 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2007-07-18 13:43
ok, so were playing this piece where we are holding a note - and the next section of the piece has a faster tempo. the cunductor doesnt conduct it, he just starts - and i never go at the right speed. i can play the part fine, but not with the conductor. what should i do?
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Author: Mike Clarinet
Date: 2007-07-18 14:29
Discuss it with the conductor. Tell him straight the problem and work -together- to find a solution. Perhaps mention it before the rehearsal starts or in the break (if you have one). That way, you are showing that you are willing to help resolve the problem and do not take up everyone else's time in rehearsal with a discussion that may not be relevent to them.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-07-18 14:46
janlynn -
Conductors always give the upbeat to a tempo change in the new tempo. Watch the baton just before the change to get the new tempo. It's very important to learn to make the change with just this single cue, rather than needing several beats of preparation.
If your conductor isn't doing this, you need to be diplomatic, framing it as your problem rather than his/hers. Raise your hand and say "I'm having trouble making the tempo change. Could we please do it a couple of times, with you making a big upbeat, so I can get it right?" (Saying it this way makes it "I need your help" rather than "You're doing it wrong.")
It's also important to learn to divide your attention between playing your part and merging into the band or orchestra. You can't just play as you would by yourself, even if you're exactly together with the other players. Make yourself part of the group, moving as a whole. When the group makes the tempo change, you'll be pulled along.
Everyone goes through this as part of becoming a good player. Work to make it automatic and you'll be fine.
Ken Shaw
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2007-07-18 14:58
thanks ken,
i would be so embarrassed to do that infront of everyone. you know, i think he IS giving that upbeat. i surely didnt mean to imply that he was doing it wrong. even if he was doing it wrong, i'm not sure i would know.
it IS my problem.i got my face in the music and im not looking. or the one upbeat isnt enough for me. actually, its the whole clarinet section - but of course, i might be messing everyone else up.
i was thinking of sending him an email and asking what the tempo is at that section, then i can practice it at that speed and have a better idea when we get there.
ive always had problems with this.
how DO you figure out a tempo change when you are only given an upbeat? i dont get it.
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2007-07-18 16:26
The start of the upbeat is at the bottom of the baton's motion. The second half of the beat is at the top. That gives you 2 eighth notes to figure the speed out, which will be enough with more practice.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2007-07-18 17:30
Actually I have seen John Paynter do what he called "burning the beat." This was his way of getting more immediacy or "pop" out of an ensemble. What he did was just slowly bring the baton up, a more arbitrary a motion than an upbeat, just "up." Then he would just come down in the brisk tempo that he wanted. He explained his theory about this by telling the story of Sir Thomas Beecham mounting the podium for Richard Strauss' Don Juan and all he did to start everyone off was to give a VIOLENT rapier like jab in the direction of the basses.
My suggestion is to anticipate "too fast" if anything and let the conductor tell you to slow down.
.........Paul Aviles
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2007-07-18 17:35
paul - thats exactly whats happening - it isnt as fast as i think. but i dont think the conductor realized that, so this week he went even slower - saying "c'mon guys, youve played things faster than this."
i thought i would wait out a measure and follow my stand mates lead (1st chair), but he didnt come in right either.
is it OK to wait a measure and then blend??
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Author: marcia
Date: 2007-07-18 18:28
You have to learn to "read" the preparatory beat. And to do this you may have to bite the bullet and ask him to do it a few times in rehearsal in order for you to get it right. Eventually it does become second nature.
Marcia
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-07-18 19:21
janlynn -
Raise your stand so you can just see the baton over the top. Then divide your vision and attention. With the bottom half of your vision, watch the notes. With the top half, watch the conductor.
When the tempo change point arrives, take a breath in time with the conductor's up-beat. Don't worry about continuing the long note. The other players will do that. Divide responsibilities with your stand-mate. One of you play through and the other breathe. It helps to move your clarinet a little bit up and then down in time with the conductor's baton.
Practice with a friend. Pick a convenient note -- say, low C. Set a metronome to 100, choose a beat to raise your clarinet and inhale, and come in on the next beat, with your friend following your cue. Then have your friend do it and you follow. Then set the metronome to 120 and do the same thing. Your faster movement and breath will define the faster tempo. Then do it at 60, and other tempos. Finally, both of you hold a long note and alternate giving the cue in the new tempo.
If you're going to be a leader, you have to solve problems. The script I gave you removes any sense of threat to the conductor. Grit your teeth, speak slowly and do it.
Learning to change tempo with a 1-beat cue is something everyone needs to learn. Practice this skill specifically and you'll catch on within a week.
Ken Shaw
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2007-07-18 21:52
I think it's possible that beat interpretation is a red herring.
My theory (debunking is welcome):
I've heard lots of people do the following (been guilty of it myself), in a variety of settings...
People will hear that their part is coming up. They will get ready to play their part. They'll be all prepared for how to play it. Then, when the great moment comes, ONYOURMARKGETSETGO, they go on autopilot. A couple seconds later, they come to their senses, and begin damage control. Some will catch on right away, shake out of it, and recover with only the first couple seconds in panic. Others, especially during solo recitals, remain in delayed-reaction damage control for the entire performance. In the latter, many people become aware of it pretty quickly ("it's like I knew what I wanted to do but my fingers wouldn't do it"), but in the former, you might not even realize it's happening.
It's a tricky situation, especially when it's in an ensemble setting. You can try it over and over, and it doesn't seem to fix itself until you try it some different way that reactivates your personal involvement.
It also happens MUCH more often on something that you can play fairly well (either because it's easy or because you've practiced it), because that's when autopilot engages.
I first realized it happening to me during a performance of a friend's solo piece last year. I had practiced the crap out of some glisses, had them down pat. I then botched the first 3 of them during the performance (and flubbed a run or two). Why? I knew how to play the glisses. I was quite good at them. I realized after the third one, though, that I was thinking to myself, "Why did I miss those glisses? I know how to play them!" when, in fact, all I had actually done when they came along was REMEMBER how to play them. I never actually executed the gliss-playing techniques. "Holy crap, how much of this performance did I just remember how to play, rather than playing it?" I thought, in near panic, realizing that I had been on autopilot and the answer was "most of it." I was able to snap out of it by looking ahead to a random note, a low F, and thinking to myself, "what steps do I need to execute to play this low F?" and being aware of the breath, fingers, embouchre, and articulation. After that, I nailed the rest of the piece, because I was actually playing it, not just watching myself play it.
In essence, unless everyone in the section has the exact tempo and entrance perfectly ingrained in their heads (which can happen), it might just be the case that some or all of your section is going autopilot from how they last played it, and perhaps mentally adjusting the settings on autopilot every time out.
A good conductor will generally try to change things up to fix something like this. Taking it at a slower tempo works fairly well. In this case, people involved may actually *actively* listen to each other and themselves (the lack of which is a major contributor to going autopilot).
The next time you play, after you play it, pay attention to whether you were actively involved at the moment of truth, or just watching the play-by-play.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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