|
|
When you answer the telephone often the first thing the other person says is , 'Hi, its me', the voice will be instantly reconizable. When you play one note on your instrument, its 'you'. Your musical 'DNA' is recognisable by you, fellow band members, and people who hear you practice (usually family or neighbours).Maybe people pay you the compliment that they like your sound, they exercise their subjective opinion that what u do is pleasing on the ear and feel it is a true enough feeling to tell you. You may modestly and hopefully discreetly agree with them or you may not. Some people will go through their musical lives permanently unfilled by the sound they make on their brass instrument, and that's a pity.
I know 99% of readers will probably be amateurs and as such can always say they don't have enough spare time to work on their playing to get it to a 'professional' level, but getting a high quality sound may not need as much time as you think.
With low brass playing the essential requirement is quality air, taken in a deep relaxed way. In all the classes and workshops I give, the basics always come first for after the mastery of these all is possible. Try slow inhalations like a yawn with the back of the throat open , mentally counting 4 seconds, and then 'blow' out for 4 seconds, now with the lips closer together, producing a 'whooshing' sound. Repeat then with different combinations of 2:4,2:6, 2:8, 4:2, 4:4, 4:6, 4:8
There are many breathing exercises to help you get the air moving, but this will get you started. You might consider a breath training device like the popular 'Ultrabreathe' too, to really work the lungs.
Now consider the space inside your mouth, the essential resonator for your tone. This is the 2nd essential element of good tone. If you enjoying singing and if singing was an important part of your musical training you will create a round and high vocal cavity quite naturally. I was taught to imagine an egg standing vertically inside your mouth. The air from your lungs passes around this space to achieve a rich tone quality. If you can also maintain this feeling when inhaling you can keep tension out of the sound too and are less likely to squeeze the sound. Using a lot of 'high quality' air also necessitates support from the moving abdominal muscles and I like to imagine this as the moving of a cello bow, and its varying speeds of movement change the sound accordingly.
Many low brass players are never instructed to think of changing vowel sounds when playing different tessitura. For me this was only an extension of vocal techniques I learned as a young lad, but found it reinforced later in life in the great teachings of Arnold Jacobs and others. In the mid-range imagine the sound 'AH', with a normal tongue position (sing it to find this !).In the low range 'AW' and in the upper range 'OO' and in the super high range with the air traveling very fast, 'EE'. Practice with 'D' articulations (Daw-Dah-Doo) very slow 2 octave arpeggios using the right sounds for the right pitches, keeping every note the same dynamic, around 'mf' to start, and producing the best quality sound possible. The essential element in all this is that you are listening to yourself, having first imagined the best sound you possibly can. If you have something tonally to aim at before you play the art of imitating that sound can be quite easy. When I was growing up in Bournemouth that was how I learned, by training the voice and by listening and trying to imitate great euphonium artists on recordings.
Another really useful technique is to spend more of your practice time playing low notes, for low brass players (if you have a 4th valve) from low C to pedal C. It is not important that you don't use these notes too often in the band room. My favourite warm up is to start on pedal C, then slowly ascend in this pattern: C,Db, C,D, C,Eb, C,E,etc playing a sustained 'forte' dynamic, without vibrato or inflection of any kind, holding each note for 4 slow counts. When you arrive at the octave, go back the other way, C,B,C,Bb,C,A,C,Ab, etc. Repeat daily ! If you have a practice mute use this too as the resistance you have to blow against will open the back of the throat. I guarantee you will make a bigger more open tone afterwards. By practicing below the stave you will be simultaneously be helping yourself to play better high notes too. And finally try to keep the aperture (the space between your lips) constant. It may seem an easy thing to say but over time if facilitates so many other features of successful brass playing. Good luck, it is possible to change your musical DNA!
