Composers will often chop up their melodies and hand them round the various instruments in the band. When this happens it is crucial that the players play with one musical mind and a single cohesive… More
What is the Point of Percussion?
You see those dark staves at the bottom of the score? You should never go there my son! Or at least that seems to be how some conductors and adjudicators operate when it comes to percussion in brass bands.
Percussion costs more than the rest of the band put together, takes up more room, takes longer to set up and is more bother to move between venues than any other section in the band – so why do we bother?
Adjudicators rarely mention percussion (unless it is obscurring the adjudicator’s ability to listen to the proper instruments) and some conductors rarely work the percussion section in rehearsal. Why?
In the brass band world, most musicians who become conductors were once brass players and most adjudicators were once conductors.
Few brass players spend much time playing in the percussion section, so quite often the staves at the bottom of the score can be a bit of a mystery and a no-go area for conductors and adjudicators.
This can result in the percussion section very often being left to their own devices – which can sometimes work out well but could often be improved upon if the conductor and/or the percussion section actually knew what their role was within the band.
There are two primary roles for percussion within a band:
- Tone modification
- Percussion lead line
Both of these will only work if the proper balance between band and percussion is achieved.
THE SECRET TO GOOD PERCUSSION IS BLEND
Tone Modification is when the sound of some brass instruments is modified/enhanced by a percussion instrument playing in unison with it.
Muted cornets might benefit from having a glock or xylophone playing in unison with them to give a nice bit of shape to the starts of their notes. This will only work if the percussion is at exactly the right dynamic that it actually blends in with the cornets. The blended effect should sound like a single new instrument – not like a percussion instrument playing alongside some cornets.
It is similar when a bass drum or timpani is playing with the bass rhythm. Basses have a nice sustain sound but there is a limit as to how much they can accent the start of their note and still sound nice. But a bass drum can really add some crispness to the start of the bass notes but only if it blends with the basses using exactly the right balance. Again it should sound like a single instrument of the two sounds are properly blended.
When a high-hat, snare drum or tambourine has off beats, it will often be with horn or trombones or back row cornets who also have off beats. The percussion must blend with these other off beat players.
At the top of a big crescendo it is not uncommon for a bass drum and suspended cymbal to come up from under the build of a band to become promiment at the top of the climax. This is a great effect but again requires exactly the right dynamics. In this case the percussion should be under-balanced at the start of the build and over-balanced at the top of the build. Personally I like to do this with trombones too. This gives a change of tonal colour as the climax is reached. With all too little tonal variation in a brass band, we all have to work as hard as we can to get tonal variation.
Percussion lead line is when the percussion takes over the melody from a brass instrument in the band. It is again down to balance as to how successful this is. Whatever had the lead prior to percussion taking over, should hand the lead over and the percussion should be neither more nor less prominent than the previous holder of the melody.
If the band has been razzing at forte or double forte and then stops for a timp solo or drum break, then the percussion must match the dynamic of the band before it stopped – not exceed it and not play under it.
The percussion section in your band is a great deal of bother for sure. So make sure you’re getting the most out of it.
Look in the score to work out which percussion instruments are working with which brass instruments to modify which tones and when the lead line is handed to percussion and when it comes back.
Experiment with these effects and rehearse them until they are second nature to all involved and you’ll have a wonderful musical asset at the back of your bandroom.
by Steve Dunster
How to Train Your Basses
Basses are magical beings who live at the bottom of the chord. Their super-power is to make or break the quality of the band sound whilst remaining largely un-noticed by most.
The bottom of the chord is the most important note in the chord but the least easy to perceive. Consequently basses can make a band sound awesome without anybody noticing it’s down to them (sad for the basses). They can also wreck the sound of a band and it can be all too easy to not realise the fault lies with the basses (sad for the band).
A very fine brass band conductor (whose name I can’t recall) once said:
Keep your basses close, if you’ve got control of your basses – you’ve got control of your band!
This apparent invisibility does for some reason lead to a tendancy for bass sections to similar faults in a surprisingly large number of bands.
It is worth a read through the following check list, just to make sure that your invisible basses are improving your band’s sound and not making it worse.
REMOVE THE BASS SECTION’S CLOAKING DEVICE
Many conductors would think nothing of getting the front row cornets to play a few bars on their own. Any tuning issues would be mentioned, any split notes would be frowned upon and any togetherness issues would be addressed.
Fewer conductors would get their basses to play on their own and demand the same exacting standards.
Several times every rehearsal it is worth getting the basses to play something on their own.
Getting the basses to play on their own makes it easier for them to hear how good or bad their own playing is. It also lets them know you’re listening and that it matters how well they play.
Check for wrong notes, tuning, proper use of the 4th valves, moving together; make sure there are no split notes and also check for togetherness – some bass notes seem to take a long time to get going.
ARE YOUR BASSES PLAYING AFTER THE CORNETS?
I don’t know why it happens but euphoniums (being one octave below the cornets) will sometimes play slightly after the cornets. And the basses (being one octave below the euphoniums) will play slightly after the euphoniums.
Your basses and cornets should bracket all the other notes. Get your front row and basses to play quavers together on the same note and get the basses used to listening to the cornets and anticipating their notes so they strike together.
Once this has been fixed the next problem can be that sometimes bass players have less flexibility than the front row and can take liberties with time when their notes change, especially when a large interval is involved. This can be especially damaging if (as is usually the case) there is a change of chord on the new bar and the basses strike the new bar note late.
