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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000019.txt from 2004/05
From: PhilFrei@-----.com
Subj: [DR-L] Rhythmic Accents
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 13:15:33 -0400
Just musing (after a Ray Still master class):
On a piano or guitar or even a string instrument, playing an accent is intuitive: to play louder one uses more force.
With double reeds, and maybe other winds as well, a sforzando is rather complex. Not only does one blow harder, but one has to compensate just the right amount for the rise in pitch that accompanies the rise in air pressure.
I sometimes play and improvise on keyboards and guitar, and had noticed that I use a lot of accents in my melody lines, but when I tried to play the same lines on the oboe, they don't translate very well, but seem rather flat. Now I am realizing that this was due to a tendency to make everything flow evenly on the oboe, and that to put in some accents is going to take a bit of work, both to pull off without losing the pitch and to remain oboe-like.
I was listening to Coltrane (playing with Duke Ellington) play "In a Sentimental Mood" and that seems like a good example of where a wind player uses accents in a very lyrical and beautiful way. Is it fair to say saxophone players before Coltrane were smoother, less rhythmic? Or am I just betraying my lack of exposure to their work?
I'm curious also which instruments tend to go out of pitch the most when played with an accent. I suspect it is not so much a problem with flute because I've heard lots of flute playing with interesting accent patterns (Hubert Laws, Nestor Flores). Trumpet solos, too. It seems reeds (single and double) are the ones less likely to use accents, but I would love to hear some good counter-examples.
Phil Freihofner
Oakland
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