)
•  The fourth finger is not used.
     If you expect your cellists to have good intonation, they need to be able to tune their instruments. To this end, fine tuners must be installed on all strings, and all pegs must be kept in perfect working condition. As discussed earlier, the endpin must be long enough – 12 to 18 inches is usually sufficient. On the other hand, the cello itself should be small enough. In fact, especially for left hand technique, it’s better for a cello to be too small for a player than too big.
     The bow should be small enough; otherwise, drawing it parallel to the bridge will be impossible, or at least very difficult. If the bow hair is old or dirty, rosin will not stick to it, and the bow will glide over the strings, producing very little sound.
     Even the chair a cellist sits on affects his playing. If it slopes back, the seat of the chair cannot help maintain proper posture. The chair should be high enough that the player’s thighs are approximately parallel to the floor.
     Beyond wanting to improve your cello section now, think of your students’ futures. Teaching them good technique now will save them from years of frustration over poor playing. It will also save their future teachers from having to give them remedial instruction.

The post Cello Fundamentals appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Correct Breathing
    Numerous analogies will help wind students to breathe correctly. For example, when beginners are learning to take a deep, relaxed breath, I suggest they pretend to take a step into a freezing cold shower on a hot day. This has proven to be much more successful than a lengthy discussion about dia­phragms and external intercostal muscles.
    During exhalation, students could think of blowing up a toy balloon or blowing out a candle. The physical motion of blowing out a candle is particularly beneficial for clarinetists because it makes them focus on the air and drawing the corners of the mouth inward to form an embouchure.

Clarinetist David Pino provided this interesting simile regarding air speed:
    The playing of low, soft tones on the clarinet is like a large, heavy road roller at work, smoothing out the freshly poured tar onto the roadbed.  This machine is doing its job powerfully and yet it is moving slowly indeed….The playing of loud, high notes can be compared to a huge semitrailer truck speeding down a freeway. We could say that it is no more powerful than the road roller is, but in addition to its great power it has tremendous speed.

Good Posture
    There are also many ways to visualize correct posture. During marching band rehearsals, directors may create a mental picture telling students to pretend they are puppets and someone is pulling up at a string connected to their heads; the image always helps to elevate the body and eliminate slouching among band members. Further­more, students could be in­structed to “sit as if you are standing from the hips upward,” which creates another image of sitting up straight.

Embouchure
    More specific to clarinet pedagogy  are many helpful analogies that make teaching embouchure, hand position, and articulation easier. For example, to help young clarinetists keep the corners of their mouth drawn inward, ask them to act as though they were drinking a thick milk shake through a thin straw.
    If students need to understand the concept of using equal pressure around the embouchure, I have them imagine that their lips are like the drawstring of a laundry bag. The simile of pulling the drawstring, which closes equally from all sides, helps to eliminate biting the reed. This is also helpful to clarinetists who tend to play with air leaking from the corners of their mouths.
    To assist with keeping the chin flat and pointed, students should picture themselves whistling or blowing on the top of a soda bottle. Both of these actions produce the desired result of a pointed chin that will not wrinkle up against the reed.

Tongue Position
    Teaching correct tongue position is more difficult, particularly because the tongue cannot be seen – by anyone. A garden hose analogy is helpful in getting students to position the tongue high in the mouth, as when you say the e sound in the word tea. I have students think of placing their thumb over the aperture of a garden hose while water runs out; as they make the aperture smaller, the water be­comes more focused.
    It resembles the focus that is possible with a clarinet tone: as you raise the tongue the air-flow becomes more centered. Deborah Chodacki, clarinet professor at the University of Michigan, once told a masterclass, “The air should ride your tongue like a surf board.”

Articulation
    My teacher Frank Kowalsky was a master at helping students with articulation. To learn how to lightly tongue a passage he suggested students imagine using one cell of their tongue to touch one fiber of the reed. While this is impossible to accomplish literally, the act of trying usually results in a lighter, faster tongue motion.
    Stopped tonguing, starting and stopping the note with the tongue, can be awkward for young clarinetists, especially the idea of maintaining air support while the tongue is on the reed. British clarinetist Frederick Thurston related it to pinching the opening of a filled balloon with your fingers and then allowing air to escape in bursts. The fingers correspond to the tongue and the reed, and the elasticity of the balloon corresponds to the diaphragm.
    Clarinetist Keith Stein’s creative analogy of a waterwheel emphasizes the importance of maintaining good air support while tonguing:
Imagine the breath as the river and the tongue as the waterwheel.  Should the water level fall below the reach of the paddles, regardless of any adjustment in the mechanism of the wheel, there can be no action. The paddles on a freely-moving waterwheel need only to be in the path of the flowing water to make power. Likewise, if the relaxed ton­gue is positioned well up front in the mouth within the path of the breath-stream, it can be activated with a minimum of self-locomotion, much like the waterwheel.

