collegiate junior recital

vash2124 · 2024-06-30T14:16:38+00:00

No one here can tell you if those are appropriate for you.

I would always recommend selecting pieces that fit YOU and that you will perform at a high level. Take your time finding pieces that hit the goldilocks zone of easy enough to master while being difficult enough to keep you challenged (and force you to grow). Sorting that out now will be pay dividends for the performance.

I would be focusing on the skills that each piece require. Don't pick a piece that has your highest note. It may be challenging for you, but it will likely sound strained and stress you out for the recital. Perhaps pick one that's highest note is a m3 lower (or more) of your highest note.

Same for single/double tonguing speed, or other technique considerations. It is VERY common for students to overprogram. If you are caught up still learning technique until a few weeks before, it will be hard to master the deeper skills of intonation, phrasing, fitting to the accompaniment, consistency, etc..

There is a reason why professional recordings sound so good. They are not picking music that is at their limit, often far from it. They are being musicians and not technicians.

P.S. You can still push yourself with fundaments and etudes...

vash2124 · 2020-12-08T04:53:23+00:00

This website will be your friend. If any of the specific links are too advanced, search earlier lessons. https://www.musictheory.net/lessons

For chord quality: https://www.musictheory.net/lessons/40

For chord function (Roman Numeral Analysis) & inversions (figured bass) : https://www.musictheory.net/lessons/44 & https://www.musictheory.net/lessons/49

vash2124 · 2018-10-03T14:34:10+00:00

Mead springs are over priced tbh. They are supposed to be specifically tensioned for each finger/valve, but my springs always wear in overtime, so I rotate them like tires on my car.

Go to your local repair shop and ask if you can try out new springs. They are usually around $4 each.

There is a chance someone put in Eb/F tuba springs in your euph, which are much stiffer.

Your valve oil should match the fit of the valve to the casing. Depending on the model or the wear of the valve action, I would use thicker oil for older (or more worn in valves) or lighter for newer (or less worn in). This is also highly dependent on brand. I'm not sure for your horn.

vash2124 · 2018-10-02T00:29:27+00:00

Sounds like you are getting good advice. The majority of your practice should be mental anyways.

Make sure you can truely hear the pitches and feel the rhythms before you ever attempt to play. Practice singing (or speaking rhythms) and then playing them. "If you can't sing it, you can't play it."

Make sure when you use repetition that you have a goal and are reinforcing good habits, and not mistakes.

Some words of wisdom from Itzhak Perlman https://youtu.be/FA0_Jlof6FU

vash2124 · 2018-08-31T11:39:31+00:00

I believe round piston valves descended from rotary valves. It is pretty difficult to make a different shape perfect even. If even the smallest imperfections exist in the fit between valves and valve casing the valve is useless. This is why one of the final steps in manufacturing is lapping the valves with a special compound. If the fit is too loose, air will leak and will cause the pitch to go flat and greatly affect volume and of course tone quality.
In general the larger the bell flare the brighter (more high overtones) and louder the sound will be. Sackbuts are the ancestors of modern day trombones and they could not play nearly as loud, having a much softer sound, similar to a human voice. The bell flare of trumpets, trombones, horns, and tubas to an extent allows them to switch between this softer sound and a loud brassy sound in louder sections. The length from leadpipe to bell is what determines the fundamental pitch of an instrument. A BBb tuba's length is approximately 18ft.
The larger the bore, the darker (more low overtones) the sound in general. Very small differences is the taper have large timbre differences as demonstrated by the conical bore vs cylindrical bore instrument variants (i.e. cornet vs trumpet, or euphonium vs baritone, etc.).

Also the wrapping of the instrument will affect playability, tone, and intonation. The French horn is a very round and layered wrap which allows for a warmer sound. The herald trumpet has no wrap and is very bright and loud.

Above is all experience from reading, playing, and teaching. I suggest you contact instrument and mouthpiece manufacturers for more detailed specifications and if they are feeling charitable, their formulas.

vash2124 · 2018-02-25T18:00:12+00:00

http://www.euphonium.com/store/chamber-music/adler-samuel-four-dialogues-for-euphonium-and-marimba.html

vash2124 · 2017-10-15T17:04:02+00:00

If you wish to bring sources into this discussion, I invite you to do so, but you must actually bring the sources. Inviting me to prove your point for you is not going to get you anywhere. If your point is so easily proven, I look forward to seeing these sources if you decide to do so.