One of the hardest things for a brass player is to sense that your playing is developing, getting better, particularly after the age of say 25, when the first push for 'stardom' is over and you are left to contemplate the balance between your work, family commitments, band and all that goes with that. Where is your motivation to practice to take you to the next level? Some people are naturally ambitious and to ascertain quite where this comes from might necessitate some expensive minutes on a psychiatrists couch. Some people want a bigger and better house, others are happy with what they have, and so it is with brass playing. So, this advice is for all whether you seem happy with your lot or you continually aspire to do better. The low brass fraternity are a gregarious warm-hearted breed of musicians who share the same brand of basic humour, who appreciate each others work and are happy to provide rich tones in a band and orchestra that give pleasure and simultaneously make the others musicians sound better!
That said, there are many who lack anything like a daily routine and herein lies the potential for a lack of sustainable improvement. In the last article I mentioned the importance of quality air, relaxing, utilising the open resonant space within the mouth, vowel sounds and low tone practice. These key points underlie all we do, it's if you like in computer speak, the default way of playing. These are there from the first to last notes every day.
The playing position is vital too; the distance from the small of the back to the top of the head has to be maximized, almost a military style straightness maximizes the potential of the lung capacity. Try this for yourself: stand with your back against a wall with your feet about 30 cms away, slouch a little and take a big breath. You can sense the air intake is 'in the chest', so if you were to exhale strongly your lower muscles simply wont need to function. In playing terms, you will be working the facial muscles too much as the 'support' muscles (with their cello-bow-motion, as per the last article) are not being used. Repeat this a few times. Then stand completely straight with the back of your feet touching the wall, as well as the backside, shoulders and head. Now exhale and feel the air automatically entering lower, filling up like one fills a glass with liquid..(ah ha now you understand!). As you exhale strongly the full use of the muscles can be felt and you have more air. As if to reinforce this critical point, try this: stand up straight, put your arms up (a la cop movie!) above your head, take a deep breath then exhale. Repeat 3 times each time with your arms stretching a little more than before. Then return to a normal position and take a powerful breath and feel the difference that internal stretching has made. If we can trace 90% of brass players problems to poor air use then surely the question of posture and good air intake is something immediately fixable.
Start your daily routine with this awareness and your lips, tongue, fingers and ears will thank you. I always begin by 'waking up' the low notes and then progress into a technical warm up of Clarke studies, scales and arpeggios. These may seem terribly old-fashioned to many 'progressive' thinkers but believe you me all the students I know who have practiced and mastered their scales are brilliant sight readers and can learn music very quickly. It may shock you learn than many players who audition at the RNCM can barely play a scale to save their lives! Shocking indeed but am I more sad for them or frustrated with their teachers? In this 'push-button' age the timeless discipline of regular disciplined study is not very trendy but I for one will not accept the watering down of our music education. The long lasting benefits of scales and arpeggios can steer you through a career in music or give you the edge in reading and maintaining an even sound with whatever ensemble you play in. On a similar topic, and I hate to sound like a dreary school master, the long note routine I adopted as a teenager is still as useful in sound development as it ever was. Using 20 seconds as the unit of length, start on a middle F#, then proceed alternately higher and lower, G, F, G#, E, A, Eb etc arriving after some minutes at octave Cs. Rest for a minute then continue, C#, low B, D, Bb, D#, A etc. Rest after the two octave F#s, then fourth valve permitting, continuing on to high C and pedal C. Then take a few minutes off and contemplate the sounds you've been listening to. Try to play with a beautiful soft sound ('mp' maximum) and a little vibrato. Breath deeply and effortlessly on the 20 second mark ( I hang a watch on the music stand). A metronome is ok but can disturb the beauty with its ruthless clicking or beeping. This simple exercise has kept me is reasonable shape for over 20 years. One final point for now is the subject of vibrato, a much maligned feature of the brass players expressive vocabulary. Often overdone, often predictable and distracting, when used sensitively it puts the human element of warmth, beauty as well as the creation and resolution of tension into our music. We should cultivate this as we do pure tone, but the two are not to be confused. If you are unsure of the mechanics of vibrato 'creation' here is a quick five-step guide:
So that's it for this little piece: posture, scales, long notes and vibrato all of which can help the building progress whatever your age or aspirations.
Enjoy your practice and make beautiful sounds.