Fingering
    A variety of analogies and visualizations can help students improve their finger position on the instrument. For a relaxed, natural hand position, it is fun to have beginners gently shake imaginary water from their fingers and then let the hands rest with the imaginary water dripping.
    When transferring the relaxed hands to a clarinet, the famous clarinet pedagogue Robert Marcellus always told students to shape their hands as if they were holding a tennis ball. As a result the fingers curve in the correct shape without unnecessary tension. Many clarinet teachers also suggest students place their left-hand thumb in an imaginary  position pointing at two o’clock for a more natural hand position.

Playing Motion
    I teach using two similes that convey the finger motions used in clarinet playing. For quick, fast rhythmic passages tell students to imagine what happens should their finger touch a hot stove: it bounces back quickly and efficiently but still remains curved. For the gentle playing of legato, cantabile passages, students should think of their fingers going through thick honey or syrup; it will help them to connect the notes and at the same time eliminate any unmusical finger popping sounds.
    Mental imagery can also be used to teach such concepts as phrasing, dynamics, and mood to more advanced clarinetists. For example, German clarinetist Karl Leister once compared melody to a flower that opened each day and closed at night, and as a wave coming in and out on the shore. In this way, melody always has direction and students can picture these natural scenes as they play each phrase.
    Performing rubato can be especially difficult for young musicians, who often end up just slowing down. My teacher Kelly Burke would combat this tendency in students by relating rubato to a bank account: if you take money out, you have to put money back in to balance the account. Thus, a player has to speed up in order to slow down so that there is always a balance within the underlying tempo.
    Similarly, students frequently see a ritard in their music and immediately slow the music too much. To help with pacing, Steven Bryant, tuba professor at the University of Texas at Austin, often tells his students to “play the ritard so it is like a ball slowly rolling to a stop.”

Crescendos and Decrescendos
    Pacing can also be a problem when performing crescendos and decrescendos. Clarinet teacher Curtis Craver told students to play a crescendo imagining an airplane taking off, not like a helicopter. This creates the mental image of a plane slowly and deliberately rising higher in the sky (just as a crescendo slowly grows fuller) rather than a quick and jerky ascent.
    Likewise, clarinetist Christine Damm relates decrescendos to sunsets in the sense that they are so slow-paced, it is difficult to see when they are over. Damm gets students to exaggerate dynamics by mentally comparing an actor’s make-up to everyday make-up. The visual imagery helps students understand the concept of making greater contrasts between dynamic levels.

Altissimo Register
    Like most instrumentalists, clarinetists sometimes have trouble playing high notes softly and gracefully;  the altissimo notes tend to pop out with an unintended loud dynamic.  One frequent expression of conductor Richard Clary is “don’t kick the kitty, pet the kitty.” In other words, clarinetists should practice playing altis­simo notes gently; these notes will naturally come out louder so no extra emphasis is necessary. To help with connecting low notes to high notes, Steven Bryant has students imagine springing up from a trampoline, thus giving more support to the low note and propelling the sound up to the high note.

Character and Mood
    Teaching with analogies and similes can be beneficial when encouraging students to interpret the character and mood of a piece. Most music teachers are familiar with the famous line from the film Mr. Holland’s Opus, when Mr. Holland instructs a clarinet student to “play the sunset.”
    One of my favorite visualizations to help students play soft, intense passages is having them recall a time when they got into trouble with a parent in the library. Most likely they were sternly reprimanded from someone speaking in an intense whisper so as not to disturb the other patrons. The idea seems to translate well, and students are then able to capture a sense of quiet excitement in their playing.
    There are numerous ways to describe a good clarinet tone. Donald Mon­tanaro, a member of the clarinet faculty at the Curtis Institute, often relates it to “a diamond wrapped in velvet.” Keith Stein wrote, “Fine tone glows and radiates like the glowing embers of a campfire; its richness could be compared to the dark plush of a theater curtain, and its intensity has the power of penetrating or projecting like a bullet cutting through the air.” For me, these descriptions truly capture the various elements in an ideal clarinet sound, and they are images to which most students can relate.

