Truth or Dare (Ethical Dilemma)

[MikeS]

Here's the deal. There's a piece in a concert I'm playing Saturday that contains several eighth note and dotted eight/sixteenth note runs at about quarter note=152. Each of them is about four bars long. It's a chamber orchestra concert and the runs are quite exposed.

Most of them lie pretty well under the fingers, but one just seems to tie me into knots. The problem sequence occurs in the first measure and if I lose it there the rest of the run can go downhill in a hurry.

My choices seem to be the following:

-Take my chances with it playing it straight up. So far, practicing with the metronome at tempo my batting average is about 70%.

-Use an alternate fingering in the first bar that makes one note about 25 cents flat. Doing that and I'm pretty close to 100%.

I know that someone will likely suggest a third alternative- another long session with the metronome until all is as perfect as it can be. The angel hovering above my right shoulder is with you on this. I have, however, already put in a ton of time and just can't seem to get it dead reliable at anything faster than 144.

The devil hovering over my left shoulder says the flat note will be over and gone less than a quarter second. One quick clinker is a lot less noticable than the potential alternative.

So, my question is what would you all do in this situation or, what have you done in this situation?

[lgb&dtuba]

Do whichever alternative sounds best to you. I seriously doubt that anyone in your audience will be following along with a score and detect you missed one note in that run. Especially if you're talking about being slightly off pitch only.

[KevinMadden]

I'm no pro by any stretch, but I would suggest playing it whatever way it sounds clean. if that means a few notes (that no one could here as part of a chord anyway, they're just too fast) are out of tune, thats what ya gotta do.

[Toobist]

Try this:

Find your favourite recording of a tuba solo with fast passages like Czardas or Flight of the Bumblebee or... hey! Try listening to your favourite trombone section in William Tell.

Play it super-slow. There are free programs online that let you play files at half speed or slower.

Now don't worry about finding those any out-of-tune notes... worry about counting how many there are.

Basically... Nobody, even those sitting next to you will notice a note in a run that is out of tune. I promise.

[Roger Lewis]

the composer wrote it that way - your JOB is to play it as he wrote it. Learn it. Try it on a different key horn where it might be an easier pattern, but your obligation to the art is to recreate it as it was intended. If that means 24 hours of pounding on it, then so be it.

Practice it EXTREMELY slowly - not at tempo. Do not go up a notch AT ALL until you have it completely memorized and can play it perfectly at, say, quarter note = 50 or 60. Articulate it as though you are playing it at quarter = 152, but practice it slowly.

If it was a tuba solo in a recital, or a concerto with orchestra, would you let yourself get away with it?

Just my little point of view.
Roger

[Matt Good]

Call in sick!

[Toobist]

Call in sick!

[lgb&dtuba]

Try this:

Try listening to your favourite trombone section in William Tell.

Funny you should mention that particular piece. I've been asked by a friend who conducts a community band to sub on euphonium for a concert in early February. I went to my first practice with them last night. All sight reading on my part. The first piece up was... William Tell Overture.

Conductor: The euphoniums sounded a little muddy through that passage.

Me (On the inside): Then it all works out. I was in the ditch, covered in mud, on those runs.

I haven't played this type of music in over 20 years. Beer, brats and polkas are more my speed.

I will be doing exactly what Roger said as far as trying to get this, and other pieces, under my fingers before the concert. But, if after all that there are a few places where I have to just do the best I can, then so be it.

The point is, we all just do the best we can with the effort we're willing/able to put into it. If you've honestly given it your best then don't beat yourself up too much over your short comings. We can't all be "world class".

But we can all be musical.

[windshieldbug]

be musical

As Mr. Lewis says, it is your obligation to perform the music as accurately as possible. No one on this board can hear your performance choices, especially in the context into which they'll be part of. Since you need to play this tomorrow, perhaps the best bet is to rest, and to use the strategy that will allow a performance with the highest degree of accuracy. Above all, be musical.

In the professional world, choosing one or the other is not an option. Even if the audience or Music Director can't hear the difference, there are a huge number excellent musicians (just feet away) who can. And trust me, if it isn't right, the trombone section will never let you forget it, even after you buy them the obligatory beers.

