Last updated: August 3, 2:59 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.

Tuesday Evening

Christan: A couple of notes on the NOTES...

A lot of the individual attention the participants receive during the Seminar will not be included in these excerpts. Including comments about pitch and tempo, as well as any praise they receive, would accomplish two things: 1) bore you and 2) cause severe carpal tunnel in my wrists.

After meeting with Joe during the ITF, we arranged for me to make a top-secret trip to NYC. Joe wanted to test components in the hall with the NYP section. As a result of the trip, he found the T-STDN slide and T3 brass leadpipe worked best for his current setup (Edge-braced T350 with a 321CF bell and yellow dual radius tuning slide). If Joe's performance on last night's recital is any indication, this new setup is working extremely well. He also played the new setup in Seoul, Korea last month.

In addition to the components already in our catalog, Joe also tested some stealth technology goods that show promise for the years to come.

6:03 PM

James Scott takes to the stage. James is the principal trombonist with the Calgary Symphony.

Plays the the Ewazen Sonata for tenor trombone

6:10 PM

Joe: Very nice. Let's work backwards. There's a phenomenon where the piano starts first and we don't hear your first note start.

James plays

Joe: Ok, do you want to end with a decrescendo or full? (pause) I think it was a bit anticlimactic. Hold the last note strong.

James plays

Joe: Give the pitches a little more body/length. Are you rebooting/resetting/engaging your diaphragm for each note or keeping it engaged consistently? Keep it engaged.

James plays

Joe: There's just not enough pitch for each note. Make the notes longer (demonstrates).

6:20 PM

Pete: It's not just a matter of longer, it's the actual breadth of the note, not the length. Length will help accomplish this, but it's not just length.

James plays

Joe: Ok, right here it's like your stabbing a bit at the notes.

Christan: I think Joe is commenting on the front of James' attacks. They are very clean and I think Joe is trying to get the air/articulation equation adjusted as he did in earlier sessions with other players.

6:25 PM

Joe: I think we as orchestral players are always trying to get our sounds in the orchestra in the mix, but this is just piano. I think the trombone works better with the piano if we back off. You know - take it off of STUN. There are no cellos or a full back line of brass to compete with.

James plays

Joe: The note you are slurring into needs to relax. Don't make the second note too short. A lot of things are left to the discretion of the performer in Ewazen's pieces. Don't be afraid to add in your own ideas.

James plays

Joe: You are pulling in for your upper F. This makes you sharp to the piano. If we continue to do this then the work dries up.

James plays

6:35 PM

Joe: Cut the beef a little thicker (notes), never stab at the notes. Blow through them more. In regards to the vibrato, don't use it so much on shorter notes, but save it for the longer notes. I think he (James) sounds great.

Christan: Joe's voice is coming and going now. Low and "rattly".

6:38 PM

Joe: It's Kyle Samuelson. Welcome.

Kyle Samuelson is a freelance artist in Milwaukee Wisconsin. He is playing the Casterede Sonatine.
Kyle tunes with the piano. The piano part is a bear and a challenge to even these great accompanists.

Kyle plays the first movement.

Joe: How did you feel?

Kyle: Dry.

Joe: That's normal, I felt dry last night. You have to ignore this and blow through it. It seemed like you had an air meltdown. When this happens you have to make sure to keep blowing. Like this. (demonstrates)

6:45 PM

Joe: Here we need to talk about the three parts of the note:, the head, body, and tail. If the head of the note is distorted then the note will be as well. The way to fix this is to do no tongue attacks every day. Play some notes with air starts.

6:47 PM

Joe: Let's do a demonstration. Phil (accompanist), can you help us? Please both of you stand on the line. Facing the crowd. Now Kyle is Mr. Tongue and Phil is Mr. Air. Now Phil step back a few steps. See now the tongue is ready, but the air is not. The air is not there so there is distortion. You must get Mr. Tongue and Mr. Air together. If you split a note then it is because the air is lagging behind.

Kyle plays

Joe: There's a bit too much movement in your face. You need to do some mirror work to try to minimize this movement. Look at yourself daily in the mirror for a little bit (playing) to see what's going on.

Kyle plays

Joe: I would recommend you work on two things: 1) Never chew your notes. We are very much like ventriloquists. We must keep our faces free of movement. Be the human, not the dummy. Keep your chin from moving. Say tah tah tah -- nothing should move. If it does, then it will creep into your sound. Be a ventriloquist. 2) Don't separate the cheeks from the teeth. Play really slow and get rid of bad habits.

6:54 PM

Joe: You have to maintain your sound throughout the piece. The other day Phil and I rehearsed slowly. We should have maybe done more, but I think you should do this. Dynamically you have to attempt to play softer. To quote one of my colleagues, the louder you play the less tongue you should use. The softer you play the more tongue you need. (demonstrates)

Ok, let's hear the 2nd movement.

6:59 PM

Joe: When finish a phrase, if possible, finish it with a natural position. It's more comfortable, in tune, and the payoff is worth it.

Let's talk about posture. Does it bother you that the stand is this low? I think your posture is a bit low. Try to get that concave thing going. Here stand up and arch your back. Try that.

