choral briefs midwest clinic performance anxiety - KBB Music

DEVELOPMENT
Richard suggests that there are three types of tuning:
• Unison and octave tuning - It is or it isn’t
• Melodic tuning - Hear reality as opposed to your
“inner music”
• Harmonic tuning- Just intonation rules.
“We must learn to listen from a musical mind-set as opposed
to a pedagogical mind-set”.
people in your section. Finally connect ‘Globally’ with the
whole band, orchestra or group.
Phrasing
Think of music as one line of gesture of connection and make
the bar lines evaporate. Phrases are sentences, the essay is
the whole work.
Rhythm and Articulation
Musicians know you cannot keep time.
Music travels in time and musicians take a ride.
Tempo is liquid, like water it seeks its own level.
A good tempo is discovery.
- Bruce Adolphe
“Metronomes can tell you that you
are in time but not in rhythm”. All
music has a heartbeat and we have
to connect with its inner pulse.
“To play with the metronome is
to play mechanically - the reason
being, of course, that we are then
playing by the measure, or rather
by the beat, instead of by the
phrase. We have created a dead
body in place of the living musical
organism with its ebb and flow of
rhythmical energy”.
- Daniel Gregory Mason, grandson
of Lowell Mason
Before the first note articulation
must be considered. There are
infinite ways to articulate just as
there are infinite ways you can exhale. Articulation is about
note shape not tonguing. Note shape includes the ‘front end’
of the note, the ‘duration’ of the note and the resonance and
‘weight ‘of the note.
Balance, Blend and Dynamics
The challenge is to hear the ‘inner voices’. Students must
be able to hear internal lines whilst the melody is playing.
Dynamics must have proportion and ‘serve’ the music. A
good way to connect with other players around you is to take
a ‘Global Perspective’. First of all connect ‘Locally’, with the
persons on either side, next connect ‘Nationally’, with the
“When the technical problems of finger dexterity have been
solved, it is too late to add musicality, phrasing and musical
expressing. That is why I never practice mechanically. If we
work mechanically, we run the risk of changing the very nature
of music”.
- Daniel Barenboim
Richard Floyd was a master at his
art. He very cleverly used the United
States Army Band to get across all of
his strategies. As musical directors we
all face the challenge of developing
listening skills that serve to maximise
rehearsal efficiency.
In my first article I mentioned the
opening speech by Richard C. Crain,
President of the Board of Directors at
the Midwest Clinic. I can’t finish this
article without sharing with you his
words of wisdom.
“Teaching is a most noble profession.
Instrumental music directors have the
opportunity to reach more students
in a school than teachers of any other
discipline…. You possess the unique
ability to literally change the lives of so
many young people who choose to be part of their school’s
music programme. You offer your students the priceless
opportunity to enjoy, appreciate, support, and participate
in music throughout their lives. You definitely make a
difference”.
Once again I would like to thank KBB Music for giving me
the opportunity to attend the Midwest Clinic in December
2011. The experience was invaluable to me. Thank you also
to St Paul’s Collegiate School Hamilton for financial assistance
to make this trip possible. Special thanks to Simon Hocking
from House of Travel for his organisation of all my travel and
accommodation. •
Freephone 0800 775 226 www.kbbmusic.co.nz 11