Posted by Klaus on August 23, 2002 at 10:28:19:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What A Horn (long) posted by Rick Denney on August 23, 2002 at 09:16:10:
Disclaimer #1: Little Mick and his junior high fellows should know it by now. Just skip this posting.
Playing trombone is a good lesson in thinking of intonation as something, that is determined by length of tubing.
If one works towards the approach, that the fingering of any given note on any given valved brass instrument is not something one looks up in a fingering table, but rather is ones own private realisation of, which length of tubing gives the the optimal pitch (and sound) in any given situation, then one can adapt ones pitching of such valved instruments fairly close to the pitch flexibility of the trombone.
If one has the thorough understanding of the overtone/partial system of brasses combined with an equally thorough understanding of the compromises, that are behind the length of valve tubing as applied by various makers from various national schools of brasses, then one will never look at a fingering table, but for the one oneself has set up in a spreadsheet on basis of the twelfth root of 2.
I am extremely spontaneous in my approaches depending on how much I have practised. The more practising, the less funny fingerings.
On tubas, especially in the ambitious end of tubaing, it is very common to pull slides. We have a very famous tubaplayer in our RSO. It almost makes me sick to see how constantly and fast he manipulates his 1st valve slide to get 1+2 fingerings in tune on his 1st generation Yorkbrunner. That could have been done much more easily by fingering 3.
I will not take Jay Bertolet as a hostage for my views, but after some recent masterclass of his, he very precisely here on this board told how he planned his fingerings for any orchestral situation. I don't know if he writes down the fingerings in his parts, but I doubt that. Rather I think, that when Jay has made himself familiar with an instrument, then its fingering needs become second nature for him.
Of course I know, that in teaching beginners, it is a matter of having them memorising a number of fingerings, so that they can get on with making some music, that will motivate them to continue playing.
But during their development, they should be encouraged to integrate the deeper understandings outlined above here. If they are not getting such an encouragement, then these beginners in the long run will stay as some sort of beginners.
In some of the circles, where I traffic, there are amateur players, that are considered virtuosos by many of their band fellows. Yes, these virtuosos can rattle speedily through lots of notes, but their lack of understanding of pitch and egality of sound as foundations to be mastered before speed, often make their "soloing" and ensemble work a pathetic listening for more trained ears.
I know that these points of view will let me be considered a "bible belt" fanatic fundamentalist within amateur brassing. But then let it so be.
Klaus
Disclaimer #2: I will give the link to Jay Bertolet's fine posting, but again: Jay in no way can be taken hostage for the shortcomings of my text above here.