Steven Mead
RECIPE
Musically, all of us are 'products' of our past musical training and we instinctively behave and react in a similar way to the way we did when we were very young. So does it mean that our brass performance is pre-defined for us? Maybe, but my tempting little recipes can enable any brass player to unlearn some bad habits and quickly formulate new ones. A bold promise yes, but these simple related recipes may balance your acquired knowledge of how to play a brass instrument with the skills, (good and bad) that you picked up between the ages of say 5 and 12.
Here are two techniques to try with mouthpiece alone, really a 'starter' to be consumed before the main course, rather than as the main dish itself.
INGREDIENTS
SERVES
all brass players who feel the need to play well, in particular those who suffer from airflow issues and a poorly shaped embouchure.
The first recipe can be served either at the beginning of a practice session or indeed in the middle of one, or mid-rehearsal.
Often our performance can be improved by utilizing more space inside the mouth and at the back of the throat. The benefits of deep breathing are often negated by a restriction in the throat area and at the back of the oral cavity. Tension makes this worse as does a lack of 'vocal awareness'. The air simply cannot pass freely through the lips, causing a restriction in tone quality, dynamic range and pitch range, to name but three. If such a concept is appreciated very early in one's musical life this area of technique often stays with us a lifetime, but it can be learned of course.
The second recipe uses exactly and same ingredients but now the mouthpiece is the 'correct' way round. I've enjoyed this dish for years and it brings back happy childhood memories of when I was an 'angelic' boy soprano! Vocal concepts have always been important to me and this unites a vocal approach with whistling; not whistling with the lips but the natural pitched sounds that emanate from the mp alone when warm 'round' air is passed through it. Benefits of this are essentially: 1. a more rounded aperture 2. an awareness of the 'bicycle wheel' of control muscles we have round our lips and 3. control of the moving air from the base of the lungs.
This exercise will improve your tone quality as you are forming a rounder aperture and maintaining the 'cylindrical' aspects of your air column to where it leaves your lips and as it travels through your instrument. If it doesn't happen right away don't give up, it may take a few days. Like recipe 1 you could hear an immediate improvement with the 'real' playing that follows. Good luck with this. Enjoy.
Well we all need a break sometimes, and probably you, like me, eased off over the holiday season, maybe only for 2 or 3 days, maybe a week and... surely not, even 10 days? And now you want to pick up your instrument and expect it will feel alright after about half an hour. Sorry, its not my fault, but it won't, or at least it shouldn't.
It is true to say the more you practice, you more you miss it when you don't; your muscles get accustomed to the workout and when you don't use them in that unique way that playing a brass instrument demands, they forget and lose power and co-ordination very quickly. Its only a subtle shift, but you're out of the zone and there's work to be done to get you right for that first rehearsal with the band/orchestra , never mind the first concert or solo gig.
Just how much you've over-indulged yourself on your holiday will also be a factor in your 'recovery'. If you did not exercise at all, not even walking, for a week and ate too much everyday, not to mention the cumulative effect of several days alcohol-induced dehydration, its not only the lips that are going to protest.
The first symptoms are that you cannot seem to get much air in the lungs...you feel fat, even if the bathroom scales are only edging a little higher. The breathing machine that we become when our brass playing is in good shape is quite sophisticated , with open oral cavity, relaxed throat, flexible abdominal muscles allowing for a rapid intake of air, like a turbo-charged yawn. These 'opening' muscles are the first to tense up with inactivity, you didn't practice, you didn't exercise...duh !
When the mouthpiece is re-united with the 'face' it can feel like a stranger, a borrowed mouthpiece, the rim may feel smaller and sharper. You might well play brilliantly for the first 5 minutes and then...oh dear, it all goes wrong...tone production, sound quality, flexibility, sustainability all , as one diminish to the point of embarrassment and you check out of the window and around the door that no-one you respect is listening.
