Last updated: August 7, 1:16 PM CDT

Daily Notes

Christan Griego provides Edwards readers with a minute-by-minute account of the daily activities at the Alessi Seminar. Check back often for new content.

Note: On Thursday, everyone spent the day practicing, golfing, or getting caught up on some much needed sleep. The Seminar resumes on Friday, which promises to be a busy day.

Friday Morning

Christan: This morning people seem to be going a bit slower even though it is 9:30 am. I think most people enjoyed their day off -- maybe they enjoyed the day off a bit too much! When 66 trombonists get together, a great hang is sure to happen as friends are made, meals are enjoyed…

When I dropped a friend off at the apartments last night around 9:00, I saw three trombonists in a field -- in the dark -- with a music stand. I rolled down my windows and heard excerpts. I wonder if flutists are of the same ilk.

The good news is that Joe's cold seems to be about 99% gone and he can now talk clearly. He is doing this morning session without the mic.

The Albuquerque Journal ran a story on the Alessi Seminar today -- I'll be sure to purchase it before I leave town. Departing the Seminar early will leave me with some disappointment, but at least I have been able to attend as much as I have. My entire immediate family lives in Albuquerque now so this trip has been a joy. It's great to be able to combine family and great trombone playing in one trip!

The Alessi Seminar has grown immensely since it's inception. I highly recommend that all trombonists try to attend as an auditor (if not as a full participant!). Having this type of musical saturation is healthy for professionals and serious up-and-comers.

9:30 AM

Barry Hearn takes to the stage and plays Tomasi Concerto - first movement.

9:42 AM

Joe: Okay, very good. Let's just check a few things.

Works with piano going slow and checking intonation.

9:44 AM

Joe: Think really "dolce" in this section. (demonstrates)

Barry Plays

Joe: Sounds terrific. If I had to make comments, it's that every now and then the pitch can get a bit funny. Don't overplay the first part of this piece. I think you might be playing a different piece at this point. Make it (Tomasi) more dreamy. Now do you want to play the last part (first movement)?

Barry Plays

Joe: I don't think that you were ready for the next phrase. It is a couple of beats before your entrance and you are still bringing the instrument up to your face. Make sure to be ready for your entrance.

Joe Plays

9:50 AM

Joe: Sing across the barlines.

Barry Plays

Joe: The quality of pitch must match the quality of your sound. Let's tune with the piano again. (tunes) Ok, here we go.

Barry Plays

Joe: Good. You're still not getting some of the inflections though. A lot of times when I see hair pins and the volume says forte, I'm not going to start it forte. I start the crescendo from a lower volume which allows much more dynamic contrast. (demonstrates)

9:56 AM

Joe: Let the trombone be mysterious at times. Let it disappear into the piano at times.

Barry plays (applause for Barry)

9:57 AM

Joe: When you're fumbling with the slide at times it's funny to watch, but sad. Sometimes you have to focus in on the right note. I think you're a bit confused at that part. Since we have a bit of time let's work on some excerpts.

Barry plays Ein Heldenleben 2nd trombone part.

Joe: How does the battle scene start?

Barry sings

Joe: No -- before that. You must go back to where this starts and get into the piece. Especially if you're going to play this in an audition. (Joe sings preceding parts -- his voice sounds 100% better today.) All of this stuff can get you into the style of the piece.

Sometimes it's the top of the piece. Get into the piece before you play it. A lot of times I think this is why people get nervous before they play the piece. They don't get into it.

Barry plays

10:02 AM

Joe: I don't feel the rhythm strong enough. Let me feel your syncopations.

Barry plays

Joe: I took a lesson from Bob Harper once and he told me, "Don't be afraid to make an attack." You can't apologize for Strauss or Wagner. There are other pieces where we want to have a lighter attack (like Rossini), but this sounds like when you are going for the A, you are apologizing. Aim and fire.

Barry plays

Joe: Use a bit more compression on the high A so there's no delay. You need to practice that. Let me hear a D arpeggio.

Barry plays

Joe: Okay, all the notes are there but the rhythm fluctuates. It's not pulsed. Let me just hear you conduct and sing this.