Telling a Story
    Finally, music that sustains the interest of an audience always seems to tell a story, so I regularly have students create stories for their pieces. If the music was the soundtrack from a film, I ask them to describe the action that is taking place through their playing. This helps them to capture a mood and creatively use their imaginations.
    The next time you are teaching, whether the topic is basic performing techniques or musical concepts, consider integrating several analogies and similes into the lesson as a way to explain the subject matter. It will improve the students’ comprehension and make the process of learning more interesting for everyone.    

The post Teaching with Analogies appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Open Ended Forms. It is virtually impossible to have a complete show with every formation having nonconnected ends. However, on the pages of drill with open-ended formations, one possible solution is to have people move over one position to the left or right thereby filling the hole. Although this negates hours of teaching drill spots in band camp, with encouragement and hard work students will learn their new spots quickly. They will also be more accepting of learning new drill positions then they are of marching with a hole next to them for an entire show.

Block and/or Dense Formations. Equalization of this type of formation is not the best option – it is ideal to maintain a dense block as much as possible. This may mean choosing to leave the open hole in the form. The audience, and if you compete, the judges, will understand and accept this choice; holes happen for all sorts of reasons. Another option is to move people over one position to fill the hole in the center of the block and leave the hole on the outside edge, similar to an open-ended formation.

Curved Formations. This is where equalization of the form is the easiest solution. If it is an isolated circle or arc (not connected to another part of the formation) then only those individuals in the circle or arc will have new dots to learn. If, however, it is a completely connected formation for the entire band, all performers will have to learn new drill positions for that formation.
In addition to learning new drill positions, students will have to learn new pathways between formations. This takes time. Most, if not all, have already started developing muscle memory of step sizes, direction changes, and body visuals. A research study documented that it takes 29 consecutive days of doing something new to change a habit, but no director has that much time between band camp and the first show.

    Changing everything in one re-hearsal is a recipe for certain disaster. Given how much time was spent teaching drill the first time, asking students to forget what they were taught, change their muscle memory of step size and direction changes and perform the same move slightly differently will cause their brains will go into overload  quickly, and the show will decline in quality at a similar rate.
    It’s better to start with the two or three easiest fixes. At the next rehearsal review those changes and add in one or two more. Continue in this manner until all the adjustments have been made – and keep reviewing. This will probably mean that at the first performance there will still be some holes appearing here and there throughout the show but in the long run, gradual changes will lead to a stronger show at the end of the season.

The post Filling Holes appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Type of Maintenance
Oil Valves
Frequency
Every 1 to 3 days
Equipment
    For optimal performance on horn, I suggest using a thin, light oil, which should be applied directly on the valves, and a medium-weight oil for the bearings. As a rule you should  avoid mixing synthetic and petroleum-based oils, unless the products’ labels state in writing that they are compatible with each other. 

Description 
There are two types of techniques for oiling rotary valves, and they differ simply because of the variations in size and shape of valve oil bottles. Some bottles come equipped with a needle while others have a less-precise dropper or spout.
Inexpensive refillable plastic bottles with needles can also be purchased on the internet, giving players the freedom to use the oil they prefer regardless of the original container.

Oil Bottles With a Needle
1. Remove the first valve slide and empty any condensation. Next rotate the horn so the bell and the slide tube point directly up.
2. Insert the needle into the slide tube and squeeze a few drops of light-weight oil directly onto the valve.

Avoid letting the needle come in contact with the sides of the tube or the valve face. Repeat this step for the other side of the tube if desired.
3. Replace the slide and push it in completely. Finally, rotate the horn and depress the valve so that the oil is distributed evenly inside the valve casing.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for each valve. An alternate way to use a bottle with a needle is to remove all of the slides and add oil to all the valves simultaneously. Once the horn is oiled, return the slides to their or­iginal positions.
5. Lay the horn flat and unscrew the first valve cap. Apply a few drops of the medium-weight oil to the center of the bearing plate and a drop onto the threads.

Keeping the threads lightly oiled will prevent the caps from becoming stuck if you store the horn for a long period of time.
6. Screw the cap back on and flip the horn over. Using the needle, apply a few drops of oil where the rotor shaft comes out of the valve casing. 

On most horns there is a small gap between the stop arm and the rotor shaft.
7. Repeat steps 5-6 for each valve.

