I have now successfully completed both my written and oral comprehensive exams, and am one large step closer to finishing a doctorate in multiple woodwinds performance.
In the oral exam, one of my professors asked why woodwind doubling is a well-recognized musical specialty, but doubling on brass instruments is not. The question was an odd one, especially since brass instruments fall precisely outside my area of expertise. I didn’t have a good answer, except that brass players seem to be particularly protective of their embouchures, and presumably don’t want to risk ruining them by switching instruments. (That seemed to be satisfactory for purposes of the exam.)
I do know of one school that offers a “woodwind specialist” master’s degree, a “string specialist” master’s degree, and, yes, a “brass specialist” master’s degree: Michigan State University. (Degree descriptions here.) The string degree requires one primary instrument and one secondary, the brass degree requires one primary and two secondaries, and the woodwind degree requires one primary and three secondary instruments. I expect if anyone is doing the string degree, they do violin/viola or cello/bass, hoping to get one of the “high strings” or “low strings” teaching jobs. The only combination of three brass instruments that strikes me as marketable is trombone/euphonium/tuba, a “low brass” specialist.
Ten years ago in 2009 I wrote a blog post about how to set up auto-complete sharp, flat, and natural symbols in Microsoft Word 2007 running on Windows Vista. Here’s an update for Word 2016 on Windows 10.
Thanks to Ariel Detwiler for calling my attention to the need for an update.
How it will work
Type this (plus space bar)
Get this
F-sharp
F♯
B-flat
B♭
C-natural
C♮
Will it work on Office 365?
No, the web version of Office doesn’t currently (2019) support this feature.
How to set it up
Open up a new Microsoft Word 2016 document.
Type the following: 266d Then press Alt-X. The “266d” should turn into a flat symbol.
Highlight the flat. Click the “File” tab, then “Options.” A dialog box appears; click “Proofing” at its left-hand side. Click the “AutoCorrect Options…” button. On the “AutoCorrect” tab, make sure “Replace text as you type” is checked. In the “Replace:” box, type: -flat Next to “With:,” make sure “Plain text” is selected. Your flat should be in the “With:” box. Click “Add,” then click “OK” twice.
Repeat steps 2-3 for the sharp and natural signs. In step 2, use “266f” for sharp and “266e” for natural, and in step 4 use “-sharp” and “-natural.”
If you are in the habit of using the pound sign (#) and lowercase b for sharp and flat signs, shame on you for your unprofessional documents. You might be tempted to set up your AutoCorrect to correct those. The problem with doing it that way is that you will have to create a separate AutoCorrect entry for each note (Ab, Bb, Cb, etc.). Plus, it’s a good idea to just get in the habit of typing “F-sharp” so if you’re using a system that doesn’t have your special AutoCorrect set up, you will be left with that more correct version instead of a pound sign or letter b.
If you have set up the AutoCorrect but you actually want to type “-flat,” “-sharp,” or “-natural” and override the automatic change, type what you want and then press Ctrl-Z (Undo) to change the symbol back into text.
The tip he shares is similar to something I do during final performance preparations: I jot two or three key reminders on a sticky note (“Take your time and breathe,” “Keep fingers relaxed,” etc.) and stick them at the top of the page, covering the first few notes. That way when I get on stage I can make myself remember and focus on those few key items, rather than stressing myself over all of the details, and I give myself an extra moment to think and relax while I move the sticky note out of the way.
I wanted to share an additional idea that I have used many times myself, and have had students use. I find it good for dealing with the really stubborn, ingrained habits: poor posture, excess tension, ignoring dynamic markings, using insufficient breath support, being inconsistent about vibrato (anything ringing a bell yet?), and so forth. These are the things that you can fix immediately, as long as you remember, but which somehow persist anyway. Have you had this experience, either as the student or as the teacher?:
Teacher: Play it again from measure 12, this time with better posture.
Student: [Corrects posture, begins to play, then slouches again.]
Teacher: Remember posture!
Student: [Corrects posture, continues playing, then slouches.]
Teacher:Posture! [Glances at clock.]
Something that has worked well for me when I find myself in this situation is to use a repeating timer. This can be a gadget, or, increasingly commonly, a smartphone app, that just beeps at you every few minutes. (I’ve been using Elapsed for iPhone [update: link dead], which is free and supports multiple simultaneous timers, but there are many, many options available.) At first I might set a timer as short as 30 seconds, and choose a single habit to focus on. Depending on the habit, I might stop playing to readjust what I’m doing each time the timer beeps, or I might readjust on the fly and continue. When I’m consistently making it through 30-second intervals without having to fix something on each beep, I can adjust the timer for longer intervals.
