Last updated: August 8, 11:50 PM CDT

Daily Notes

Chris Branagan provides the following review of Saturday morning's activities.

Saturday Morning

9:30 AM - Keller Recital Hall

Joe: Before we begin, I want to congratulate all the soloists last night. (Applause) Okay, Charley (Reneau), what are you going to do?

Charley: Excerpts, I'll play three then go back.

Joe: Yeah, that's great.

Charley plays Hary Janos, Rhenish (two excerpts), and Das Rheingold.

Joe: Yes, great. Now let me tell you what I like. If I closed my eyes, I would say basically, there is nothing wrong. But there are a few intonation things, and to be really picky there are a few slide issues as well. I do like your rhythm. Your rhythm machine is good. (To audience) How is your rhythm machine? (Sings excerpt with backbeats) Can you do that (to Charley)? Sing and give your own backbeats?

Charley sings with his own rhythm machine accompaniment — like an old school rapper. Audience laughs and applauds.

Joe: Great. Let's go back to the Rhenish, and I'd like to point out a breathing thing that I'd like to talk to you about. Just play it and I'll tell you what it is.

Charley plays

Joe: There are some breaths that are different than others. Can you show us the breathing technique on the first note? No, that's not it. Your mouth is extremely wide open. Is that opening or closing your throat? That noise that you make when you breathe, like Darth Vader, is that open or closed? Have you seen the new breathing bag? It has a little nozzle on it that keeps your mouth from being too open. My point is that I think perhaps that has been misunderstood. Right now you are all sitting there relaxed. Now if we open up the mouth like this (very wide), is there more tension or less? More. I feel like when you open your mouth that wide, something gets closed off in the throat.

There's another big reason I don't care for that: you have to do a lot of extra adjusting before you play. Your mouth is so wide open that you have to have a slight hitch before you play. Let's do an experiment.

Joe plays, then breathes with his top and bottom lip still touching mouthpiece, then talks with mouthpiece still in place.

Joe: I am talking to you with my mouthpiece still in place.

I hate to see you engage your throat every time you breathe. When you go into a doctor's office and he asks you to breathe, you take a very relaxed, natural breath, or like a sigh, it's natural deep breathing. Just consider that. Any questions?

Audience member: Can you talk about raising your shoulders when you breathe?

Joe: You know I watched all the soloists from the side and it was fascinating. They know that when you get nervous you have to get that top 10% of the breath. One of the people I studied with was Claude Gordon, he would have a stamp on every exercise that said "chest up." I didn't really know what that meant, but he stamped it on every exercise. We talk about the initiation of the breath, but we finish with the chest up to get that extra 10%.

9:58 AM

Joe (To Charley): Try this breathing thing for a month or two. Try to cut out the extra activity. Let's go back to Hary Janos.

Charley plays

Joe: Okay, now bass trombones, I notice in their extreme low registers, everything is in tune. But when they get higher, they go sharp. I'd like you to be more careful.

Now let me ask you, I say that you tried to breathe the way I suggested. I think this could help you find the optimum way of the blowing to get the best feedback from your sound. It's like hitting a golf ball in the sweet spot of the club. So less effort, in general, means more results.

Now let's do it one more time for the pitch.

Charley plays

Joe: Make sure your slide is very indexed, not fluid (demonstrates). I'd like you to know those slide positions rather than just float through them. Try again.

Charley plays

Joe: That's where you have to work (between F# in staff and above). Make sure to micro tune between B and D#. B is a flat note and D# is a sharp note.

You know, he's a great talent and a great player, but at an audition, there are lots of great players and talents. I'm being hard on you but this could be the difference on getting the gig or not.

In the Rheingold, try to study how you breathe in the middle of something, when you're on the fly.

Charley plays

Joe: Okay, it's very good to practice in a live room like this so you can hear your intonation. Let's give Charley a round of applause for doing a great job.

10:13 AM

James Scott takes stage and performs the second movement of the Ewazen Sonata.

Joe: I think you need to sustain, especially before a rest or breath, if you want it to be expansive. (demonstrates) I want you to make a big effort to sustain.

Try to remember when you leave this seminar, that trombone players get lazy with the slide. Be intent about where to put the slide — clear out the garbage.

Jim plays

Joe: Good that's much better. Let's do the beginning again, and focus on having enough air and momentum to get to the end of the low E.

Jim plays

Joe: Good, try to get all the way through the crescendo. Push it a little to the other side of the beat.

10:30 AM

Joe: You know this is not my habitat, it's not where I hang out in the orchestra. Like you, most of what I do is higher. You need to try to work to get more resonance out of the lower register. (Joe demonstrates stretching note values and going for maximum resonance on each note.) Try it again.

Jim plays

Joe: Great, that was much better. I don't have much more to say except sustain, and some of the intonation things I mentioned. Let's move onto the last movement.