Oil Bottles Without a Needle
1. Remove the first valve slide and empty any condensation. Next squeeze a few drops of the lightweight oil into the slide itself.

2. Rotate the horn so that the bell and slide tube are facing directly down.
3. Replace the slide and push it in completely.

4. Rotate the horn and depress the valve so that the oil is distributed evenly inside the valve casing.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for each valve.
6. Next follow steps 5-7 from the method for using a bottle with a needle. 

Additional Tips
     Many repair professionals recommend blowing a few drops of light- weight oil down the lead pipe and through the horn at the end of each playing day. The idea is to create a thin coating of oil inside the horn, protecting it from corrosion. Medium or even a heavier-weight oil can also be used on valve springs as well as mechanical levers.
     Whether using a bottle with or without a needle, both methods prevent the oil from carrying slide grease and any other material into the valve.  Many players experience sluggish valves after applying oil because of slide grease gumming up the valve action.
     If applied regularly and correctly, valve oil will prolong the life of a horn and keep it in good working condition for long periods of time. However, if regular oiling does not result in improved valve operation, it is probably time for a thorough cleaning and possibly repair of the valves themselves.

Type of Maintenance
Cleaning the Lead Pipe
Frequency
Every 1 to 3 weeks
Equipment
I recommend using a plastic coated snake with brushes on either end to  keep the inside of the horn from being scratched.

Description
     This simple procedure is vital for keeping a horn in good condition. If left alone, debris will accumulate in the lead pipe only to be blown into more difficult-to-clean places in the horn, such as the valves, causing even more problems. Hornists should combine this step with good dental habits, such as brushing the teeth after meals.

Type of Maintenance
Clean and Grease Slides
Frequency
Every 1 to 3 weeks
Recommended Equipment
I like Schilke, Hetman, or Roché-Thomas slide grease. For loose slides look for a slide grease with a thicker consistency.

Description
1. Remove all slides, then wipe them clean and dry with a paper towel or soft cloth.
2. Apply a small amount of grease to the end of the slide using a finger or the corner of a cloth. You can always add more if necessary.

3. Replace the slide and push it in completely.

As you replace the slide, the grease will be evenly distributed.
4. Wipe away excess grease.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for each slide.

Additional Tips
     I suggest periodically removing the excess corrosion that accumulates on slides using a mild metal polish. You should consult the manufacturer’s instructions for using the polish. After removing the corrosion, clean the slide thoroughly with warm water and mild dish soap to remove all traces of the polish.
     Follow steps 2-5 to complete this procedure. Always grease horn slides and push them in completely during the summer months or for long periods when you are away from the instrument to prevent them from freezing.

Type of Maintenance 
Restringing Valves
Frequency
Yearly
Recommended Equipment
     Numerous brands of string are available from music supply warehouses and sporting goods stores for restringing valves. Although most professionals have their own preferences, I recommend choosing a braided dacron fishing line of not less than 50-pound test. This type of line can be purchased in spools of several hundred yards, giving  players – indeed, entire sections – string for many years.
     It’s best to avoid overly thick string because using it can result in sluggish valves, and string that is too thin may wear out prematurely. Advanced players should experiment with strings of different weights and thicknesses to find the optimum choice for a particular horn. The only other necessary equipment for re­stringing valves is a good set of flathead screwdrivers in varying sizes.

Description
     Along with oiling the horn correctly, regularly restringing rotary valves will keep the instrument in excellent playing condition. I suggest replacing strings every year, regardless of their condition, because you will avoid the frustration of breaking a string just before a big performance. Serious horn students should learn this procedure and practice it several times to become comfortable with it.

1. Loosen the screws on both the stop arm and valve lever with the correct size screwdrivers. It is unnecessary to remove them completely, just enough to remove the old or broken string. I recommend that beginners remove the string only from one valve at a time so that the other valves can be used as a guide.
2. Cut a 6-to-8 inch length of re­placement string from the spool, and tie a firm knot approximately 2 inches from one end. You may need to tie several knots on top of each other because it is important for this knot to be large enough to not pull through the hole in the middle of the valve lever. Pull the knots tight, so they do not slip.

3. If the string tends to fray, use a lighter or lit candle to slightly melt the end opposite of the knot. Wipe off the melted end with a paper towel or cloth to create a pointed tip that will thread easily through the holes in the valve lever. Manufacturers are constructing  some of the newer types of string  from material that resists fraying, so this step may not be necessary. 
4. Thread the string through the hole in the middle of the valve lever, making sure the knot is large enough to stay in place.

