TEN
ANSWERS TO TEN QUESTIONS
Questions
from Trae Warner, student of Jonathan Whitaker, Professor of
Trombone at Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Arkansas
Answers from Dr. Wagner
1. Do you require
students to audio record their practice sessions?
No---I do encourage them to record themselves especially when
preparing for Jurys and especially for a recital.
2. What do you think is
the main reason students do not practice?
There are several reasons why students do not practice:
1. Not motivated and perhaps not even decided whether
they want to be good or not.
2. Not enough time as college students.
3. Perhaps think they
have already arrived.
4. People can get lost in their own world's and do
not conceive others playing.
3. Do you encourage
students to keep practice logs/journals? Do you think it is
beneficial? If one was to keep a practice journal, what information
should that person record?
No--I have never gotten into
this. Perhaps it is beneficial to some, but I measure success
by quality and not quantity. As for what to put in a Journal
would be hours practiced and
maybe even what one thinks he/she has accomplished during a
particular session.
4. Is there a practice
technique that trumps all other practice techniques? Which
technique(s) do you recommend?
Well, I guess I would say that
the practice technique that surpasses all is to do Daily Routines
(or usually called "Warm-ups.") to make sure all the
fundamentals of playing the instrument are in tack.
5. Should somebody ever
expect speedy results from practicing?
Absolutely not---this is
impossible as quality playing is a life-long process.
6. Singing and playing
is a popular concept among most instrumentalists. Is it absurd to
sing and practice?
I do not think it is absurd to
sing. I strongly encourage this. Just singing tunes, singing
lesson material, singing phrases, etc are very valuable.
7. What is a good amount
of time to practice for one session? How many Ôø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡sessionsÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡ should
one practice in a day? Is there such a thing as too much practicing?
I think an ideal practice policy is to practice 3 or 4 hours
a day spread out over 6-10 hours of time. Practice followed by
some rest is critical to maintaining the lip muscles. Regarding
practicing too much is probably not a problem if one is going about
it logically.
The most important thing about practice is accomplishing
musical results--practicing just for the sake of practicing produces
nothing--one has to practice PLAYING WELL.
8. Do you encourage
group practice sessions?
Group practice sessions are
fine. This provides a forum for someone to
listen to you and to comment on occasion in a positive
manner, makes practicing fun, assists with sight reading if duets
are incorporated, gives purpose
to the session, and probably much more. HOWEVER, individual
practice is necessary also.
9. Is it true that
someone could spend a sufficient amount of time practicing and not
improve? If so, what would be the cause?
Absolutely!!!! I addressed
this in number 7 a bit. Practicing with knowledge of what high
quality performance is and proper fundamentals is the most
important. I even encourage students (and myself) to practice
things they are best at in order to establish their highest level
before going on to practice new things.
10. What is the most
important thing to keep in mind while practicing?
Have a concept of what good
playing is at the highest level of performance and then set about to
make sure you can do that also. Don't just think that Joe
Alessi or Christian Lindberg or Michel Becquet or Bill Watrous or
Jonathan Whitaker or Irv Wagner are in another world. Strive
to sound and play just like them!!!!!!
Slide
Technique
Questions from Claudia M.
Schmitz, a MasterÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡s degree student of Dr. Steven Wolfinbarger,
Professor of Trombone at Western Michigan University in Kalazamoo,
Michigan
Answers
by Dr. Wagner
1. What key
concepts do you focus on when teaching slide technique?
Basically I strive to have the students focus on a relaxed approach
to slide technique. This
requires holding the slide in a comfortable and
relaxed manner, moving the slide with as little arm movement
as possible, and making the slide movement a visual part of the
musical performance.
2. How much of the
motion comes from the elbow? From
the wrist? From the fingertips?
I have never given any exact unit of measure to the amount of
fingertip, wrist, or
elbow motion; but it would seem to me that these three
units might be at least equal to each other. Also, put
into your mix the upper arm (shoulder to elbow). There are
four rather than three
components of the arm where slide
movement is involved--the upper arm (shoulder to elbow), the
lower arm (elbow to wrist), the wrist, and finally the fingertips.
