Here are some ideas by conductor and music educator Eugene Corporon I recently came across about the differences between rehearsing and practicing. Food for thought for all the music students out there.
Rehearsals are not the place to teach the parts, but rather the place to put the pieces together.
The rehearsal is a place to do the things together that you can’t do alone. (You can learn your part alone.)
You don’t come to rehearsal to learn your part, but rather to learn everybody else’s part.
Last weekend I had the pleasure of directing the North Carolina Western Region Honor Middle School Jazz Band out at Lenoir-Rhyne University. The students worked extremely hard for me, were very well behaved, and improved remarkably over the two days. Here’s a video that was taken during the performance.
The whole concert was taped and can be viewed here.
Clinic situations like this can be particularly challenging for the brass students. With only a short time to put together 4 tunes or so it’s difficult to get the music sounding good without doing a lot of playing, but the more the brass students play the harder it will be for them to have chops left for the concert. There are some strategies that you can use to help pace your students through rehearsals and let them save their faces for the performance.
I just came across an online article by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s principle trombonist, Jay Friedman, called The Early Bird Gets the Note. Much of what he writes in it mirrors things I’ve learned from Doug Elliott and from Donald Reinhardt’s texts on embouchures. In discussing having your embouchure firmed and in place before you play a note, Friedman uses some effective analogies, including an elevator.
You wouldn’t jump off an elevator as it was coming up to a floor and you wouldn’t try to play a note before the embouchure was level with the partial that note was on. Good players get the embouchure to every note early so it can stabilize and hold the required firmness needed to let the air do it’s job. Again, I want to stress the basic principal of producing sound: a critical balance between the 3 components of tone; enough firmness in the corners of the embouchure, enough air flow to vibrate the lips, and enough seal or stability of the mouthpiece against the embouchure, OK, pressure. When these 3 things are in the correct balance no other muscle activity is needed or desired.
A lot of players want their playing to feel effortless and so minimize the above three mechanical principles to an extreme, limiting their playing. Building the muscular strength to hold the corners firm, for example, will make holding the corners in the proper position feel easier. An effortless feel results from being stronger, not looser. Reinhardt described it as, “Relax doesn’t mean collapse.”
One thing I’m not entirely certain about is Friedman’s analogy of “blowing across a straight surface.”
I don’t remember exactly how I happened across this, but I while ago I found interesting discussion of air pockets by trumpet player Tim Morrison. According to this link, Tim Morrison plays intentionally with some air pockets under his lips.
The primary pocketing spot is the upper lip and cheek area above the corners. It’s important to keep corners and cheeks firm, but to allow the air pockets to form. I’ve found this dramatically reduces counter-productive embouchure stress, yet keeps strength where you need it, which is in the corners and through the middle of the cheeks. One more thing. There is always air present under the upper lip/cheek area and even more noticeably when playing in the lower register. This is paramount in getting the “trombone effect” in lower register playing. As you ascend, the facial muscles come more into play and the air pockets become less noticeable, but are still present.
Take a look at this video of Tim Morrison and look at his upper lip. The resolution is a little low, unfortunately, but I think I can see his air pockets. Also, I have to say how much I loved watching the composer, Joe Hisaishi, conduct this piece. It’s unusual for an orchestral conductor to not use a baton, but he is a very expressive conductor.
While I’m at it, I’ll play “Guess the Embouchure Type.” Take a look and I’ll have my guess after the break.
My best guess for Morrison’s embouchure type is the “medium high placement” type. His placement seems to be just a bit more upper lip inside the mouthpiece and he also appears to have the correct embouchure motion for that type. His horn angle is close to straight out, though, which isn’t typical for this embouchure type. Still, I have seen some very fine players belonging to this embouchure type with the same straight out horn angle, so it isn’t necessarily wrong for these players.
Donald Reinhardt wrote a little about the air pockets.
Sometimes a little puff will form under the upper lip while playing at great volume in the upper register. This, however, is of little consequence as long as it does not interfere with the mouthcorners. Never permit a puff to form under the lower lip regardless of the performer’s physical type; this fault makes a trumpet sound like a cornet, a cornet like a flugelhorn, a trombone like a baritone, etc.
– Donald Reinhardt, Encyclopedia of the Pivot System p. 220
Both Morrison and Reinhardt agree to keep the air pockets away from the mouth corners. Reinhardt did have some specific exercises he used that intentionally required cheek puffing, but did not encourage his students to perform this way. He used cheek puffing as either a diagnostic tool or correctional procedure at times.
In general, I feel it’s best to reduce any air pockets when possible, but it does seem to be helpful for some players and may be necessary at certain stages of development. It’s probably best to keep any air pockets away from the mouth corners, unless you’re being guided by a teacher who understands how to keep it from hindering your playing.
The Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. David Wilken to the position of Music Director of the Land of the Sky Symphonic Band.
The band will continue its Spring concert schedule under the direction of Dr. David Kirby, with performances scheduled in Brevard, Asheville, and Mars Hill.
Dr. Wilken has conducted the band for its last three rehearsals. He will assume his full responsibilities as Music Director in August when the band begins its 2011-2012 season.
Walt Justice
Chairman
Board of Directors
Land of the Sky Symphonic Band
It’s been a great time conducting the last three rehearsals. It’s a fine group, made up of serious amateur players and some professionals as well. During one of the rehearsals I had fun milking the rubato passages bit more than I would usually do. I wanted to see how far I could take it, but they all watched and followed. It’s always a pleasure to conduct an ensemble that follows that closely.
I was doing some office cleaning and came across a notebook for a conducting class I took from Dr. Joe Scagnoli, at Ball State. I don’t recall the context of the following, but I think this may be something he put together for our class. Here are “Conducting Thoughts, Some Simple-Some Profound” from ‘Doc.’
The music is in the sound, not in the printing.
Music moves ever forward.
Teach your students to play with professional ear.
We are either sensitizing our players or desensitizing them.
Every ensemble is capable of its own independent pulse.
The music, not the meter, should drive the gesture.
The left hand is the adjective hand – descriptive.
When conducting soft passages with small gestures the facial energy must increase tremendously.
Releases are reverse preparations.
Always be aware of who in the ensemble has the pulse.
People care more about how you feel about the music than how much you know.
The music starts before the first beat is given. Set up the mood of the music.
It’s obvious from reading it that he’s specifically talking about conducting, but there are gems in there for jazz or chamber ensemble directors, and even just musicians in general.
