A Clinician s Observations by William W. Gourley

Transcription

1 A Clinician s Observations by William W. Gourley My experiences as a clinician working with eighty to one hundred ensembles yearly and adjudicating festivals have created a core set of suggestions that have become at least 80% of my comments to ensembles. These quick-fix strategies can make an immediate impact on the quality of an ensemble s performance. Air Makes the Horn Go & the Bow Makes the String Sing I know these are obvious observations, and perhaps it is the reason they are so taken for granted. We teach students that to make a sound they must blow into the horn or draw the bow across the string. But, too often we can forget to work on the basic foundation for creating a sonorous sound on the instrument in pursuit of note and rhythm reading. The best ensembles, regardless of ability level, spend time each class developing and reinforcing this most basic of performance fundamentals. Wind instruments- Students understand that to make a sound they need to blow air through the instrument. They are often told, use more air, or blow through the horn. Neither of these addresses the key issue. It is how the student controls the air that creates a quality sound. There are many exercises that can help with breath control but I will limit my suggestions to a few-perhaps obvious ones-that I find effective. Breath In, Hiss Out I prefer to have students stand when they do breathing exercises. This encourages them to keep the upper torso erect. Have the students align their shoulders over their hips by feeling the shoulders rolled back slightly to help expand the rib cage in the chest and upper back. If you ask them to roll their shoulders forward the students will slouch and feel constricted which impedes good breath control. Have the students breathe in for four pulses (I prefer using a metronome or a synthesized accompaniment). As they breathe in, they should fill-up from the belly up through the chest, expanding the torso as they inhale. Do not put air in the shoulders, this causes them to rise and creates tension which can cause the neck muscles to contract and impede the airflow. Then exhale all the air in eight counts by hissing against the tongue as it lightly presses against the roof of the mouth above the gum line. Encourage the students to maintain an even and vibrant hiss throughout the exhale to enhance their control of the air and abdominal muscles, not their lungs. Lungs only hold air. It s the abdominal muscles that control the rate at which we breathe and the manner in which the air is inhaled and exhaled. After three or four times of breathing in four and out (hissing) eight, change the beats of inhale and exhale. Inhale three, hiss eight; inhale two, hiss eight; inhale one, hiss eight; inhale one, hiss twelve; inhale one, hiss sixteen, etc. Always

2 emphasize breathing from the belly up through the chest, keep the shoulders over the hips, and maintain an even hiss. Have the students sit in their seats while maintaining their upper body posture. Then with shoulders still rolled back, lean forward slightly to transfer some of their weight from the pelvis bone to the gluteus maximus muscles located on the back of the upper legs and practice a few more of the hissing exercises. The Breathing Gym - I must first credit Patric Sheridan and Sam Pilafian, former students of Arnold Jacobs, who have incorporated some of Mr. Jacobs breathing exercises in a DVD entitled the Breathing Gym. I have adapted a couple of their routines when I work with ensembles and they are very effective as well as fun. Throwing Darts- As with the Breath In-Hiss Out exercise, have the students stand and discuss the proper posture and breathing practices. Instead of breathing in for a specific number of beats ask the students to pretend they are throwing darts. As they draw back the dart, breath in, hold for a moment (aim), then throw the dart at the target blowing the air out quickly through the lips as if blowing out candles and keep the air flowing to the target (about two seconds). The students should expel all the air from their lungs quickly. Throwing Paper Airplanes This exercise is similar to Throwing Darts except the exhale is longer to keep the paper airplane gliding through the air. The students breathe in slowly (3-4 seconds) as they draw the paper airplane back, hold for a moment, and then gently throw the airplane as they exhale through the lips for about six seconds or more, depending on how far the airplane should fly. Shooting Arrows Similar to the previous exercises have the students breathe in as they draw back the bowstring, hold for a moment (aim), and let the arrow fly exhaling all the air as quickly as possible through the lips. A few words on embouchure may be appropriate here. In general, most student musicians do not maintain sufficient firmness in the corners of the lips. A simple exercise is to ask the students to count to ten as though they were trying to hide their talking from the teacher and move the lips as little as possible. Generally, there is a tightening at the corners of the lips as they attempt this that can be used to teach them how to firm the corners. At the risk of oversimplifying proper embouchure development I offer these most basic of observations: Flute- firm corners pulled forward slightly and the lips should be relaxed and focused forward as if saying, to, or Pooh, as in Winnie the Pooh. Clarinets and Saxophones- flat chin and firm corners pulled back slightly as if saying, we. Double Reeds- firm corners and caress the reed as if you were holding a pingpong ball inside the mouth with equal pressure around all parts of the reed