It's time to work out, so here goes my one week recovery plan
Day 1 (2 sessions 20 mins each)
1. Stand tall - stretch up with the arms, then down , then higher, breathing in and out each time, stretch higher and breath deeper and slower each time. Repeat for 3 mins
2. Twist the body left and right keeping you head still , again increasing width of the twist and the speed, don't forget to breath...repeat 3 mins
3. Take a deep breath and flap the lips (NOT buzz), make the lips sound like the engine of a Harley Davidson on low revs, hold sound for 5 secs, then 6 then 8 then 10. Rest for a minute and repeat
4. Timed inhalation and exhalation, 4 (secs):4, 4:6, 4:8, 4:10, 4:4, 6:4, 8:4, 10:4
5. repeat No.3
6. With instrument start very gently and low, in treble clef Bb pitch, bottom C,B,C,Bb, C,A,C, Ab, C, G, C, F#, each note 4 slow beats, breathing only when you need to at mp dynamics, repeat three times. Then C, Db, C, D, C, D#, C, E, C, F, C, F#, C, G (@3)
7. Rest for five minutes
8. Repeat No. 6 tonguing four crotchets (1/4 notes) for each pitch, at 1/4 = 88
9. Rest for 5 minutes
10. slow chromatic one octave scales , up and down in one breath and be very positive with the fingers and keep the throat open all the time, add small cresc. and dim. , first legato then with the tongue
11. Gently play your favourite 10 mins of warm up exercises but not too fast or too loud. Limit you Day 1 session to about 25 min and if possible do it twice in the first day, finishing each session with Ex.3
Day 2 (2 sessions 30 mins each)
All of Day 1 exercises and then:
1. Two note flexibility in descending 4th s (1 /8th notes), starting middle cgcgcgcgc-------- X2, bf# bf# bf# bf#b---------X2 etc as low as you can go . Slowly with firm corners of the mouth and good round space in the middle of the aperture and constant support from the middle of the body. Repeat twice
2. Pedal tones, 4 mins, quite strong but very stable in pitch, keep eyes and throat open keep posture very upright
3. simple single tongue exercises (Arban)
4. Use 'Basics Plus' (Guggenberger) or similar basic method book from the beginning to develop pitch and dynamic range.
Day 3 (2 sessions 40 mins each)
Repeat Day 1, but compact all exercises into 15 mins, gently increasing speed of chromatic scales, and two octaves now, tongue quicker note values of ex 8, to include triplets and 1/16 notes.
Repeat Day 2, but add the following:
1. Two octave major and minor scales, not too quick and take very deep breaths before you start
2. Practice more extended flexibility exercises but not too fast, use a metronome if possible
3. Long tone exercises, starting middle F#, G, F, G#, E, A, Eb, Bb, D, B, Db, C, C (octave below), each note 20 secs long
4. Play 3 of your favourite slow melodies, with full expression and dynamics and make sure you stand up for this...things are starting to get 'real'.
5. More 'Basics Plus' - type exercises
6. Make sure you warm down, with the 'Harley' exercise.
Day 4 (3 sessions of 20 mins, more if you're feeling GOOD)
You're doing fine, feel what you body is allowing you to do and try to increase the performance without 'pushing' anything too hard....repetition, rest..repetition rest....it pays off, so to be patient.
Try to get the Day 1 breathing exercises to fell much deeper now....the Ultrabreath trainer can be used right from Day 1 but increase the power and duration of the exercises step by step, day by day. ADD:
1. Two octave arpeggios, tongued and slurred at quite a brisk tempo but always even dynamics
2. Double and triple tongue (eg Arban)
3. Sight-read some new exercises or a solo... use that 'dark' side of the brain.
4. Go back to you favourite slow melodies and now transpose them higher and/or lower...use that musical brain of yours
5. Increase pitch range of Day 3 long tone exercise, now continue (alternately higher and lower notes) until you get to high F# and (two octaves lower F#)..rest for 3 mins after this
6. 'Rev-up' the Harley exercise, in 2s, 4s, 6s, 8s, 10s
Day 5 (3 sessions of 30 mins, or two of 45 mins)
You know you are getting better, but you ain't there yet; you need to start to tackle more of the lengthy Arban technical exercises, a couple of the Rochut Melodius Etudes, book 1 or 2 : 3 if you're really ace!
Step up each of the exercises from the previous days, adding range to the flexibility exercises and some dynamics, Clarke finger studies, keep the dynamics on the soft side and use a metronome.
