OUCH!!! I feel thoroughly tromped on. :) True what works for one or even for the many doesn't always work for all. Milton
Milton Kicklighter 4th Horn Buffalo Philharmonic Retired ________________________________ From: valerie wells <[email protected]> To: horn list 2 memphis <[email protected]> Sent: Tue, June 28, 2011 11:33:26 AM Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Articulation and 'airy' sound issues If one is determined to prove that any particular technique yields poor results, they will certainly do so in their own "rigged" demonstration. I've seen this sort of nonsense presented by professionals. One professional tuba player in my area was determined to prove once & for all, that allowing any puffing in his cheeks would certainly destroy his tone & technique. So in a master class, he demonstrated poor tone & technique with a little air pocket in his cheeks as contrasted by beautiful tone & technique using his own technique. Yet, one can find numerous examples of brass players giving stellar performances with air pockets here and there. Another example of a "negative proof" demonstration was reported recently by someone on this list recounting how a fine player "proved" the superiority of his tone on a certain type of brass instrument as opposed to another. The bottom line is, there's always more than one way to skin a cat. Flexible & creative musicians can and DO learn to produce beautiful results using a wide variety of techniques, some conventional, some unconventional. I recently heard of an outstanding horn player who set the rim of his mouthpiece deeply into the underside of his upper lip. What?! That's unheard of, wrong, absolute heresy, etc. But it worked for him. For examples of great horn players breaking conventional rules, look to Dennis Brain, Bruno Schnieder, John Graas, Nury Guarnaschelli, Steve Park, etc. I say, give convention a try, because chances are it will work, but if it doesn't, try something else, regardless of who recommends it. One never knows what will be discovered until one experiments, break a few rules and explores the possibilities. So ahead and prove to yourselves that tonguing by any one method other than the one you currently use is HORRID and WRONG and you will make my point for me! Thank you. Musical demonstrations to prove the negative ALWAYS work. They speak so well for the logic of a close minded musician. Valerie Wells The Balanced Embouchure Method http://bebabe.wordpress.com/ http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/ _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/kicklighgter%40yahoo.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
