Some of R. Winston Morris' philosophy

[proam]

https://www.tntech.edu/centennial/cente ... ton-morris" target="_blank" target="_blank

"I thought if I could take out 20 tuba players -- because the public doesn’t really understand, it’s just 20 oom-pahs, it must sound like a cattle herd in heat -- but if I could take a bunch of players out there and knock people’s socks off, if the tubas sound that good, imagine what the band sounds like, the saxophones, the clarinets. We aren’t just promoting the tuba studio, we're promoting the whole department. The tuba ensemble is a means to an end."

[arpthark]

Mr. Morris will be a legend, if he isn't already. I'll never forget the one lesson I had with him - he told me I sounded like $%#^, but it was okay to sound like $^#* because I was young, and to keep practicing.

[Michael Bush]

I've been having occasional lessons with him lately, since I moved to this part of the country. As with arpthark, he kicks my butt in colorful language. But he's also very encouraging when I get it right.

When in the "double-tonguing" thread I tossed off one line that consonants are over-rated, that was channeling Winston. He teaches that all consonants get in the way of clean articulation and largely explain why tuba players are so often behind the beat. He says treat your tongue as a valve and don't use consonants at all. Not an easy change to make, but I'm working on it. To explain or demonstrate is beyond my ability on the internet. Go get a lesson with him.

[swillafew]

I met him at Eau Claire WI, on an event with Dan P. and Harvey P. It was a good clinic. Mr. Morris said,
"Never play a scale as if it were a technical exercise, it's a piece of music with a beginning, a middle, and an end". It stuck with me for all this time.

[Walter Webb]

When in the "double-tonguing" thread I tossed off one line that consonants are over-rated, that was channeling Winston. He teaches that all consonants get in the way of clean articulation and largely explain why tuba players are so often behind the beat. He says treat your tongue as a valve and don't use consonants at all. Not an easy change to make, but I'm working on it. To explain or demonstrate is beyond my ability on the internet. Go get a lesson with him.

But, but wait! If you don't use consonants like tktk, takataka, tukutuku, them, what do you use, vowels? Air stops with the tongue that have no sound? Please try to explain...

[Michael Bush]

When in the "double-tonguing" thread I tossed off one line that consonants are over-rated, that was channeling Winston. He teaches that all consonants get in the way of clean articulation and largely explain why tuba players are so often behind the beat. He says treat your tongue as a valve and don't use consonants at all. Not an easy change to make, but I'm working on it. To explain or demonstrate is beyond my ability on the internet. Go get a lesson with him.

But, but wait! If you don't use consonants like tktk, takataka, tukutuku, them, what do you use, vowels? Air stops with the tongue that have no sound? Please try to explain...

Yes, just stopping and releasing air. Start with c in the staff. Take a breath, form the embouchure, place the tip of your tongue right at the back of your lips (not through them) and pull it straight back, releasing the air. Roll your tongue up behind your upper teeth for higher notes, and down behind your bottom teeth for lower. Always make sure that when you pull your tongue back there is no percussive sound; just release the air. That much for single tonguing. I can't yet do what he does to double-tongue, so I'm not going to try to explain it.

[patricklugo]

let the sound be your guide. find a teacher that can monitor what is going on.
i also made it a long term project to work on my tonguing every day.

don't dwell so much on mechanics. for a period of two years, i did that, and i got got worse and worse.

[Michael Bush]

let the sound be your guide. find a teacher that can monitor what is going on.
i also made it a long term project to work on my tonguing every day.

don't dwell so much on mechanics. for a period of two years, i did that, and i got got worse and worse.

Yeah, we're talking about one of the great teachers and what he teaches (and monitors). That's how this came up.

[ScottM]

I studied with him at Tech. Great teacher.. I spent most of the first term working on air usage. I still go back to what I learned when things aren't working. Reminds me I need to go practice! At ITEC someone commented don't worry about consonants, worry about vowels as too much emphasis on consonants equals poor sound.
ScottM