Christan: Better sound immediately.

Joe: Ok, when you play softly don't tense up. Relax.

Kyle plays

Joe: The brain sends a message to move the arm. And then the message has to go to the arm. If the message is broken up before it gets all the way to the slide then the rhythm is lost. You must have rhythm in your slide. Practice slide technique with a metronome and I promise you it will sound clean. I'm keeping that really clean grip and that will help your articulation, it'll help everything. If you are going to play La Gazza Ladra (demonstrates), you'll have a nice clean sound and better pitch. Thanks Kyle.

7:13 PM

Sam Barlow takes the stage. Sam plays in the Marine Band in DC. He'll be playing the Hidas Movement for trombone and piano.

Sam plays

7:20 PM

Joe: I think you got most everything, but you need to pay attention to the mid/low register because you are not supporting it. Also, your posture is too bent over, you need to perform to the audience. Stand up, arch your back. Even though the mid/low section is mezzo piano it should be a full mp. (Demonstrates mid/low area).

Joe: Never control the dynamics with the aperture. This will cause the tone to tense (get smaller) up as you manipulate the dynamic with the aperture. You have to keep your sound intact as you decrescendo.

Sam plays

Joe: Train yourself to stand straight and then look at the music with your eyes, and not your body.

Sam plays

Joe: Do you have to touch the bell every time you pass it? Wouldn't it be better to hold on to the slide as you go past the bell? Sorry, I'm starting to get my energy back (laughter).

7:29 PM

Joe: Sam, you tend to use many hand positions for your slide. Try to use the same grip throughout.

Sam plays

Joe: Pitch is not a touchy feely thing. Don't reach for the bell. Trust the ears -- they won't lie.

7:36 PM

Joe: You must listen to recordings of yourself to hear pitch problems. Slow practice with the piano will also help expose problem areas.

Sam plays

Joe: Do you ever watch big band trumpet players? When they go for the high notes, do they arch forward or backward? I think you're hurting yourself by leaning too far forward.

Joe demonstrates section going to high E. He arches slightly as he goes towards the E in the phrase.

Christan: Unbelievable sound! Good grief, I want to quit right now… or find a practice room and lock myself in it for about six years. Smiles of disbelief can be seen across the room as Joe makes this unbelievable feat look as natural as an A in the staff.

Joe: If your posture is leaning forward when you breathe getting ready for the high notes, you will use a lot more chops to get through the section. Start the breath with your back arched slightly and fill up.

7:55 PM

Tim Dugan takes to the stage. He is in the Marine DC band.

Dugan plays Schumann's Three Romances.

8:04 PM

Joe: How do you feel?

Tim: Terrified... and hot.

Joe: I used to feel terrified. How did that translate into what you were doing?

Tim: I felt it translate into a lot of things. My throat tensed up. I felt like I was controlling the dynamic with aperture but didn't know what to do to fix it.

Joe: This posture thing (sighs), there's a sticky note on the music that says "posture".

Christan: These taller players are having problems standing up straight with the lower stand. Tim is tall and is breaking at the waist. Joe's trying to get him to "square up" and keep his upper torso steady.

8:08 PM

Joe: You need to sing across the notes rather than playing at them.

Tim plays

Joe: If you are not an air machine (think fan) then your support will be inconsistent and cause problems in lyrical and other areas.

Tim plays

Joe: When you want to move to the next level (of range) you must get there gradually, not all of a sudden.

Tim plays

Joe: The feeling I get when I go for the wider jumps, I think tah-eee — supporting the lower note and making it a springboard and then I reach up and it just happens. Any effort that happens is with the lower note. The transfer of air goes from a little slower air to a little faster air by the tongue level in your mouth. (thumb on a garden hose). To reach the flowers you need to speed up water with more thumb. It's just like whistling. I don't think whistling has everything to do with the upper register, but it does have something to do with the high register.

Tim plays

Joe: Terrific, next is Joseph Rodriguez. Joe plays in the Civic Orchestra and plays principal in two local Chicago Symphonies. Mr. Rodriguez will be playing the Hindemith Sonata.

8:34 PM

Joe: How do you control your nerves? You do it all the time. There's always going to be problems. There are surprises, and how you deal with them, are you going to focus on the surprises or go on and get back on track.

Jospeh plays

8:55 PM

Christan: Joe is working with Jospeh on getting in the groove and a few other performance aspects, including tempos within this work. It is impossible to type these minutes. My apologies to Jospeh for not being able to capture more. He played with a very clear sound and performed very well on a difficult piece.

9:00 PM

Joe: You must listen rhythmically across to the piano. (demonstrates)

Christan: Alessi commonly changes alternate positions to home based positions (within 1-4). Consider this fact before coming to take a lesson with him. He has "corrected" people at every seminar I have attended.

9:04 PM

Joe: (plays an F scale two octaves descending, then an E scale two octaves descending using 6th & 7th for low F & E.) Practice descending scales being accurate in outer positions. It's much easier to descend then to ascend. You must be able (as a tenor player) to descend and keep a full sound.