Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • September 2014
20
daily drill
So what are some of the elements of our daily drill?
For us, we look at marching band and concert band
as two entirely different genres of music—the same
perspective we use for orchestra and jazz.
While we approach the technique of playing the
instruments with the same standard of excellence, we
don’t necessarily want our end Marching Band product
to sound like a Wind Ensemble on the field. I love
Concert Band and Wind Ensemble. I want our Marching
Band to have the elements of beauty and lyricism of
a Wind Ensemble, but also want it to have the
power and excitement of a Drum and Bugle Corps.
Thus, we work on exercises that build
quality
of sound
and some that develop
quantity
of sound.
Although we approach each ensemble a bit
differently, below are some common principals we use
across all of our groups. Before each and every rep,
performers will have a game-plan:
1. When am I going to breathe?
2. How do I want to sound?
3. How loud do I want to play?
Three levels of Listening
1.
Individual goals
- How well do I play my
individual part in tone, in tune, and in time?
2.
Section goals
- How well am I BALANCING to
each player in my section, and matching their style,
energy, articulations? How should my section sound?
How am I working to maintain that sound and texture?
3.
Ensemble goals
- How well can I hear all of the
instruments in the band? How do I want the band to
sound? How do I think it should sound and what am
I doing to achieve that sound? This can be a challenge
outdoors for sonic and spatial reasons.
Our daily musical diet for all of our ensembles
will include some variation on the following:
u
Breathing
- For breathing exercises, our primary
purpose is to ensure what we do in the exercises
transfers directly to the instrument. We will mix things
up each day, including:
1. Through the nose, through the mouth; “OH”
syllable on intake, “HO” syllable on exhale
2. Air flow exercises/calm air blowing through the
instrument
• Brass players mouthpiece inside the mouth
behind the teeth; valves down/trombones 7
th
• Woodwinds flow air through the horn
3. Volume of air exercises - (work sustained air for
4-8-12 counts at FF)
• Brass blowing into the horn, mouthpiece on
the face
• Woodwinds blowing air into the horn
4. The art of the “recovery breath,” maintaining the
consistent sound, 8
th
and 16
th
note breaths
5. Articulation, mouthpiece on the chin, all blow
air through a “Tu” syllable
u
Singing to Be Musical; Singing to Center Pitch
(Content by Alan Sharps)
• Sing to learn musicality and phrasing ideas
• Singing is the gateway to listening with more detail,
need to hear the pitch to be able to tune on horn
• Incorporates and reinforces breathing, voice hard
wired to ears and brain to directly transfer pitch
• Awareness of diatonic and chromatic intervals,
learn interval names and what they sound like
• Establish understanding of a tonic pitch and its
relationship to other scale degrees using Solfeggio
Syllables (F=Do, G=Re, A=Mi… etc.)
• Sing interval exercises, music on note names,
chorales, and passages from your music
• Develop students’ ability to hear themselves in tune
against a drone or moving from interval to interval
• For brass players, sing then transfer to Lip Vibra-
tions on the mouthpiece only to improve accuracy
u
Lip Vibrations for Brass
(Using BERP preferably)
• Base lip off humming or singing, use a constant
pitch or drone to begin with
• Important to make sure lip vibrations sound
correct and vibrate correct pitch
• Train kids what the correct “sound” is—an efficient,
full sound that is musical
What We Like and What Works For Us. . .
“Breathe to play,
not just to live…”
-Tom Bennett