KMEA All-State 2020-2021 Euphonium Tyrell #12
A quick read of the 2020-2021 Kentucky All-State Euphonium Excerpt Tyrell #12. I like to play the pieces that my students are working on allowing my natural tendencies (tone, tempo, rhythm, intonation problems, style, and so on) to exist. This gives me an idea of possible problems that may occur during a lesson so that I can have a game plan on how to fix said problem.
I’ll be the first to admit that this is a tough etude simply for the fact of how often I fracked a note when practicing and recording! In this run I think I counted 4 note flubs that irk me, but it’s a good lesson in letting things go and that there is no such thing as a perfect run. Most of the time when you miss a note, you simply don’t hear it loud enough in your head and are under supporting with the air. The other possibility is that your valve sticks (whomp whomp).
What I would do to get better at this excerpt is back the tempo off (even in this video I am taking a conservative tempo) to HALF TEMPO! I would then air attack a line, then slur the line, then play the line with the correct articulation, still at half tempo. I would do this line by line a few times to really make sure my air and ear are working together to make the cleanest and fullest sound I can.
Once I felt good about that, I would start doing two lines at a time in the same pattern (air attack, slurred, as is) AT HALF TEMPO. So, lines 1 and 2, then 2 and 3, and so on. This starts helping endurance and consistency. Next step, THREE lines at a time 1,2,3; 2,3,4 and so on. Personally, I think through all of this repetition you will be able to bump up immediately to full tempo much quicker if not immediately.
Phrasing and musicality on etudes like this a re fun, because it can be ANYTHING. What I attempted to doing was a large scale crescendo across the first phrase followed by a short decrescendo.
This allowed me to keep better support for the large leaps and gave me some time to breathe.
The next section gave me the most trouble because I started to run out of air and couldn’t quite catch them fast enough, but through the slow practice described above, I can figure out my pacing a little better. Another added benefit of cycling lines is that you learn to bridge phrases together better so you can actual practicing your breathing consistently.
The tendency here is to start speeding up as it’s nothing but eighth notes for the eyes to see. I actually had to force myself to feel like I was dragging the first few bars to keep it feeling the same tempo.
I’ve also noted the shaping I would use through this section. Standard hairpin motion up and down, but decrescendoing to a relative mezzo forte two bars before the mf.
The next section I kept as close to mf as I could as it was a bear for me to try and do in one breath. I still had to take sips of air every few beats to try and maintain a fullness in sound.
I noted a few places I took a breath at the end of the fifth line, so that I could crescendo at the beginning of the sixth line to help support those octave leaps. I causally decrescendo to the end as that felt like a more natural ending.
The purpose of this etude is to test your technique at faster tempos, flexibility control, accuracy in both notes and a steady tempo. Beyond the notes, the toughest part will be creating a musical statement on such a technically driven etude, but the MOST IMPORTANT thing to focus on is clarity and tone! If you frack a note its not going to be the end of the world if you SOUND good doing it!
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