3 (drawstring feel in the lips) and do not roll the lips in so far that the flesh of the lips disappear. Brass- firm corners pulled forward slightly and reach the lips (upper lip) into the mouthpiece or feel as though you are slightly pushing the mouthpiece away from the teeth with the lips. In general: flutes cover too much tone whole; clarinets and saxophones do not take enough mouthpiece in the mouth, brasses do not keep enough space between the teeth and double reeds are using too much or not enough lip pressure around the reed. String instrument tone production presents a greater challenge to master however there are some basic concepts that can enhance the quality of the sound. The bow hair should be tightened only enough to allow a pencil to pass through the bow stick and hair at the narrowest point. This will typically allow the bow hair to give a little without touching the bow stick when the bow rests on the string. The wrist of the bow hand needs to lead the direction of the bow. When staring the down-bow the wrist should be pointing to the left and gradually flex through the down bow until it points to the right at the bottom of the stroke. Care should be given to opening the arm at the elbow and not the shoulder as the student progresses through the motion. Often students will lock the wrist and move from the elbow through the bow hand as one entity. This will make it impossible to keep the bow parallel to the string. There needs to be fluidity at the wrist that anticipates the change in bow direction that is lead by the wrist. This will aid in keeping the bow perpendicular to the string (parallel to the bridge). Generally, this is taught by holding the bow erect and practicing moving it up and down while flexing at the wrist. This is an effective approach to teach flexibility in the wrist but the student must move at the shoulder and this can lead to an inflexible elbow. I prefer to take this exercise one-step further and work on full bows on the string while focusing the students attention on leading the bow with a supple wrist. Beginning at the frog, halfway between the bridge and fingerboard and work to a pulse over four beats reciting, frog (beat1) quarter (beat 2), half (beat 3), quarter (beat 4), tip (beat 1), quarter (beat 2), half (beat 3), quarter (beat 4), frog (beat 1 which is the end of beat 4). The bow speed and quality of sound should remain constant. As the bow approaches the tip the student needs to apply a little more pressure to the bow and lighten the pressure as they approach the frog to keep the sound consistent. Continue this exercise over other durations of two and three pulses adjusting the words recited to coincide with where the bow should be at each pulse. Work in different parts of the bow and across different strings as well to develop a consistent sound. The middle, upper half and lower half of the bow all need to be developed to insure a consistent overall sound from the string.

4 The bow change needs to be imperceptible and this can only be achieved by leading the bow direction from the wrist instead of the elbow. Another basic bowing principal is the need to keep a consistent volume on upbows that span less time than down-bows. This occurs frequently in ¾ time when the player executes a long down-bow on beats one and two and then must cover the full length of the down-bow as they perform an up-bow. This produces a one, two, THREE, one, two, THREE effect. Students need to understand that as they move the bow more quickly on the upbow over one beat, there is a tendency for the note to be louder. They must think of using a lighter bow or lifting the bow on the up-bow to counter this phenomenon. Play Into the Sound ot On Top of It To create a sonorous ensemble sound the upper voices must play into the texture of the lower voices. Bands have come to know this as Pyramid Balance as described in Effective Performance of Band Music by Francis McBeth. This concept requires the lower instruments in the bass and tenor voices to play louder and the alto and soprano voice to play softer at a given dynamic level to create a full textured sound. Students can learn to listen for this sound with a couple easy strategies: Isolate a chord or section of music and have the bass and tenor voices play taking care to balance all the voices equally (blend individuals sound with the rest of the section). Band-tubas, low reeds, euphoniums, trombones, French horns; Stringsbasses and cellos Add the alto voice to the bass and tenor voices asking them to add to but not dominate the lower voices. Band-trumpets and saxophones; Strings-violas and second violins. Then add the soprano voices to the sound, adding to the texture not dominating it. Band-clarinets, oboes and flutes; Strings-first violins Percentages often are useful in establishing a blended and balanced ensemble sound. Ask the ensemble to play; 60% as loud as those around them for fortissimo, 50% for forte, 40% for mezzo forte, 30% for mezzo piano, 20% for piano and 10%-15% for pianissimo. You may need to nuance these percentages but, generally, they seem to work. One of the immediate benefits of the percentage method is it forces the ensemble members to blend their sound within the section and avoids distortion of the ensemble that occurs when individuals dominate the sound. Once the ensemble understands the concept of playing into the sound they need to be aware that all dynamics are lead by the lower voices. Crescendos and accents are created from the bottom and middle of the ensemble not in the upper voices. The higher the tessitura of your instrument the less you accent or crescendo. This can be a difficult

