Page 1 of 1

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:19 pm
by Tom Holtz
http://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/view ... hp?t=58475

Great stuff. Not bad for a bunch of trumpet players.

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:40 pm
by windshieldbug
"Jim-

A question about intonation. You mentioned working with a tuner, which is always good advice. However, you also mentioned that is an equal-tempered tuning system. When you play an excerpt, without the orchestra or the section around you, how much should you adjust the thirds, fifths, leading tones, etc...? For example, when you play Academic Festival Overture, how low should you play the E's when you are playing without anyone else? It has always seemed to me that if you play them as low as you would with the section, it will sound way too flat when you are playing by yourself. Should you lower them a little to let the committee know that you are aware? Thanks for any ideas.

Zeb

MrClean

Great question, Z. Yes, you might get in trouble with the committee if you go "all the way" with your tuning out of context. Since that first E in the Brahms is approached from a 6th below, chances are pretty good it's going to want to ride high if unchecked. I didn't check it against a tuner today, but my guess is if you are dead center or just a hair below, it will sound pretty good by itself. The octave Gs are pretty obvious, too.

The trumpeters on the committee should know the tonality of the excerpts, but you never know. However, there are a fair number of folks who do not, and some committees (like ours) do not allow for discussion of candidates until the final round. If you play it too in tune (sounds stupid, doesn't it) you may in fact get penalized. I would therefore make small adjustments that will at least demonstrate to the more "learn-ed" members of the panel that you do in fact realize that adjustments need to be made for just intonation.

How's that for noncommittal?

Again, that was a great question."