[Trombone-l] musicianship question

[Chris Tune]

Like any kind of training, this probably is a multi-pronged issue.  The 
first priority is awareness of the issue itself. . .

Have you discussed the notion of musicality vs. stiff, overly mechanical 
performance?  Maybe there is a way to do this "diplomatically".  Perhaps the 
way to present is as a series of improvements, the first of which is the 
technically right, but mechanical part.  Then, we move on to musicality. 
Doubtlessly, though the first thing to occur is to actually become aware of 
the NEED for the musicality.

Then you have to define what musicality is.  This is much harder.  In fact, 
this is a never-ending quest.  BUT. . .we can certainly isolate parts of 
what is entailed.  As Jay says--DYNAMICS are a big part.  Not just loud and 
soft but all the dynamics, including such things as marcato and things which 
are similar to, but not exactly dynamics alone--(e.g. "dolce" or very sweet 
sound).

We can dig up good examples of very musical performances.  Of course, the 
best musicians are often very big fans and collectors of recordings. I just 
spent more time with ace jazz trumpeter Bob Summers (ex-Basie, ex-Maynard 
Ferguson, ex-Woody Herman. . .still with Bill Holman and so forth).   I was 
reminded of just what a record-collecting junkie Bob is.  Just about 
everything I've gotten over the years is also in Bob's collection.  He also 
has almost everything from Rosolino. . .remarkeable in a trumpet player.

PRACTICE is the next, and often weakest part of the equation.  Once we know 
a bunch of techniques that comprise musical effort (like dynamics, like 
proper articulation, like excellence in tone quality, and on, and on) we 
still need to actually practice each of these things. . both in isolation 
and in context.  This requires that we organize our practice and our choice 
of material to allow us to practice the art in its various aspects (do I 
have literature that is LOUD?. . .is everything dolce?. . .is it all modern, 
and nothing traditional?)

Basically we have to get the group on the road to musicality, and hopefully 
as many of the group will get into it as possible.  Even if there are a few 
clueless ones. . .often they will be dragged along with the others.  Humans 
are great at "group-think" and imitation.  If enough performers become 
musically aware, often the rest fall in.

Good luck.  This is the "good fight". Of course nobody ever said it was 
easy.

Chris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Holland" <briar at rcn.com>
To: "Trb. List" <trombone-l at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 8:17 PM
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] musicianship question


> Jay Sheridan wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
> This already turns out to be a rather provocative question. Still, I
> should caution: think as a musician, not as a trombonist. The trombone
> is merely a medium; musicianship requires understanding, taste, and
> inspiration independent of any particular medium.
>
> That said, Jay Heltzer's pithy remark about dynamics made some sense to
> me, though I usually think more in terms of weight and release. As Dave
> Gibson remarks, all by itself, that's not enough to instruct students.
> Where, when, how much, and how often are all issues that a musical
> person can intuit, but an experienced musician/teacher should be able
> to break it down to some good ideas (to use) and bad ideas (to avoid).
>
> It also occurred to me that I think on at least two levels when making
> musical choices: within the phrase and across phrases. It's hard to
> communicate both musical ideas at once, but it's necessary, I think, to
> recognize that note-by-note minutiae should ultimately add to phrase-
> and melody-level shaping.
>
> That's just a start, of course, but it's initial my 2 cents on what
> could be a lengthy and worthwhile discussion.
>
> Robert Holland, Publisher
> Briar Music Press
> briar at rcn.com
> www.briarmusic.com
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