Jim plays

10:45 AM

Joe: Good, that was a great rendition of that movement. At the end of the movement, what I'm looking for here is a grand sound. You want to keep it round; I want to hear Bruckner here, a great big Teutonic (spelling by Charley Reneau) sound.

In the beginning, you have to react to the crescendo in bar four like an accent, and the accompanist has to respond to that accent (demonstrates). Now let's try another section.

Jim plays

Joe: Yeah, that's ready to go, it's really fine. Overall, pay attention to the slide, play with the piano more – do more recitals maybe. Every time you play with a piano, you learn things. You know, we're dealt a bad package as trombonists in an orchestra. You have to do things outside the orchestra to keep your skills high. I like using the Smartmusic to play Bordogni etudes because it follows me. If you don't have an accompanist, use the computer – it's better than doing nothing. Okay, it sounds great, thank you.

10:55 AM

Joe: We'll hear one more player and take a break. Any questions?

Audience member: Have you ever used a breathing tube?

Joe: You know, I don't like the position it puts my mouth in with a breathing tube. Any time you put your mouth in this position (very wide "oh" shape), it closes your throat. I don't want to engage my throat at all. People say "open your throat," NO, don't do anything with your throat at all!

Alright, next up is Kyle Samuelson.

Kyle plays Casterede Sonatine, mvt. 1.

Joe: What have you worked on since last time?

Kyle: Well, I have a nerve problem, so I've been simulating being nervous by running and down stairs then playing long tones, also dealing with getting dry and just playing through it.

Joe: Wow, that's great. I'm going to help you with the beginning. Tell your accompanist that you're going to take half a breath, then have him start to play. If he comes in with that figure, you're ready to play. You don't have time to breathe and set when the piano starts to play.

Let's talk about this section with the simultaneous crescendo/ritardando. The louder you get, the longer you should play with more air and less tongue. Let's try that.

Kyle plays

Joe: Let's worked backwards. The opening needs to be light, then when that motive comes back after the crescendo/rallentando section, it's louder. Now louder doesn't always mean more tongue — this can be precarious situation. Yes, that's the dynamic you want to finish this section, so let's start there.

Joe has Kyle play the section a little at a time from the end to the beginning.

Joe: Dee Stewart told me one time that my breaths were a little noisy, and it got me thinking about it. There should be no sound when breathing. Take a doctor's office breath. Yes, now play. (Kyle plays) Yes, that was the biggest, most resonant sound I've heard you play since you've been here. Good.

When you breathe this way, you have to keep the teeth connected to the mouthpiece. What I mean by that is, when I play a note, I can feel the teeth behind the lips. When you breathe, keep the teeth in the same spot and breathe from the corners. Feel the air rushing through the lips. If that makes a little sound, initially, that's okay.

This is a section you really have to study to make it musically correct. Okay, let's play something else.

Kyle plays second movement

11:25 AM

Joe: Very nice. Just a simple thing, Kyle — try to explore some of the different colors in this piece. You tend to stay in the same dynamic for too much of the piece. Explore the espressivo aspects of the piece. (Joe demonstrates in muted section at end of movement.)

Now let's just look at the beginning. You need to explore, this is what makes the music fun. Keyword is nuance... with vibrato, with tempo, what note are you going to stretch, how is the pianist going to set you up for the nuances, etc. Okay, we'll take just a five-minute break.

11:40 PM

Joe: let's welcome Sam Barlow.

Sam plays Hidas Movement

Joe: Okay, good. You know, I love this piece, it's got such a good melody. You are doing a better job with your posture, but I think you should continue to stand comfortably and play to your audience. Let's make looking at the music less important. You're a very fine musician. You don't need to bury your face in the music. You have to show that you're relaxed, there's a visual component to playing that lets your audience know that you are comfortable with the piece.

The other issue is the middle register. I think it's the hardest register in the trombone. You need to take a full breath at the start. Tell your pianist to come in near the top of the breath (Joe demonstrates with the pianist). Try it again.

Sam plays

Joe: Yeah, there's a little fuzzy in the sound. The way to practice, the way to find the nucleus of the sound is in the softest playing. (Joe plays a mezzoforte middle E and gets extremely soft). If you can hold that extremely soft, with no fuzz, that's how to work on the sound. The wrong way is to squeeze the lips together as it gets softer. Use the air. It's like blowing on a candle just enough to make it flicker. That's good breath control technique. Swimming has the same effect, doing the "dead man's float," just to let the air come out slowly. The fuzz is messing up your sound, in this register only. Every day you have to practice that, start out with a full sound, make an extended diminuendo without pinching. Let's try it and I'll direct you.

Sam plays

Joe: What's happening is that he's losing the core, and when that happens the pitch starts to rise. This is where you want to use the tuner. As you make the diminuendo, do not let the pitch rise.

Once you do this, you can do it in the opposite direction. This is good core training. Problems like this usually come from too much loud playing. You have to re-sensitize the lips to vibrate with lots of core. Let's do a little more of the piece.