Barry sinducts

10:08 AM

Joe: Okay, that's about how he played it. I still need a bit more pulse. (demonstrates)

Give me a little space between the dotted eighths and sixteenths. Make sure to practice this with a metronome.

Barry plays

Joe: Sometimes if you just sing something and get into the piece, it will become much more solid.

Barry plays Organ Symphony excerpt.

10:14 AM

Joe: Okay, now is that faster or slower than your recordings?

Barry: Faster.

Joe: Okay, Why?

Barry: That would probably be nervousness.

Joe: Okay, I understand that. I think you need to get into the piece before you play it. Don't let the nerves get the best of you and affect the performance. Do not play until you are in the piece. We have to stop, but thank you.

Applause

Joe: Let's go to the next person. I'm going to try to stay on time, but we've got four more days of this and as we go on we might go a little longer than scheduled.

Mark takes to the stage. Tunes and plays.

10:20 AM

Joe coughs -- Mark stops.

Mark: Yes?

Joe: No, I just coughed. Please keep going.

Mark: I'm a little gun shy here. (laughter)

Mark plays

10:22 AM

Joe: Okay, good. The only thing is you said you wanted to work on the climax of the piece. Where do you see that? (Mark points)

Okay, it seems to me that in this section that a lot of it sounds dynamically the same. Maybe you need to temper a lot of this and then choose your high A to build towards. Make sure the dynamics don't sound the same throughout.

Mark: That will make a lot of the high register stuff easier.

Joe: Yeah (demonstrates). Take your time in the climax. If you're trying to peak on something you don't want to go quick. (demonstrates) As you approach the climax section slow it down. It'll be easier to breathe.

Mark: Absolutely.

Joe: Let's go on to the next piece.

10:26 AM

Mark: This is the French Tuba Sonatine - 2nd movement by Casterede.

Christan: I am not familiar with this piece, but I immediately like it. A beautiful piece with the piano. I give it one and 12/16th thumbs up and will probably be purchasing it for my library upon my return to Elkhorn.

Mark plays

10:29 AM

Joe: That was beautiful. When you play, sometimes you lean forward. Watch your posture.

Mark plays

Joe: Now I hear glissing.

Mark: This is intentional.

Joe: Well, if that's the case then make it more obvious/intentional, because it sounds more like your technique is sloppy with it too subtle. (demonstrates)

The fun of teaching is you get to play music you normally don't get to play.

Mark plays

Joe: I think there's a lot of notes you could milk more. I hear this piece a bit quicker. Lets hear an excerpt.

Mark: I am going to be playing The Creation (Haydn).

Mark plays

Christan: Joe does not cut Mark off when he finishes main theme but allows him to play through entire section.

10:37 AM

Joe: First thing -- this piece says vivace. We study these to play an audition and get into an orchestra. You have to give these pieces the right style, and show off your technique. I'm all for playing this piece a little bit faster. Almost in a two feel. It's in four but it's in two. Display virtuosity rather than carefulness.

Mark plays

Christan: Mark plays it much faster this time.

Joe: You're losing me on this. Make sure you get to end of phrase with emphasis on end of phrase.

Mark plays

Joe: The faster you play on stuff like this -- move to a "dee" tongue rather than "tah". This will lighten up the feel.

When you have to have agility don't think "tah". "Dee" will give it more agility. Also, arch your back slightly. Don't break at the waist or lean into the music stand.

Mark plays

10:43 AM

Joe: Have you ever played it that fast?

Mark: No.

Joe: I think you are better playing this faster in your menu of audition material. You need to entertain the audition panel. Okay, let's welcome back Brad Williams. (applause)

Okay, let's cut to the chase. I'd like to hear you play number 2 (Cavatine).

Brad plays

Joe: I want to hear this more dolce. Play to the baby -- don't wake the baby up. Make it very dolce.

Brad plays

10:47 AM

Joe: We have to listen to the piano. The piano has some beautiful things. We need to be like the piano at times. Hear this (piano plays)? Okay, the piano is very pretty here, so I want you to be pretty.

Christan: Brad plays with Joe actively coaching. Joe also demonstrates and really stretches things. Brad moves into the third movement.

10:57 AM

Joe: You don't want this to be too big. You don't want to feel like an elephant, you want to feel like a dance.