It’s surprising how easy it is to let my mind wander—even within a minute or less—and go into auto-pilot mode, losing track of what I’m trying to accomplish and further calcifying bad habits. The timer technique is a nice aid for me to keep myself focused on a specific improvement I want to make in my playing.
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It’s an article of faith among jazz musicians and educators that listening to jazz is crucial to learning to play jazz. This seems obviously true to me about jazz and about any style of music.
(Doubtless one of the reasons the jazz-initiated like to bang this drum, so to speak, is because most of Western music education is so notation-focused. The “classical” tradition has developed hand-in-hand with a notation system that does a pretty good—not perfect—job of breaking down classical music sounds into visual symbols. That system, unsurprisingly, works less well for non-classical styles like jazz. But jazz music is still often expressed in classical-type notation, with some kind of caveat, explicit or otherwise, that the player must apply some significant additional stylistic know-how that will override the usual meanings of some of the notation.)
But one thing classical music educators have done in their few hundred extra years is codify and explain many (not all, and not all well, and not all in agreement) of their stylistic and interpretive ideas. In jazz education, too often important details get waved away with a “ya gotta listen.”
“Ya gotta listen” to classical music to play it well, too. But there’s also more clear, thoughtful pedagogy available to help you know what to listen for, and how to apply it.
If you are a jazz educator and find yourself dodging questions or glossing over concepts with a “ya gotta listen,” can you add something to the picture? Try saying instead, “Ya gotta listen to how Cannonball Adderley ‘lays back’ in this particular phrase. He plays some notes later than expected in a way that sounds good. Listen a few times to see which notes, and how late.” Or: “Ya gotta listen to how Freddie Hubbard plays ‘outside’ over this turnaround. Can you figure out which scale he is drawing from? Where exactly does he resolve back to playing ‘inside?'”
How long would it realistically take for an unguided young musician to listen to jazz until they had fully absorbed the nuances? I used to feel pretty overwhelmed and hopeless when teachers three times my age with thousands of well-worn records told me I wouldn’t sound better until I had really listened. Luckily I had others who were willing and able to accelerate and focus my learning by giving some direction and context to my listening.
If you find that you have difficulty explaining some of the things you want your students to listen for, there are resources available to help you and them boil things down to understandable concepts. For improvisational theory, you might try free YouTube videos (or additional paid content) from teacher/players like Chad Lefkowitz-Brown or Aimee Nolte. For style, consider books like those by Caleb Chapman and Jeff Coffin or Ray Smith.
After a performance, I like to have a little talk with myself or with my students about how things went. Here are some examples of questions to ask:
Were there any breakthroughs? New accomplishments? Higher levels of performance than previously achieved? If so, what contributed to these successes?
Was there any backsliding? Things going worse than in previous performances? Why?
How was your mental state before and during the performance? Did it have an effect on how you sounded? What aspects of that can you control?
How was your physical condition before and during the performance? (Tired? Hungry? Sore?) Did it have an effect on how you sounded? What aspects of that can you control?
How was your preparation? Is there anything you would do to prepare differently or better next time?
What feedback, spoken or otherwise, did you get from your audience? Should, or does, that color your evaluation of your success?
Is there a difference between your objective evaluation of the performance and how you really feel about it? Why? Is this significant/important?
Is there a recording? Were there any surprises when you listened to it?
What do you hope to build upon, improve, or otherwise change for your next performance?
Some post-performance reflection on both positives and negatives can be valuable for setting new goals and preparing for the next one.
Recently I asked some questions on social media related to (self-identified) non-jazz musicians playing on jazz or jazz-adjacent gigs. This kind of thing might happen, for example, at a symphony pops concert, or a big band gig in a smaller market.
A number of concerns were raised about this, but two stood out.
Self-described non-jazz players overwhelmingly expressed misgivings about having to improvise in these situations.
For jazz players, asked about having to play a gig with non-jazz musicians, none of them expressed concern about the non-jazz players’ improvisational ability. They were overwhelmingly concerned with style (mentioning specifics like swing, articulation, and inflection).
