Hi Jonathan, I did not intend to imply that Reba was a beginning or unprofessional player. That is why I changed the subject line and omitted her original comments that prompted the new thread. I was responding to your comment that buzzing had little value. As others have supplied better articulated support for a similar position such as held by Arnold Jacobs, I'll leave it at that.
This does, however, lead me to wonder about some of the pedagogical tools that are used without necessarily understanding why or when they may no longer be useful ( I am certainly not referring to anyone on this list). Thus, if Arnold Jacobs recommended buzzing a particular song and that got passed along without his rationale, it may be that it has taken on the status of a totem. Perhaps its value does not require full comprehension, but I suspect that it will be more valuable if understood. I'll give another example. I was at a middle school concert not too long ago, and it sounded like there was a 50 member percussion section. Nearly all the players were dutifully tapping (some almost stomping) their right foot, just as their teacher told them to. My sons were taught, as I was taught, to tap a foot in order to internalize the beat. At what point does one instruct students to break that habit? I never was. I play in the Minnesota State Band; we had one recording session ruined because someone was heavily tapping a foot and it was picked up by the recording equipment. How about tuning one's horn to concert B flat (just because that is what the band always tunes to)? Are there any others out there? Timothy A. Johnson -----Original Message----- From: Jonathan West Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 1:11 PM To: horn@music.memphis.edu Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Mouthpiece buzzing Hi Timothy Reba by all accounts is a fairly advanced player - she had a professional position in an army band. ... Therefore your point with regard to younger players is probably not applicable to her. ... Regards Jonathan West _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