Take frequent rests now so you don't flatten the lips too much.
Keep the posture upright, eyes always open, keep drinking water.
Take time out to do some more breathing exercises...push the Ultrabreathe exercises harder.
Use the Basics Plus range-building exercises and scale exercises.
Day 6 and 7
Increase the above to your normal , (or newly elevated) practice schedule, for me its 3 sessions of 1 and 1/4 hours minimum but ...hey...you will be as good as you wanna' be !! It's your life...but if a job's worth doing it's worth doing well.
Implement your New Year musical resolutions:
1. Learn 6 new solos, buy (not photocopy) some new euph or baritone solos.
2. Learn all the scales and arpeggios you could never be bothered to learn before
3. Improve your sight-reading, 'look' at a new study or solo for 5 minutes before you play it...imagine how it will sound, work out any difficult rhythms, watch accidentals, watch for changes of key..GO FOR IT !!
4. Keep your instrument in good condition, brush the leadpipe out , with a long bendy brush, not just water ! This alone could transform your sound and intonation.
5. Don't just own a metronome, use it.
6. Set yourself a challenge, a solo in a concert, a recital, tackle a piece you never thought you'd be able to play, form a quartet, play duets regularly with a friend in the Band.
Friday December 21st 2001, 3pm - Midwest Band and Orchestral Clinic, Chicago
Steven Mead, Clinician (sponsored by Boosey and Hawkes)
A personal history, mine and yours, early singing experiences, allied to the performance of singing.
My influences
AIR FLOW
FREEING the BODY OF TENSION
CORRECT BREATHING
ORIGIN of the SOUND
MUSCLE USE
ORAL CAVITY
TONGUE POSITION - VOWEL SOUNDS
OPENNESS of the EMBOUCHURE
EVENNESS OF LIP VIBRATION
C. Musical Applications
SOUND QUALITY - SUBJECTIVE OR OBJECTIVE ?
BUILDING A BETTER SOUND
EASE OF PRODUCTION
LEGATO MELODIC LINE
DEVELOPING RANGE - RICH FULL LOW TONES, POWERFUL CLEAR HIGH RANGE
DEVELOPING FLEXIBILITY
VARIETY IN ARTICULATION
VIBRATO
TECHNICAL STUDIES, FAST EXECUTION, COMBINED WITH FAST TONGUE USE, EXPRESSION AND NUANCE
Thinking musically is one of the most important things to learn in the process of creating of a vocal style of brass playing. Develop the ear and a feeling for melodic line so that good musical experiences in the memory trigger immediate solutions to musical problems.
- Steven Mead, December, 2001
Preparing a major solo piece takes a lot time, whoever the soloist is. Playing the notes may take a shorter time but a piece of stature and importance needs more of your time than the time it takes to get through the notes. There are not really enough quality solo pieces for euphonium in existence yet but the situation has improved rapidly over the past 15 years or so to the extent a euphonium soloist has up to 50 extended high quality pieces to select from, from sonatas to rhapsodies, fantasies, fantasias, concertinos, concerti and so on. These major works range from 8 minutes to 25 minutes duration and have various accompaniments from piano to brass and wind band, string and full symphony orchestra. Some have extreme technical difficulty, so much so that there are maybe less than ten players in the world you could do a good job with it. Therefore the purpose of this article is not to confuse or impress with seemingly "mythical" ways to play one of these incredibly hard works with the 5 or 6 hours practice per day to learn, and memorize such works, but rather to take what is perhaps the best known and most often played concertos for euphonium and show a variety of methods to achieve musical success.
The work I have selected is the Euphonium Concerto by Joseph Horovitz, composed in 1972 as a commission from the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. Trevor Groom gave the first performance on October 14th of that year with the famous GUS Footwear Band conductor Stanley Boddington, at London's Royal Albert Hall. The work was subsequently recorded shortly after by the same soloist and band with the composer conducting.