I think for a non-jazz player, being asked to improvise is understandably frightening. But I’m hard-pressed to think of a situation like this where improvisation would be strictly required. For example, if your local pick-up big band has some jazz players and some non-jazz players, it’s a simple enough matter to pass the improvised solos off to the jazz players. (And there are plenty of big band charts with written-out solos.) If I’m hiring for the gig, I’d certainly rather rearrange the solos than put somebody in a situation that will be to their embarrassment and mine.
But everyone on the gig needs to be prepared to do good section playing. I’ve been in the frustrating situation of trying to lead a section (from the lead chair or from the director’s stand) with players who aren’t tuned into the conventions and nuances of swing, articulation, and inflection. Often these things aren’t specifically notated, the way they would be in orchestral parts, or the notations aren’t intuitive.
(A case in point: a curved marking like ⌣ over a note, which I hear classical musicians interpret by playing the note at pitch, then bringing it down, then back up. I understand why they think it means that, but it’s an un-jazz-like sound—it should almost always be interpreted as a scoop up to pitch.)
My takeaway: if you don’t consider yourself a jazz musician, and aren’t planning to really become one but want to play some jazz-oriented music on the occasional gig, study jazz style.
My practicing has evolved quite a bit since my beginner days. In those earliest days as a middle-school band student, my idea of “practicing” amounted to playing the scale/piece/etc. through from beginning to end, generally with a number of mistakes, and then (optionally…) doing it again. I did manage to make some progress, but the results were far from ideal: few problem spots ever really got fixed.
As my musical standards, maturity, and commitment to practice time improved, it became clear that beginning-to-end practicing was not the best use of my time. As I started taking private lessons during high school, and transitioned into university music studies, I began spending more of my practice time focusing on the problem spots. With some work, at least some of those spots got solved, and my rate of progress ramped up noticeably.
At that point, I found myself in the same situation that my own university students now sometimes complain of: they successfully improve the problem spots, but, frustratingly, the “easy” parts fall apart under pressure (in a lesson, a performance, etc.).
For me, the third stage of my practicing development began when I realized the obvious: every part of what I am practicing needs concentrated, methodical practice. If the “easy” parts are falling apart, it’s because I have essentially been sight-reading them in the practice room, and under pressure my sight-reading ability suffers a bit. Instead I need to know every note, rest, and expressive marking intimately. Problem-spot practicing gets me up close and personal with the “hard” parts, but neglects the rest.
So now I practice, and encourage my students to practice, phrase by phrase, measure by measure, even beat by beat, through every bit of the music, regardless of difficulty. Some parts might require more work, but every part needs work.
When I explain this to students, I sometimes see in their faces the same hesitation that I initially had: this is going to take forever! It does require serious commitment, but isn’t it worth it to play the lesson or performance with confidence and control? Besides, it might not take as long as you think. Sometimes I walk through the math with a student to show them that it’s actually pretty doable. For example, suppose the student’s assignment includes a 50-measure etude. If the student spends two focused minutes on each and every measure, that only adds up to a bit more than an hour and a half of practicing, but begins an intimate acquaintance with the entire etude. That’s less than one day’s worth of practicing for most college-level music students, leaving quite a few additional hours in the week to shore up the hard parts plus practice other assigned materials.
I think that, at least for me, this progression through three different stages was necessary; in other words, I don’t think it’s necessarily wise or feasible to push all beginners straight into something as intensive and committed as third-stage practicing. Your results may vary.
C’mon … shouldn’t you have said that woodwind players are simply much smarter than brass players? Any woodwind player knows that. Brass players don’t, of course, because … well … they aren’t smart enough to know.
;-)
Kidding. Of course. (And married to a former trombonist. Guess he was smart enough to stop playing!)
