 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ww.player
Date: 2009-06-17 02:59
Hi. I feel like I should already know the best answer to this question given all the auditions I've played, coached, and judged, but I don't.
I've got a student, an upcoming 6th grader, getting ready for a college band camp audition next week. The second half of the audition piece is straight 16th notes in 6/8 time. Obviously, she's going to have to break phrases to breath and, being young and small, do it more often than an older player.
My question is, if you were a judge, would you prefer to:
1) hear the performer stay in time and drop a note for a quick breath, or
2) hear the player stop, breath, and then come right back in without dropping any notes, essentially stopping time for the breath.
Of course, there's always the fudge method where the player breathes really, really fast after the first note in a measure, stopping the time just slightly but pretending like he or she didn't. I'm not sure her breathing technique is good enough to fudge it, though.
My thinking is that it's always best in this type of audition to show the judges you can stay in time while breathing during long phrases, but Method 1 just doesn't sound good. Method 2 sounds better but I'm afraid she'll get penalized for stopping time. In other words, I'm going around in circles on this one.
So, what do you think, oh wise ones?
Post Edited (2009-06-18 16:28)
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2009-06-17 03:04
Drop the last beat and take the breath not loosing time.
Or get her a plug-in lung 
My reasoning is thus:
It's for a band camp and they don't want a student loosing time in a piece as that wouldn't work at all in a band setting.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-06-17 03:38
I'm with David. She should try to stay with a steady beat, since in a band setting that's what's important (and a band director is going to deal with this kind of problem by asking the section to selectively leave out notes and stagger their breathing).
Post Edited (2009-06-17 03:41)
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2009-06-17 03:51
Given the situation, I think David has good advice. I might make different suggestions, depending on the piece in question. I tend to opt for a very quick breath if at all possible.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: pewd
Date: 2009-06-17 03:57
yup, given the student's age, what david and the others said.
tcu's camp maybe? thats next week, and close to bedford if thats where you really are.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: BobD
Date: 2009-06-17 10:27
Afraid I couldn't be a judge for such a ridiculous situation.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2009-06-17 12:20
What's the piece? (and what / who the accompaniment?)
*
If the piece is to be played in strict time (e.g. alla marca), then drop a note, or half a note if you can.
If the piece is lyrical, or with a more flexible beat, then consider a musical point at which to insert a breath between phrases.
In each case choose carefully where to breathe beforehand, maybe put in the required breath marks.
You get more air if you breathe out before you breathe in.
*
(If it's Gilbert & Sullivan, take a single breath and just play it faster! ;-D )
Post Edited (2009-06-17 12:32)
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Author: Bluesparkle
Date: 2009-06-17 12:28
'Cmon, Bob...she's just a 6th grader. To me, the fact that a sixth grader is playing 16th notes in 3/8 time is an accomplishment not a ridiculous situation.
She's likely to get nervous, and from personal experience, I find that I feel more out-of-breath when I'm a little jittery. Don't want to drop too many notes if this happens.
Would it be terrible to play the song slightly slower to allow for a breath that is less noticeable?
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Author: Chris J
Date: 2009-06-17 12:59
Surely the mature answer is for her to acknowledge the difficulty and ask the judges which of the 2 (or more ways) they would like to hear her playing it. Just as she might have a dialogue with her musical director when faced with this is a performance situation.
Clearly I know nothing of the process of camp auditions, but if I were assessing somebody playing, I would applaud the forethought, the recognition of the problem, the display of knowing a variety of solutions and the engagement of the assessor with the solution.
I might still ask it to played as they would like to play musically and comfortably, but I would be very impressed by the approach.
Chris
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2009-06-17 13:20
If the notes are left in tact then consider a rit. leading up to the breath.
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: ww.player
Date: 2009-06-17 17:47
To the people that are worried about the music being too difficult, I understand the concern, but she's somewhat of a prodigy. She played the most difficult level of high school solo and received a I at both the region and state S&E competitions. She also just made it into the local junior youth orchestra competing against high school players (except for seniors, as they are only allowed to audition for the top group).
I came here for second opinions because I'm both her band director and private teacher. BTW, she's been playing for two years this month (ah, if they were all only like this, teaching would be sooo easy).
Also, I should add in defense of TCU, the sixteenth note section of the audition music is only required for high school but is optional for middle school. Here's a link to the audition music if you're interested:
http://www.band.tcu.edu/09BandCampAud/Clarinet.pdf
Thanks for the replies so far. They have been really helpful.
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Author: ClarinetKatie
Date: 2009-06-18 04:23
I really depends on the piece, I think. I say, just do what sounds the most natural and musical and make it sound like it was written that way! ;-)
Good luck!
Katie Brown
http://theclarinetstudent.blogspot.com
http://clarinetkatie.com
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Author: Sarah Elbaz
Date: 2009-06-18 04:50
After looking at the part, I must say that it is too difficult even for a very good student who plays only two years. If she doesn't HAVE to play it, its better to give up.
But if you insist that she plays, it looks like the solution is this: If she takes a big breath after the E on bar 16 and then another big breath after the G
on bar 18, she should be able to play until the end of bar 23.
Then she can take off the first E in Bar 25 and the first E in bar 27, and then play until the end. If she can't do it- its too difficult for her.
Seems to me that keeping the tempo in bars 22-23 and 29-30 is taking all her energy, and thats the reason she can't make it with the air.
Sarah
Post Edited (2009-06-18 04:54)
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Author: pewd
Date: 2009-06-18 05:25
yes. a senior, 1st chair all state on Eb.
i have been directed to attend the concert on Thursday by my student, she will dismember me if i don't show up
-------------------------------------------------------
edit:
thats one of the best summer band camps in the area.
i am, however, biased: TCU is my alma mater.
>its better to give up
never give up. always strive for a higher level.
thats a bit much for 6th grade, however, i have had 2 or 3 students at that age capable of such. rare, but it happens once in awhile. its easier than the all region music they'll face in my region in the fall.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
Post Edited (2009-06-18 05:35)
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2009-06-18 06:37
Given the piece, there are lots of places for a quick breath. It's often good musical practice to make the downbeat slightly longer than the rest of the notes in the beat, and the way things are slurred here is very conducive to that, especially since the excerpt isn't all that fast. I'd practice taking quick breaths after any of the downbeats slurred to notes on previous beats. The last line could be slightly tricky if the performer is hesitant to take the last few bars in one breath. If I were sight-reading it, in a bind, I'd actually take a breath between the first G and E of the next to last bar, despite the slur over them.
Given that it's in 6/8, I might choose one at the start of the bar rather than the one in the middle.
The only tricky part then is to keep up momentum on either side of the breath. There's a fine line between a breath that doesn't disrupt the music, and one that seems to stop all motion. Usually, the breath is recovered from nicely if the performer focuses on continuing to some note beyond the one after the breath, and how to get there, rather than making an obvious re-entry on the post-breath note and instinctively sitting on it for an extra split second (as one might on the first note of any phrase) before proceeding.
For this example in particular, I can already hear in my head all the eager young students rushing through it, jumping off the downbeats without giving them proper length. A slight (slight, mind you!) lengthening of the downbeat now and again would be extremely welcome stylistically, regardless of the need to breathe. The fact that it's also a convenient place to take a breath is a handy bonus.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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