 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Roxann
Date: 2016-12-16 07:27
What "tricks of the trade" do you educators have for TEACHING your students how to hear or feel whether or not you're in tune? It's the TEACHING that I'm most interested in. I, personally, am in several band and have experienced different ways to tune. HOWEVER, nobody has ever taken the time to teach me how to HEAR/FEEL whether or not I'm in tune. Are there exercises that you can use with your students to teach this skill? Most conductors I've worked with spend almost no time at all on tuning. They have the first chair clarinetist stand up and blow a C then have various sections try to match the pitch. But they NEVER have spent time TEACHING me how to hear/feel if I'm in tune. How do you teach that skill?
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Author: as9934
Date: 2016-12-16 08:46
Hey Roxann,
I'm not an educator but as someone who just got out of high school I might have some insights for you.
Tuning is one of those "know it when you see it," (or in this case know it when you hear it) things. It is very difficult to just teach someone-- it comes from years of training your ear to detect the differences. The more you play the more you will be able to hear the differences. That's why experienced conductors can distinguish wrong or out of tunes notes during complex musical passages. The way my high school band director approached I thought worked very well. He would explain to us that in ensemble playing tuning was that very last step to a good sound. The first step was to have a balanced sound. So if someone is playing louder or softer than someone else the tuning is going to matter because you can't hear the softer player as well. The next step is blend which he essentially defined as the matching of tone. For example two clarinetist may be playing the same pitch but if one has a sonorous rich sound, while the other is too bright or squawky then you will not sound good. Before you approach the idea of tuning you should first nail down these two fundamentals. Then once these two concepts are applied you can then proceed to talk about tuning.
The easiest exercise he would use to address this was to simply have the principal clarinetist (who after warming up should have a good idea of what volume to play, and how to produce a beautiful in-tune sound) play a note, usually a concert F or Bb, and then go down the line and have each of the clarinetists match that principal sound until the two become indistinguishable to both players and the people around them. When the two sounds are not balanced, blended and tuned you will hear a sort of "wobbling" of the two not quite equal sound waves crashing against each other. Once you have that blended sound slowly add players while keeping that same sound. Ideally at the end they should sound like one beautiful clarinet and not a group of individuals. Eventually you will get to the point where this is no longer necessary and the students will simply learn to match the people around them sub-consciously. I would also encourage your section to listen to talented professional clarinetist so they can understand what a well-developed clarinet sound is.
I hope this helps. Y'all who are more experienced let me know if I said anything wrong here. Best of luck.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Wind Ensemble
Buffet E11 clarinet , Vandoren Masters CL6 13 series mouthpiece w/ Pewter M/O Ligature, Vandoren V12 3.5
Yamaha 200ad clarinet, Vandoren B45 mouthpiece, Rovner ligature
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Author: pewd
Date: 2016-12-16 19:52
Constantly encourage young students to use a tuner.
Many of the exercises I give students are short - a few measures. Similar to Kroepsch studies. I have them play them with a tuner on the stand, then when they get to the last note, I tell them to hold that last note, then look at the tuner.
Scales - same thing - when you get to the last note, hold it then look over at the tuner. I use a tuner that has colored lights - green is in tune - so I have them strive to have the light green when they hold a note and look at the tuner.
A pizeo pickup plugged into a tuner is also helpful, especially in young ensembles.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Ed
Date: 2016-12-16 20:44
While I think a tuner is valuable, I like to recommend the use of a tuner that plays the pitch or practice with a drone, perhaps like
http://navarrorivermusic.com/cello_drones.php
As I tell them, the idea is to train the ear, not the eyes. I have known players who can tune watching a tuner, but struggle when playing as they cannot easily hear it.
I often try to ease the anxiety that some students have over how to find it by telling them they have a 50-50 chance. Pick a direction and move, if it gets worse, try the other way.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2016-12-16 21:01
As a practical matter, no two junior high school students can play in unison without intonation problems. Even professionals have problems with, for example, the opening of the Tchaikovsky 5th. The only solution is to play 3 on a part, so that the out-of-tune-ness is absorbed in the ensemble tone.
I agree strongly with Ed's use of a tuner to play intervals against, to train your ear.
Ken Shaw
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Author: MichaelW
Date: 2016-12-17 01:50
When I was a boy I learned tuning the violin by ear and found it helpful to listen for zero beat (interference, (“Schwebung“)- that is, till the above mentioned „wobbling“ ceases. Later on with a spinet (which I can't play, just tune) I tried to achieve, also by ear, equally tempered tuning („Gleichschwebende Stimmung“), that is equal beat at the intervals through the circle of fifths. Couldn't that be used with, for example, two clarinets- tuning to zero beat?
Post Edited (2016-12-17 01:51)
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Author: Roxann
Date: 2016-12-17 02:24
as9934...you may only be right out of high school, but your advice is very mature. THANK YOU!
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2016-12-17 02:39
Focus on the development of a fully supported characteristic tone in each section and individual first. You can't effectively be in tune without first being "in tone". Even if the visual tuner says otherwise, the ear will reveal the truth of this.
Have them sing from Day 1. The quality of the singing is not nearly so important as the act of doing it. Searching for pitch is an important first step in finding it. Even poor singing if done with intent leads to immediately better intonation in most cases. Provide an accurate pitch source for them to sing along to in unison for as long as it is needed, such as a piano or backing track that has the melody.
I also find that when students play individually on a REGULAR basis with backing tracks with the melody taken out , they naturally develop both good pitch and stronger rhythm. It bears emphasizing that I'm specifically talking about tracks with the melody removed. They need to develop independence on their own line, intervalic listening, and not be playing by rote. I like the Accent on Achievement books in both band and private lesson situations. They are well structured with lots of good tunes and have backing tracks in a variety of styles featuring mostly real and real sounding instruments. They are also on Smart Music, which greatly increases their usefulness. Tempos can be altered, a metronome turned on or off, the melody line added or taken away.
Anders
Post Edited (2016-12-17 12:21)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-12-17 02:43
Getting a tuning note in tune is only a small part of the intonation solution in an ensemble. Having everyone in tune on one note doesn't in any way guarantee good intonation as the music progresses.
The listening has to be constant and tuning needs to be done with more than just the barrels, the head joints or the tuning slides.
Karl
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