Musicality

by: William W. Gourley

A successful performance is more than the right notes at the right time with good tone and intonation. That only reflects what came from the composer’s head. What comes from the composer’s sole is portrayed in the nuances of artistic interpretation of the symbols.

Musicality takes years to develop. Just as jazz musicians spend years mastering the nuances of jazz performance so are classical musicians’ performances enhanced over the years. The more concerts we attend, the longer we are exposed to musical performances the more intuitive our performances become. The later recordings of Pablo Casals’ may be less technically proficient than his younger counterparts but far superior in musical richness.

That being said, one may ask, “Then how do we get young musicians to play musically?” Even though musical performance generally is an acquired skill that becomes intuitive over time there are specific performance practices that, if we make students aware, will unlock the mysteries of artful performance.

Weighting notes

All notes in the musical line are not weighted the same. Longer notes need to be played with a bit more weight than shorter ones. I often use the analogy that a five pound bag of sugar has half the weight of a ten pound bag. It is the same with note values, an quarter note should be played with a little more weight than an eighth note. A half note generally gets more weight than a quarter.

There is a tendency to play a preceding shorter note(s) with more emphasis than the longer note that follows (ex 1). In this example one often plays the sixteenth note louder than the quarter creating an awkward non musical effect. The preferred weighting of the notes should be similar to saying, “to-DAY,” but it is often performed, “TO-day.” The same thing can happen on 6/8 patterns such as (ex 2) when the eighth note is played with more weight or volume than the quarter note.

When the ensemble plays scales during the pedagogical development portion of the class period (warm-up) encourage them to play musically, by weighting the longer notes a bit more than the shorter ones. In this example the students would slightly emphasize the quarter notes as they play scales (ex 3).  When studying rhythms or tonguing/bowing exercises the students need to weight (emphasize) the longer notes (ex 4).

A common problem occurs in the following pattern (ex 5) with students and especially for string players. Often string players are using a down bow on the half note and then an up bow for the quarter note. The problem occurs when the up bow moves the same distance in one beat as the down bow did over two beats. The increased speed for the up bow creates a weighting or louder quarter note on beat three. Students need to learn to lighten the weight on the up bow compared to the weight of down bow to avoid the unmusical one, two, THREE effect.

Syncopation is greatly enhanced when the musician puts more emphasis on the longer note that is off the down beat or on a weaker beat. Especially in the slow legato sections where the accompaniment is syncopated (ex 6) there needs to be a bit more weight on the longer note to give momentum to the phrase.

Meter

Meter is an often neglected ingredient detracting from a musical performance. Meter is more than the number of beats in the measure and note value that receives the count. Meter also implies emphasis on certain pulses in the measure. I often demonstrate this by clapping a consistent pulse of equally emphasized quarter notes. Then I perform them again placing emphasis on certain notes to create the meter (ex 7). A march needs to have that, “ONE & Two &,” emphasis and 3/4 meter needs the, “ONE, Two, three feel,” (at least beat one needs some emphasis).

Asymmetrical meters become much easier to perform and put the listener at ease when emphasis is applied to pulse points in the measure (ex 8). One of the problems here occurs when the ensemble fails to place emphasis on the proper notes which creates a feeling of disorientation in the listener and performer and drains the life out of the music.

Another common problem occurs in 6/8. 6/4, etc. meters that have three subdivisions to the pulse. There is an implied lilt in these meters that is created when emphasis is placed on ONE, two, three, Four, five, six (ONE, la, le, Two, la, le or ONE, te, ta, Two, te, ta).  Failure to create this lilt creates a no man’s land somewhere between 6/8 and 3/4.

Finally, patterns such as (ex 9) are often played with the emphasis on the first eighth note that is off the beat or all notes equally. This note should be played lighter which leads the music toward the downbeat so the meter is not destroyed. Similarly, the eighth note that follows the one on the downbeat should be played lighter.

Pulse

This is a good place to discuss the obvious importance of creating an unerring feeling for pulse and the subdivision of the beat for a musical performance. As all of us know from hours of practicing with a metronome there is not any way around acquiring this skill without regular practice to a fixed pulse. This does not have to be the monotonous, “tick, tick, tick,” of a metronome. Using the rhythm accompaniments of a keyboard or a Band-in-a-box accompaniment pattern in the pedagogical development part of the class (warm-up) is a much more pleasant way of developing this skill in the ensemble. (see Subdivide and Conquer on-line in our newsletter archives).