11:55 AM

Sam plays

Joe: Good, but you're at that position again where your looking at the music. Do it again.

Sam plays

Joe: Yeah, that was great. I do believe that a little bit of dynamic exercise made you sound a little better. Also the breathing, you may be a little tense. Let's keep going, onto the next section.

Joe: Bravo. Very good. I wanted to see what would happen when you came down from the upper register into the mid range. You really have to flood your practice with attention to this area.

12:04 PM

Joe: Great, now let's play some excerpts. How about Tuba Mirum. I really want to hit this register some more.

Sam plays Tuba Mirum

Joe: Very nice. The sound was very nice. Play something else.

Sam plays Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin

Joe: Make sure you switch gears. People ask me about what it means to switch gears. You need to really get into the piece (Joe sings and conducts the beginning of the piece). You don't need to look at the music so much (Joe turns the stand around). Do it again.

Sam plays

Joe: Okay, good sound, good technique, but the rhythm isn't good. (Joe sings excerpt while clapping pulse.) This is what we need to do. We get criticized all the time for our rhythm, so why not focus on this aspect in the practice room? We have to get this pulse, this rhythm inside our bodies. Try again.Sam plays

Joe: Good, do it one more time, and don't use your foot (to keep time). I want it all in the head. And the style needs to be festive. You can't have legato dotted eighth figures.

Sam plays

Joe: Look how much we can find in Lohengrin. I think when you play in a group a lot, you have to make sure that you get everything you can out of the music when you're playing on your own. Work on your mainstream excerpts and get as much as you can out of each of them. Rhythmically, you have to get into the style of every piece. Okay, let's give Sam a hand and get Tim on stage (applause).

12:17 PM

Tim Dugan takes the stage

Joe: Any questions while Tim gets set up?

Audience member: How do you go about developing the architecture of a new piece? Do you study the piano score?

Joe: Mostly, I read through as much music as I can. I think the key is to find a good pianist who can read. Make sure your part is down first, then you can explore different options when you read with the pianist.

Tim plays Brahms 2

Joe: Okay, good. Let's talk about this. When you play this on an audition, regardless of what your recording sounds like, play both excerpts at the same tempo. For me, as a listener, if a player does a faster tempo on the second excerpt, it doesn't sound intentional. The other thing, at letter "O", you have to play the fortepiano on one note. In order to start it correctly, you have to play it a little longer, with even more contrast to the next note.

Also, you have to make sure you don't play Brahms too aggressively. Round off the syncopated quarters. When you go for the high D, to focus on the D, focus on the third or fourth note (Joe sings with a slight crescendo after the high D). Make a nice balance of sound and volume. You can scare a conductor very easily with this excerpt.

12:30 PM

Joe: What else do you want to do?

Tim plays Hungarian March

Joe: I think what happens here, when you have the octave, is that people rush the octave. You have to isolate it. (Joe plays the notes leading to the top of the scale, then the octave plus one more note.) That's a good exercise, do it on each phrase. Try it again and put this exercise in context. Stay right on the click track, regardless of whether you have to breathe, you have to stay exactly on time.

Somebody asked me if you natural slur later in the excerpt. In this case, at this volume, no, you need the tongue to make it clean at this volume. Let's go on to another one.

Tim plays the Rhenish

Joe: Okay, let's work backwards on this (demonstrates using fourth position for the F). The tradition here is to bring in the entire orchestra, so maybe a little space before the E-flat. The other thing is to figure out where to breathe. In the orchestra you should go to the first horn player to find out where he is breathing. You shouldn't breathe in the same place as the first horn player because you are both playing the melody. To make it secure for an audition, I would play this about ten times a day to get it into my chops. It's not a piece that is always there, you have to make yourself comfortable with it by playing it often.

You know I look at the season schedule in my orchestra, and I see where pieces like this are coming up. When pieces like this or Berg's Three Pieces comes, I'm going to sit down and get ready for it, practice it, to get it into my chops.

Audience member: Would you recommend playing it on the alto for an audition?

Joe: Unless they require it, I think you should play it on the tenor. It's easier to travel, and you should just play it on the tenor. In the orchestra, it depends on the conductor, but I like to play it on the alto, and I've never heard a conductor complain about hearing it on the alto. I think conductors like to hear it on the alto. Some people, on the other hand, have little need for the alto. I think there's a benefit to playing it on the alto because it gets a pure, beautiful sound. Bolero is also a piece like this, because you have to sit for a long time. You have to keep your mental focus. I have talked to great players about what they do to keep focus, and some have told me that they play a couple notes before, within the key, so that you're "already in motion" when the solo comes up. I think a lot of great players have things they do when they have to play pieces like this. You have to know what you need to do to get ready to play, to come up with the goods.

Okay, we're going to stop now, so let's thank Tim (applause).

12:53 PM

Time for lunch