When it was composed it was, almost unbelievably, the euphonium's first concerto save for one of two extended theme and variation solos that erroneously called themselves "concerto". The composer thought at the time he was making quite high technical demands on soloists and in a few instances in the score asks for one or two phrases in the outer movements to be played a little slower as he considered them to be too difficult for most players. With the technique "inflation" that has gone on since then, not only do these phrases not need to be slowed down, almost every college level player is able to master the technique required with some ease, save for about four or five phrases.
Horovitz deliberately wrote for a three valve euphonium, aware in 1972 that not all euphoniums had four valves, and not wishing to prejudice wide selling of the sheet music (a very shrewd composer), decided to restrict the range demanded so that nothing lower than concert Bb is demanding (he could of course, even with a three valve compensating instrument has asked for low E) or higher than high concert C. It really is amazing that this, the most popular euphonium concerto, has a range of only just over two octaves, or maybe that is the reason!
However, the musical challenges and an understanding of the sense and idiom of the musical language seems to remain a mystery to the generations of euphoniumists whose musical vocabulary is inevitably derived for the music of their history, i.e. operatic style slow melodies and theme and variation solos. The thought processes necessary to master large scale 3 movements works had not been called into action before and therefore lie dormant for the most part. So concert preparation must see technical and musical considerations go hand in hand for a deficit in either one will mean failure, for the composer at least. Also I suppose it essential to say that just playing studies, exercises, and general "practice" does not make the complete musician. It is imperative to listen to music, to understand the unique "language" that it is, like inflections of speech. By studying other instrumentalists and particularly vocalists we can go beyond the notes very quickly and leave our minds open to musical refinement rather than the simple playing of the "symbols" we see on the printed page.
So now a brief overview of the Euphonium Concerto by Horovitz for those not familiar. It is in the standard three movement concerto form; fast /slow /fast, although the term "fast" is not really as applicable with these outer movements than in other euphonium works! It is Horovitz at his romantic best, with many intricate passages requiring detailed articulation immediately contrasted by smooth melodies. He is always meticulous to mark exact details of tempi, articulations and dynamics, more so than many other large scale euphonium works; yet I still hear countless performances where many of these clear markings are completely overlooked. The use of contrasting dynamics is not overdone but a controlled well articulated pianissimo technique is important for this work. In the outer movements (1 and 3) there are several passages that require extremely well developed finger technique and that require detailed slow practice. The music is full of character, sometimes bold, sometimes tender, sometimes a little pompous and often cheeky. The second movement undoubtedly contains some of the finest slow music ever composed specifically for the euphonium and is a movement, which well played and sensitively accompanied, rarely fails to create a special atmosphere and a magical silence in the hall at the end. Whilst on the subject of accompaniment, this work exists with brass band, symphonic wind band (recently completed), chamber orchestra and piano; all orchestrations done by the composer.
In terms of specific preparation for this work I must confess here to have played this work over 35 times and so I know all the "corners" and have only to slowly play some of the technical sections for the "finger memory" to return and having had the luxury of being able to work with the composer (now aged 73 living happily in London with his wife Anna) I know exactly what he wants. This of course raises another interesting point; how much of the learning process involves us deciding we want to play something a bit different from what the composer has asked, or rather how much originality or license can a soloist allow him/herself before the approach can be questioned. Do we want all performances to sound the same? Of course not or there would be no interest in going to concerts or buying recordings. The temptation to exaggerate certain features, indulge oneself, show off etc are real dilemmas for the soloist and oneâs musical integrity is Îon the lineâ every time we perform a well known major work, just as trumpet players are judged on how they play the Haydn and Hummel concerti. In many cases even quite well known works from the repertoire seem almost incomplete in terms of performers instructions, articulation, dynamics etc but in the hands of talented musicians the piece is able to come to life. With others the absence of such marking leads them to thinking what I describe as a Îmezzo forteâ approach to everything·how dull!
Horovitz makes our job easier in a way, by specifying exactly what he wants and so we should do our best to obey the creator's instructions and in order to do this we need to practice the music slowly so that we can take in all the details, like a slow drive in the car to absorb all the beautiful sites, not to mention the road signs.