I have attended workshops where the use of a metronome in a rehearsal or beating a woodblock with a stick was portrayed just below Neanderthal in the conducting world. I am inclined to agree with this for university and professional musicians. The reality is the vast majority of our students do not even have a metronome and those that do rarely use them. Utilizing some external metronomic device throughout the pedagogical development portion of the class period during long tones, scales, rhythms and tonguing/bowing exercises will eventually add clarity and sparkle not only to fast tempos but enhance slow tempo passages.

Accents

Accents are used by the composer to break the pattern of the meter of the music. They are like the few dots of red that Renoir adds to a painting of blues and greens that draw the eye to a few flowers or the rosy cheeks of a child in a garden. Many times, these are over looked in the pursuit of correct notes and rhythms. Fortunately for Renoir he controls his accents of color. The composer must count on the performer to recreate the accents of sound.

The correct interpretation of accents may seem obvious but I find this aspect of musical performance too often misinterpreted. An accent has two parts. First, there is a sudden emphasis of sound on the front side of the note produced with air, not the tongue. Rather than tonguing harder the accent must be generated by an increase in the speed of the air flow or forced “who” from the diaphragm.  Granted, the student will feel more pressure on the tongue but it is air pushing against the tongue not the tongue pushing harder on the reed or teeth. Secondly, and often overlooked, there needs to be a decay of the sound after the emphasized attack. The decay should continue throughout the duration of the note similar to the way a chime or orchestra bell decays. If you listen carefully to professional recordings your students will gain a deeper understanding of this effect. Accented whole notes in 4/4 need to continue the decay throughout the entire four counts unless otherwise indicated with a crescendo.

When the ensemble fails to decay the back side of the accent and there is a succession of accented notes the sound continues to get louder and louder since each accent must be played louder than the preceding one to create the desired effect. This can cause ensemble sound to grow out of control. The decay also creates spacing between repeated accented notes enhancing their definition and impact.

Another aspect of properly executed accents is to generate the emphasis from the bottom and middle voices of the band just as you do with balancing the band with the pyramid principal (lower instruments play stronger than high voices). The higher the sonority of the instrument the less emphasis it uses to perform the accent. This can be visualized by creating a triangle with your forearms. With the fingers together and the elbows about twelve inches apart resembling the dynamic level quickly expand the elbows twelve or more inches and then return them to the original position. Tubas, basses, cellos, low brass, low reeds and French horns are represented by the area near the elbows. Trumpets violas and saxes are nearer the mid section of the forearm. Upper reeds and violins are represented by the wrists and fingers. Notice the difference in the distance moved by the various parts of the ensemble (arms) in generating the accent. The ensemble should aurally reflect this same concept when performing accents to maintain the integrity of the ensemble sound.

Phrasing

Four basic rules apply to phrasing.

First, generally everything after the downbeat of beat one is really going to beat one of the next measure. Music needs to have a forward motion and the grouping of notes into measures can be misleading. There is a tendency for students to group the notes in terms of measures rather than phrases causing a lack of forward motion in the music.

Second, and consequently, do not stop at the bar lines. Since the notes from the previous measure are moving across the bar line to the downbeat of the following measure the music needs to flow across the bar line unless it is at a phrase ending. This is especially true as the music is transitioning to new material or a different key. The ensemble needs to continue the musical energy across into the new section. This is compounded when there is a rehearsal number or letter, the music should carry through and not break at the bar line.

Third, shorter notes move to longer notes. Throughout the over all arch of a phrase there is a bit of give and take in intensity similar to the way one speaks energizing some words toward others and then relaxing throughout the sentence. A series of eighth notes should intensify to the long note that inevitably follows them. Younger musicians often will play the second of two eighth notes louder than the first note followed by a softer long note. This destroys the flow of the line. The intensity of the shorter notes needs to increase toward the arrival point of the longer note where the most weight is applied avoiding the “popping” of notes.

Fourth, the harmonic progression leads the phrasing. The melodic line floats on the harmonic structure of a phrase. Focusing the ensemble’s ears on this will help their phrasing.

