YouTube User “Topproducer50” forwarded me a video he posted of the Western North Carolina Region High School Honor Band, performing I think in February 2011. My friend, Steve Alford, directed the group that year and took along some of my big band compositions, including one I wrote called Addin’ Down.
I didn’t get to make this concert, so it’s neat to be able to watch the videos that were recorded and hear how well the students performed.
Great performance, honor band students!
Last week I was working with a student and needed to find a quick exercise to have him play while working on keeping his chin from bunching up. I grabbed my copy of Donald Reinhardt’s Pivot System Manual for Trombone and used an exercise from there. Since then I have decided to change up my own routine again and go back to practicing from this book again daily.
The routine itself was designed so that each day the musician practices a different set of exercises (9 days total for the trumpet version, 11 days for trombone with the extra slide technique exercises). Throughout there are some exercises that have measures of rests inserted. Here’s an example.
On the surface this looks like many other embouchure development exercises, however the instructions Reinhardt suggests during the rests is unique.
Continue reading “Using Rests In Embouchure Exercises”I’ve been quiet here lately while I’ve been working on some composition and arranging projects. My latest is entitled Golden Triangle Overture. Here’s a MIDI realization (pretend you’re hearing a real trombone choir).
This piece is for 8 trombones. I composed it for the Mississippi State University Trombone Choir, directed by Dr. Richard Human.
I came across another fine online ear trainer, Good Ear. It includes a variety of ear training exercises, including hearing and identifying intervals, chords (ranging from simple triads all the way up into extended jazz chords with alterations), cadences, and scales. There are also different options you can use to fix the root of the exercises to always be the same pitch or change, play back in different sounds, and give you the correct answer or not for feedback. There is even a section that gives you random pitches to test your “perfect pitch” recall abilities.
There are plenty of exercises good for beginners, but I found some ones that kept me challenged too. I especially want to go back and do more of the jazz chords exercises. I have a habit of lumping chords with extensions (9ths, 11ths, 13ths) sonically with the basic 7th chord, which gave me some answers that were close, but wrong. Some chords with alterations are more challenging to identify and some chords are easy to mix up with others (e.g., an A7b9 sounds an awful lot like a C#dim7 because they contain 4 common tones).
It’s a good resource, check it out.
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.
While I have no illusions about my expertise as a brass doubler, I have spent some amount of time learning to play all of them passingly. This experience has given me a peek into some of the similarities and differences in technique between different brass instruments.
Having looked closely at a lot of embouchures of all brass instruments, I would have to say that, in general, the only difference is the size of the mouthpiece. Examples of the three basic embouchure types can be found on all the brass instruments. In my late 20s I made an embouchure change and noticed that adopting the same embouchure type improved my ability to play the other brass instruments too. The really successful brass doublers I’ve been able to look closely at all seem to use the same basic embouchure type for their different instruments.
That said, the difference in the size of the mouthpiece can change things about a player’s embouchure. The most obvious consideration would be how much room a player has on the lips to place the mouthpiece without the nose or chin getting in the way. This is really only an issue with low brass players. For example, this trombonist has a (correct for him) mouthpiece placement that is just under his nose. If he wanted to play tuba, he might have difficulty getting the ratio of upper to lower lip that he’s comfortable with because he doesn’t have enough room to place the larger mouthpiece.
Continue reading “Embouchure Differences Between Instruments”I recently came across reference to another study recently done on musicians that suggests continuing musical activity into old age can have mental health benefits.
While it is known that practicing music repeatedly changes the organization of the brain, it is not clear if these changes can correlate musical abilities with non-musical abilities. The study of 70 older participants, with different musical experience over their lifetimes, provides a connection between musical activity and mental balance in old age. “The results of this preliminary study revealed that participants with at least 10 years of musical experience (high activity musicians) had better performance in nonverbal memory, naming, and executive processes in advanced age relative to non-musicians.”
It’s interesting, but keep in mind that this is just preliminary research and uses a rather small sample population. I wouldn’t be surprised if similar correlations could be found among elderly people who actively play bridge, do crossword puzzles, or any activity that involves mental effort. It might not be the musical activity in and of itself that kept the mind sharper, but simply the mental activity involved.