Playing a hymn tune in quavers with front row cornets and basses can help this. Check that all the quavers are together, especially when the basses are changing notes. They will sometimes want to take longer for intervals that are bigger.
ARE YOUR BASSES PLAYING IN TUNE?
Get all four basses to play a passage on their own. Bass sections can be notoriously out of tune.
Ideally the bass section should sound like one bass and it should be smooth and secure and rich and resonant.
It should NEVER sound like a massed formation of World War Two bombers.
Especially check that they are using their 4th valve for low D and Db.
ARE YOUR BASSES SPLITTING NOTES?
Listen to the starts of each of the bass notes. Do they splash or split or flub? Is the note production secure? Does the note start at exactly the right time?
If the bass notes are poor then regularly asking for quality notes and drilling for them normally leads to surprisingly quick improvement.
A very good fix for most of these production issues is to get them to “huff” the notes, in other words produce the note with no tongue. This will ensure that the pulse of air has a fast enough rise time to support the note properly. Once you’ve drilled them with no tongue, get them to then play normally and there is often a substantial improvement.
ARE YOUR BASSES CHANGING THEIR DYNAMICS?
It is a fantastic effect when you can get the band to have as much dynamic range in the basses as you do in the cornets. If you get the basses and cornets right, very often the middle will follow.
Every musician in the band should be drilled until they can all produce 6 distinct levels of dynamics (pp, p, mp, mf, f and ff).
For some reason bass sections can end up rarely going below mf and rarely going above f. This means that the balance changes for each dynamic and it also means that the potential drama caused by the band’s changes in dynamic is drastically reduced.
Whilst I can understand that playing a quality ff on a huge bass is something that not all players are built for, I don’t get why too few bass sections don’t go below a mf.
A QUALITY BASS SECTION LEADS TO A QUALITY BAND SOUND
If you can drill your bass section so it has at least 6 distinct levels of dynamic, that it plays exactly with the cornets, that it balances only slightly quieter than the melody, that it is precise with its even-ness of rhythm for all intervals, doesn’t split notes and plays perfectly in tune >> then you’re well on your way to having a quality band sound.
If your cornets are good and your basses are good then the middle will often follow.
If your basses are out of tune then the bottom of your chord is out of tune and this will seriously reduce the chances of any of your other sections playing in tune.
It is perhaps a sad fact that if a band has great cornets, people say “Great cornets!” If a band has great basses, people say “Great band!” …but that’s way better than people saying “Awful band!”
Work your basses as often as you work every other section. Your basses are your pathway to having a great sounding band.
by Steve Dunster
How to play a “fp-crescendo”
Don’t focus on the forte and the crescendo in a fp crescendo effect.
The most important part of a fp crescendo is the piano
The piano lasts the longest and is the stillest part of the effect.
If you focus on hitting the forte really hard and then suddenly take the air away to get a really quiet piano it is not uncommon for the note during the piano to drop in pitch.
Practice playing the piano as a long note with no crescendo and check it with a chromatic tuner. See how quietly you can play the piano in tune and with security – then ensure that your piano in the forte-piano is never quieter than this level.
The next step is to add a small accent to the piano long note and check your tuning and security is just as good as before. Then add a bigger and bigger accent until you reach the fp effect you want.
The next step is to add the crescendo.
Hold the piano for quite a while before even thinking about starting the crescendo.
When you start the crescendo start it slowly and do all the work at the end.
For example, if you have a fp crescendo over four beats. Don’t hit the forte too hard, it is only a forte and what matters most is your control over the piano. Drop and hold the piano and stay at piano for at least a beat and a half. Very gradually build the start of the crescendo and do most of the build in the last beat.
Practice this effect and master it. A well executed fp-crescendo by a brass band is a stunning effect.
by Steve Dunster
How to Play and Move your Audience
A melody is not just a line of beautifully played notes played at exactly the right pitch and at exactly the right time. Far from it. A melody is a conduit through which you convey emotions to your listeners.
How many ways can a top class actor deliver a line? The same line could be delivered with pathos, or hope, or resolve, or cheek or so many other ways. They’d do this by varying the pace, or whether the speech is clipped or smooth, breathy or resonant, or which words have emphasis and if there are pauses in the delivery (they call them “beats”, the tiniest of breaks in the dialog for just a heartbeat).
With so many options, how does an actor or their director go about choosing which to use? It depends on the story to be told and what role in the overall story this particular line has. It depends on what went before it and what will follow. Sometimes the chosen delivery will support the meaning of the words, sometimes it will contrast with the meaning.
There are so many creative choices. Which is the right choice?
Actually there are many right choices. Many ways to move an audience. There is no single right way to deliver a line, however there is a wrong way – no quality actor would ever deliver a line devoid of emotional content, and similarly musicians should never play a melodic line devoid of emotion either.
The best musicians do this melodic interpretation instinctively. If you are not one of them, then use my suggestions below as food for thought and challenge yourself as to whether you are getting the very best out of the melodies that you play. If you do this often enough you too in time may eventually find that you do these things instinctively too.
THE ONLY WRONG WAY TO INTERPRET A MELODY
Brass instruments are so difficult when it comes to note production that players and conductors rightly spend a lot of time ensuring that every note of a melody is resonant, in tune and with consistent attack (or lack of). To do this requires a great deal of control on the player’s behalf.
Sadly this drive for technical perfection can lead to a melody being played without shape or emotion of any sort.