5. Following the diagram, wrap the string around the stop arm on the side furthest from the middle valve lever hole, and make a figure eight around the stop arm screw. Tighten the stop arm screw, but only enough to keep the string from slipping.

6. Bring the string around the other side of the stop arm and under itself.  Thread the end through the hole in the end of the valve lever.

7. Keeping the string snug, loop the end around the screw in the end of the valve lever. Pass the end of the string underneath itself, as if tying another knot.

Tighten the screw in the end of the valve lever and cut off the excess string.

Leave at least an inch or so at the end to use in adjusting the string tension later.

8. Repeat steps 1-7 for additional valves.
9. Loosen the stop arm screw and adjust the valve lever to the height you desire. Retighten the stop arm screw to keep the lever in place. All of the levers can be set at the same height by using the edge of a table to keep the levers in place while loosening and retightening the stop arm screws.
10. Check the tension on each string.

The strings should move easily, but not be so loose that they fall slack against the stop arm when the valve is depressed. Adjust the tension by loosening the valve lever screw and pulling the string tighter or allowing it to loosen as needed.

Additional Tips
     Every horn player should keep an emergency repair kit handy that has a selection of small screwdrivers and replacement strings, precut and tied.  Should a quick string change be necessary, having the materials at hand will make the process easy.

Special Web Extra:
Horn maintenance can also be viewed on the internet at

The post Horn Maintenance appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Misstep #2. Having unrealistic expectations about how much each student knows.
    It is easy to forget the commitment it took to learn to play an instrument for the first time. School music instructors are asking for frustration if they assume all the students in an ensemble have mastered basic skills and are at the same point in development.
    Instead of forming preconceived ideas about the skills, abilities, and enthusiasm for practice of your students, set aside some time to get to know them. I suggest you talk to the music teachers at feeder schools or the teacher you will be replacing about the skills you can anticipate from incoming students.
    Review past concert programs, and listen to any recordings that may have been made of the ensemble. Before school begins in September, set aside time to meet with new students and have them play a brief, simple chorale. This way you will hear their playing and not be surprised by the diverse skills of the ensemble on the first day of rehearsal.
    Good teaching is starting each student from his current ability and getting to him improve as much as possible. It reminds me of the old Army advertising slogan, “Be all you can be,” because the best part of teaching is taking students beyond their own expectations.
    During the first semester of the school year, take a quick snapshot of each student’s skills that gives a baseline of information from which to assess growth. Each student plays simple music, such as an eight-bar melody or exercise, and then the director should rate him using a checklist of categories: posture, breathing, tone, articulation or bowing, and intonation. Also observe sightreading, rhythm, pulse, and his knowledge of key signatures, notation, and meter.
    Each category is rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best. Keep the approach simple and straightforward, which means no parts of points. When the student finishes, an overall picture of his skill development has been gained. At the end of the school year, repeat the process to see how much he has improved.
    By assessing each student, directors should have enough information to select music at the correct level for the ensemble. It will help you to develop individual growth that in turn will ensure growth of the ensemble and put the instrumental program on an upward path toward performing better, high-quality literature.

Misstep #3. Managing rehearsal time poorly.
    Musicians who spend hours practicing and polishing repertoire for solo and ensemble performances usually have had little time or inclination to study good management protocol. They have never learned the art of long- and  short-term planning, and their rehearsals show poor management.
    The secret to long-range planning is to map out concerts and rehearsals in reverse. It’s that simple. Begin with the concert date and work backwards in countdown fashion, allowing for school vacation
time as well as fire drills, sick days, field trips, assemblies, and remedial tutorials that take students out of rehearsals. You can count on shortened periods and canceled days due to inclement weather or any variety of administrative problems and programs that also rob students of rehearsal time. I’ve seen well-intentioned concert planning go awry because of these and other factors that no one anticipated.
    At all costs avoid scheduling extra rehearsals or evening rehearsals in an attempt to make up for a lack of planning. As the concert date draws near, it is better to eliminate a piece rather than get students accustomed to these bail-out rehearsals. This is just one more reason not to select music that is too difficult.
    In terms of short-range planning,  have a daily plan for each rehearsal and stick to it. Again, start with the concert date and work backwards, mapping out the sequence of instruction for each piece. Give yourself at leasts two or three extra days as a cushion for each work because it always takes longer to teach a piece than you expect.
    Rehearse with purpose. Once the bell rings, the baton should go down for a warmup and the rehearsal should continue until the bell rings to signal the end of the period. Avoid talking and pontificating from the podium. I write the rehearsal plan and announcements, such as the next fund raiser, on the board so I don’t waste valuable rehearsal time talking about them.
    Play with purpose. The less a conductor talks the better. I even begin my rehearsals with a nonverbal cue because it keeps students on their toes and alert to what I want, and they have less time to misbehave if they are playing.

