Do you practice playing softly?

[Todd S. Malicoate]

I'll bet you don't...at least, not enough. More and more, I'm seeing otherwise very good players who struggle with soft attacks and I think it's for a simple reason...they simply don't practice this skill.

In orchestral literature as well as concert band works the tuba player is often called on to sustain long notes at a very soft volume. Often, the beginning of the note is very exposed and the dreaded "air ball" can be very problematic. With the current emphasis on bigger sound, more air capacity, and faster fingers, soft playing often gets ignored and yet makes up a great deal of our playing demands. Hardly any daily routines include a nod to soft attacks. When was the last time the beginning of "Eine Faust Overture" appeared on an audition list?

Like anything else, soft playing must be practiced, mastered, and maintained. The inclusion of simple scale drills with long sustained notes started and held at a very soft volume is very beneficial. Particularly in the lowest register (between the pedal and first partial), starting a note confidently at a low volume and sustaining it is a skill that must be given daily attention if one is to be proficient at it.

Now...go and practice softly!

[jamsav]

Great advise Todd - what ? no sniping complaining and taking pot shots ? you trying to ruin your reputation ?

[TexTuba]

I do not and every now and then it comes and bites me when I need it. Time to get cracking! No pun intended....well, maybe....

[Mark]

Mahler 1 solo.

[Bob Kolada]

A little bit. One of the most "zen" things I do (and I don't like that stuff either) is seeing how quietly and smoothly I can both start and hold a note; usually the 2nd partial of whatever tuba it is.

[Kory101]

When was the last time the beginning of "Eine Faust Overture" appeared on an audition list?

Well, Detroit, Philly, NYP for starters...

To answer your question, yes. I do practice playing soft. Though I don't practice playing soft to see how soft I can play. I practice keeping my best sound consistent across my whole dynamic range. Scaling back the dynamics while keeping a beautiful, colourful sound is what concerns me.

Is it easy? No. It's actually probably one of the hardest things for me (and I'm probably not alone) to do.

How do I work on it?

Mostly I do scale patters. The Bill Bell Scale routine is great for this. Fast, slow, loud, soft. In the style of Bruckner and Wagner and then Berlioz and Stravinsky. Always use these scales as a means to accomplish something your working on. Don't do scales just to play scales.

Again, I'm not concerned with playing as quietly as I can. I'm concerned with playing softly with my best sound.

Cheers,
KM

[The Jackson]

Mahler 1 solo.

Maher: 1
solo: 0

And that's the ball game...

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Mahler 1 solo.

I don't think that one really "counts." Being a "solo" it's perfectly legitimate, musically, to play it at a mf volume or so. And "D in the staff" isn't exactly a difficult note to start softly.

I'll counter your offer with the first note in the first movement of Dvorak 8.

[NDSPTuba]

I do quite a bit. Allot more so than I practice playing loudly. To me being able to play ppp with a beautiful sound is the ultimate litmus test for an efficient buzz. Not to mention, nothing annoys me more than a section mate whose volume knob is set only to f and above no matter how many p's you put on the page.

[peter birch]

As I remember the Mahler 1 solo, there is a martelatto accent on the first note to give you a fighting chance.

[J.c. Sherman]

Important post! Too many cannot play quietly, and far too many think the rest of us are impressed with how loud they can play. Infuriating!

Also (ahem): MAHLER 1 ISN'T A SOLO. It's a cannon. And if you play it like a solo, you're going to piss off your conductor.

Thank you and goodnight.

[Mark]

Mahler 1 solo.

I don't think that one really "counts." Being a "solo" it's perfectly legitimate, musically, to play it at a mf volume or so. And "D in the staff" isn't exactly a difficult note to start softly.

I'll counter your offer with the first note in the first movement of Dvorak 8.

In Mahler 1, since you're following the string bass and bassoon, you had better not play it any louder that they did. And, I guarantee you the bass played it softly. Also, the conductor will be very angry with you if you paly it any louder than pp.

[sousaphone68]

Important post! Too many cannot play quietly, and far too many think the rest of us are impressed with how loud they can play. Infuriating!

Also (ahem): MAHLER 1 ISN'T A SOLO. It's a cannon. And if you play it like a solo, you're going to piss off your conductor.

Thank you and goodnight.

+1
its the reason why band test pieces always have a slow quiet movement every band can make a good stab at the exciting loud fast movement but the slow movement sorts out the wheat from the chaff

[ral1988]

I found playing in chamber music has helped my dynamics in playing. If I could only get the rest of my quintet to play quiet with a good, controlled sound - in their minds p= mf+.

I should try that scale idea!

[ghmerrill]

I'm a bit puzzled by all this talk of not playing softly. In practicing, I spend a lot more time playing softly (p and pp) than I do in playing more loudly. Volume I of Blazevich has many (perhaps most?) studies that either begin with 'p', or frequently 'p dolce', or 'p tenuto', or even 'p gratzioso' for some staccato passages, and then may or may not have increased dynamics in them. And they sound really good when played at the lower dynamic levels -- or even 'pp' rather than 'p'.

So I would have thought that (a) most tubists have Blazhevich, and (b) practice it as written. And similarly with other classic exercises. I am surprised if this is not the case.

[Tubaryan12]

Softly is the only way I practice serious music (when I'm not just farting around). I started doing this when in high school, I got to listen to the judge's tape at the concert band competition and they kept saying "tuba is too loud".

If the conductor wants me louder, he's going to have to ask for it.

[Mark]

So I would have thought that (a) most tubists have Blazhevich, and (b) practice it as written. And similarly with other classic exercises.

Yes, and others such as the Clarke technical studies pretty much force you to play softly if you are going to complete the exercise in one breath.

[Jobey Wilson]

Haaaa, extremely soft playing was a common theme at the ABQ Seminar the past two weeks. Ditto Elephant's remarks:

"Don Little used to have us work on breath attacks starting out at niente, cresc, dim, niente, all over the horn. VERY hard to do at first, yet what an excellent strength/suppleness exercise! Start by blowing air and form the sound from nothing, cresc with perfection, no wobble, breaks or other flaws allowed, up to a low mf, and fade out to just air with no fuzz or wobble or other garbage on the fade out."

jobey

[Randy Beschorner]

Given that our television is in the same room as my practice set-up, I use it as a benchmark for playing softly. I set the boob tube volume to a normal level on a news program and run my euphonium and tuba exercises trying to keep it soft enough that I can actually understand what the talking head is saying. Then gradually decrease the volume on the TV. As stated before I must have accurate attacks and releases and good tone/intonation before moving down a level. For life on the edge I do this while my wife is sleeping in the bedroom over the family room.