My experience has been in teaching that a large percentage of
students use entirely to much upper and lower arm movement and
basically little or no wrist and finger
movement. I would say that this produces a
rigidity in the playing that limits the effectiveness of the music
being performed. I am an advocate for using mostly fingertips
and wrist, a less amount of forearm, and an even
less amount
of upper arm.
3. How do you hold
the slide? How tightly do you hold it?
I
hold the slide loosely between the second and third finger with the
hand (fingers) vertical. This puts two fingers inside the
slide at the bottom of the
crossbar, and two below the slide. It should be pointed
out that the thumb is not involved in griping the slide. In
other words the thumb only touches the crossbar when utilized to
speed up the movement of the slide away from first position.
If the thumb is used to
grip the slide, the fingers and wrist play little role in the
movement of the slide thus causing a more difficult movement of
the slide and hence a less musical performance.
4. At faster
tempos, do you think of stopping or pausing at each position?
Does this change in different styles (legato vs. staccato)?
This is a very difficult question to
answer. If the slide is stopped at each position, the
performance will not sound correct or good, in my opinion; however,
one does not want to "smear" everything either.
Probably a simplified, general rule for me is the faster the
passage the less the slide is stopped at each position. In
other words a continuous slide movement is in order in proportion to
the speed of the piece. For example, in a slow, legato passage
it would sound stupid to keep the slide moving continuously, and at
the other extreme it would seem equally unpleasant to try to stop
the slide at each position while playing such as the last variation
of "The Blue Bells Of Scotland." So to repeat, slide
movement is in proportion to the speed of the musical passage
whether legato or staccato.
5. What are some
considerations when selecting alternate vs. "1st choice"
slide positions?
This takes a bit more of
an explanation because the issue of the normal position for a note
must be clarified before can determine the
alternate. As a rule of thumb, the correct
position for any note lies in the field of acoustics. Two
things are to be considered with this. The quality of the sound
or tone of any note is best the lower it is in the overtone series
and when the air is traveling through the least amount of tubing.
An example, a "D" about the bass clef staff can be
played in first position or fourth position; consequently, which is
best? The answer is that the "D" in first
position will allow for the best tone because it is lower in its'
overtone series and has a shorter amount of tubing through
which the air goes compared to the "D" in fourth position.
The "D" in first is the fifth partial of the
Bb overtone series while the
"D" in fourth is the sixth partial of the
G overtone series. Then, of course, it is easy to see
the difference in the
amount of tubing through which the air is passing because there is
about 2 feet more tubing adding in fourth position.
Now
to answer the question of alternate positions. There are
always two considerations
when making a decision regarding the choice of positions for a
given note. First, I would always play the note in
it's normal position first, then select an alternate position if
faster slide movement is facilitated to accomplish a technical
passage or to express a better musical line. The other
consideration that is useful often is that "half steps played
in adjoining positions" often produces
faster technique and smoother slide action.
6. In legato
playing, how do you (if at all) allow the use of natural slurs to
impact of a position?
In legato playing, I do
not use the natural slur, thus there is no impact on the choice of
position. The only time I use the natural slur in playing is
for something unusual in the music like a grace note or other
ornament.
7. In selecting
alternate positions, do you have any rules or guidelines for keeping
the slide moving in the same direction versus changing directions?
I do
not have any specific guidelines for keeping the slide moving in the
same direction; but if the musical passage warrants the slide
moving in the same direction, I certainly incorporate that
practice.
8. Are there any
notes you tend to always play in "alternate" positions
for pitch or tone quality issues?
No! There are no notes that I would
always play with "alternate"
positions. I would only use alternates for technical or
musical reasons.
9. Does your
position selection differ between legato and staccato passages?
No!
Whether the passage is legato or staccato makes no difference in my choice
of positions.
10. Could you
suggest any additional resources for the teaching of slide
technique?
Practice!!
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