[TubaRay]

We can't all be "world class".

This is a truly shocking pronouncement, Jim. If you have been following TubeNet for some time, I'm sure you understand why this is true.

[The Big Ben]

You have to do what you can. Perfection should always be the goal but, in a particular time and place, it may not be possible. Sometimes, you just have to prepare the best that you can and call it good.

When a friend in the audience says , "Good job!" say "Thank you!" in the spirit the accolade was given knowing that they enjoyed it and, after all, that's why we do it, right?

As you develop as a musician, you may get it exactly as it was intended by the composer. At least, I hope, that should be your goal.

'T'ain't cheatin'. It's life.

[eupher61]

OK...gotta ask the OP....what's the piece?

What's the context of the run (eg...exposed solo, section soli with trombones, soli with basses)

25 cents is awfully dang flat. There's no other alternate fingering? What's the note, and on what key tuba? what specific model are you playing?

But, hey, if you can't lip it enough--so be it. Can you use that rhythm space to take a much-needed breath? Ghost the note? Tuttle tongue?

Don't sweat the small stuff...worry about the half note (or whatever) at the END of the run, and nail it!!! No one will remember an out-of-tune eighth note if you nail the end.

[Rick Denney]

The artist in me (who is the best buddy of that angel on your shoulder) agrees with Roger and Mike.

But as an amateur for whom much is unattainable, I have made compromises. When I have done so, I have done everything I could to get it right, and made compromises when that proved impossible. In all cases, the compromise must be consistent with the intent of the music.

There is no absolution--there are always consequences to compromise. But sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils and live with the result.

So, my strategy would be to practice the correct method (or change the rules, such as using a different pitch tuba), and keep the emergency backup in play as a last resort.

You owe it to the composer to play what he wrote, but you also owe it to the composer and the audience not to butcher it noticeably. Sometimes the gap between the two can't be crossed.

Rick "with considerable experience playing at and beyond his abilities" Denney

[lgb&dtuba]

We can't all be "world class".

This is a truly shocking pronouncement, Jim. If you have been following TubeNet for some time, I'm sure you understand why this is true.

[TubaRay]

Buy one of those beat-up c. $400 1920's Helleberg m'pieces off of eBay.
According to another TubeNet thread, that will solve any/all problems.

Actually, I'm told these will solve problems you don't even know you have.

[Naptown Tuba]

Ya know where that troublesome 25cent flat note is?? Well, when you get to that point........JUST SNEEZE

[windshieldbug]

Ya know where that troublesome 25cent flat note is?? Well, when you get to that point........JUST SNEEZE

(for myself, I always point into the first balcony level and yell, "Look! It's Haley's comet!!")

[marktuba]

Don't play it safe. You're a brass player. If its in the middle of the road someone should run over it.

As a practical matter, try practicing the passage in rhythms. Take the straight eighths and play them as dotted eighths and sixteenths, then do the reverse-sixteenths and dotted eighths. Try this at a moderate tempo, then at full tempo. Also practice the passage completely slurred, to make sure that your airflow and pressure are steady and that you do not become consonant-bound in your articulation.

But in the end, after you have prepared the best you can, GO FOR IT!!

[LoyalTubist]

Having been in similar situations, I can tell you just go with the flow. It might be perfect but, if you're the only tuba player, no one's going to notice. I'd work on the rhythms more than the intonation.

[Steve Inman]

This may be the only time I'll ever disagree with Roger, as his advice and perspective are so right so often.

His reply is appropriate for a professional player of his stature. However, for cryin' out loud ... IT'S ONLY MUSIC !!!

This is not a serious ethical dilemma. Do not practice it any more. Go take a long walk. Watch a football game. Have a beer (if you're old enough to do so legally). Play it with the alternate fingering 25 cents flat and enjoy the concert.

You can only play it as well as YOU can play it. If you're not a world-class musician, then don't try to become one in a week and don't worry about it if you CAN'T become one in a week.

Roger's advice is correct in theory for a long-term goal, but idealistic and unrealistic in practice for short-term application.

Follow his advice between now and 20 years from now.

Cheers,