After Beats & Pah pahs

After beats and “Pah pahs” (Oom, Pah, pah) are the motors that drive a march, enhance the grace of a waltz and keep the music moving forward. A great deal of the charm of a march or waltz is derived from these characteristic accompaniment patterns. Too often they are the most ignored aspect of musical interpretation. Whether I am working with student musicians or adults they light up when I ask them to listen to these patterns being performed. When done well, it brings a smile to the face even without the melody and counter melody. It is nearly impossible to sit still when you hear these patterns performed well.

After beats present a unique challenge to the ensemble. There is just a fraction of a second to play these in tune and balanced to create the desired effect. First of all the performer needs to think of the after beat pattern as one continuous harmonic line played with a continuous air stream rather than isolated non related notes.

To better appreciate the harmonic structure and placement of after beats ask those playing after beats to change the rhythm to quarter notes on the beat playing with the bass line and slow the tempo down so the ensemble can hear the harmonic direction for phrasing, blend and balance of each chord. Next, have them substitute two eight notes on each beat in place of the former quarter note so they are playing on the beat and the after beat and gradually increase the tempo to performance speed. Encourage them to continue to play with proper balance, intonation and phrasing. Once this is secure play the section as written.

This was discussed in meter but I feel it is important to remember the proper performance of the bass line in the march style, “OOM pah Oom pah” beat two softer than beat one. This applies to the bass drum as well.

“Pah. Pahs,” in ¾ meter similarly pose the challenge of short quick notes that need to be properly balanced and played in tune. Also, they must be performed characteristically with the second pah (beat three) being softer than beat two (Pah) to achieve OOM, Pah, pah.

One finale aspect of the Viennese waltz pattern (ex 10) is the anticipated second beat in the accompaniment. This can be easily understood if you have the accompaniment performers play the second beat a quarter of a beat early. Have the ensemble play (ex 10a) first, then (ex 10b) to get the proper feel for this.

Characters of Music

It can be argued that this is the same thing as style but I feel there is a difference that is not so subtle. Stylistically, a piece may change from: staccato, to legato, march to cantabile, etc. which does change the approach to performance physically but not always spiritually or characteristically. For instance, in Grainger’s, Shepherds Hey, the opening melody resembles two children at play in a sand box or with their toys. As the instrumentation gets thicker other friends are joining in. Finally along comes the obnoxious big brother in the trumpets with the little “Country Gardens” transplant that knocks over the toys or sand castles the children were building.

Another example is Sousa’s, El Capitan, that starts in 6/8 and changes to 2/4 at the trio. The 6/8 lilt needs to be played as if representing marchers who were more on the balls of their feet whereas the 2/4 section needs to have a more serious and flat footed approach. Both are in a march style but the character of the music is different.

The character of a phrase can change mid phrase. The first half can often make a statement by one character followed by a response that resembles another yet both are in the same style.

To experiment a little and open up students to this phenomenon try playing the same phrase in different characters or mental settings. Play, Jingle Bells, as if you were a child on Christmas Eve anticipating the toy you are hoping to receive. Play it as if it was Christmas day and you did not receive that toy. Play it as if you were parents still putting that toy together at 4 a.m. Christmas morning. Scene setting or associating a story with the different sections of the music can go a long way to enhance artistic awareness in musicians.

Recordings

Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, so is listening to a recording. Students can gain a far greater insight into how to musically perform a composition if they can hear a performance of the piece by a professional ensemble. Unfortunately it isn’t always possible to find a recording of much of the music playable by student ensembles. Fortunately, students can gain insight into how to perform a composition through listening to a recording of a similar composition.

There are many great recordings of marches that can help even middle school students perform their march with greater musical sensitivity. The concepts of the recording can easily be associated with the march they are playing.

Copland’s, Appalachian Spring, can offer wonderful insight to performing Zdechlik’s, Chorale and Shaker Dance. I have used violinist, Gil Shaham’s recording of the Romance from Korngold’s Violin Concerto to enhance students’ musical appreciation for the beauty that can be derived from just three notes. The added benefit is the students are exposed to great music beyond their realm.

Naturally, true artistic performance is a myriad of tangibles and intangibles. Attention paid to these most accessible musical characteristics will go a long way to enhance an artistic performance. Ultimately, the greatest teacher of musical performance is experiencing great performances both as a performer and audience member. Every rehearsal, every measure, every note one plays must strive to be musical regardless if it is the first note of the warm-up, tonguing exercises, or the composition itself. It cannot become intuitive unless we emphasize every aspect of playing the instrument must be, at its core, making music.