What about folks like Ira Sullivan and Seattle’s Jay Thomas and the late Floyd Standifer? They all doubled brass and woodwinds… Patrick Bartley, the up and coming superb alto saxophonist, was recently videotaped making pretty decent bebop sounds on a trumpet… / Many years ago I read a book on swing era jazz that reported that some of the string section players of Paul Whiteman’s orchestra had learned to be adept doublers on sax when needed… / One of Seattle’s finest flutists recently revealed she’d been practicing her violin regularly for a few years and has been doing well in string quartets… I’ve known several trumpet players who are also decent trombonists… And I saw a string group recently where one of the ‘cellists picked up a violin and played beautifully… The Dorsey Brothers both started on trumpet and both could pick up a trumpet in later years and get by… Harry James had been a child prodigy on the drums! The current principal clarinet of the Berlin Philharmonic started out first on piano, then ‘cello, and won prizes on both before taking up clarinet at age 11 or 12… (I’ve performed on clarinet, saxes, flute, oboe and bassoon. I consider clarinet & oboe my main ones…)
Congrats Bret! I’m one of those oddballs that doubles on a Brass Instrument. I’d say my main instruments are Bassoon and Saxophone….but in three community concert bands, I’m playing French Horn. I took a Brass 1 class in college and Horn was my chosen instruments. I ended up having to march Horn the following fall and played Horn in Concert Band the next year due to having my Wisdom Teeth cut out (and being told by my oral surgeon to NOT play bassoon for 6 months….that SURE put me on the “poop list” of ,my band director…where I stayed ’til he passed away. Fast forward many years….and had a car wreck in 2005. I had to stop playing Horn completely in 2011 (fractured jaw was the start of it). 2024, I knocked two lower teeth loose with a bari sax mouthpiece. Ended up having dental surgery to remove all teeth and roots. I had to learn how to play EVERYTHING all over again…with full dentures top and bottom. I was not able to have implants due to damage to my jaw from the car wreck. 4 months after the surgery, I picked up a Horn in a music store and the ability was still there…and the tone wasn’t half bad. I went back a week later and bought that horn…and it’s my main Horn to use today, a year later… I may NEVER have the range back to play 1st Horn again….but I’m fine with that. My range is low Horn and I’m FINE with those pedal tones with the occassional rip up to a G. I’m STILL playing woodwinds…but my adopted brass playing ability is still there. I truly did miss not playing Horn for those 13 years.
C’mon … shouldn’t you have said that woodwind players are simply much smarter than brass players? Any woodwind player knows that. Brass players don’t, of course, because … well … they aren’t smart enough to know.
;-)
Kidding. Of course. (And married to a former trombonist. Guess he was smart enough to stop playing!)
Congrats on passing your comps Bret! That’s obviously a huge relief for you.
What about folks like Ira Sullivan and Seattle’s Jay Thomas and the late Floyd Standifer? They all doubled brass and woodwinds… Patrick Bartley, the up and coming superb alto saxophonist, was recently videotaped making pretty decent bebop sounds on a trumpet… / Many years ago I read a book on swing era jazz that reported that some of the string section players of Paul Whiteman’s orchestra had learned to be adept doublers on sax when needed… / One of Seattle’s finest flutists recently revealed she’d been practicing her violin regularly for a few years and has been doing well in string quartets… I’ve known several trumpet players who are also decent trombonists… And I saw a string group recently where one of the ‘cellists picked up a violin and played beautifully… The Dorsey Brothers both started on trumpet and both could pick up a trumpet in later years and get by… Harry James had been a child prodigy on the drums! The current principal clarinet of the Berlin Philharmonic started out first on piano, then ‘cello, and won prizes on both before taking up clarinet at age 11 or 12… (I’ve performed on clarinet, saxes, flute, oboe and bassoon. I consider clarinet & oboe my main ones…)
Congrats Bret! I’m one of those oddballs that doubles on a Brass Instrument. I’d say my main instruments are Bassoon and Saxophone….but in three community concert bands, I’m playing French Horn. I took a Brass 1 class in college and Horn was my chosen instruments. I ended up having to march Horn the following fall and played Horn in Concert Band the next year due to having my Wisdom Teeth cut out (and being told by my oral surgeon to NOT play bassoon for 6 months….that SURE put me on the “poop list” of ,my band director…where I stayed ’til he passed away. Fast forward many years….and had a car wreck in 2005. I had to stop playing Horn completely in 2011 (fractured jaw was the start of it). 2024, I knocked two lower teeth loose with a bari sax mouthpiece. Ended up having dental surgery to remove all teeth and roots. I had to learn how to play EVERYTHING all over again…with full dentures top and bottom. I was not able to have implants due to damage to my jaw from the car wreck. 4 months after the surgery, I picked up a Horn in a music store and the ability was still there…and the tone wasn’t half bad. I went back a week later and bought that horn…and it’s my main Horn to use today, a year later… I may NEVER have the range back to play 1st Horn again….but I’m fine with that. My range is low Horn and I’m FINE with those pedal tones with the occassional rip up to a G. I’m STILL playing woodwinds…but my adopted brass playing ability is still there. I truly did miss not playing Horn for those 13 years.