Author: vboboe
Date: 2009-05-12 17:51
i've generally understood that practising the long notes isn't exactly so much about stamina distance per long tone -- although that goal definitely is in the mix -- as it is about training the mind's ear to maintain the stability of the most beautiful pure notes exactly in pitch for the entire duration, no sharpened air pressure spikes or flat fall-offs, and no deliberate vibrato, and then being able to continue articulating different pitch long tones just as beautiful and in stable pitch over longer and longer periods of time
my second year summer oboe teacher gave me a metronome drill for this, using any scale, the specific expectation being to finish an octave scale up and down, the time it takes depends on how slow the metronome, and how long each tone had to be
at that time i thought i could easily manage 2 whole notes steady with tempo about 80-84, allowing a generous whole bar for recovery breathing, but that was my estimate based on a one-shot long tone in cool weather, well, he started me at that tempo on a hot summer day, and after that it got very interesting indeed
what this teacher brought to my attention was how playing good notes got harder and harder aerobically as the metronome kept slowly clicking away at what seemed an increasingly slow and dopey speed, especially when told to extend each note for 2 and a half bars, with only half a bar left for breathing, still maintain the exact tempo, and still produce beautifully steady notes
as my air mix deteriorated while this slow scale exercise was in inexorable progress, survival panic instinctively took over and i tried to shorten the notes and rush the tempo to get more breaths sooner -- and, more importantly, the shortened notes were wobbling or varying in pitch quite a bit earlier before the air mix issue became consciously critical, even though my embouchure was good enough to hold a steady tone -- needless to say just completing the scale up was unsuccessful
after determining my aerobic limitations so cleverly!!! he had me do 20 seconds of repeating fp quarter notes to pump up my aerobic fitness before doing single bar long tone exercises at 84 for a scale up
(work within one's stamina to start with, and extend it gradually)
you've come across music parts where the oboe's just holding long notes while the melody's going on somewhere else? Then suddenly, oboe's got exposed melody again and you're aerobically tired already? That's when good tone is so hard to do
so just going distance on one single long tone isn't really where it's at, we all know oboe can play the longest long tones than other wind instruments without a breath, so it's not about establishing a guinness record
it's a means to an end, it's about how long you can continue to maintain lovely oboe tone quality in pitch and at tempi on different notes in real music situations
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