Also, players and conductors correctly look for details in the written part that they can bring out, like dynamics and accents. Sadly too many think that unless a crescendo is written, that no crescendo should be made. And unless accents are written then all notes should be of equal importance.
This is the worst possible reading of a melody. Shapeless, devoid of emotion and only doing what you’re told in the copy rather than feeling what is implied in the copy and conveying it to your listeners.
If you look at modern brass band publications, many are full of expression marks (articulations, dynamics, accents, etc.). If you look at scores of some of the great classical masterpieces, there are hardly any by comparison. But if you listen to some of these masterpieces being played by a top orchestra with a top conductor you will find that they are bursting with expression and you can’t but get moved emotionally.
Many brass band players and conductors don’t make enough of the music in front of them. There are so many expressive opportunities even in the most simple pieces of music, all you need to know is how to identify them and the fact that it is not only okay to play what some would say was unwritten expression, but it is actually required that you play it. Once you start to play with feeling, you will enjoy playing your music so much more. Never again will you think a piece is boring because you’ll see and feel so much more than just the written notes.
LOOK FOR THE IMPORTANT NOTES
Every melody has its structure. You need to identify the structural notes. All structual notes are important notes. The notes in-between the structural notes serve purely to add decoration and variety to the melody and to get from one important note to the next. The in-between notes are often referred to as passing notes – they pass between the structural notes.
It is worth noticing how often the chords change. There will almost certainly be a structural note every time a chord changes.
You can test whether notes are structural or not by leaving out the in-between notes and seeing whether it breaks the melody or not. For example, a 4/4 hymn tune is likely to have its structural notes on beats 1 and 3 of most bars.
The first and last notes of a phrase are always important.
Semiquavers are almost always passing notes but some of the semiquavers (quite often the first of a group of four and sometimes the 3rd of a group) will be structural and therefore would benefit from a little emphasis.
Long notes in a melody are always important.
This may seem counter-intuitive because some may feel that the busy notes in between are the most important – technically the notes in-between may demand more attention, but musically they are of little importance compared to the long notes.
A melody is a journey. The places on that journey that you linger are the places that you savour.
All the longest notes in a melody have to be played as beautifully as you can.
THE IMPORTANT NOTES NEED TO BE THE BEST PLAYED NOTES
Play just the important (structural) notes as pauses (not in time). Check that they start nicely, that they are exactly in tune (use a chromatic tuner to check) and that they make melodic sense in the context of your other important notes.
The first and last notes of every phrase need to played the best you possibly can.
The very first note needs to sound fantastic. No splits or flubs. Perfectly in tune and wonderfully resonant. Most players will realise this and work towards this goal.
Fewer players will take the same care of the last note of a phrase or even the last note of a piece. The last note is of vital musical importance. When you travel to a holiday destination, it is the destination you savour more than the journey.
The last note of a piece is the last note people will remember you playing.
Too many players give too little attention to the ends of phrases. Psychologically they think the hard work has been done. They think the nice easy long note at the ends of the phrases is so they can have a bit of a rest before embarking on the next interesting bit.
Musically speaking, the last note is one of the most important notes – technically though it can be one of the hardest to play because your air supply is running low.
Never take the playing of the last note of a phrase too cheap. It is important and difficult. Play your last notes mindfully.
LOOK FOR THE PULSE
There is a pulse to every melody, some gentle, some bouncy, but every melody will have one.
The purpose of the barline is to tell you where the strongest pulse should be.
The first beat of every bar is normally the strongest beat in that bar.
The time signature will give you clues as to where the next strongest beats are:
2/4 will have a strong beat at the beginning of the bar and beat 2 will be a weaker beat. Quavers may be pulsed in fours or twos, sometimes their grouping (how many quavers are barred together) will give you a clue.
4/4 will often have a pulse at every two crochets. The strongest at the beginning of the bar and the almost as strong on the half bar (beat 3). Beats 2 and 4 are normally weak parts of the bar (assuming there is no syncopation or builds/breakdowns to modify this pulse temporarily). Quavers may be pulsed in fours or twos.
3/4 will have a strong beat on the beginning of the bar and maybe two weak beats following. Or maybe beat 2 is very weak and beat 3 part way between the weak beat 2 and the strong beat 1 of the next bar, so there is a little crescendo through each bar aiming for the new bar. Or maybe the first two beats are strong with a weak beat 3, so a strong beat 1, a slightly weaker beat 2 and a very much weaker beat 3. Which to choose depends on the style of the music and it’s context but never have all three notes the same strength. Quavers may be pulsed in fours or twos.
6/8 will have a pulse on the first quaver and the fourth quaver and will be pulsed in triplets with a slightly stronger pulse on the first triplet than the second. When playing the crochet-quaver rhythm, the crochet should be played as short as the quaver and louder than the quaver. Both notes should be played short when it is a bouncy tempo but maybe legato when playing a slower tempo at six in a bar rather than two.
6/4 can be played in exactly the same style as 6/8 above i.e. two threes. But sometimes it can be played as three twos. It is a matter of interpretation as to which you choose if you have no accents or tenutos to guide you. If the melody is in a score, you can look at the other parts around this melody and find out when the chords change or the shape of some of the textures to get guidance as to how they should best be grouped. Ultimately try both and pick the one that sounds best.
SOME IMPORTANT NOTES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHERS
Look for builds and breakdowns. Some will be marked with crescendos and diminuendos but others will not be.
