Hi all, Every time this comes up I refer back to a snippet from Gunther Schuller's book...
>From Schuller: Horn Technique - "A common misconception exists that staccato >playing requires a different technical approach than more sustained playing. >Nothing could be further from the truth. Essentially, a staccato note is >produced exactly like any other note; that is to say, a clean attack (in >staccato fairly sharp and pointed) is followed by a fully centered tone and >ended quickly by the action of the larynx. Common faults in staccato playing >are: a) the attack, because of the speed with which the tongue is required to >move, is often fuzzy and unfocused; b)the tone, because of its relative >brevity, is neglected and allowed to sound thin and pinched; and c) the >tongue, rather than the larynx, is used to stop the note. This latter fault >gives the note an unpleasantly abrupt ending and makes the staccato sound >choppy and aggressive. For my taste, the most attractive staccato in one in >which each note is ever so slightly tapered at the end." Robert N. Ward Principal Horn San Francisco Symphony [email protected] On Jul 2, 2011, at 1:48 PM, Ralph Hall wrote: > Wendell, I reply to your posting out of courtesy because I realise > that it is to your advice that many on this list look to. However, I > must take issue with you on one or two points. My reply, which brought > up the 'whole glottal thing' was specifically concerned with the > ending of notes other than staccato and you seem to extrapolate from > that, via those that seek our help, that I advocate stopping short > notes with the glottis. This is certainly not my way of thinking but > you then go on to say that articulations (which exactly?) should be > 'small actions of the tongue and not a lot of throat stuff'. I never > have, nor ever will conflate 'articulations' with a 'lot of throat > stuff' so I wonder where this comes from? > > In your reply to William you say that 'you are right to think that > stopping each note with the tongue would be a bad thing in a fast > passage' but in your second posting you advocate 'toot' or 'teet' > which to my mind, if you pronounce the last consonant in normal > pronunciation, means ending the note with the tongue. I certainly > accept your advocacy of the vowel sound between the two 'ts' otherwise > you do get more tongue than note. There are not many linguistic and > elocution experts, or (heaven forbid!), singing teachers who would > agree that pronouncing with the tongue 'and suitable vowel sounds' can > take the throat (presumably you mean the glottis) out of the equation. > > Ultimately, Valerie is right that there is more than one way of > cracking a nut, but an acknowledgement of the skills of others in > solving these universal problems might render the list more helpful to > those who seek advice. > > Ralph R. Hall _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
