How to tell a player to tune up?

[tubatooter1940]

The "weak link syndrome" rears it's ugly head often in music politics.It all comes down to how serious the ensemble is.If it is a group playing for fun,you try to let the weak players stay on.But in a group trying to "make it",the stronger players lobby to remove the weak one and when he goes,someone else is on the bubble,to go next.Too much of this will destroy morale,loyalty and the spontaneous fun and fellowship in the group.I am believing,at my late age,that fun may be more important in my music than fortune and fame.This does not rule out hard work but if it is really fun,it's not work.

[Tom B.]

Here's something that has worked in our brass quintet.

Several of us commented early on that we were noticing intonation problems without pointing fingers (not a bad strategy, considering any one of us could be the problem at any given moment). When we notice a particularly out of tune stretch, we comment on that. But probably more importantly, when we hear something played in tune, we comment on that too. It just makes everybody more conscious of tuning on a consistent basis. One player, who was often playing flat, has really improved over the past 6 months. I think playing in tune is learned, including learning to pay attention.

[punk_tuba]

i play in a community band where i am at least 25 years younger than everyone else. i find myself at times with the same problem.

politeness is the key to fixing the problem.

a tuner on a stand may work.
when confronting a problem always look at it as "what am i doing wrong". bring the attention to the members, but insteading blaming them simply ask "how can we fix it?" you will find a lot more cooperation in getting people to work with you if you don't point out their faults.

[Rick Denney]

Step 1. Establish your own credibility as the better player. This may take a while even if it's obvious to you.

Step 2. Make sure the pitch you want makes sense within the harmonic structure of the music. This will frequently be different than what the tuner says.

Step 3. If you are the newer player in the group, recognize that you are not in the role of being the section's policeman. If you are the section leader, then you can mention something, but only if you have completed the first two steps. Respect can only be earned, not demanded.

Step 4. The point of community bands is to provide people an opportunity to play music. It is not to provide people an opportunity to demonstrate musical superiority over their mates. If you are better, a little humility will go a long way. If you are not as good, a little humility will go along way. You knew this already, of course.

Step 5. Bands all have people who will not, or cannot, recognize their own issues, regarding particularly intonation and keeping time. I have trouble hearing pitch myself, and I've been playing tuba for 35 years. I can recognize the pitch of others more easily than my own. At the moment, I'm the better player in the section. But it has been the case, and recently, that I've been second-best of two. When I talk with the folks in my section now, I keep reminding myself that being the better player in the section is not a position I'm used to, and I've been the beneficiary of benevolence by better players my whole life. Give some back.

Corollary: Say a much better player than you showed up for rehearsal, and immediately started complaining about something you do. How would that make you feel? How would you want that guy to try to bring you up to his level?

Step 6. Provide an excellent example of playing in tune.

Step 7. If, in the end, you can't tolerate it, and if the player in question represents the norm of the group and has been there longer, then leave. The first most important qualification for being in a community band is commitment. Sections frequently have players who are returning after years of not playing. They will get better--give them time. It took quite a while for me to get my chops back, and 20 years later I still feel like I'm getting my chops back. If you have been the one who has demonstrated commitment and if the other player has no ability or willingness to improve, then consult with the conductor and the leadership of the group. In most groups, living with it will be the response. But the conductor might program music that challenges the section enough to encourage the fellow to seek alternative playing opportunities. But in the end...

Step 8. Any strategy must, at its root, acknowledge that anyone who wants to play in a band should be allowed to.

Rick "who has seen groups fall apart because of wars over dealing with poor players" Denney

[Bandmaster]

Thanks for the many good words of advice. Community bands are new to me so I have been trying to figure out how the system works. I am the new guy in the tuba section even though I have have with them for a year now. The player in question is an older member (eve though I am ten years his senior) that took some time off last year when I first joined.

I spent almost 30 years teaching junior high, high school and college level band students and have never met resistance, or should I say denial, of intonation techniques. I was an absolute stickler for pitch in the bands I conducted. But community bands seem to be much more laid back and informal, at least this one is. Not much tuning takes place in this band in the first place, but luckily it is not totally out to lunch in this department. Some rehearsals are better than others. I just didn't want to ruffle too many feathers by asking for something that they might not be willing to give.

I will try to sit next to this guy next week and place my tuner on a music stand in plain sight and see if he takes the hint. Like I said before, he is in denial about the concept of tuning. I believe he went to a high school years ago where the band director seldom tuned the band, so I don't think he was ever taught these concepts. I think it might be more ignorance and not a bad attitude, because he seems to have a nice pleasant personality.

[bort]

If it's that bad, how can the director not notice? I can just picture in my head rehearsals where any section is out of tune, and the director calls out the section to have them play a certain passage. And then, if need be, go right on down the line to play the suspect note. Even the clarinet playing directors I have will say to "pull that dang slide out" once in a while.

I've always thought that intonation is the difference between "community bands" and "community bands."