As a starting point look at the pitch of the melody – where does it rise and where does it fall? There is often an emotional high point where the melody plays the highest notes, so allow yourself to raise the temperature a little and play a little louder but still preserve the shape of which notes should be strong or weak.
LINGER BEFORE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT NOTES
Where it is appropriate to pull the tempo a little (which tends to be more often at a slower tempo), consider raising the tension a little before resolving onto some of the most important notes.
For example, just before you play the note at the top of a climax, delay playing the climax and continue the lift for just a little longer. Just before you play the final note of the piece, delay the playing of it just a little. Often the harmony is tense prior to some of these “most important” notes, build the tension by staying in the tense harmony for a little longer.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Look for question and answer pairs in a melody. Imagine a four bar phrase. It might have an ascending one bar motif (the question) that might be responded to by the next bar which has a similar rhythm but might be desceding (the answer). These two single bar motifs might then be responded to by a two bar motif, the last bar of which is long note.
Look at these structures in your phrasing. Think of them as short and long sentences that combine to make a paragraph and deliver them accordingly.
SEQUENCE BUILDS AND BREAKDOWNS
A sequence is a motif that repeats but each time it repeats it is say up a note (or maybe down a note, or maybe a third). The motif itself is often only a bar or maybe even a half bar and is usually part of a build or a breakdown.
It is wrong to think that every note in the build (or breakdown) should be louder (or quieter) than the previous. Instead you must shape the motif with the appropriate strong and weak notes and the motif must have the same shape each time you play – but each time you play the motif it must be a little louder (or quieter) i.e. each loud note of the motif must be a little louder, and each quiet note of the motif must be a little louder too.
You must preserve the pulse even in a crescendo, so some notes in a crescendo will actually need to be quieter than the previous notes (the weak notes).
LOOK FOR THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL
Look at your melody as a horizontally joined up line of notes and notice where they rise and fall. Be aware of where there are builds and breakdowns.
If you are going up in pitch then there is more energy in the melody at this point.
You need to look at the type of climax. If the climax is busy then as the pitch increases, also increase every other type of energy i.e. play a little louder and a little faster too (if you have the licence to do so – obviously you can’t speed up in a march or a dance).
If the climax is sustained then you may want to think of the increasing pitch as a staircase and as you go up, you slow towards the summit. This is very often used in cadenzas, take a run at some upward runs that slow toward the top where it lingers and then slowly increases pace like a ball bouncing down some stairs as the pitch goes downwards.
LOOK FOR AN EMOTIONAL NARRATIVE
All these paragraphs will eventually combine to tell a story. Look for a narrative in your piece. What moods are created and in what order. Are there contrasting moods played at the same time?
Once you have a narative it can perhaps guide you to how joyfully you should play the joyful movement.
For example, there is a piece for brass band that has a first movement that is written in a bouncing 6/8 but is written in a minor key and has some foreboding harmonies. Its middle movement is slow, reflective moments of triumph and with moments of stillness and peace. The fast final movement is written like an energitic march, has rising motifs like those of a heralding trumpet from a lookout post, it has machine-gun like sounds in the textures and it builds to a frantically energetic ending.
The title of the piece calls it a Rhapsody but this is of little use in a narrative. Film composers aren’t interested in the plot of a script, they are interested in the emotional contours of a script because emotions are the currency of musical scores.
So when you’re putting together a guiding narrative, use emotional words.
For the above piece I might find it useful to think of it as a going into battle narrative.
The first movement is the bravado before the battle. Lots of excitement and energy in preparation for the battle ahead but with a dark fear-inducing under-current.
The second movement is the night before the battle. Each soldier alone with his thoughts in the stillness of the night with flashes of what might or might not befall him tomorrow.
The final movement is the battle itself. With energy, excitement, violence and mahem.
As a musician your job is that of a story-teller and you tell that story through the evocation of emotions.
If you don’t impart emotions, then you don’t tell a story, and you haven’t created music!
THERE ARE SO MANY MORE THINGS TO CONSIDER
I hope I’ve given you food for thought on just how much to consider, interpret and feel in even the most simple of melodies.
There are so many more of course, like tempo, length of notes, amount of accent, how much contrast to include in the shape, how much rubato, etc. But I hope I have given you a start.
HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?
All these effects will blend together to make your interpretation. How do you know if any particular effect is too much? Simple! Increase the effect and see if it improves the emotional effect or detracts from it. Be brave, get out of your comfort zone. Go too far!!!!
It is only once you’ve gone too far that you can guarantee that you’ll have gone far enough!
Once you’ve gone too far then come back just a little and you’ll be right on the money!
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR INTERPRETATION IS RIGHT?
There are so many different ways to interpret a melody: where you slow and where you push it along, where the pulse is and how much pulse you put on it, what length notes are used where and with which tempo and which note lengths to use where.
But here’s the thing, providing your interpretation makes musical sense (and conforms to good musical grammatical rules) then it doesn’t matter what interpretation you use.
What matters is you’ve put analytical and emotional effort in to moving your listeners.
It is a delight to hear different interpretations of the same melody, so don’t just copy a recording of somebody else – make it your own!
In my opinion, the only real crime is to not bother interpreting a melody at all – playing a technially perfect melody with no emotional content is a good start, but it’s not music. Look for the emotion and mix it in with your technically perfect playing and you will have connected your heart to your listeners – and undoubtedly you will have played compelling music.
Use your music to move your listeners emotionally and they will love you for it.
