Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • September 2014
11
Next point. Why do so many of our colleagues not
have a thorough knowledge of all the instruments? To
me, a band director that doesn’t know all the fingerings
for all the instruments (including alternate fingerings)
is as ill-equipped to do the job as the doctor who walks
into surgery with a scalpel in one hand and a
Grey’s
Anatomy
in the other. Hmm, appendix...should be about
...right here. Uh, maybe it’s time for a second opinion.
I think there’s a fair amount of misunderstanding
about just temperament. Does a just tempered
chord sound better than an equal tempered chord?
No comparison, especially on a Harmony Director
keyboard. In the real world, however, anyone thinking
they’ll have their band play just temperament all the
time can only be described as delusional.
To me, the most realistic use of it is on sustained
chords, especially at cadences. Even then, it’s no small
challenge to lower a major third 14 cents or raise a
minor third 16 cents, much less lower a dominant 7
th
31 cents. Can you imagine raising any note on a clarinet
16 cents with the regular fingering? Ain’t gonna happen,
at least not with the regular fingering. If they’re doing it
right, they’re already at the top of the pitch.
In my experience, it virtually always requires some
kind of fingering adjustment. Just last week I was
working with a group on a slow piece that ended on an
F major chord. The third was in the 2
nd
clarinet, horn,
alto sax, and euphonium. After a little experimentation,
we were able to make it work by having the clarinets
add finger 6 to their low B (one player had to add the
low F key as well), the horns played their E third valve,
and we cut to only one euphonium, who dropped out
a couple of measures earlier and pulled his tuning
slide. (It might also have worked as a 5
th
harmonic,
first and third.) It also worked for the saxes to add
finger 6. To think each of these players could simply
lip it down just the right amount, and do it every
time would be the height of naiveté The downside is
that tone quality will almost surely suffer, but I’ve not
found it to be noticeable in ensemble.
This can often be a somewhat painstaking process,
but when you’re able to make it work, it does indeed
produce a beautiful, pure sound.
To be sure, intonation is a wide-ranging, multifaceted
problem. I agree with Walter Piston, that there are so
many aspects to consider—often working in direct
opposition—that playing “in tune” is not really possible.
Nonetheless, elite groups do exist that give a surprisingly
good imitation of it. Finally, I would add that of all the
factors to be taken into account, the one of transcendent
importance is matching unisons and octaves.
When I look back at all the advancements that have
taken place in the band world since I first stepped on a
podium over a half-century ago, it’s staggering how far
we’ve come in almost every way. One exception I see,
however—a rather widespread one—lies in teaching
students to read well, to be independent musicians
that need not rely on someone else to show them
“how it goes.” I’m sure this is a subject that could be
debated endlessly, but it seems obvious to me that
we need to place more emphasis on learning to read
rhythms, in particular (and yes, Eastman, without
a doubt), reading a lot more, and not spending an
inordinate amount of time in the preparation of three
contest pieces. Many would be quick to add, I’m sure,
that, were our students more proficient readers, less
time would be required to prepare the contest music.
There is no greater or more lasting
gift that we can give our students than
musical literacy.
One of the advancements I had in mind in the
previous paragraph is the computer program,
Rhythm
Bee,
which, when used regularly and intelligently, can
produce extremely impressive results in increasing
reading skills. (Just to be clear, incidentally, I have no
financial interest in that product.)
A Few Random Thoughts About Band