As scientists follow this study up it may turn out to be mostly hype, like the infamous “Mozart Effect” that had gullible parents convinced that playing classical music for infants would give their children a leg up in school. Still, it’s neat to see more research done on music’s effects on the brain and this one seems legitimately conducted.
I compose primarily for my own pleasure. The vast majority of the pieces I write, whether they are original compositions or arrangements, are for groups that I’m involved with already as a director or player. I do get the occasional commission too.
Often times those commissions are from friends or colleagues, so I usually undercharge them in those cases. I’m usually just excited that someone who knows my work enjoys it enough to want me to write something specifically for them. Just having my pieces be performed is good exposure, even if it’s not the most financially lucrative arrangement for me.
When commissions do come in, however, it’s a little hard to come up with a price that is fair for both the composer/arranger as well as the employer. One the one hand, as a band leader I’m full aware of how expensive purchasing new music can be, and commissions are even more expensive. On the other hand, writing out a full big band arrangement, for example, can take hundreds of hours of work to complete.
Bill Fulton, a composer/arranger/copyist living around L.A., has put together a good guide for what can be considered an appropriate fee for commissions. It depends, of course, on the size of the ensemble as well as the length of the completed piece. Someone not quite of Fulton’s experience can use this as a guide to see what the top pros make, and adjust their own fees accordingly.
I’m currently putting the final touches on a new big band composition. According to Fulton’s guide, with 193 measures at $22.50 per measure per 4 measures, I should charge $4, 342.50 $1008.62 for this piece if it were commissioned.
Here’s a MIDI realization of my new chart. You will have to use your imagination, since I haven’t bothered to create a whole lot of playback effects that live musicians will do. Also, the rhythm section and solo parts are generated by Band-in-a-Box and then dumped into my Finale file, which results in some strange sounds sometimes. Still, you can get an idea of what it should sound like when played for real. Would you pay $4,000 for this? Probably $1,000 would be closer to what I think is appropriate when I get to do my own thing.
While I’ve got your attention, I’m having trouble coming up for a title for this chart. My working title has been There’s a Mingus Among Us, since I stole, er borrowed, some ideas from Charles Mingus’s Reincarnation of a Lovebird. Unfortunately, it turns out that title (and a couple of variations on it) has already been taken. Anyone have a bright idea for a different title?
Last Friday I tried to answer a couple of improvisation questions I was emailed by Michael. He also asked some other very good questions about my Jazz Improvisation For Beginners article on the blues form.
In your “Part 3 – the Blues Form” – something seems off. You say: “Let’s look at a 12 bar blues in the key of C.” You then go on to give the chords C7, F7, Dm7, G7, and the note Bb. I have not heard of a B7 or C7 in the key of C. Nor have I ever seen a flat or sharp in the key of C. But there is a Bb, of course, in the key of F. And the 12 bars you give clearly resolve to the F chord, not the C chord, at least to my ear, which is pitch-perfect. Isn’t this really the key of F? Or am I not understanding something here?
As I was putting together a response for Michael I found my answers relied heavily on being able to hear the musical examples, so I decided that a podcast format would be the best way to follow up. It went a little long, almost 17 minutes, but I started with a brief summary to make sure that most listeners could follow along.
Here’s a link that should give you a direct download so you can listen to it on an MP3 player. Transcript after the break.
Continue reading “Diatonic and Chromatic Chords: The Blues”I got emailed some great questions from a Michael a bit ago. He had questions on two separate topics, so I’m going to answer them in two posts. Here’s the first.
I really enjoy your “Jazz Improvisation for Beginners.” And, though I write songs that have been produced and played worldwide, I am really a beginner to playing music. I usually just make up tunes and sing them into GarageBand, using the I, IV, V structure. They come out good, are produced, and many are sung by bands worldwide and some are on their CDs.
No question there, but I wanted to remind everyone that some of the greatest songwriters ever (at least in my opinion) were self taught like Michael. A lot can be done with your ear alone, as long as you keep working on it and forcing yourself to try new things. One way to do that, of course, is to learn how different things sound by music theory.
But I want to make more imaginative tunes and I want to be able to create tracks so I can sing them to my arrangers the way I hear them. Continue reading “Improvisation Questions, Part 1”