Misstep #4. Neglecting to communicate with school administrators and colleagues.
    Music school graduates are usually fired up to teach; they want to be the best band or orchestra director possible and feel they have the power to change the world. While this energy is to be admired, these people may forget to devote energy to becoming an integral part of the school and community.
    Administrators have been known to end a teaching career because a band or orchestra director prefers to hole up in the instrumental music office and neglects to interact with other school faculty and the community.
    It is vital for new band or orchestras directors to be­come an integral part of the school, the school district, and the community. In the first months on the job a director should find out the goals and ideals of the school and the school district and see how he can address them through the music program.
    Face-to-face, personal communication with school ad­ministrators and other staff is always best. Be carful using e-mail because some people may view it as unprofessional. Further, you may send a message with a tone that comes off as abrupt or sarcastic. Be careful of the content of e-mails.
    Other ways to promote good communication are by attending board of education and PTA meetings, and getting to know fellow faculty in other departments of the school. Join the math faculty for lunch, and attend after school hours social events.
    It is also helpful to volunteer to chaperone at school and community events such as dances, athletic contests, assemblies, charity events, and activities directed by fellow teachers. By becoming a contributing part of the life of the school and community, both you and the music program will thrive. If you don’t fit in, you will soon be out.
    New directors also need to connect with parents, which can be difficult when some do not attend school events. I suggest you have parents who are active in school programs team up with inactive parents, forming a kind of buddy system. Active parents can involve inactive parents through sharing responsibilities of carpooling, fundraising projects, equipment management, newsletter production, and chaperoning. Many times, inactive parents just need someone to work with them to get them involved.
    Grades are important to students and their parents. You should communicate what you grade, how you grade, and what your grades mean. Students need to know what they can do to receive the best grade possible.
    Communicate early and often. Don’t wait for the end of a progress report period to talk to parents. I
suggest you telephone them to convey both praise for good work and a warning when students don’t practice or their behavior becomes difficult. A personal message is always best. Do not depend on web site postings and e-mail to relate information to parents, especially when messages can be misunderstood.
    Students will appreciate you more if you show an interest in their lives outside of band or orchestra, such as by cheering for them at athletic events. The positive effect it will have on your relationship with your students and their parents will be a pleasant surprise.
Within the first few days of the new school year, it is important to learn the names of all your students and use them immediately. Show that you care about your band members by respecting them as individuals.
    This fall many new directors will be entering the most satisfying and po­tentially influential profession on the planet. For those anticipating to teach for the first time, don’t let a misstep cause you to stumble. If you do, just get back up, reflect on what you could have done better, and keep striving for professional and personal growth. It’s not the end of the world. Your students will benefit when you take the right steps to the most productive pathway. 

The post Common Missteps of New Teachers appeared first on The Instrumentalist.

