[Trombone-l] "Sound in Motion" by David McGill

[Chris Tune]

Sounds great (hmmm. . .that seems to continue the thread of first "thinking
the sound. . .").

I feel it is actually kind of odd that we feel a bit ashamed when we mention
putting "the feelings" into a more "thought out" context.  I guess we've
been taught through the romantics that only experiential feeling is true.  I
must admit, I've tended to think the other way--of course, my interior
emotion will drive my work, my love of music, and perhaps some of my
particular choices as I improvise, but when I get around to the essence of
truly practicing or performing, I think that we are more in the realm of
"thought, concept and action" than in the emotional realm.

I often think about Bud Herseth and how he had a system of running through
certain things during his practice.  Also, I remember how he admonished us
to "always make it 'music'". He had developed this sort of "practice
regime", which he felt allowed him to cover all the bases he needed to, in a
certain number of hours a day (I think I recall three hours, but I may be
misremembering). It seems to me, that many, if not all of the "greats", have
labored heavily inside their "noggins" regarding "just how am I going to
achieve this effect, or that effect", and then have put together a set of
techniques which allow them to achieve what they set out to do.

Now, I think choice of material, for example, is truly getting into the
realm of more pure emotion.  If I simply "love" a particular piece, or a
particular style, then I will tend to choose it over others (I don't know
that the choice will reflect may particular feeling. . .happy, angry, etc.).
As I change in emotional outlook, I will believe that will likely affect my
choice of material.

You know, we are not so ashamed of the idea of "thought-out art" when we
discuss, say, architecture.  Even though the process of creation is
obviously evident in making a breakthrough architectural design, and even
though we acknowledge that it is indeed art, we don't expect that buildings
flow exclusively from the emotions. Rather, we accept quite a bit of
intellect in the creation of a building and know that much had to be
calculated to achieve the great effect of architectural accomplishment.

So here's some thanks to a couple of my favorite trombone players for
alerting me to this. I'll have to make it a point to look into these two
authors.

-----Original Message-----
From: trombone-l-bounces at samford.edu [mailto:trombone-l-bounces at samford.edu]
On Behalf Of Tom Gibson
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 6:19 PM
To: ALEX ILES
Cc: Trombone-L Trombone
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] "Sound in Motion" by David McGill

Amen, Alex!
Mr. Tabuteau has been a big influence on me, too.
I have a 2-CD compilation of his masterclasses (still in print and  
available, though his accent is at times very difficult to  
understand. You really have to listen closely:-).

Two other terrific books outlining his ingenious concepts are:

"Note Grouping: A Guide to Musical Epression" by James Morgan Thurmond

"An Understandable Guide to Musical Expression" by Kenneth Laudermilch

The latter I use with even very young students. It is a set of  
"rules" to remember and is structured a bit like a workbook. The  
former is a thesis and gets heavy, but advanced students will gain  
immensely from studying it. Laudermilch studied with Thurmond, who  
studied with Tabuteau, as I understand it.
The Thurmond book really changed my life in Grad school. I never  
thought the stuff could be codified and taught......I was wrong.


Dr. Tom Gibson
tom at trombonelessons.com
Visit me at iTunes:
Trombonelessons.com Video Podcasts
(or just search "trombonelessons" at the iTunes store)










On Jun 13, 2008, at 8:39 PM, ALEX ILES wrote:

I just posted this over at the tromboneforum and thought I'd share it
here too...

Best,

LX
==========================================

Hi all,

Wasn't sure the best place to put this topic. Thought I'd start here.

I just finished reading this book and found it very interesting.
David McGill is principal bassoonist with the Chicago Symphony--not
just some "ivory tower academic"!

The book's sub-title is, "A Performer's Guide to Greater Musical
Expression". In a thoughtful and well-written book, he has tackled a
challenging and, some might say, controversial subject.

Using the teachings of the highly influential oboist and legendary
musical pedagogue, Marcel Tabuteau as a foundation, he lays out a
well structured out and logical approach to shaping one's musical
choices. Lots of food for thought. My first impression before diving
into this book was, "How can anyone really TEACH this kind of
stuff?", but after reading Mr McGill's thoughts on the subject, I
think there are lots of valuable ideas to explore,  He also shares
his own insights and experiences about developing one's musicianship
in general.  Even if you are uncomfortable with the very idea of a
"system of expression", there are still some interesting ideas here
to play around with in your own playing.

Without going into too much detail here, I should say that the
essence of David's message is that when you hear a great perfomance,
it is no accident or based solely on a player's "inspiration in that
moment". Great PROFESSIONAL players prepare themselves to play great
and THINK about how they are going to communicate every note and
every phrase they play.

In an early chapter, David shares one of many great Tabuteau one
liners...

[from a masterclass]

"If you think beautifully, you play beautiful [sic]. I believe to
play as you think more than to play as you feel because how about the
day you are not feeling so well?"

David writes in a conversational, concise and at times, very humorous
way too. With almost every point he makes, he uses excellent musical
examples too. Just reading his "bassoonist's" take on "The Ride" and
"Bolero" will be worth the price of the book to most trombonists.

I highly recommend this book if you are looking for interesting,
thought-provoking and fun summer reading.

Anyone else familiar with this book or Tabuteau's teachings?

I am curious to hear other views on this book, Tabuteau's teaching
approach, or other thoughts about musical expression in general!!

Best wishes,

LX
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