Not to pour fuel on the fire (opening gas can), but Kendall Betts, no mean horn player, does teach stopping notes with the tongue, at least to beginners and amateurs at his horn camp. I may have misunderstood, but that's what I heard. I prefer a more tapered ending, but who am I to argue?
Herb Foster ________________________________ > >From Schuller: Horn Technique - "A common misconception exists that staccato >playing requires a different technical approach than more sustained playing. >Nothing could be further from the truth. Essentially, a staccato note is >produced exactly like any other note; that is to say, a clean attack (in >staccato fairly sharp and pointed) is followed by a fully centered tone and >ended quickly by the action of the larynx. Common faults in staccato playing >are: a) the attack, because of the speed with which the tongue is required to >move, is often fuzzy and unfocused; b)the tone, because of its relative >brevity, >is neglected and allowed to sound thin and pinched; and c) the tongue, rather >than the larynx, is used to stop the note. This latter fault gives the note >an >unpleasantly abrupt ending and makes the staccato sound choppy and aggressive. >For my taste, the most attractive staccato in one in which each note is ever >so >slightly tapered at the end." > >Robert N. Ward >Principal Horn >San Francisco Symphony >[email protected] > > > > > >On Jul 2, 2011, at 1:48 PM, Ralph Hall wrote: > >> Wendell, I reply to your posting out of courtesy because I realise >> that it is to your advice that many on this list look to. However, I >> must take issue with you on one or two points. My reply, which brought >> up the 'whole glottal thing' was specifically concerned with the >> ending of notes other than staccato and you seem to extrapolate from >> that, via those that seek our help, that I advocate stopping short >> notes with the glottis. This is certainly not my way of thinking but >> you then go on to say that articulations (which exactly?) should be >> 'small actions of the tongue and not a lot of throat stuff'. I never >> have, nor ever will conflate 'articulations' with a 'lot of throat >> stuff' so I wonder where this comes from? >> >> In your reply to William you say that 'you are right to think that >> stopping each note with the tongue would be a bad thing in a fast >> passage' but in your second posting you advocate 'toot' or 'teet' >> which to my mind, if you pronounce the last consonant in normal >> pronunciation, means ending the note with the tongue. I certainly >> accept your advocacy of the vowel sound between the two 'ts' otherwise >> you do get more tongue than note. There are not many linguistic and >> elocution experts, or (heaven forbid!), singing teachers who would >> agree that pronouncing with the tongue 'and suitable vowel sounds' can >> take the throat (presumably you mean the glottis) out of the equation. >> >> Ultimately, Valerie is right that there is more than one way of >> cracking a nut, but an acknowledgement of the skills of others in >> solving these universal problems might render the list more helpful to >> those who seek advice. >> >> Ralph R. Hall > >_______________________________________________ >post: [email protected] >unsubscribe or set options at >https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/kicklighgter%40yahoo.com > > > > _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/herb_foster%40yahoo.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