Flute Lessons
     “I took private lessons with a woman named Linda, whose last name I can’t remember, because I wasn’t learning fast enough in school. I had a good ear and was very adept at picking out commercials on television. Anything I heard I could play on flute.” The lessons were traditional flute lessons, and Pattillo competed in all the local music competitions.
     “I was lucky enough to join the high school jazz band and learned to play chord changes on flute, even though I didn’t double. The director gave me lots of solos because I could rip on the flute. I did very well with that.” He won jazz solo awards every year, eventually winning an award to play Take the A Train with Dave Brubeck. In the seventh grade, Pattillo joined the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and four years later made the finals of the 1995 National Flute Association High School Solo Competition at the Orlando convention.
     For college he attended the Cleveland Institute of Music. “Very few students there were playing nonclassical music, which was a total surprise to me. There is no jazz taught there at all, not even in an extracurricular way. I quickly became friends with those students who did play jazz or some form of nonclassical music, and we played together as often as possible. I spent the first two years rather torn between traditional and non-classical music.
     “I studied with Joshua Smith, the principal in the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. In the second semester of sophomore year, he gave me an A minus. When I asked what was up with that, he said he wasn’t sure if I was truly committed to classical music. I thought about that comment all summer. When I came back for junior year, I disbanded the band I was playing in and switched over to classical completely.
     “However, once out of school and looking for work, there are only so many times you can take auditions and try to keep your head above water. I was surrounded by classical musicians who had jobs. That can be really frustrating, when you don’t have one. I taught a lot of students and played in all sorts of bands – salsa, bluegrass, Brazilian, and hip hop groups. Bluegrass music really got me into breathy playing and super breathing. I realized it wasn’t that far removed from beatboxing. I just needed a couple more tricks, such as a bass drum kick, which is an explosive B or P sound.
     “I set out to refine the sounds I was making. Then I sold everything I owned and bought a one-way ticket to the San Francisco Bay area to see what would happen. Out there I learned that flute and music were integral to who I was. I worked with a bunch of street performers – poets, singers, and comedians. I backed up poetry and free-stylers who improvise rap and realized that, with a little more effort, I could accompany them with a beat – not just lyrical stuff. While in San Francisco, all I did was work at Trader Joe’s and play my flute, and the flute playing was never for money. I couldn’t find music work at all, either teaching or playing. My college degree meant nothing. No one cared whether I had a degree or not, because flute players were a dime a dozen.”

YouTube
     After two years on the West Coast, Pattillo moved to New York. “My fiancée got into law school there, so it made sense to relocate. By the time I arrived, I could play any melody with beats. The big watershed piece for me was Super Mario Brothers. I put the videos on YouTube as an electronic business card or press kit. My experience up to that point had been that when I told presenters that I beatbox on the flute, the statement went right over their heads, as if I were talking about particle physics or something. The videos let people type my name on a computer to see what I do.
     “What a surprise! People liked the videos. YouTube actually chose one for their home page and ran it for a week or so, producing over a million hits in that short time. The entire experience has been surreal. I had been beatboxing on the flute for a long time, but when I put a video on the internet, all of a sudden people thought it was important and interesting. It has completely changed my life.”
     I asked Pattillo if he is happy with the change, and he answered quickly with a laugh. “Absolutely. Have you ever worked in a grocery store? It is a hard-labor job, and I did it in New York as well as in San Francisco. They scheduled me to work for nine hours, with an hour off for lunch. When you figure that it took an hour to get there and an hour to get home, I was working an 11-hour day. With that kind of schedule I wasn’t going to blow two hours of long tones and scales before work. My solution was to take the flute to work and play in the subways during lunch break. I quickly discovered that I could make almost the same amount of money in less than an hour in the subway as I could make in nine hours in the grocery store.”
     He gets different reactions from people when performing on the street or in a subway. “Kids don’t really notice you when you play classical music. I’ve played classical music in the subway for an hour and only made $2. When I play a popular melody that someone recognizes and do it with a beat, the reaction is completely different. Once a 13-year old boy, perhaps the hardest person on the planet to impress with the flute, watched me and asked questions about what I was doing. His intense interest made me even more enthusiastic about beatboxing.”
     He has been asked to teach others how to beatbox. “I’m working on a method and have figured out how to notate the beatboxing sounds. However, when I started to put the method together, I based it on the traditional classical approach and thought it would be similar to traditional pedagogy. It is actually very different with beatboxing. I talked to a bunch of beatboxers and they all said the way to learn beatboxing is to just do it all the time. Everyone’s mouth is a little different, so each beatboxer makes the sounds a little differently, although there are some core sounds.
     “Now that I have figured out how to notate it, I am trying to show other people how to do it. Unfortunately, most of those who come for lessons are adults who learn differently than kids. Adults are quick to understand the concept and slow to put it to work. The first lesson is always interesting, but when they come back a second time, and they haven’t practiced, there is only so much time I can spend explaining how to go BUH.”

