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Re: Comments on excerpt

Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2018-01-07 20:23

This is a hard piece often asked at major symphony auditions. Surely asked at college auditions and military auditions. Your tempo is good for the piece. The reed sounds soft with the mouthpiece you are using. I'd go up a 1/2 to a full strength.

The articulation is close. Cut the tongued notes shorter, staccato, and accent the first notes when you are tonguing them. Your tongue seems a bit heavy sounding. Maybe think of a crisper style, practiced slower for a bit. Mainly sluggish after the opening few bars.

When practicing try to keep you tongue as close to the reed as possible, to avoid a heavy articulation. So you are just touching the reed with your tongue not slamming the reed against the mouthpiece. You can practice a C major scale for this since the key is in C major at this point. Start very slow to get the feel on hardly touching the reed with your tongue. We have to remember the tongue is a very strong muscle and when an exciting piece like this is played it's hard to control this very strong muscle. This is normal. The faster the piece is the harder the tongue hits the reed. So we have to train it.

When I studied this excerpt with Robert Marcellus he insisted in playing the D without using the side D key, but it is pretty much impossible for me, but he did it. I would suggest practicing the C major scale using the normal D fingering not the side D, but use the side D for the actual piece for evenness.

You are very close to nailing this piece. Give it a few more weeks and you will have it down.

I just read Karls comment. There are a few other solos, but the other hard one that really stands out starts out is on low A. Slow at first, then it is repeated 2 more times, each time it gets faster and higher. I'd like to hear this too if you can record it. It's a blast to play.

The other solo which people have a lot of trouble with starts with middle E, F#, then G#trill to A. That trill is hard for non left hand players. So many gifted players screw that up. It's repeated twice. Then it goes up a step, which is easier.

Please post a recording again in a few weeks or whenever you feel you have it down. It's was exciting to hear it played so well at your level and you are not too far off from perfection.

Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces

Yamaha Artist 2015

Post Edited (2018-01-07 20:46)

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