Klarinet Archive - Posting 000859.txt from 1998/05

From: "Karl Krelove" <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] intonation in large groups
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 07:54:01 -0400

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Diane Karius, Ph.D. [mailto:dikarius@-----.edu]
> Sent: Friday, May 15, 1998 1:29 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] intonation in large groups
>
> Does anyone have some constructive suggestions regarding how to
> improve intonation in a large community band setting (both within the
> clarinet section and across the whole band)?...

My answer to this and what followed in your original post may disappoint,
and I hope it doesn't come out sounding elitist. The biggest determinant of
good intonation in any non-pro ensemble is the concern about it that is felt
by the majority of the group's players. Community groups are made of players
who play recreationally. Some of the "music major/band directors/pros" in
the first chairs in some groups (maybe not yours) may be playing as a favor
to the conductor or, in some bands, may even be paid some kind of
honorarium. The other players (perhaps some of the first chairs as well -
you, for example) are doing it for the enjoyment of playing the music. Many
of the section players may not be aware enough of the ensemble result to
even be thinking of precision of rhythm or pitch. Their main concern is
playing the part correctly.
Making them aware is the conductor's job. That she is frustrated suggests
one of two conditions: that she has tried and gotten no response, in which
case not enough of the players are sensitive to and concerned enough about
the problem to do what's needed to correct it; that she doesn't like to
repeat herself in rehearsal and lacks the persistence it would take to get
the players routined to the listening and responding that would be needed to
fix the problem.
There isn't a magic process for improving intonation in a group regardless
of its level. The players need first to be capable of the pitch
discrimination needed to tune their instruments accurately (usually called
having a "musical ear") - not a consideration in a pro group, but definitely
a potential obstacle in a community group. Obviously, everyone's equipment,
when correctly played, needs to be capable of playing in tune with a
standard. Some more inexperienced players may be willing to listen to advice
from a first chair about reed strength, barrel length (if they have an
outlandishly outsized one), mechanical repairs their instruments may need,
etc. That's probably the limit of any first-chair player's influence in an
unpaid group. Any more forceful attempt to prescribe or insist on things by
a first-chair player is likely to cause resentment, because those attempts
aren't appropriate to the setting. The bottom line is that if the conductor
has honestly tried and been unsuccessful in getting the players to take the
problem seriously, it may be that everyone needs to accept the bad
intonation as part of the gig. You either put up with it or try to find a
more serious group to play in.
If there is general awareness, concern, and willingness on the section
members' parts sufficient to try to solve the problem, it requires
persistence. The initial tuning process (after everyone is warmed up) may
need to be done "down the line," letting each player play a tuning note
individually and the conductor, holding an audible (not visual) tuner,
prescribing remedies to the players who don't adjust their instruments on
their own, just like school ("pull out a little, pull out half-an-inch...").
When passages come up that are exposed and obviously out of tune, the
conductor needs to stop and give the players a chance to make needed
adjustments (fingering changes, embouchure adjustments, retuning
instruments, etc.). Again, if the players don't find the adjustments
themselves, the conductor needs to prescribe a solution. At this point, she
might ask the first chair (you) for suggestions, because then you're
responding to her, not trying to solve the problem on your own. Good
intonation comes from listening and knowing what to do in response.

This kind of process may take a lot of the rehearsal time for many
rehearsals. The result will be more pleasing to an audience. But it has to
be that the players enjoy the result more as well. You may reach a limit in
their interest in achieving a refined result. Further fussing may then
become a losing battle. A community band or orchestra exists for its
members' enjoyment, not for the audience at the concert.

> I belong to a large community band which suffers from BAD
> intonation (really sharp). As much as I hate to admit it, the
> clarinet section (of which I am section leader) is among the more
> serious of the offenders, and even worse, there are significant
> intonation problems among the first clarinets. The band director has
> talked to me about it - regarding the whole band as well as the
> section. She's as frustrated as I am and wants me to help. We both
> know that the problem is two-fold - the failure to tune properly to
> the tuning note (the tendency is to try and adjust the embouchure
> rather than pulling out/pushing in) and then the failure to adjust
> tuning as we play and warm up (hence ending up seriously sharp).
> When I can, I am telling other clarinet players (using my tuner to
> show them) if they are sharp/flat but that has had little effect yet
> - as far as I can tell they just aren't in the habit of listening to
> (or really hearing) the tuning note, since they can't tell that they
> are 20 cents or more sharp to the tuning note. I'll confess to
> treading fairly lightly here because there is a little bit of a
> problem in politics - there was some resentment when I moved into the
> firsts since I was the new kid on the block and wasn't even a music
> major (our section leaders are typically music major/band
> directors/pros).
> Diane R. Karius, Ph.D.
> Department of Physiology
> University of Health Sciences
> 2105 Independence Ave.
> Kansas City, MO 64124
> email: dikarius@-----.EDU

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