Enjoy!
by Steve Dunster
Basses and the 4th Valve
I’ve lost count of how many brass bands I’ve been conducting when having heard the basses go suddenly go out of tune, I’ve looked up and seen at least one bass has 1-3 valves down, instead of 4th. I should never see a bass player using 1-3v (and of course Db/C# should be 2-4v not 1-2-3v).
Please, please, please if you’re a bass player use your 4th valve instead of 1-3v for low D – or it’s likely to go dreadfully sharp, or the player will have to lip it down to such an extent that the tone will suffer, or the tuning slides have been pulled out so far to get low D in tune that many of the other notes are actually out of tune.
The physics is clear, if the first and third valve tuning slide positions are correctly set so that 1v notes, 1-2v notes and 2-3v notes are in tune, then 1-3v notes are going to be sharp. This effect is true for all instruments but it’s most noticeable in the basses.
It is crucially important that your bass section is in tune. If the bottom of the chord, the foundation of the band sound, is insecure, out of tune or splashy then you’ll never achieve a quality band sound.
BASSES ARE THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT SECTION IN THE BAND
Most conductors will correctly understand that it’s a good approach to get your cornets sounding great first. They are the most prominent section in the band, they are the biggest section and carry the melody (the most important line in a score) more often than any other section.
There is less consistency amongst conductors as to which is the next most important section to get right. Some will work down the score through horns, then euphs/baris/troms but sadly never quite make it to basses and percussion.
In my opinion, once the cornets are right, the very next section to fix must be the basses and timps. And be as demanding as you were with the cornets regarding tuning and togetherness.
Once you have quality playing in the cornets and the basses then all the other sections are bracketed by quality and many of the middle problems may disappear simply as a result of this. The remaining problems with the middle will be much easier to fix once the top and bottom are fixed.
WHY DO SO MANY BASS PLAYERS PLAY OUT OF TUNE
If tuning in the basses is so crucial to a band’s sound, why do so many bass players play out of tune and why do they not help the situation by using their 4v instead of 1-3v?
Here are some of the circumstances I’ve encountered:
- Maybe a bass player learnt on a 3 valved instrument and they have never had it explained to them just how important it is to use 4v instead of 1-3v.
- Maybe a bass player has tried using the 4v and is uncomfortable with using it. The only answer is familiarity. Scales need to be re-learnt using the 4v and familiarity will quickly come. Both the quality of sound and pitch are so much better with 4v on low D.
- Maybe a bass player feels they get a better sound using 1-3. If this is indeed the case and it is not sharp, it is possible that the first and third value slides have been tuned so low D is good, in which case it is possible that it is the other notes using 1v, 1-2v and 2-3v might actually be the ones that suffer. Do NOT tune 1st, 2nd and 3rd valve tuning slides so that Low D and Low Db sound in tune! That is the job of the 4v.
- Maybe a bass player can’t hear just how sharp low D is when played on 1-3v. Give the bass player a chromatic tuner and get them to play a slow ascending scale so they can see the indicator on the tuner for the notes either side of the low D and the D played on 1-3v. Then repeat for a descending scale. If the low D on 1-3v is sharp then do the same exercise but this time on 4v. If the 1-3v low D was actually in tune it is possible that the other notes of the scale are wrong because the first and third valve tuning slides had been tuned for low D, which they should not be. Low D is the job of the 4v and its tuning slide. If all the notes in both scales are in tune then this must be down to the good ear and lip of the player. If you get them to play a low D on 1-3v at different dynamics the chances are that it will eventually go sharp and that the tone of the note is not as good as the other notes when lipped down to bring it in tune. Doing the same with the 4v should give better results.
Use your 4th valve instead of 1-3v for low D – or it’s likely to go dreadfully sharp.
by Steve Dunster
Syncopation for Brass Players
Syncopation is not just a rhythm, it’s a style. You not only need to place the notes in the right place but also take account of note lengths, the separation between the notes and the relative loudness of each note in the rhythm.
WHAT IS SYNCOPATION?
Syncopation is when a pulse beat (like crochets in 4/4 common time) are pushed on to the half beats because of a quaver at the beginning of the bar.
This is a great effect. It moves the strong pulse across the beat but will only work if you understand its purpose and work the notes properly – otherwise it can sound like you’re in the wrong place.
SYNCOPATION STYLE – playful
Syncopation is often used in bright, happy, playful, reasonably fast music. In such styles the strong pulse of the bar is usually a little separated and a little accented.
The purpose of the syncopation effect in these styles is to strike against the strong pulse of the bar, in a bouncing happy way and is often used to great effect in melodies and counter melodies.
However strong the pulse of the bar is, the syncopated notes (the off-beat crochets) need to be at least as loud and maybe even a little louder, and slightly separated and slightly accented to match the style of the strong pulse – in this way you can feel the syncopation and pulse working against each other.
To syncopate you must separate!
The quaver at the beginning of the syncopation (often at the beginning of the bar) pushes the crochets onto the off-beats and it needs to be loud (because it’s the beginning of the bar or at least on-the-beat) but it must be short. Punch this short on-beat quaver and use it as a spring board to get you onto the bouncing syncopated crochets.
The quaver at the end of the syncopation (sometimes at the end of the bar) that brings the you back on to the strong pulse, should be played just as short as the starting quaver but much lighter. Sometimes the next on-beat note is another start quaver to the next syncopated section. If so then you have the short ending quaver played lightly, followed by a short but punched on-beat start quaver and on to the bouncing separated and accented syncopated and separated crochets.