In the newest edition on the Concerto, (Pub. Novello 1991), Horovitz has revised some of his tempo markings so that the outer movements do not keep changing speed quite so much, thus giving the music more flow and line. It is a good idea to follow this clearly; from my experience if you ever get the chance to perform this with the composer present he will tell you in no uncertain terms how much faster or slower you played it from what he really wanted.
And so the opening theme of the 1st movement is a typically joyous, elegant Horovitz theme with alternating smooth and staccato moments for the soloist to begin his/her Îjourneyâ. I have often spent a lot of time with this opening when students play this at a masterclass at it has to be right, full of energy and strength yet still retaining a feeling of ease and quality, like driving a Jaguar car, (or Mercedes if you like!) as a steady comfortable speed. Perhaps the euphonium's primary strength is the lyrical, cantabile quality of its sound and so this Concerto always gives the chance for the soloist to demonstrate their tone. I never advise soloists to change their basic practice routine to suite a particular piece as their basic routine should contain all the essential ingredients to master even the hardest works. Long note practice and technical studies played slowly (Arban, Clarke, Vizzutti etc) however are particularly useful here. As Iâve said earlier the need to listen to other types of music is essential too, particularly great vocal music as the teacher can find himself explaining the shape of every single phrase whereas a musician who has a feeling for sung melody will instinctively find the meaning of a phrase and play it musically without prompting.
Giving the music time and space is a major factor in making any work sound good. Take away the rush and panic and the audience gets a chance to appreciate what you are trying to say. This is very true for the first big "technical" challenge of the work (Bar 8, C), where it is easy to let the music accelerando to a point where the soloist stops trying to play all the notes and all we hear is a blur. It will probably be necessary to break this phrase down into 3 or 4 pieces and practice each very slowly until the brain and figures, helped by a continuous air flow, begin to communicate with each other. Keep the right hand relaxed but ensure the fingers always move in a strong way, without tension.
The alternation between slurred and staccato elements is an essential component of the 1st movement so a strict observance, even exaggeration of the long lengths (i.e. short notes shorter, long notes longer) will help tremendously. The controlled use of vibrato is also an important factor in making Horovitz's solo music work well and excesses here (too much vibrato or no vibrato at all) can destroy a performance. Think like a singer and the rest is up to your personal good taste and preference.
The last phrase of the first movement can also cause problems, usually because the soloist has never really appreciated exactly what the pitches of the notes are, particularly the last six 1/16 notes . Practice it slowly and smoothly (without tongue) until everything is in place, then bring in the correct articulation (a controlled flat-style double tongue is probably the most efficient).
Great breath control and perfect tuning are essential for the success of the 2nd movement. This is one of the greatest slow movements ever composed for the euphonium; its beautifully shaped phrases and calm shifting harmonies can create an incredible atmosphere in a live concert. So the soloist must keep relaxed and rely on the flow of air through the instrument to sustain the quality of the tone throughout. I recommend students to record themselves practicing and then a process of self-analysis can be helpful, listening carefully for an even sound throughout the bigger intervals and precise tuning, particularly in the higher notes. They will usually be sharp in this movement, so adjust valve slides/main slides/lips/triggers etc as necessary. Don't blame your instrument - audiences hate excuses!
Some rubato to the music will also help the feeling so keep the music flowing gently forwards all the time, not too static. The end of the movement is quite memorable, 14 measures of middle concert A; sounds easy, but it is not. It demands total control of the tone, the ability to allow the volume to rise and fall as directed whilst keeping the tuning perfect and gently re-articulating as required. Although it is very slow, practice it slower than you intend to play it, getting used to the time passing very slowly. Not unrelated to this is the need to keep oneself in good physical condition to play a major solo piece, with the need for sustained concentration and the ability to provide a constant high-quality air supply both being dependant on reasonably good health; jogging, swimming, walking, sensible diet etc all help greatly in the preparation for musical excellence in performance.