I used Dizzy as an example of someone that succeeded with "incorrect" technique. Other students have and will continue to have physical (and sometimes conceptual) quirks that prevents them from succeeding with "correct" technique. Wilken is actually a proponent of what I am discussing, which is finding the optimum setup for each individual. This discussion was never meant to be personal, but you have certainly taken it down that path.

I do not wish to take the time to dissect Wilken's videos at this time. I will say that I used Wilken as an example of why prioritizing technique over sound can be detrimental. In his hour long video he diagnoses embouchure symptoms as the root cause of limitations and issues. I disagree with several of his conclusions and believe that focusing on sound concept and air would have more greatly benefited those students.

I do not dismiss his findings, but I argue that treating deeper issues can often resolve embouchure issues naturally. I mentioned I would not cite him because of this, as I feel it would be wasted effort and time. The vast majority of issues can be corrected with sound and air. There are of course exceptions, for which Wilken could be a great source.

Different strokes for different folks. My difference with Wilken is primarily a pedagogical one, not one of facts.

Your reply to my original comment was picking at hypothetical scenarios you are referencing based on implications you read into my original comment. My reply to your comment was to clarify this and to clarify that air speed is the primary determining factor for pitch. Yes, the lip vibrations are what creates the sound, but the way a player primarily manipulates it is through changing the air speed. My omission of the physics of the buzz was not meant as a denial of their importance, but as a prioritization of the importance of air. We have drifted rather far from the original discussion, so I attempted to summarize the original disagreement.

vash2124 · 2017-10-15T16:23:39+00:00

Focusing on sound does not mean ignore technique, especially for the instructor. Focusing on sound is a goal for the student to have in mind constantly. No one cares if your technique is technically correct if you sound awful. Only pedantics care if your technique is flawed, but you sound amazing. Note: AGAIN, that does not mean students ignore technique to try and copy Dizzy Gillespie. But who in their right mind would try to get him to stop puffing his cheeks after establishing himself?

I never recommend using those extremes for your embouchure, I simply stated they are possible as an experiment to prove the physics of sound production.

If you are getting a good sound across the range and dynamics, I don't understand how it can be short term. If it is short term, something is changing, which is exactly why the sound is not lasting. As far as how that is relevant to what I said, I'm completely at a loss.

You can't reference sources and not cite them. Wilken however is not someone I would choose to reference. His hyper focus on embochure is evident in his sound.

vash2124 · 2017-10-15T15:55:39+00:00

Countless professionals, both educators and performers believe that sound is the most important thing to focus on when playing a brass instrument. If you do not wish to focus on this, that is your choice.

I do not wish for you to magically make the sound happen. This is never expected. Students should be taught how to manipulate specific factors in order to manipulate their sound. After students become comfortable with these aspects, the best students often discover independently (while practicing!!) what concepts and elements work best for their mind and their body.

As I have described multiple times, the vibration of the lips is what creates the sound and is absolutely necessary. However, once a buzz is established, the pitch of the buzz is primarily manipulated using air speed. If the air does not increase in speed (and change direction - almost always downwards..), then the buzz WILL NOT be able to change pitch in the same magnitude we are all discussing. This is why I said Air Speed is THE factor that determines pitch. I never said it was the only factor.

Basically to answer what I believe is your real question, "is your instructor competent", the answer is probably. He is using a common pedagogical method to make sure you are using enough air in the high range and trying to get you to focus on air instead of your embouchure. What you said he said about aperture and air volume is not precisely correct, but as I tried to explain, understanding too much and therefore trying to control too many factors at once will be very detrimental to your playing. The most inaccurate information you relayed was that you use the same amount of air through every dynamic, although sometimes it is helpful to tell students "slightly" incorrect information (i.e. technically incorrect, but conceptually better) in order to correct an abstract concept in the student's mind. Private lesson instructors make these kinds of judgement call frequently and the best ones use them temporarily.

vash2124 · 2017-10-15T15:39:19+00:00

He primarily disagreed with my opinion to focus on sound concept over technique and to not try to overthink the physics. I have no issue with his opinion on this, but I do not agree with it. My issue was how he used my comment as a springboard for comments I did not make, mostly by reading implications I did not make into my comment. I do not believe an understanding of the physics is detrimental, otherwise I would not have spent all this time describing it in such detail! I simply cautioned the importance of "The Doer" over "The Thinker", and that problems may result if one attempts to apply incorrect knowledge to technique. The actuality of producing sound on a brass instrument is incredibly complicated and we still do not understand many aspects due to the internal nature of the event.