If there are several quavers at the ending of a syncopated section then they should all be played lightly and short.
It is worthy of note that the more syncopated crochets you have in a row before a quaver that brings you back on to the on-beat, the harder it is to keep all the syncopated crochets placed accurately. It is of great help to have a very good awareness of where the strong pulse is so you can place the syncopated notes against them.
SYNCOPATION STYLE – majestic
Sometimes, particularly in orchestral styled music, syncopation is much slower and drawn out. Perhaps with minims instead of the crochets often used in lighter faster music.
The purpose of this syncopation effect is less of a melodic effect (as described above) but more of a harmonic effect. Here the purpose of the syncopation is to have notes of the next chord played early against the notes of the current chord played late. These suspensions are a fantastic effect but only if the syncopated notes are played long enough that you can actually hear the notes of one chord played against and at the same time as the next chord.
If you do the to syncopate you must separate thing here you’ll never hear the clash of the suspensions between chords. In this style, full length and sustain is what is called for.
PRACTICE SYNCOPATION
Play the syncopation exercises in the Arban they are a wonderful way of getting this style nailed. Play against a metronome so you have a strong pulse to play against and really try and focus on consistently achieving a happy, joyful and playful bouncing style.
by Steve Dunster
How to Stop Rushing and Dragging
Rhythm is a crucial part of music. If your notes start and end in precisely the right place then your music will have a dramatically stronger effect on your audience than if they don’t.
But the critical word here is precisely. Most players will correctly read the simple rhythms you’d get in a 4/4 hymn tune say but few will play them precisely. This not only reduces the musical power of a solo instrument line but it makes precise ensemble playing impossible if even a small number of players are rushing or dragging.
Typically a player will feel pressure to rush if the music becomes less “interesting” like four crochets in a row or a long note at the end of a phrase. Sometimes a tricky phrase is dragged to make it a bit easier to play. Passages that look faster (maybe because there is more black on the page) can be hurried. Slow passages are sometimes dragged either because they are played too slowly or they are played at the correct tempo but the starts of the notes speak late. In an ensemble somebody with the melody may decide to slow part of a phrase and if somebody else does not notice and carries on the the previous tempo, the effect is that the accompaniment sounds rushed.
In essence, you need to play precisely the right rhythm, at the right tempo and your notes need to start precisely on the beat (not before it and not after it) – sadly the tempo will sometimes vary so an awareness of the varying tempo is also required.
Here are the steps
- Play precisely the right rhythm (using sub-divisions)
- Play precisely on the beat (with a metronome)
- Play at precisely the right tempo (with a metronome)
- Be aware of changing tempo (rubato, accel, rall)
Below are some exercises you can do to improve all of these issues.
SUBDIVISIONS – the secret to accurate rhythms
If you are playing a 4/4 hymn tune with crochets, dotted crochets, quavers and minims, then a useful subdivision would be quavers. Ideally inside your head there should be a “ticking” of quavers at precisely the right tempo. Here’s the reason and here’s how to do it.
Play the whole hymn but only using quavers. For example, when you have a crochet, instead of playing a single one-beat note you should play two quavers at the same pitch. A dotted crochet would be three quavers on the same note.
Play through using quavers equal in time and get used to making space for the right number of quavers for each note value. Then play it again immediatley afterwards, this time as written and you should find that in your head the quavers are still playing. Repeat this a few times and do a little of this at some point in every practice period.
When you are comfortable with this, play it with quavers again but this time speed up the quavers towards the middle of a phrase and slow the quavers down towards the end of the phrase. Then play as written again but with the same changes in speed. In this way you will preserve precise rhythms even with speed changes.
If ever you notice that your are not subdividing whilst you’re playing, then do these exercises again until you are.
METRONOME – the secret to not playing early or late
Once you are subdividing in your head, you’ll almost certainly be playing precise rhythms. But you still might be playing those rhythms early or late or not at a constant tempo or at the wrong constant tempo.
Practicing with a metronome will fix all of these issues, but only if you are aware of it and in sync with it. The awareness you build up by playing with a metronome is exactly the awareness you need to play good ensemble.
First of all set your metronome to something like 80 beats per minute (bpm). Let each click be a crochet. Play quavers along with the metronome. Every other quaver should precisely hit with a metronome click.
You know when it is precise because your note and the metronome click will blend together and the click will vanish.
If you can hear the click you’re too early or too late.
When you can do this, repeat the exercise but play crochets ensuring that in your head you can “hear” quavers. Make sure the click disappears.
Then drop the metronome to 40 bpm (minims) and play four quavers for each click. Every fourth quaver should make the click disappear. Then play crochets. Every other crochet should make the click disappear. Then play minims. Every minim should make the click disappear.
You’re now ready to play a 4/4 (common time) hymn tune with the metronome. Set it to 160 bpm (quavers). Play quaver subdivisions and every one of your quavers should make the click disappear. If not, do it again. Then play as written along with the metronome playing the quavers. Then set the metronome to 80 bpm (crochets) and play as written again, ensuring you are very accurately placing each note precisely with the click. Then set the metronome to 40 bpm (minims – this is the hardest), and play as written and make sure that you are exactly with the click when required.
You may discover in the course of these exercises that you have a tendancy to rush crochets or shorten the ends of phrases or play the first note late after a breath. If so then these exercises will be transforming the quality of your playing. Do them regularly and with different speeds and different tunes with different registers and dynamics.