5 concept for first chair players who are used to leading to appreciate but they must adjust and play into the ensemble sound. For more information on ensemble sound visit our newsletter archive site at for these articles: Enhancing Ensemble Balance and It Doesn t Sound Good Because It Doesn t Sound Good It s ot What You Play It s How You Play It-Musicality I will often select a member of the ensemble and ask in a passive voice, How you doin? This usually results in a polite, Fine, or Good, how are you? I ask again, but this time I use my best impression of a Brooklyn accent, How you doin? which invariably receives a much more excited response from the ensemble. The same words, but they have an entirely different impact when I interpret them differently. It s not what I say, it s how I say it that generates the response. This is what musicality is all about. I have heard composers from McBeth to Copland say in some fashion or another; whatever mistake you make when you play their music, don t make the mistake of playing it boring. There are a few basic principals of musicality students need to incorporate into their performance: Short Notes Move to Long Notes-The musical energy moves through short notes to arrive at longer notes. This is achieved by intensifying the volume slightly through the short notes toward the longer note. Weighting the Notes-Longer notes need to be played with a bit more weight or emphasis than shorter notes. A dotted eighth note among several eighth notes should be played with more weight than the eight notes. The same is true for a dotted quarter note surrounded by quarter notes or a half note among quarters. The emphasis is not exaggerated. It is played like a relaxed accent with a slight decay on the backside of the note. Forward Motion-Bar lines are the nemesis of musicality. Ensemble members need to understand the bar lines exist to help us properly group the pulses into the proper metre, not note groupings. The majority of the time, all the notes after the first note of a measure are moving across the bar line to the first note of the next measure. Ensembles need to get out of the boxes (measures) and play the note groupings determined by short notes moving to long and the harmonic structure. Harmonic Direction-A melody can be pretty, the harmonic material makes it beautiful. Harmonic material needs to have a flow, a direction. The energy should intensify as the harmonic structure becomes more exotic and further from the tonic and relaxes as it returns to tonic. Take time to isolate the harmonic material and give it direction so that it could stand on its own and the audience would enjoy it. Then add the melodic and counter melody playing into the harmonic material allowing it to float on the waves of the harmonic material. I liken this to floating in the ocean. The melody plays into the sound of the harmonic material as if it were a person floating in the ocean with their shoulders and head above the water. The melody then rises and falls on the waves of the harmonic material. Volume and Speed-There are two ways to create excitement, volume and speed, but not at the same time. Fast notes in the forte and fortissimo dynamics must be

6 played at a relaxed dynamic level to avoid distortion of the sound and enhance the clarity of the ensemble. Do Something-Sustained notes or repeated notes in the melody need to have direction. They are either moving toward something or away from something. They are creating tension or release. The same is true for sequential material which is usually creating tension. Who s Driving? When the music is fast and energetic the composer is driving and the ensemble is along for the ride. When the music is slow the composer needs the ensemble to drive and the composer is the passenger. While I was on the conducting staff at a summer music camp, all the bands were asked to play a composition by Vaclav Nelhybel who was in residence. I didn t want to play one of his more energetic compositions and instead chose his Chorale. After he worked with the band we had a discussion where, among other things, I explained why I chose the piece. He replied he had to compose the more energetic music to avoid having his music played boringly. His response was a bit more colorful but that was the overall idea he conveyed. Composers control the energy of a composition by writing in quicker tempos, syncopation and highly technical passages while the pulse is maintained by the driving rhythmic patterns. To a great degree, all the performer has to do is master the technical aspects and let the music (or composer) create the excitement. When the tempos are slow, the music more lyrical and the notes are longer, more sustained, and legato; the performer must provide the energy to create emotion and artistry. There are no quick driving rhythmic patterns to maintain the pulse. The performer must internalize the subdivision of the pulse. The softer dynamics and thinner scoring require a more energized and focused breath support or fuller bows. The finger and slide movement or bow changes must be energized and move quickly to avoid bending pitches and inaccurate movement. Basically, the performer must supply the energy to the composition. The musician needs to drive the work when the composer relaxes. Play With Your Ears ot Your Eyes We have all experienced an ensemble s performance suffer as the music became more technical or goes through harmonic transitions. There are two reasons for this; obviously a lack of familiarity with the material which can be corrected with proper practice, and second, too much of the brain s energy is focused on the musician s eyes to the detriment of the ears. Performers experience music first with the eyes. They must decode the symbols on the page and translate them into an aural picture. The more complicated the technical demands the more energy that goes to the eyes. This pulls the performer s attention away

7 from listening to what they are playing. The musician needs to focus their energies to hear what they are playing since the audience experiences music with its ears not eyes. To illustrate this to ensembles I draw a caricature of the typical musician with big eyes and small ears. Then I redraw the caricature with small eyes and huge ears. This (big ears) is how they need to approach their performance. They need to become both musician and audience. To accomplish this they need to grow smaller eyes and bigger ears. Opening the ears helps to enhance so many of the ensemble issues we face. Blend, balance, intonation, precision of movement, attacks and releases, phrasing and style cannot be fixed with our eyes. The individual that listens for the things they are translating form the written page will create a better ensemble performance. Music is ot on the Page, it is in You I will hold up a piece of music and ask the ensemble, What is this? Fortunately, they have not learned that the obvious answer is always the wrong answer and they will respond, Music. To which I reply, No, it is just symbols, paper and ink. It is what you do to it that makes it music. You are the music. This is obvious to music educators but not so apparent to students. We become so focused on the pedagogical aspects of music performance we can forget to convey to students their artistic responsibilities in presenting a work of art that is the extension of the composer s sole. The reason it is necessary to master the craftsmanship of music is so we can recreate it artistically. There are many other performance issues that I encounter while working with ensembles but these few issues seem to be the most consistent elements I address. Naturally there are the issues of intonation and technical concerns. I have found intonation is greatly improved when students learn to control the air and listen as they play into the core sound. It may not be perfect but addressing breath control, blend and balance enhances intonation. While there is no substitute for daily fundamentals development of the student, these few quick-fixes go a long way in improving an ensemble s performance in a short period of time, especially when you only have minutes to hopefully enhance the group s level of performance.