courtesy of Camp Encore/Coda
A professional clarinetist shared that on his first day playing in a professional orchestra, the principal clarinetist, his teacher, gave him five dimes. He was told to put the dimes on the left side of the music stand, and every time the conductor stopped, he was to think, “Why did he stop? What is he going to say?” If he was correct, then he could move one of the dimes to the right side of the music stand. This exercise certainly helped my friend become involved and focused in the rehearsal.
I keep a small notebook in my flute bag. When a conductor stops and says something in an especially interesting way, I write it down in my notebook. One entry is when you see crescendo, play softer. Crescendo means to grow louder, so if you start softer, you can make a bigger effect. Most people, upon seeing a crescendo, immediately begin playing louder, and then unfortunately have no place to go due to lack of air.
In another passage where a motive was being passed from one section to another, a conductor said, “You are links in a chain, and the chain must be continuous.” As soon as he said this, one section dovetailed into the next seamlessly creating a beautiful legato line.
Another conductor asked, “Who has the melody at letter B?” Every hand in the room went up. You can imagine what that sounded like. You can never go wrong with the statement that melody is played louder than accompaniment. On the reverse side, when playing accompaniment, play even a dynamic softer than you think is appropriate, and it will be just right. The best musicians exaggerate dynamics to keep audiences interested.
Another conductor addressed the ensemble saying, “When I look at you, I see a metronome for your head.” In other words, when he looked out, he hoped to see each player counting. So many students don’t count when playing and simply follow along with the section. Conductors who teach subdivision are saints. Recently in a rehearsal, the band was playing half notes at a slow tempo. The brass were not changing notes together, so the conductor had everyone play the passage again and fill in the half notes with eighth notes articulated with TU. After doing that a couple of times, the note changes lined up perfectly when playing what was written. Subdivision is essential to learn and practice.
At this same rehearsal, I noticed that the attack of the first note was not precise. I looked carefully at what the conductor was doing to see if I could determine how he might improve the situation. I noticed that he was giving the preparation with both hands, and the ictus did not occur at the same time with the left and right hands. As a result, the musicians played with whichever hand they were watching. Give the preparation with only one hand making it large enough so that everyone breathes together. Remember the two notes that every listener will remember in a concert are the first and the last notes of the piece.
Speaking of conductor’s beats, the music will be more interesting to the audience if the conductor’s beat isn’t the same throughout a composition or the entire program. Large flowery motions hamper playing quick, march-like sections. Think about what the music needs and develop gestures that enhance the character of the music. I am not a fan of mirror conducting with both hands. I think it encourages musicians to play too loud. Try to use the right hand for conducting the beat (varying size of gesture to what the music is doing), and the left hand for cueing and expressive information.
Through the years, many conductors have been influenced by Leonard Bernstein. This is admirable as he was an excellent musician. What many conductors only notice are the moves that he made, so they try to imitate that. However, the beat was always there to see. I played a rehearsal where the conductor started Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks with a dance-like move. To his shock no one played because there was no prep or beat pattern. We had no idea what he was doing. The next time we tried the passage, there were clear preparations and beat patterns. With today’s reduced rehearsal schedule, clarity is a time-saver.
If a conductor’s beat is too large, the group will drag in fast passages. It is the conductor’s job to find the right-sized beat to enhance the tempo of the composition.
As a performer, I have often thought that we are just like actors except that we have music notation rather than a script. We use the same tools – pacing or tempo, dynamics, tone quality, etc. Our job is to bring the notation to life. Every note has a role to play. It may be a punctuation-type single note, a pick-up note, a high point in a musical phrase or an accompaniment note. Performers should study the notation to understand what their role is in the composition.
The first time I played under the direction of Frederick Fennell, he started the rehearsal by saying, “Nana-nana, boo, boo” as he wiggled his hand in front of his nose. We were all shocked because he was so famous, and this seemed out of character. He continued, “If you can’t play with character, expression, and attitude, I don’t want you in my group. Each of you should play like a soloist.” Of course, he didn’t mean we should play loud all the time, but rather that we should shape what we play like a fine soloist would do when performing a concerto. There are times to be big and times to be small, but musicians should always have an opinion.
Developing a critical ear is not only for the conductor, but also for the ensemble. How many times have you gone to a concert where the tuning note was given, people played, and yet there was no change in pitch. Each director has had students say, “I can’t tell the difference between flat and sharp.” Many teachers believe that singing a passage helps with intonation. This is often true, but students often don’t hear when something is actually in tune, mostly because no one has worked with them on it. A musician’s two best friends, besides their ears, are a tuner and a metronome.
When I work with students on the tuner, the first objective is to learn to hold the needle still. This involves playing with even air. Once playing with even air is under control, then help students make a pitch tendency chart. To make the chart, list each note of the range. Have students play the note without looking at the tuner as you mark whether the note is flat or sharp. I like to repeat this several times to obtain better results. Go over the results with them, suggesting strategies for bringing notes into tune. In some cases, the solution may be a tweak in the embouchure, alignment of the instrument, or a special fingering.
Many years ago, at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, there was an exhibit about musical instruments. One of the displays had two switches. One was to generate a pitch, and then the other dialed up another pitch to match the first. Then it displayed how many cents off the answer was. It might be interesting to construct such a display for students to experiment with. In our group after a few tries everyone was able to match the pitch correctly.
When working with students on matching pitch, start with matching two instruments of the same type, such as two flutes, two clarinets, two trumpets. Once this is accomplished, change the pairs to flute/clarinet, clarinet/saxophone, trumpet/trombone etc. Start by matching the pitch using a tuner and then try it without one.
When something is out of tune during rehearsals or performances, teach students to experiment with moving the pitch to the sharp side and then the flat side. Zero in on the one that sounds better. If they have memorized the pitch tendency chart, then fixing the pitch using that information can be helpful.
Developing a critical ear is a life-time process. Good players use the tuner daily as well as recording themselves regularly. They practice with a drone. Every time a player buys a new instrument, the tuning preparation needs to be done again as each instrument has its own issues.
Listening to recordings offers huge benefits in playing well. Pick a recording of a player that you admire and listen to it many times over a week. Each time pick a different aspect of the playing to focus on. First, focus on the overall form of the composition. Then, almost in any order, listen for tempo choices, phrasing ideas, tone colors, rhythmic execution, the role each phrase has in the composition etc. Both teachers and students should work to improve their listening skills and develop a critical ear.