Playing precise rhythms and precise tempi will transform both your solo playing and your ensemble playing.
by Steve Dunster
Sing and Play with a Smile :)
When I conduct a band, after the first run-through of a hymn tune during the warm-up, I can tell exactly what sort of day each player has had. Don’t kid yourself. When you play music, your emotions are out there for everybody to hear and to feel. This of course is why music is such a pleasurable experience – unless you’re GRUMPY!
Don’t be grumpy when you play
The technical aspects to your playing are crucial and you should do all you can to master them, but they are only part of the story. The only reason people listen to music is to enjoy the emotions they get from it. If you don’t feel the emotions as you play, neither will your audience, even if you are technically correct. Sadly if you feel the emotions beautifully but have not mastered your technique then your technical shortcomings may well distract from the emotions. Imagine a beautifully executed musical climax, only to be spoilt by a split note right at the moment of climax, it’s just the worst feeling in the world. So technique first, emotion second. The problem is that mastering technique is such an all-consuming occupation, it can be all too easy to forget about the emotional side to your playing.
All too often I’ve heard beautifully played music completely void of emotion – which is like a completely pointless letter that tells you nothing but is written in the most beautiful handwriting. Quality handwriting is not enough, it needs to say something worth reading.
To try and explain the huge difference emotional playing can make I’d like to use an analogy with portrait photography.
An inexperienced photographer taking a photograph of a person with no modelling or acting experience can all too easily get a less than satisfying expression in the photograph. In an attempt to get some emotion into the photograph the inexperienced photographer may shout at the person and demand that they smile. The person doesn’t really feel like smiling. They’ve just been criticised and shouted at. They try and remember how to smile. This is not something they would normally think about, they would feel happy and smile naturally and subconsiously. So feeling angry, embarrassed and awkward they try and remember what they do when they smile. They use their facial muscles to force their lips up into a smile. The result? The worst Wallace and Grommit pics you’ve ever seen. The eyes portraying what is really going on emotionally and the mouth trying to follow the technical instruction to smile. Technically they are complying to the photographer’s instructions to smile but they are not feeling it, and they are certainly not conveying it.
And this is where the portait photographers’ expression “the camera shoots in both directions” comes from. If the photographer is angry, don’t expect to get a convincing happy photograph of your subject. And it is the same in music.
If you are preoccupied with the physical exertions involved in projecting or the difficulties of fingering or the strain involved in playing a high note in tune – then maybe you are playing the notes technically the way a happy person might play a happy tune but it will be just as unconvincing musically as a grimacing forced smile in a badly taken photograph.
Instead, try imagining that you are smiling, think of happy images, think of funny things that make you laugh and let the technical aspects of your playing be looked after by the subconsious, instilled by the habits you have drilled during your practice periods.
Although loud notes may take considerable physical exertion, so does shouting. Most times you are called upon to play loudly it will be to do so musically and happily and with the joy of musical climax. So please, don’t get preoccupied with the physical exertion, instead think of yourself as singing, not shouting and playing with a smile.
At the technical level you will do almost identical things to your previous attempt but your music will carry so much more emotion. If the piece you’re playing is dark, then you will obviously need to think of dark things.
Why does this matter?
The only reason anybody reads a book or watches a film or listens to music is so that they will be emotionally moved.
As a player your sole job is to move your audience emotionally.
If you’re not feeling it, then nobody else will.
A photographer will of course check all things technical at first, that his/her exposure is correct, that the lighting is right, that the composition is what they require. But then they go for a take, at which time its time for smiles and engagement and genuine emotion.
You should also of course check all things technical, that the notes are resonant, and the pitch is spot on, and that the phrasing makes sense and that the builds and breakdowns are correctly done. But then it is time for a performance.
Stop! Think yourself into the right emotional state before you even play your first note.
Smile, be gentle and sing.
by Steve Dunster
Articulations for Brass Players
Articulations are whether a note is short or long or slurred.
Simple? Sometimes it is but there’s a lot of “gotchas” to do with articulations that I think maybe useful to mention so you can check that you’re not falling into any of them.
SHORT NOTES
If you are lucky a note is marked with a little dot above or below the note, to indicate that it is staccato. Sometimes it is a little V which is staccatissimo – this indicates that you should play it as short as possible, not a marking that is frequently used.
Staccato is a marking used much more frequently and is often thought of as meaning that the note should be played short. Many times this is a good enough interpretation but do keep in mind that it really means detached.
When you’re playing fast, a short note is fine. But if you see a staccato note in a slow piece, it perhaps would sound better if it had some length to it but with a fast decay, like a bull-fiddle plucking a string. Try and feel the mood of the music and try and get the right type of staccato to enhance not distract from the mood.
LONG NOTES and SHORT NOTES
When playing short notes in brass, there is a lot more technical energy required with the fast movement of the tongue and the short pulse of the breath than when playing a long note where both the tongue and breath are far more gentle.
Psychologically this can lead a player into playing short notes loudly and long notes gently – but most of the time this is the opposite of what makes good musical sense.
Good musical sense (in most phrases) usually requires that the emphasis is on the longer notes. Do check (by recording yourself if necessary) that your longer notes are actually played louder than your short notes. In fact it is quite often that a tenuto mark (a short line above or below a note) is written amongst some staccato notes in the same phrase. Clearly a tenuto note here will be played longer than the staccato notes but it should also be played a little louder, with a little lean on the note.
