Sleuth

Practicing the trumpet is kind of like detective work.

Well, first it's like getting rid of a dog in footie pajamas, because James followed me down into the basement and laid in my lap while I warmed up, begging me to come upstairs and play hockey and/or color pictures for him.

"Later. I need to practice for a bit and THEN we can play hockey."
"I wanna play hockey now."

After setting James up with something to do on his own for a bit, it's kind of like detective work. It's a matter of finding, through careful analysis, exactly what needs to be improved in your playing, and then working out tricks and solutions for how to get the "fix" in place.

I made a long (almost 40 minute) recording of myself working on some materials last Friday morning then another recording (in three chunks) over the course of Sunday of the exact same stuff, except in reverse order. (So that I was fresh on what I was fatigued on during the previous session, and vice versa) Today was about listening to both versions of the material and figuring out what needed working on.

I started out by listening to the Ballerina dance.
Everyone hates the Ballerina dance. Or at least, everyone in my family hates the Ballerina Dance.

Familiarity breeds contempt

I actually don't mind it so much. It's a nasty little excerpt, but I usually play it pretty well without too much work, so if I'm getting it back up to shipshape condition I shouldn't have much trouble. But it didn't sound great on either recording. On the Friday recording the tempo was too quick, and the internal rhythm ended up being uneven. Plus, the high note was present but a little weak and wobbly sounding. The Sunday recording was also too fast, and the last two measures ended up sounding like I was playing them in a different tempo.

My solution was NOT to put on a metronome. I've put in the requisite metronome work on this piece many years ago. I figured that if I put the metronome on I would just play with the metronome and it would be okay, but since you can't actually play with a metronome (you play with a snare drum, which can be either very steady or wildly inconsistent) it would be better to practice a stronger internal "click" by slowing the tempo down slightly and evening out the internal subdivision. I reconfigured where I putting the emphasis measure to measure (the big arc starting 3 after 136 is a pick-up, not a downbeat) and put in an alternate fingering.

Run it again. Yes, it sounds better.

The hardest part is just counting the rests correctly. Seriously.

Next up was the waltz.

On the Friday recording I was trying to "finesse" the first note too much and it didn't speak very well. On Sunday it was plenty loud but I didn't get my embouchure set right for the first big slur and there were a couple of missed connections. In both recordings the inner time from note to note was kind of okay, but not quite SOLID like you'd want it to sound. Solution: click off the piece in my head by hearing the triplet rhythms that start 3 before 151. It evens out the time, makes you set your chops right from the beginning, and somehow gives you an easier beginning to the first note. Rhythmic stability helps a lot with soft entrances. I listened to a couple of different recordings and there was a huge range of tempi and dynamic interpretations. (It doesn't help that there are two different editions of this piece.) My goal? Prepare all the extremes, but offer up something as in-the-middle as possible unless I have a compelling reason otherwise.

When I turned off the recording I heard sounds of distress from upstairs. James had...well, James had gone to the potty and ended up getting stuck. I rescued him and agreed to a break from practicing long enough for some hockey. We turned over two storage ottomans for goals and hit a tennis ball around the library. Apparently he'd also been sticking stickers all over the downstairs wall when he got tired of coloring. When hockey time was over ("the first period is finished, the zambonis need to clean the ice") I was a little more specific about what he could and could not do while alone upstairs.

Back to the basement. Tchaik 4.

The correct sound color for this guy is "paint-removing bright."

Tchaik 4 can trick you. On the one hand, the high A-flat is the worst, most frackable note on the C trumpet. You could view this as just a test of how many A-flats you're going to crack. On the other hand, there's the whole question of demonstrating the difference between the duple and triple subdivisions, and whether or not you should stylize the 16th note of the triplet. And, if you're hearing the low brass part as you play, there should be some extra weight on the note of the downbeat of A and 3 before A. 

On the Friday recording it was the final bit of material I played after going for about an hour and a half straight. So I was kind of pleased that everything came out--but I kind of sounded like I'd been going for an hour an a half. (If you're playing the whole symphony you have to do this exact same fanfare towards the end of the fourth movement, so it's good to practice it gassed.) The Sunday recording sounded bold and fresh, but I split the entrance one before A all over place (missed high) and then must have been too flustered to shape the rest of the measure the way that I wanted it.

For this kind of playing, the solution is all about building confidence. So, I listened to a couple different recordings, made sure I had it in my head exactly the way that I wanted to, and then rolled tape. Played it once, yes, got it. Waited. Played it a second time, yes, got it. Changed up the tempo and played it a third time, yes, still got it. Played it way slower and played it again, got it again. Theoretically I should be way more confident when I do it for "real" because I can remember all those perfect reps in the basement. But really what I should be doing with this piece is finding ways to play it front of other people. (Preferably people who want to hear it.)

Last up for this morning was the end of Petrushka, the "ghost scene."

Technically it's Petrushka's ghost, but it can kill the two trumpet players

I only had one recording of this, from Friday, and I wasn't super pleased with it. The top Cs (Eb on a piccolo trumpet) all sounded way flat compared to the rest of the arpeggio, and the rhythm one before 107 (eighth note pulse stays consistent, quintuplets over four) was just outright wrong. I listened to a bunch of different recordings and felt a little bit better about the pitch issues--no one really plays this one pristinely in tune. (That is what muted piccolo trumpet means.) I looked for a solution. I tried switching the picc over to the B-flat side and the pitch got worse. I tried an alternate fingering for the high note, and it ended up sounding out-of-tune sharp (and more frackable). I tried to reconfigure where I have my slides, but the third valve slide on my picc is apparently frozen in place. I re-recorded myself and got a better take, but I'm still not sure exactly what to do for this passage. (It's a good thing that it's supposed to sound horrifying.) 

Probably the only solution is to buy more gear.

TWO WEEKS AGO:

J: What do you think we should get Daddy for Christmas?

James: I don't know. What do you think we should get him?
J: Well, what does Daddy like?

James: He likes to play the trumpet.

J: Yeah, he does. Should we get him another trumpet.

James: No, he doesn't need any more trumpets.