 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||
 |
|
|||||||
 |
|
|||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
|
|||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
|
|||||||
 |
|
|||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
|
|||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||
The following are topics that have been presented to me personally or as general questions in discussion forums. I want to share my responses, as I have received positive feedback from those who found the advice most helpful.
Importance of Embouchure
Experimenting with Tone
Vibrato
High Register Pitch
Double Tonguing
Detour in Plans
Auditions
Auditions Excerpt Advice
Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony Piccolo Solo
Q: How important is the embouchure in the development in one's tonal concept? What do you think is more important- lip formation and movement or air placement? How does the jaw come into play?
A: I am a believer of minimal lip movement for efficiency, however the lips do need to be flexible. My opinion is that any lip movement should occur at the aperture and not at the corners. The corners are the stabilizers, and I like to keep them set, in order to keep the focus at the aperture, where the air passes through. I do also utilize my jaw, by relaxing and/or closing ever so slightly, with only the smallest movement necessary to help create a larger or smaller aural cavity when needed. One needs to be careful not to make excessive movements with the jaw in order to avoid injury.
For tonal control I also focus on speed and direction of air, as well as size and shape of the mouth cavity. I let what I am doing with my air dictate what my lips should do, however from low register to high, if one were to watch me, they would see very little to no change in my embouchure. Interestingly enough, I am most loose in the high register, slightly open in the jaw, with some air in my cheeks, especially for forte. One thing that I want to add about placement of the flute on the lower lip is that it is hard to make generalizations because of the varying sizes of people's lips. My lower lip is rather full, and naturally my "fleshy part" is utilized when I form my embouchure. If I "tried" to use this part of my lip it would be terrible. (For the sake of expermentation, I have and it IS terrible) Also, I find that with my fuller lower lip, I need to place the flute slightly higher so that the air reed is not too elongated. If one has a thinner lower lip it would seem that it would be helpful to lift the fleshy part, use it and place the flute slightly lower on the lip so that the air reed is not too short.
When embouchure remedies are given one needs take the individual characteristics and physicality of the player into account. Especially when working with younger students, who may not really understand these physical differences and simply do what is suggested to them.
The embouchure is not where the sound originates.It is simply where the tone is released into the flute. The concept of one's tone should happen way before it even hits the lips and goes into the flute. Even if you have the most beautiful embouchure, if you are not doing the right things with your air, the tone will not be your best. An efficient and flexible embouchure is absolutely necessary to allow for the proper guidance of our air, but the lips are not the only thing to consider when forming your concept of a beautiful tone.
Q: I often practice tone exercises, such as long tones, out of method books but have become slightly bored doing so. I know I should do these important exercises but how can I vary my routine.
A: Some of the best exercises can come from one's own experimentation and simply creating one to suit your needs. When I am dealing with a "problem" or trying to improve on something I often create my own exercise. This can help you to think in different ways and can also make practice interesting. I often take valuable exercises from books and "tweak" them to my liking.
For example, in Moyse's De la Sonorite - the amplification of tone exercise- in which you start on c, first piano, then cresc, mezzzo forte cresc, forte cresc. etc. There is a fermatta on each whole note. I do them each for 8 counts (mm. around 60 to the quarter). When I have reached my biggest sound I proceed to the next half step- either ascending or descending and make a diminuendo for 8 beats back to the original soft volume. Then I begin again on that note. It may be wise to do this with a tuner or against a drone to make sure that the pitch does not change.
Be creative! It is fun and you never know what you can come up with.
Q: What types of exercises can I do to aid in creating a more integrated and connective vibrato? Also, how do you change your vibrato when playing different styles of music?
Vibrato is such a personal thing in terms of how it is used musically, but there are definitely exercises that can be done to help achieve a more flexible and reliable vibrato. One exercise that I like to do is to set the metronome at 80 to the quarter. I do it between 86 and 90 but 80 is a good place to start. Now you will play descending half notes starting on high F. There should be 8 even pulses of vibrato on these half notes (4 per quarter) Repeat the 4 notes without breathing. So for example- F E Eb D F E Eb D. Go all the way down to low C and when your done- you can ascend up from the high F. This is also a good breathing exercise. The point of this exercise is to have a vibrato that flows evenly between notes. When your playing real music you don't want yourvibrato to be too measured, but this exercise can helps with an even flow of vibrato.