Tenuto actually means with emphasis not long.
Now for sure emphasis can be achieved by playing the note longer but it is the emphasis that is key. A little push on the tenuto note and then really back off the staccato notes so that they are lightly played, with much less importance than the marked tenuto. Think of the staccato here as detached, as opposed to short – it can help you be less violent towards them.
Sometimes you will see long lines of reiterated crochets all marked with tenuto and sometimes even with a tie over the top. This does not mean play them long. If all you did was to play them legato you need to ask yourself why would the composer not just have written semi-breves. You should try and detach them by the tiniest of gaps (it was once explained to as being like “the longest possible staccato“) and possibly add a gentle emphasis to the start of each note.
SLURRED NOTES and SHORT NOTES
When playing semi-quavers the “slur 2 tongue 2” articulation is very effective and frequently seen. When playing triplets the equivalent is “slur 2 tongue 1”. The trick to pulling off these very effective articulations is the same for both.
The beginning of the slur is the beginning of the group and should be played louder than the other notes in the group to give it some pulse (the exact amount of pulse being very much dependant upon the style of the music).
The last note of a slur should be short (and end early)!
The last note of the slur needs to be as short as the short tongued notes following it. In this way you get the tongued notes nice and detached from the slurred notes which gives a lovely bounce to the group. The tongued notes following should be short (detached) and lightly played, ensure they are quieter than the note at the beginning of the group.
There are pages of exercises for these articulations in the Arban and it is well worth making them part of your daily exercise period.
SHORT NOTES that are NOT WRITTEN AS SHORT
Clearly notes with dots above or below them should be short or detached. Also notes after a stacc or staccato marking should be short. But sometimes the first few bars are written with dots above or below but the bars that follow do not. In which case some interpretation is required. If you feel that the style has actually changed where the dots cease, then play the un-dotted notes long. If the style remains the same then it is probably more sensible to continue playing the notes short, and in actual fact a marking telling you that they should be played the same (i.e. simile or sim) is probably missing.
Whenever you are in compound time (e.g. 6/8 or 9/8) and it is fast enough to beat in triplets (dotted crochets) then any crochets should always be played as short as the quavers but louder than the quavers and the quavers should also be short, this will ensure the required bounce is achieved.
Whenever you are playing semi-quavers and you get a quaver followed by two semi-quavers (or the other way round) then the quaver should be as short as the semi-quavers and the semi-quavers should also be short. And play the beginning of the group a little louder than the rest of the group. This again will ensure that you get the effect of vitality and bounce.
Good articulation can really make your music come alive. It is well worth studying your music for written or implied articulations and drilling those articulations so that you can play them to the best possible effect. But always play the articulations so that they enhance the mood of the music and not detract from it – i.e. the same articulations need to be played differently depending on the style and tempo of the music.
by Steve Dunster
Wow Your Audience – not your Notes!
Some players can have a tendency to “WOW” their notes and it is a most unpleasant effect and can destroy an audience’s ability to enjoy everything else you’re doing that’s good underneath it.
What I mean by WOW is when a player starts a note gently or even hesitantly and once they are confident that the note is secure (and the right one) they will then let the note fill with volume and resonance – and then do the same for every note. They do this even with crochets. It can be quite a billious and unpleasant effect.
Whilst I understand the psychology behind this, musically it makes no sense at all.
The Loudest Part of Most Notes Should be the Beginning
Accented notes will have quite a loud beginning that doesn’t last long before the sound drops off quite dramatically.
Slow melody notes have a gentler and slower emphasis to the start of their notes, more of a “lean” than the “ping” that you’d get with energetic accented notes.
With “sustained” playing the clue is in the title and most of the time perfect sustained playing is achieved by starting the note with no attack at all but at the same volume as the middle and end of the note and, crucially, ending the note at the same volume as the start of the next note with absolutely no discernable blip or jolt or lurch as you transition from one note to the next (harder to do well than it sounds). But just like every other style of note it is crucial that you don’t tentatively start the note and then swell into the sound once you feel more confident.
The obvious exception to this, of course, is during a build or a breakdown. During a crescendo, for example, the end of a sustain note will obviously be louder than the start but what is crucial is that the end of a note is no louder than the start of the next.
Listening to playing where every note starts quietly and WOWs is absolutely horrid and can spoil any chance of having compelling phrasing and can completely distract the listener from all the other aspects of playing that may well be good, like tuning, rhythm and resonance.
HOW TO STOP WOW’ING YOUR NOTES
At some point during your practice period at home, play a long note and hold it until it is resonant and in tune and constant. Typically the long note’s quality will improve the longer you hold it until you start to run out of breath. Wait until it is sounding really good – then stop the note and without breathing and with only a short break, play the same note again but only a short note. Same dynamic, same pitch, same quality!
The aim with this exercise is to make the quality of the start of the short note as good in every respect as the end of the long note just before it.
This will improve the quality of the beginnings of your notes surprisingly quickly and give you the confidence that you never ever need to WOW any of your notes ever again.
If you can’t tell whether you are WOW’ing your notes, record yourself playing a slow melody or even a slow scale and listen to the shape of your notes. It will be very obvious very quickly and is well worth doing.
If you are WOW’ing your notes, do something about it as soon as possible and notice just how much more emotional power you will have to your playing once your other qualities are no longer masked by your WOWs.
by Steve Dunster
Play Brass 