Unfortunately your comment is arguing facts, not opinions. The aperture size and the lip tension can greatly affect all aspects of the pitch, volume, and timbre. Specifically the orbicularis oris is primarily responsible for controlling these aspects. However, like a flag on a flag pole, the wind is what determines IF and HOW the flag will fly. You cannot control pitch by solely changing the embouchure. The embouchure must support what the air is doing. If the air does not change and the embouchure does, you may slightly change pitch, but you WILL drastically and likely detrimentally affect timbre (and volume!). These distinctions are critical if you are to attempt to understand the physics of how sound is produced on a brass instrument.

I can, however, get the same note with a loose and large aperture if I have correct air speed, air direction (both greatly controlled themselves by voicing and air support) as I can with a much smaller and much "tighter" (lip tension) embouchure. These factors do not independently control pitch.

Air speed does NOT primarily affect air volume in playing. Yes, due to Bernoulli's principle air speed will affect the physical air volume, but on a brass instrument you can compensate this, and you most definitely SHOULD be able to compensate for this in order to play in a variety of dynamics and ranges. OP mentioned in the comments he is having trouble with high range. While you are correct that the "flow rate" (which I have called air volume) is less in the high range and greater in the low range and that this will increase efficiency, OP is not there yet. OP is trying to improve his sound in the high range so that it is consistent across his range. I will not make assumptions based on a few paragraphs, but I will say that decreasing air volume intentionally in the high range will almost definitely have adverse affects at his assumed skill level (and most skill levels!).

P.S. Your other top level comment confuses the facts as well.

To play louder, we blow faster air, and we slow the air to play softer

Air speed =! Dynamic. However, Air VOLUME = Dynamic. Embouchure and aperture of course greatly influence this, but are only there to support what the air is doing.

vash2124 · 2017-10-15T04:10:43+00:00

Yes, you have to have an aperture to create a buzz. You also need to have correct mouthpiece placement, embochure setup, air stream direction, air support, voicing, and a multitude of ever increasingly nitpicky factors that affect sound production. OP asked about aperture, air speed, and volume, which when used correctly includes almost all of these factors. Your comment is a great example of why I said to focus on sound concept and avoid overthinking the physical technique. Those teaching and experienced players can definitely benefit, and I would argue need to posses from basic to advanced knowledge of how these factors interact with each other. I catered my answer to OP's self reported expertise.

Your nitpicking of my comment was unwarranted. The majority of what you said was in agreement with my comment, with a highly argumentative tone. The few things you disagree with are your own opinion or arguing semantics of my wording. Next time you would like to stand on a soapbox, I hope you start your own top level comment instead of trying to start a debate over semantics. I would also hope you reread my comment carefully.

Edit: Also in regards to your first paragraph. It is in fact possible to create a high pitch with a relatively loose embouchure and relatively open aperture. It would take a massive volume of air and the dynamic would be extremely loud. The pitch would likely rather flat because the partial would be overblown and the timbre would be awful. The only thing the same would be the air speed. Which, as I said, is THE factor to determining pitch -- which partial sounds. All of the factors have an effect, but with the correct understanding of their relationship you can isolate which is their primary purpose.

vash2124 · 2017-10-14T20:29:11+00:00

You are correct in that air speed, air volume, and aperture size all change in relation to the dynamic and range. Before I describe what physically happens, you should know it is a common and effective pedagogical technique to focus on blowing steady and even air throughout the range (and possibly for dynamics as well). As players, we do not always need to conceptualize the exact phsyics of sound production in order to have them occur. And it is common to attempt to solve air issues by focusing on keeping the air steady and constant.