Another good exercise is to set your metronome at 60. Now you will pulse out the vibrato in this manner:
1 whole note
2 half notes
4 quarters
8 eighths
12 triplets
16 16ths
20 quintuplets
24 sextuplets
If you have trouble evenly pulsing the vibrato try tonguing the groupings first to get the exact feel of it. Some people have trouble with starting vibrato right away at the beginnings of notes. Jeanne Baxtresser has a great exercise for this called "DaHa" The first step is is to start out without the flute just saying "DaHaHAHA...etc. Da- is the attack of the note and the Ha is the vibrato pulse. Now with the flute- play any tone and attack with the Da then add Ha- Begin a sequence adding a "Ha" each time- so DaHa-- DaHaHa-- DaHaHaHa--DaHaHaHaHa...etc.
One good musical exercise is to learn to play whatever you are working on without ANY vibrato. It is often more difficult to make it sound beautiful, however this will help you to discern any impurities in the tone or any gaps in the phrase without the mask of the vibrato. Then gradually add the vibrato back in. This will make you think more about the high and low points of the phrase and where you might want to vibrate a little more or less.
In general, vibrato should be integrated into the sound. However, different types of music may call for a different type of vibrato. For example, with baroque music you might want a vibrato that is behind the sound. If you are playing an edgy type of 20th century piece you might want to use a vibrato that is more in front of the sound. I personally try not to vibrate underneath technical passages because it usually gets in the way of phrasing and is not efficient in terms of expended energy and use of air. Some very fine flutists belief that there should always be vibrato in the air. I generally agree with that for lyrical passages. Selective vibrato usually isn't the best. If you choose not to vibrate on a note for a musical reason than that is ok - but if you are not vibrating because you CAN NOT for some reason, you might want to rethink your concept of the phrase, and how your vibrato relates.
In general. vibrato is what really makes you sound like you. Often times we can identify certain flutists on the radio just by hearing their vibrato. Without it, everyone would sound about the same. I would say to work toward something that is flexible, in control and that can be used to create different colors and to help express yourself musically. Don't just listento flutists- listen to great singers and violinists and cellists to see what kinds of things that they do, and how they use vibrato to spin a phrase.You can learn so much from this.
Q: I always seem to be sharp in the high register and find it hard to blend with others when playing these notes. It seems to be worse when I use vibrato. How can I help this?
A: We all have sharp problems in the high register. One thing to check is the angle of your air. Make sure you aren't blowing to across the hole, but rather more downward into the flute. Don't roll in too much or lower your chin to avoid sharpness because that will cut off the tone and cause its own set of problems. Investigate alternate fingerings for the high register. For ensemble playing-these have become my regular fingerings.
As for the vibrato. You are probably extra sharp with vibrato because of the type of vibrato you are using. As Jeanne Baxtresser puts it so well, vibrato is a fluctuation between pitch, volume and timbre. I like to say that it is also a slight change in air pressure. Listen to your vibrato. Do your vibrato pulses rise above the pitch? If they do, you are for sure going to go sharp when playing forte or when in the upper register. Try pulsing your vibrato in slow motion. First play a long note with no vibrato and then slightly decrease your air pressure so the note goes slightly flat and then bring it back up to pitch- be careful- don't go over the original pitch- just back up to it. As you get a handle on it- try doing it faster and faster almost like a choo-choo train cranking up speed. This can be tricky at first, but if you use a vibrato that dips slightly under the pitch it will help you not to be sharp when using vibrato in the high register. Conversely, when playing soft- when the pitch tends to want to sag- it is often helpful to use a vibrato that pulses over the pitch. This will give it life and shimmer instead of sounding dead or flat. In general I would get with some sort of tuning device-- something that plays a drone, or the tuning cd. If you can start to really hear how sharp you are against the actual pitch, you can start to change what your ears have gotten used to hearing. Again, high register pitch is a struggle for us all. Hang in there and work hard and you will make progress.
Q: My double tonguing has gotten very muddy. What kinds of exercises can I do to clear it up?