Brad plays

Joe: Let's go to 4. This is a great piece, you just have to enjoy it. (demonstrates)

Christan: Joe continually plays much softer and louder than participants. Dynamic contrast is something I think everyone needs to focus in on before they come to the seminar next time.

Brad plays

11:00 AM

Joe: Think air management. Don't get too loud too quick.

Brad plays

Joe: 1) Watch your pitch. If you happen to tune wrong to a piano in a recital, use your slide and adjust to the piano. Don't sit on a note and not do anything. Make it right. Playing with the piano is like playing 2nd trombone in a section. 2) Try to make the right choices dynamically and style-wise. Let's hear an excerpt -- let's do Mozart.

Brad plays

11:11 AM

Joe: There is a little too much of the same dynamic after the opening. Try to vary your dynamics a bit more. (demonstrates) Chamber music. It's absolutely Mozart. Don't play Mahler 3 here. I think Brad Williams needs to explore more dynamic contrast in his softs. Not his forte's.

Brad plays

Joe: I think sometimes you forget what this is supposed to sound like in the orchestra. The strings are playing basic, lightly scored things. It's not a big heavy scored thing here. You have to show this. It's like a nice little duet. It's not heavy metal. It should sound like you're enjoying this -- like you've spent time caring for this. This should match what the singer does. I'm not thinking of his words, but I'm thinking of his style.

11:20 AM

Brad plays Hungarian March

Joe: Remember when I told Harold the other day that he was playing with too big a sound? I think it's kinda like moving a truck. Make things a bit more focused. It's a three bar phrase -- keep the energy going forward. The third bar has to lead to the first bar. (sings then plays). It doesn't speed up (towards end of excerpt) but it definitely doesn't slow down.

Brad plays

11:24 AM

Joe: Work backwards. Any time you have syncopation you accent the off beat.

Brad plays

Joe: Always finish with the last note being full.

Brad plays

Joe: You have to practice with the breath (octaves A and F). We want to hear that low octave clear. Make sure you accent the first note (of three bar phrase). Let's talk quickly about the auxiliary breath. The only way you can do an auxiliary breath is to keep the mouthpiece on the face and breath through the sides really quickly.

11:27 AM

10 minute break -- which turns out to be 8 minutes long

11:35 AM

Joe: Okay, let's welcome back Andy Chappell.

Andy plays

11:45 AM

Joe: The only thing I have to say is that the timing -- silence -- is still not right. Where are you going to put the silence? Let's hear the beginning, and I'll tell you where to put the silence in.

Andy plays as Joe conducts, emphasizing space between phrases.

Joe: Okay, you get the picture. Don't rush some other stuff. Charlie, you play this a lot, are there any other suggestions about space.

Charles Reneau: Yeah, just keep breathing.

Joe: Okay, after this section, you could be more rhythmic. (to pianist) Make sure to set him up really well, rhythmically.

Andy plays

Joe: I like what you did with the ending. I think it sounds great. Alright, we done with that? Great, thank you. How about some excerpts?

Andy plays William Tell

Joe: Very good, but I think we need to have a little more pulse. It's a little too frantic. (Joe sings, emphasizing pulse) If you do it too fast, it loses its character. Let me give you what I consider to be the tempo (with his metronome: 108 bpm). You were a lot faster than that. Try again.

Andy plays

Joe: It's starting to rush and get frantic. Keep the pulse consistent. Try again, and attack the first note then come away a little bit. (Andy plays with Joe clapping the beat during the whole notes).

Play the last section (descending scales) and play the last octave jump. Make sure you don't rush the octave jumps, especially the last one. (Andy plays) Okay, start from the top.

Andy plays

Joe: When I started clapping how did that feel to you.

Andy: Good.

Joe: Keep it steady through those notes.

Andy plays

Andy: Where do you breathe?

Andy plays

Joe: Yeah, where do you breathe on this to not get air-starved? I don't mind taking some off the long note to get a good breath. Don't cheat the pulse, just shave off a little sound.

Andy plays

Joe: Pretty good (audience applause). Now, the long E naturals, make sure they don't get sharper. I think the reason you are sharp on the E is that the B natural is also sharp. Okay, what else do you have? Play some of the Ride.

