Teaching playing the right partial

[tim]

I'm coaching a high school marching band low brass section and through really no fault of the kids (the middle school band teachers are at fault) they can't get the right partial to save their lives. I've tried just about everything I can and can't seem to find the right answer. Do any of you have suggestions?

[BGuttman]

Are you trying to have them play music beyond what they are capable of? I would think a Middle School kid might have problems finding a high F and some might even have problems with the D below that. Especially if they haven't had much in the way of lessons.

I would have them do 3 note slurs: Bb-F-Bb and back down, A-E-A and back down, etc.

When they can comfortably play the 3 note slurs, expand to 4 (adding D above Bb).

Can they do 4? Move on to 5 (now we hit F).

You can do the same thing with trumpets and horns: C-G-C, B-F#-B, etc.

That should get you most High School level music. If you need them to get to high Bb, they will need rangebuilding exercises (not that what I suggested isn't rangebuilding also).

[Burgerbob]

Can they sing the parts?

[baileyman]

Endless bugling repeats, all tongue driven. Pitch/partial then becomes a whistling type thing. Each partial becomes a mouth feel, tongue position.

[afugate]

Can they sing the parts?

My thought, too. Perhaps its a combination of lack of control and just complete inability to "hear their part" inside their head. Maybe their middle school band never progressed much past music with unison melodies.

--Andy in OKC

[tim]

Thanks guys, you helped a lot. We're having more success now, the kids feel better about it too. I'm also playing with them and having them mach my pitch. Yup, I'm singing with them too

[StevenC]

Yeah, playing with them will be a big help. When my daughter was just starting out a gazillion years ago, we would sing notes and parts to each other. I think it helped.

[jpwell]

I use a smartphone tuning app

[JustinM]

Funny, I have this same problem with one kid in particular. His embouchure seems to be stronger than he realizes and he overshoots almost everything. He's in 9th grade and has a pretty decent range that he has almost no control over. His mom--and by extension, him--wants to blame his new hearing aid. Yeah, he's partially deaf, but it hasn't materially hurt him before this fall. I suspect it's less the hearing aid and more that something clicked for him physically that he doesn't know how to handle, kind of like he doesn't know his own strength. I'm not sure how to help him fix it, and neither is his band director, since usually he sees the exact opposite (normal) problem of not being able to reach notes.

[Doug Elliott]

Try a larger mouthpiece. Chronic overshooting may very well be caused by a mouthpiece that's too small.