In order to be adequately prepared to perform the finest in instrumental literature, it is essential for instrumentalists to know and understand the basics of musicianship. It is for this reason that these guidelines have been prepared.
A fine instrumental organization is made up of fine musicians. in order to secure the confidence and rewards that come with fine musicianship, you, as an instrumentalist, must strive to do your very best and to always put out 100%.
100% best effort = 100% success
Your Musicianship
Your musicianship can develop only through consistent effort. No doubt you have heard the phrase "practice makes perfect." That says a lot, and in very simple terms; but it has quite an important loophole. You see, practice makes perfect only when the practice itself is perfect. Repetition means progress only if it is repetition of the correct principles. For example, you might plant a thousand grass seeds, but you won't grow one blade of grass unless the seeds have been cared for properly. It is for this reason that we need to know how, what, and why to practice. Careful study of this outline should give you a clear picture of how you develop your musicianship.
How to Practice
Select a time of day that will be as free as possible from interruptions, and try to use this same time everyday - "rain or shine". "Practice on the days that you eat".
Choose a place where you will be as free from distractions that may be caused by improper temperatures, poor lighting, or noises.
Have your objectives/goals well in mind. (What do you hope to accomplish during the practice session?)
Criticize yourself more severely than others would dare to criticize you. The criticism should be based on the objectives listed below.
Make sure that your posture is correct. Unless your instrument makes it impossible, stand up often to practice. Play in front of a mirror often.
Highlight troublesome passages and work on them. Reduce the tempo until all elements have been mastered; then gradually increase the speed, keeping all elements under control, until you have reached the desired excellence of performance.
Keep a running list of practice tools for your reference.
Above all...be patient.
Objectives
4. Reading Ability and Technique (fingerings) 8. Steady
Beat
Analysis of Objectives
1.
Correct Breathing - To breath properly while playing an instrument, only the
diaphragm area should move - not the chest or shoulders. The air must come directly from the diaphragm, through the mouth and into the mouthpiece. The throat must not stop or start any tone, but rather, must remain open (like yawning). Blow as if you were blowing out a candle or singing the syllable "ah".
Ration your air supply; make the least amount of air produce the biggest possible tone. Do not use up all air on the attack - you will need an ample amount as a proper release. Think of breath support like a pitcher filled with water: As long as there is sufficient water behind the escaping water, you have a healthy stream. Thus, as long as there is sufficient air behind the escaping air, you have a healthy, full tone.
2. Tone - Fine tone quality may be achieved through persistent practice of sustained long tones. There is a great deal of beauty in a single tone. Sing it out softly as well as loudly; don't ever hold it at one stagnant dynamic level.
In order to be able to concentrate on the sound you produce, it is better not to use music, but rather to invent your own long tone exercises. For example, play each note on your instrument as a separate tone study, or slur scales as slowly as possible within one breath in an attempt to achieve evenness of tone quality throughout the range of the instrument. Other possibilities include sustained octave jumps or other interval skips and playing slow melodic passages while listening carefully.
The more you can perceive in the expression of the tone, the more musically mature you are. Think of every tone as consisting of three parts - "Attack - Body - Release". Attack and release are the consonants; they define the tone. The body is the vowel - the life of the tone. This is where you project yourself. Remember that there is no tone without life-giving energy.
3. Intonation - There are two general pitch problem areas.
a. Attacking the note in tune.
b. Maintaining the correct pitch while the note is sounding.
Overcoming the first problem will require work with a
tuner to learn the particular pitch problems of the instrument. The ability to make the necessary fingering and/or
embouchure adjustments and proper breath support are also important in correcting faulty intonation.
As for the second problem, concentrate on keeping the pitch level constant. A common fault is the tendency to be sharp while playing softly and flat while playing loudly. An exception to this is the flute, which is very easily sharped by over blowing, especially in the upper register.
Unfortunately, there is no simple solution to the pitch problem, especially when considering temperature and fatigue as factors. The ear is the final judge. You must always listen carefully to yourself and everyone around you, and work relentlessly to develop naturalness, consistency, adn correctness of embouchure (facial muscles, lips and tongue).
Factors Important to Tone and Intonation
Each student must learn to rely upon their ears and not those of the director. They must become "tone and intonation conscious".
~ Correct posture, hand position, and head position have a decided and direct effect upon tone and intonation. An alert body is directly associated with an alert mind and vibrant sound.