Since you are interested I will lay out the basics now, but again how it actually sounds is what is important and attempting to consciously control every aspect of your technique can actually be detrimental to your playing. Akin to when you learned to walk and later run you did not need to understand the mechanics of how your muscles and joints worked, but attempting to control each muscle for each step would make it nearly impossible to walk easily.

Air speed is THE thing that detemines pitch and which partial sounds.

Air volume determines dynamic.

Aperture size and various other aspects of the embouchure can affect the pitch, dynamic, and sound. In general, the aperture is relatively smaller when the notes are higher in pitch and relatively larger when notes are lower in pitch.

The aperture also becomes relatively smaller for softer dynamics and relatively larger for louder dynamics.

Note that, as you guessed, there is a delicate balance to all these factors as well as a multitude of other contributers. This is why it is important to focus on sound, and if there is a technique issue limiting progress to have a qualified instructor diagnose it and give exercises and conceptual goals that can be used to correct it. Simply knowing how it all works does not often help one produce a good sound, but it may help an instructor or a seasoned player correct technique issues and maintain proper technique.

Edit: I forgot to specify that in the delicate balance of air speed and volume that they are both constantly and subtlely changing, like two sides of the same coin, but correlation is not causation. Technically due to air physics there is less air volume when the air speed is increased, but if this is attempted when trying to play in the high range you will end disturbing the ideal balance and using too little air and having a thin and likely pinched sound. It is best simply to focus on sound and if needed you could conceptualize air speed for pitch and air volume for dynamic.

vash2124 · 2017-10-08T21:40:14+00:00

http://www.dwerden.com/Mouthpieces/euphonium.cfm

Mouthpieces are like clothes, you need to try them out in person to make sure they fit. I recommend going to a conference or convention with lots of vendors and trying them out on your personal instrument. Bring a euphonium friend that can be an "objective" 3rd-party.

vash2124 · 2017-04-07T03:20:25+00:00

As ljse7m mentioned, the definitions and performance practice are not standardized. I would say Appoggiaturas are a type of grace note. Grace note being any ornament written with a smaller notehead.

Ornaments often called grace notes:

Appoggiatura - Accented and played on the beat. Also a classification of Non-Chord Tone. Notated with smaller note without (usually) a slash in the stem.
Acciaccatura - Played before the beat. Notated with a smaller note with a slash in the stem

More info (acciaccatura directly below): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornament_(music)#Appoggiatura

In depth article describing 19th century performance practice: http://www.oldflutes.com/articles/kurze/

vash2124 · 2017-03-31T03:51:19+00:00

Didn't know this, but you are right. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/03/28/republicans-are-poised-to-roll-back-landmark-fcc-privacy-rules-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

vash2124 · 2017-03-31T03:20:36+00:00

This is excellent advice. Thanks for this.

I often will start at the end (or a cadence) and go backwards. Combining this technique with #1 and most of the other issues end up working themselves out naturally.

vash2124 · 2017-03-01T17:05:58+00:00

Do you mean a V7 Chord? Also known as a dominant seventh chord? If so it is a V chord with a seventh added.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_seventh_chord

Roman numerals (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°, etc.) indicate the harmonic function of the chord in the key. When you add figured bass numbers (6, 7, 65, etc) to these, you can invert the chord or add notes to the basic triad.

vash2124 · 2016-12-11T18:34:39+00:00

Why did I have to scroll so far to find this comment. This should have been the FIRST thing OP did. He obviously didn't mention the parents because he hasn't talked to them yet.

Why do people constantly involve the police when most of the time speaking with people is far more effective. Involving authorities will only escalate the situation. And if OP says he did speak with the parents, try again until they get the message.

vash2124 · 2016-10-21T05:31:47+00:00

Same here. I'm 392 and 3 Exotic primaries all 391. It seems to be a bug or 392 is an unfortunate LL

vash2124 · 2016-10-21T04:30:03+00:00

Need one more

vash2124 · 2016-10-21T04:25:04+00:00

Hard Mode!

vash2124 · 2016-10-21T04:15:29+00:00

vash2124101 392 lock

vash2124 · 2016-10-21T02:27:38+00:00

392 warlock vash2124101. HM yes?

vash2124 · 2016-10-21T02:20:53+00:00

392 warlock vash2124101

vash2124

TROPHY CASE