Andy plays

Joe: It was good, but you're kind of losing me on the rhythm. I think what happens as you go through these excerpts is that you want to start racing.

Andy: My heart is racing.

Joe: Well mine does too, but you have to keep the pulse steady. Try again.

Andy plays

Joe: I feel like you are already trying to jump from beat one to beat three. Let's try this (Joe plays beat three, then beat one of each bar and nothing else). As my former students know, I like to start out studying the Ride with just those notes.

Andy plays

Joe:We've isolated your rhythm. Now let's isolate the pitch. (Joe demonstrates in his octave) These can be very difficult intervals to tune. Try again, and really pay attention to the pulse -- don't let beat one come too soon.

Andy plays

Joe: There, now we've got the pulse (applause). To me those second and third beats, especially the third leading to the downbeat, can get a little anxious. You want to play it together once? Let's try it. (Joe and Andy check octave f# and b, then play together, sounding amazing – much applause follows). Maybe that was one of the highlights of the seminar right there. He's really easy to tune to. What else do you want to do?

Andy: The Rhenish.

12:00 PM

Joe: (stopping Andy after a few notes) With these soft and slow excerpts, you want to take advantage of that and play them slow and soft. You have to play them at a tempo where you can feel a back beat (Joe sings and snaps on beats two and four).

Andy plays

Joe: Let's talk about two things: 1) You're feeling the altitude up hear a little, so your plan may have to change, but the tempo should not change. The tempo can change for solos, but not for these excerpts. What should change? Maybe you take another breath, or go up to Vail to practice. 2) I'm hearing a little bit of tension when you play soft excerpts. (Joe demonstrates the first part to Rhenish).

12:07 PM

Joe: The thing you want to do when you play soft excerpts is relax. Relax the slide, it has to be completely relaxed.

Andy plays

Joe: Good, I think the thing you need to do is move the slide in a little more fluid way. When you play Rossini, you have to hold the slide firmly, in this case, hold the slide like you're holding a little bird.

Andy plays

Joe: Alright, that was better. I'd rather hear somebody try to play it soft and slow and maybe mess it up than somebody playing it fast and doesn't go for it. Let's play it together. (applause)

12:20 PM

Joe: Bravo. Try it again by yourself, and whatever you need to do to make it happen, do it. Let me ask Greg Harper, what do you do in your orchestra?

Greg: Breathe a lot! It's pretty common, and we have to breathe more frequently.

Joe: Yeah, like this (Joe demonstrates third part with frequent breaths, not disturbing the pulse or the fluid line). Okay, let's thank Andy. (applause)

12:22 PM

Luis Fred plays the Ewazen.

12:30 PM

Joe: If you can try to make it a bit more animated. Start it with the valve. (demonstrates)

Your short note needs to be isolated so that it will come through the piano part.

Luis plays

Joe: You have to save room for crescendo's. (demonstrates) Make the piano follow you.

Luis plays

Joe: Don't follow the piano. I think you're following the piano. Be more animated.

Luis plays

Joe: You have to be careful that you don't overdo the accents. This will make it where all you hear are the accents. This piece needs a lot of activity. I think of a lot of waterfalls all over the place. Lets go from measure 30.

Luis plays

12:41 PM

Joe: (To pianist) Play measure 114. (Pianist plays) I don't think we hear the first note of the entrance.

Christan: Luis is playing on an Edwards that was fit to him the second day of the Seminar. The setup is a Edge-braced T350 with a 321CF bell, a yellow dual radius tuning slide, a standard all-nickel slide and a T2 brass leadpipe. I look forward to getting comments from people on his sound.

12:44 PM

Joe: Don't make the lyrical punchy.

Luis plays

Joe: It's still a bit angry. We're going into this new ending. It has too sound glorious.

Luis plays

Christan: Big difference in sound.

Joe: You need to sing more on the big notes. (demonstrates) I need to hear a singing quality.

Luis plays

Joe: Use a little sniff breath to avoid chopping this phrase. (Joe demonstrates and is very deliberate with the phrase. He stretches going into the downbeat of the strong part of the phrase.)

Okay, it's time for lunch.