Teaching Dalcroze
     Pattillo was introduced to the Dalcroze method at C.I.M and has spent the past two years in a certification program. “In New York it was difficult to find flute work. Few people were knocking on my door wanting to learn the Bach B Minor. However, people are very curious about music in general. I love education and working with kids and had enjoyed Dalcroze at C.I.M. I spent last year teaching a class of four-year-olds using drums, xylophones, dancing, pitch concepts, solfege, and fixed and moveable Do.”
     “The fundamental concept of Dalcroze is learning musical concepts through movement. When you create a rhythm with your hands and put it in your feet on command, the movement goes beyond the thinking brain. You end up not thinking; you just become the rhythm.
     “C.I.M. is one of the few remaining conservatories that requires students to take Dalcroze classes. I had seven semesters with David Brown, and they made a big impression on me as a musician. When I left school, I realized how much I had taken Dalcroze for granted when I met and played with musicians who didn’t internalize rhythm. It was very frustrating to play with them.
     “At C.I.M. Dalcroze doesn’t deal with pitch or dynamics – only rhythmic dictation and cross rhythms. For example, we would do an exercise called the Cosmic Whole Note. The teacher set the metronome on six or seven beats per minute, which creates a good 10 seconds of silence between notes. While the class stood in a circle, Brown would designate the starting person, and we would take turns clapping with the metronome. Everyone counted in their heads and subdivided to try to place the next whole note in the correct place. We also did two against three, three against four, etc. one pulse in the hands and the other in the feet. Then we switched the hands and feet on his command.
     “I always wanted the Dalcroze class to leave a magical impression on me for the rest of the day, as if I could take away burning insights from it, but Brown didn’t sum it up for us. He just left it to us to interpret. I would realize later in the day that I was breathing three against the two that my feet were walking as I went up the stairs. It just happened. There is no doubt, that what I do on the flute now was made possible by the Dalcroze training I had. It was just rhythm all the time.”
      I asked Pattillo if coming to beatboxing from the disciplined background of traditional study has given him an edge. “What I do is different from what other beatboxers do. Most beatboxers use a microphone, and they are not just imitating a drum set. They create a kind of sound that changes styles and drum sounds, whether they are mimicking acoustic or electronic drum sets. They use drum and bass, hip hop, and rock concepts; or all of a sudden they start to sound like a robot. When you watch beatboxers by themselves as they entertain a crowd, they go through five different musical styles that they are mimicking or embellishing upon.
     “I am different because I use a flute. I tweak or play songs that people know. People call out requests or a kid walks by looking like a clown, and I improvise some clown music. The skills that I learned in school help with playing in tune, putting the beats and rhythms together, and staying disciplined. I don’t have to think about the music or the beats. I just have to make sure that it all fits together and that I have time to breathe.
     “At the same time all of my traditional learning has stumped me because at first I kept looking for rules about beatboxing instead of just doing and living it. A nice thing about playing music by ear is that it is easy to play with other people. There are tons of flute duets, but how often do you actually go to your buddy’s house and play duets? My friends and I play music all the time. We just play whatever is in our heads. We improvise, play jazz charts, and arrange tunes that other people have written.

Circular Breathing
     “I can do it but find almost no practical application for it even in Classical music. Even long classical phrases are possible with good breath control. Circular breathing is unnecessary. Now, someone who uses circular breathing might have a bone to pick with me for saying that, but I breathe, and I like to phrase. I think breathing and phrasing go hand in hand.
     “If I were to play the Bach A-Minor Partita with no breaths, using circular breathing, after a while, I would end up creating phrases anyway. It is just natural to breathe. I think it is fun to breathe in weird places because you find yourself phrasing in places you never initially expected. In beatboxing the se-cret is to stay relaxed, resonate, and breathe often. It is not about being tight and forcing the sound. You can make many useful noises by breathing in as well as breath-ing out over the embouchure hole. I get a lot of breathy noise in my throat when I inhale, and I use that. I use my vocal cords as a second layer of support. I push from down low and from the vo-cal cords. I get a different sound and can play longer.
     “When beatboxing, singing while playing is more like the tuneless humming that Glenn Gould did on his recordings. I use my voice like a guitarist uses a distortion pedal. It is just a way to get another type of sound. You can play a note clean, or dirty, or you can play it with the fingering from an octave below to create a hollow sound. These all make different colors.
      “I hear from a lot of students who have seen the YouTube videos, and I really try to write them back. They usually want to know how to beatbox on the flute. My explanation is that there are many facets to flute playing besides beatboxing, such as intonation and sound in the third octave, and I would like to help them with those.
     “Years from now there will be a generation of people who grew up with this sound in their head; it won’t be new anymore. There will be a method, literature, and people using these idioms and articulations in art and popular music.”            

The post Beatboxing with Greg Pattillo appeared first on The Instrumentalist.