A: First, try to do a little self-analysis to try to figure out exactly why your DT is muddy. Are you striking the tongue too soft or hard? Is your G or K syllable weaker than the T? Are you trying to use more tongue than tone? Do some experimenting with HOW you are tonguing such as how the the tongue is placed in your mouth, where the tongue is striking in the mouth, what part of the tongue are you using. The tip? Further back? Also, check that when you tongue, you aren't pulling your tongue too far backon the off, or the G or K syllable. Leave your tongue very close to the spot where it is striking. It barely needs to come away from that spot for the G or K. The less distance to travel, the more the ease and the less room for error.
Some exercises that you can try are:
Practice scales or etudes with double tonguing with Both TK and DG. First do all G or K syllables. This is our "weak" syllable as we learn to use only T for years normally before we integrate the K. The K or G should be built up separately as is T. Next practice it backwards. GD or KT. This is hard to do evenly at first but practice to do exactly that. Last, go back to TK or DG and you should notice a difference.
Practice tongued sections slurred first to concentrate on an even and full tone on each note. Switch to the tonguing and try to emulate the sound yougot when slurring. Using the DG syllable helps to get a more legato tongue and more tone on each note, especially in rapid passages. I like to do a "combo tongue" actually of T and G in a lot of cases, becuase the G is smoother syllable than K, however the T gives a slightly cleaner front part of the attack.
If you hare having trouble getting a good tone when DTing or tonguing in general, practice "air-articulating" the notes only. Use "Ha" to articulate the sound. Take note of you air angle, amount, and aperture opening. If you are cracking, it may indicate that one or more of these things may need adjustment when you tongue. Work slowly at first with DTing to make sure that it is even. For faster tonguing, first try short spurts. Let your tongue go like a machine gun for a few seconds and stop. Do not focus on the motion, rather let it go like a reflex. If you do this daily and increase the length of the exercise gradually it should help.
As mentioned, look for the least amount of effort and motion with the tongue as possible, for the best result If your tongue has to work too hard it can get bogged down and strained. Sometimes Less IS More.
Q: I recently graduated from college and did not get into any of my choice graduate schools. I only applied to top schools and no "safety" schools. I am discouraged and wonder where and how I should proceed. Should I work with a private teacher and apply again next year?
A: Yes, you can always apply to grad school again, next year. While you may be looking at this time as time you will "get behind", I would look at it as time you can use to "get ahead". I really do believe that every thing happens for a reason and maybe your reason is that if you would have applied to the "safety schools" as you say, you may have gotten in, gone to one and not really had that experience you were looking for. Maybe now with a years worth of intense work you will be truly ready for a school that you desire to attend and next time around will land in the place that is truly best for you.
I would take this year that you have and work harder than ever before. Finding a teacher to work with is a good idea but more importantly become your own teacher. Audio and video record yourself , make practice journals, learn new rep that you didn't have time to do while in school, form a chamber ensemble or get with a pianist, guitarist, harpist and set up recitals-even if at local churches, etc. Join your local flute club, enter competitions, take auditions, build a private teaching studio. The sky is really the limit if you work hard and want to make it happen. When you are in school you often do not have the time to do some of these things. You have a great and exciting chance to do this in this coming year. If you do them, when you apply to schools next year, you will have so much more to offer than just being another good flute player. Teachers and schools will look at you as someone with goals, ideas, someone who puts plans into action, and they will want to support your future in this business. Yes, music is a business like anything else and there is so much more to grasp than just playing your instrument well. This is your time to do that. I can imagine why you would get discouraged, but you don't have to. Your plan A didn't work out but now is the chance to take plan B and run with it and make it even better than plan A ever was!
Q: I am an aspiring symphonic performer, but after 4-5 auditions, am uncertain about the dedication it seems to take to get the job. Now I know that is not many, but so many flutists show up, even for smaller orchestras. Does it help to have a graduate degree, I mean to be accepted for an audition? Were you ever discouraged? I am having a difficult time even getting in on an audition because of lack of experience, I guess. I play with a local (small) symphony, teach, and sub with another semi-professional group. Any comments would be appreciated.
A: Auditions are always an interesting topic. The first thing to realize going into any audition, in my opinion, is that there are going to be so many factors out of your control. The committee may hear you after a long day, it may be too hot in the hall, you could get water in your key, the person before you could sound bad, hence making you sound better, or they could already have someone in mind for the position...etc. Who knows what can happen that you won't be able to expect or control. All of these things may seem discouraging, however there are many factors that you CAN control in your preparation.