~ It is impossible to accomplish anything on a brass instrument unless the instrument is held properly.
~ Carelessness is the biggest single stumbling block to the development of musicianship. You must learn to be the strongest critic of your own playing.
~ In general, students should learn to play with full, healthy tone quality before attempting to play pianissimo(pp); but, of course, one should never confuse full and round with loud and rough.
4. Reading Ability and Technique - Being able to read easily through a large variety of music is a very important aspect of your musical growth. To develop this phase of musicianship, use a portion of your daily practice session to just read through technical and soloistic passages, introducing new materials to yourself every couple of days.
Whereas reading ability is developed by constantly playing new material necessarily mastering it, technique is developed by persistently practicing difficult passages and exercises (such as
scales, patterns and
arpeggios) until they are mastered.
Becoming an excellent technician with very little reading ability is a serious problem. Technique and reading ability must develop hand in hand. A solo and ensemble festival defeats its purpose if it focuses all attention on the solo or ensemble work to the complete exclusion of all other material. Unfortunately, this is too often the case, when it would be so simple to avoid by continuing to spend a little time reading through new material during each practice session.
5. Articulation - Articulation concerns the use of the tongue. There are two basic tonguing styles - legato and staccato. The legato tongue employs a very smooth attack, which allows no space between succeeding tones, whereas the staccato attack is separated and necessitates space between succeeding tones. Of course there are countless degrees in between.
Several syllables, which can be used to achieve a
legato attack are "dah", "tu", "du", "lu" and "la". with these syllables the tongue remains suspended after the attack so the tone may "sing". Syllables used to achieve a
staccato attack are "taht" or "toot". With these syllables the consonant "t" is used to start and stop the tone instantly, as the word staccato phonetically suggests.
Two ways to practice tonguing are 1) repetition of a single note and 2) coordination of the tongue and fingers on scale passages and different exercises. Use different degrees of both legato and staccato styles of tonguing in your practice. Work for clarity. Strive for pitch definition - not just a percussive attack. Work for uniformity of attack in volume, pitch and duration.
6. Rhythm - One of the biggest problems in sight-reading is rhythmic accuracy. A simple way to improve this is to either write out a rhythmic pattern or use the "Rhythm Patterns" sheets and use it on every note of a scale. Change scale and pattern weekly.
Simultaneously clap the given rhythm and recite the necessary subdivided counts, while tapping the foot in the basic meter. Play the pattern on the same or different note of a scale in a variety of ways:
mf - staccato;
mf - legato;
pp - staccato; etc... (A
metronome is very valuable, especially for individual home practice).
7. Phrasing - Technically, a phrase is a division of a melody or line, generally four to eight measures in length and often indicated by a long, curved line over it. Phrasing, however, has the added meaning of expressing your particular melody or part in context with the character of the composition and the mood and spirit which it reveals.
A phrase must grow in warmth, intensity and beauty just as a flower blooms. One must always be aware of direction: are you moving toward the top of the arch or away from it? Do not forget there are many smaller arches within the larger one.
Is the composer trying to set a joyous or a sad mood, a vigorous or solemn mood? Is the melody or accompaniment to be tender or cruel, light or heavy, flowing or rhythmic? Just like a sentence it has its downward and upward, its forward and backward flow. It has its
antecedents and its consequence, its questions and its answers. Everything is there for the imaginative mind of a musician to discover. This is the part of music that requires the surrender of the heart and the soul. This is the part of the music that allows us to enter into another world - the world of musical expression. Remember, the notes on the printed page mean absolutely nothing until someone brings them to life through performance. As Mr. Machlis, Professor of Music at Queens College, NY, stated, "The more complete our surrender to the work of art, the more deeply we penetrate to its essence - and the greater our gain."
General Comments
If you are not sure that you are tonguing correctly or working correctly on any objective, do not hesitate to consult a music teacher.
Every effort you put forth to raise your standard of musical achievement should make you personally proud. With sincere and meaningful effort on your part you will find music to be a field of limitless rewards, a path into a way of life, and the summary of all that is good. It was
Plato, one of history's greatest philosophers, who said,
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe; wings to the mind; flight to the imagination; charm to sadness; [happiness] and life to everything else. It is the essence of order and leads to all that is good, just, and beautiful - of which it is the invisible, yet dazzling, passionate and external form."
The main task before you as young musicians is to understand the described objectives and challenge yourself to develop and think about them, both singularly and as a unified whole representing your musicianship.