Not only do we want to make brick shaped notes our standard note shape we want the ability to make them not-brick shaped if we wish. To get that kind of control one must be able to produce a beautifully brick shaped note.
A brick shaped note begins with a good solid tongue and continues without crescendo or decrescendo until it ends cleanly. It is difficult to do and requires a lot of dedicated practice. It takes time to develop. The important thing is the mental focus on making brick shaped notes and the use of Place Six. If you focus on those you will notice great improvement in your sound in a short time.
Musically speaking playing with non-bricked shaped notes creates unwanted attention on the shape of each note rather than the phrase. Many amateur players play this way thinking they are making a beautiful emotion-laden sound. In reality they are making their audience seasick!
Imagine a really bad actor auditioning by reading the Gettysburg address. Read the following aloud and make each word a football, getting loudest in the middle of the word:
Four - score - and - twenty - years - ago
I can hear the auditioners already yelling Thank you. Next! It’s irritating.
Then say it as if it was one phrase:
Four score and twenty years ago today
And you can hear how much more musical it is.
A brick shaped note begins with a good solid tongue and continues without crescendo or decrescendo until it ends cleanly. It is difficult to do and requires a lot of dedicated practice. It takes time to develop. The important thing is the mental focus on making brick shaped notes and the use of Place Six. If you focus on those you will notice great improvement in your sound in a short time.
Musically speaking playing with non-bricked shaped notes creates unwanted attention on the shape of each note rather than the phrase. Many amateur players play this way thinking they are making a beautiful emotion-laden sound. In reality they are making their audience seasick!
Imagine a really bad actor auditioning by reading the Gettysburg address. Read the following aloud and make each word a football, getting loudest in the middle of the word:
Four - score - and - twenty - years - ago
I can hear the auditioners already yelling Thank you. Next! It’s irritating.
Then say it as if it was one phrase:
Four score and twenty years ago today
And you can hear how much more musical it is.
It should be "four score and seven", not "four score and twenty".
ReplyDelete