First you have to believe in yourself. Even if you think there are better players out there, you have to be willing to work harder than anyone to prove that you can get the job done. Work on your fundamental skills, study the scores, recordings, set up mock auditions, record yourself with both audio and video. Go the extra mile. Chances are someone else will. If you even think you could be doing more....you could! and will feel more confident if you do.
We all get discouraged or disappointed when we don't attain the results we are looking for. After an audition if you feel you did not do your best or didn't get the result you were looking for, take a brief amount of time, say a day or two, to really get it out of your system. Complain about it, eat chocolate cake, whatever, but then get right back into the swing of things. Take all of that energy you have from feeling bad and turn it around into positive energy for your next performance or audition. Assess what went wrong or what you could have done better and work specifically on those areas. Sometimes you won't win an audition but may have achieved your goal of playing your best in the process. In this case, there is nothing to feel discouraged about.
As far as simply getting accepted to an audition: A Masters degree could be helpful especially if you study with a high profile teacher. Also, chances are that while you are doing that degree you will gain experience both in school and through free-lance work. I know building a resume can be difficult and you don't want to water it down with too much "fluff", but make yourself available for any kind of work possible because you never know what other kind of work/ opportunities will arise. Many musicians that win jobs have taken numerous auditions, It is a skill which needs to be worked on like anything else. Keep taking them!
Q: I am preparing for an orchestral audition and I have practiced the excerpts in everyway I know how, but I am still getting stuck on some of them. I fear taking a break from the excerpts because the audition is coming up very soon. Any advice?
A: You are probably simply overworking them, and a break could be exactly what you need. I find that instead of continuing to play excerpts over and over again before an audition it is best to just go back to basics. Sometimes when we get so engrossed in our preparation of specific pieces or excerpts we ignore our basic skills, which will be the first things to go when we are nervous, if they are not solid. Practice lots of scales, arpeggios, tone and vibrato exercises, etc. To trick your muscle memory, practice the fast excerpts very slow and the slow excerpts fast. This will usually reveal a lot about phrasing, breathing, and any technical kinks that could arise.
To practice something you know over and over again is only to test yourself, and as a result your practice can lose purpose. If you got it on the 20th try, chances are you will get it on the 21st. The opposite is true as well.
If something isn't going right figure out exactly what or where the problem lies, before you move on or try it again. Isolate and work on this specifically without exhausting the surrounding material.
TCHAIKOVSKY'S FOURTH SYMPHONY PICCOLO SOLO
Q: Help! I have tried and tried and tried to play this solo and I simply cannot do it well. I start very slowly, playing to the eighth note, but as soon as it gathers any speed things just fall apart. Do you have any helpful hints how to approach this solo? How did you go about learning it? Thanks for any help you give.
A: Great question. Tchaik 4 can be such a little bugger! Anyhow, I think it is quite manageable when you break it down. The biggest obstacle is usually its nasty reputation! We all sweat about this passage that lasts for all of 4 seconds.
First thing I would say is to practice the skeleton rhythm of the solo- the main beatswith a metronome to make sure that you are absolutely in time. If this outlying rhythm is not spot-on we have no chance of nailing the passage. Next, you can start to fill in a few notes here and there- if we are talking the fast solo I would now add the 2nd pickup (c) and then the two 16ths on the and of beat one, etc. Do this at a variety of tempi for stability. Working slow is great, but eventually it has to be fast. Practice fast -but in smaller parts.
Next I would say to take it apart, and practice each element of the solo. For example just the 2 pick-ups and then the downbeat. Then you can practice the thirty seconds with different rhythms for example or by playing in tempo but by holding one of the 4 notes longer, by stopping on it, etc. There are so many exercises that you can create so that you aren't trying to do the same thing over and over again. We need to train our muscles and our brain to work in different ways so that we don't get stuck. The last two groups of 4 16ths at the end are simply Db flat major and Ab major arpeggios- so practice your arpeggios and you'll be set. Also, even though this is so fast- think slowand steady, not frantic.
All of this basically applies to the first entrance as well- some people like to use alternate fingerings for this one- for the 32nds. I don't in this case but I am a big fan of them in general if they sound good and make your life easier.
Lastly I would say to practice other things- don't beat the solo to death- practice flute etudes on picc just to build stability endurance, comfort etc. Going back to the solo will be so much easier.
