[Trombone-l] musicianship question

[Daryl Burch]

Jon von Olen (Blue Wisp Big Band, Andy Williams, Mel Tormé) at CCM 
would have his drummers say phrases to play certain swing rhythms on 
the ride cymbal.  Most commonly he'd have them say "What the f---, what 
the f---, what the f---." This tended to raise the eyre of the more 
religious players. But _THEY ALL_ learned how to play  a solid swing in 
their ride cymbals.

A more accessible example would be the very first track on Maceo 
Parker's "Dial M-A-C-E-O" album. Just saying the phrase "Rabbits in the 
pea patch. Catch 'em. Catch 'em." instantly puts a bump in your step 
and conveys the infectious groove they're about to lay down. So much so 
that my 2 & 7 year olds do it from the start. And I hear walkin' around 
the house singing it.

Since so much of funk is based on inner body rhythm, that's about the 
best example I can think of of thinking musically. "Duh da duh da dee 
dot." doesn't have quite the same impression as "rabbits in the pea 
patch" IMHO. If you saw that phrase written on the staff it would just 
be straight 8ths with _maybe_ some articulations marked. Interpreting 
it would be solely up to the player.

I hope haven't strayed too far off the point. Just happened to be 
listening to Maceo when this message came through.

Cheers!
-D-
www.radionoise.com <- Rock star by night
www.burchinteractive.com <- Tech-nerd by day #;-)


On Mar 1, 2006, at 2:02 PM, Raymond Horton wrote:

> I agree.  I use the rise and fall of speaking very often as an example
> for phrasing.
>
>
> You could start with a negative example:
>
>
> "Imagine listening to a teacher who always gives the emphasis in a
> sentence to the last WORD.  He or she might do this occasionally to 
> make
> a special POINT.  But if he does this all the time it would be very
> ANNOYING.  (etc)
>
>
> Then illustrate the rise and fall of normal speech, and they will be
> much more aware of it.  You can make up words to musical phrases - or
> just imagine general lyric type ideas without specific words ("Here, 
> [in
> the second variaton to 'Annie Laurie'] this is where your dog died...")
> or in a choir, just have them say the lyrics in a free and easy manner.
>
> RBH
>
>
>
>
> dslide13 at aol.com wrote:
>
>> I use the language metaphor always.  Playing technically without 
>> musicianship is similar to Ben Stein's monotonous tone in Ferris 
>> Bueller.   So, have them present the music as they would read lines 
>> in a play.
>>
>> David Gibson
>> trombonist/educator
>> www.jazzbone.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jay Sheridan <jsheridan at usv.k12.oh.us>
>> To: trombone-l at samford.edu
>> Sent: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 14:34:01 -0500
>> Subject: [Trombone-l] musicianship question
>>
>>
>> For all those that do any teaching, how do you teach a student (or 
>> group-
>> band/orch etc) to play musically? I have tried several different 
>> ways, but none
>> seem to be working. I have a group that can perform rhythmically and 
>> in tune,
>> but is lacking musically. The group in question is actually a choir, 
>> but I
>> usually think in trombone terms when talking to them anyways.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>>
>
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