Steps to Musical Understanding

Steps to Musical Understanding:
The Singing Instrumentalist

by: Dr Max Plank

August, 2002

I first adjudicated bands in Michigan in the spring of 1969--District IV--over in Roseville, I believe. I’ve been privileged to continue adjudicating and listening to bands and engaging in clinic/rehearsal settings during all of the intervening years. There have been many memorable performances and rehearsals and many more that were of the more ordinary variety. What makes the difference? How does a performance--or a group of performers--come to that special place where music is made, hearts are touched, minds are engaged, and the hair stands up on the back of the neck? What is the secret?

If I’ve learned anything in teaching it is that there are no secrets. Mostly, it’s just perseverance, dedication, hard work, and some luck. There are distinguishing characteristics of an outstanding performance. We all know these--Tone, Intonation, Rhythm, Technique, Interpretation. Every one of these is important and much has been written and discussed about each one. No great performance has glaring imperfections in any of those famous five criteria.

We all know it’s not enough. It’s not enough to have just a wonderful ensemble tone quality, impeccable intonation, precise rhythm and technique, and a within-the-boundaries interpretation. We’ve all heard those antiseptic performances that leave us feeling wanting.

I am convinced that the “more” that separates the adequate from the special relates directly to what our performers--our students--understand in an encompassing way about the music they are performing and how they communicate that understanding through performance. For me, at least, the difference between adequate and special--or, if you’d rather--the difference between that prized “first division” rating and some other result revolves around the answer to this question--”How well do these students understand this music?”

The skills, the study, the practice time, the life experiences, and the rehearsals that all come together at one time to make a performance special are innumerable. There are too many essentials to be listed in this venue. A most essential among these essentials is “musical awareness.” A process that can be nurtured, observed, taught, and awakened in every rehearsal/class time that we are privileged to lead--from the kindergarten general music class through the most advanced secondary school elite ensemble--“musical awareness” should be building each day--step by sometimes painful and slow step.

It is my opinion that singing is the easiest, most efficient, most necessary, most basic, and most required step to building musical awareness. I’ve experienced it too many times to believe otherwise. If I only had one thing to say to most ensembles I hear and ensemble directors with whom I work it would be “do more singing” in your rehearsal.

Sing to improve tone quality. The fundamentals of vocal production translate almost seamlessly to wind instrument tone production. Singing a free, open, comfortable major scale, even on the syllable “la” will translate into a free, open and comfortable major scale on wind instruments in a very short time. Breath support, posture, open vowel sounds--it’s all there.

Sing to improve intonation. My experience tells me that most any instrumental group can sing “do-re-mi” more accurately in pitch than they can play the same pattern. Instruments are generally less perfect than voices. Singing unison intervals, in the scale or chromatic intervals above or below a pitch is an outstanding method for improving intonation acuity. The creative teacher will find hundreds of ways to do this. Sing intervals with one group or section singing (or playing) a steady pitch. Translate immediately to instruments. Build major and minor chords through singing. Sing those chorale warm-ups your students are now bored with playing. Learn solfege. Sing those chorales in solfege. Can it be done? I’ve heard it in middle school bands.

Sing to improve rhythm. Any fifth grade instrumentalist knows that it is easier to sing rhythms than to intellectualize the same rhythm. Creative teachers will use this ability--awakening the intuitive side--in combinations to facilitate learning in this area. Developing procedures for singing-saying-counting-feeling-playing rhythms from the very first weeks of instrumental study can pay enormous dividends later.

Sing to improve technique. Every instrumentalist understands that much of learning technique is plain hard work--sometimes even drudgery. There’s really no way around this. We know that exceptional performers, like Tiger Woods, for example, became exceptional for many reasons, but one of them would be diligent repetition and study of the fundamentals of their craft. At the same time, we understand that there are usually multiple paths to the same result. Underestimating the effectiveness of singing in learning technique might be a common result of thinking that only the “drudgery” part is necessary. Combining singing with fingering patterns works, for example. Singing can help liberate the kinesthetic side of technique. As creative teachers we need to be ready to find many (and most any) ways to improve learning.

Sing to improve interpretation. Singing can be a most effective way of learning articulation and style. Most of us sing from the podium to demonstrate style. To observe Neemi Jarvi in rehearsal is to hear him sing. Singing can also be a wonderful way to learn an ensemble phrase. Your students should not only be able to play the melody “I’ll Love My Love” when you study the Holst Second Suite, they should revel in singing it as well. Freed from the restriction of our instruments, singing can lead us to be more expressive, more sensitive, more in sync with our fellow-performers. There is nothing quite like the sound of a middle school band all pretending to be Placido Domingo.

I do not pretend to believe that singing will solve all of the difficulties we encounter in music study. I do believe that if we have this natural part of ourselves available, if we can, as teachers, use singing as part of a process that awakens the intuitive, sensitive, “right brain” part of our students, we should do so naturally, integratively, and continually. Improved musical awareness (and a fuller musical understanding) will almost certainly be the result of such procedures. Improved musical awareness means the possibilities for distinguished, exceptional, hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck performance increase in almost geometrical proportion. Turn your instrumental ensemble into a singing “band or orchestra” and observe your students reap the rewards. It is a first step.

Dr. Max Plank received degrees in saxophone performance, music theory and music education from Emporia State University, Kansas and a Doctorate in saxophone performance from the University of Michigan. He taught in the Kansas City, Kansas schools for three years prior to coming to Michigan. Since 1967 Dr. Plank has taught saxophone at Eastern Michigan University. He served as Associate Director of Bands, Assistant to the Department Head of Music and music advisor, Director of Bands 1979-2002 and has supervised student teachers. Dr. Plank is recognized as a proponent of new music for winds premiering and recording many works while receiving high praise from Persichetti, Husa, Gillingham, Iannaccone, Corigliano and Tower.

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