The 3rd movement allows the soloist the chance to show off technical prowess but Horovitz doesnât make it easy for us, with many of the fast passages needing very careful preparation for the fingers and the use of a metronome in rehearsal is essential to keep the notes even-paced and clear. The mood is again joyous and almost pompous, and like the first movement very clear attention to note lengths, particularly the contrast between long and short notes is vital. In preparing for this Concerto it is the desire to make the piece sound easy that drives me to practice it more; simply getting through without Îinjuryâ is not enough. Consider the champion bullfighter of Spain, he doesnât run around madly trying to escape the charging bull, but "plays" it with ease to the amazement of the audience. I have many such strange analogies in my head but I try to keep most of them to myself!
Keep the music rhythmic, feeling the pulse of the metre and even in the hardest passages keep a rhythmic feel to it (6 before I). Try to find if any "alternative" fingerings will help keep the smoothness, for example middle concert D on 1/2 instead of 0 and concert G and low D on 3 instead of 1/2. What is easy for one player may seem more awkward to the next so you have to find your own solution to the problems.
By keeping a daily routine covering all aspects of "normal" valve technique the player should not find any of the passages unplayable but will still need to slow the music down to get it right before playing it in tempo.
Try to rehearse with the accompaniment when you can. If you are to perform with a band or orchestra, familiarise yourself with the accompaniment before you get what will probably be very limited time with the large ensemble. If you are to play with band then the need for constant projection of sound also has to be a focus of your thoughts in rehearsal; if the audience cannot hear clearly what you are doing then there's not point you playing ! Rehearse in a variety of acoustic situations so that you are used to both dry and resonant halls and can easily adjust articulations/dynamics/note lengths for maximum effect. A dry acoustic will mean to need to play smoother and generally longer notes and a very resonant hall will demand greater clarity of tonguing and cleaner articulation.
As the music challenges are overcome with patient practice so the confidence of the performer should also grow and the psychological aspect of performing becomes one of enjoying the prospect of playing the piece to the public rather than the fear of what could go wrong. It is in this vital final step that so many students fall. Be clear in your mind that you are the master of the music, enjoying the act of giving your interpretation of the notes to an audience. The study of a major work, such as the Horovitz Concerto is a rewarding and challenging experience and after one or even ten performances the dedicated musician will still find ways of improving it, refining all aspects. I hope the above thoughts will be of benefit to all brass performers.
-Steven Mead, August 2000
Much of the music we play today seems to be 'technically' very difficult. That is to say we need to have great flexibility , fast fingers, super fast tongue action etc. Anyone who has ever taken part in , or adjudicated a solo contest can testify it is often the simple things that can go wrong. In slow movements of test pieces the quiet soft passages, lone entries, high sustained sections for exposed instruments are often the undoing of an otherwise successful performance. Similarly I often find with students nowadays the teaching of rhythmic playing has clearly not been thorough enough, nor the counting of exact note values, tied notes, rests. Triplets are often played in any rhythm apart from that which is mathematically correct. Many players only ever practice scales the night before an exam at school or college. Aren't we missing the point? You wouldn't pretend to be a qualified mechanic if you just like cars and have lots of tools in the garage. You have to learn the trade and keep learning it.
Music is a language . Like anyone who has travelled to France it is possible to get by with a basic knowledge and order 'one beer please!' To strike up a reasonable conversation with someone takes a little more practice and effort.
Whatever your practice time try to spend a sizable percentage , say 70% doing what 'experts' call the simple things: controlled flexibilities, long notes, scales and arpeggios (major and minor), single tongue exercises with metronome, the playing of classic melodies, soft playing, dotted rhythm exercises., mouthpiece practice, breathing exercises. And so the list goes on.
Much of my solo repertoire has got much more 'difficult' in recent years but the routine of getting the simple things right has not altered. If it has it is to get them even more right than before. In a world that seems to be constantly changing one thing remains. If you want to sound good on a brass instrument no lottery grant on its own is going to make you play better. Think of brass playing as a language that you sing through your instrument. The more disciplined your practice the more you will be able to communicate with people.
Stamina is the ability to sustain something at the strength at which you would like, in brass playing terms there are two kinds of stamina:
The breakdown of either is clear, one the result of lost concentration, the other from a muscle fatigue, usually , but not always in the ability to sustain the pitch and quality of high notes. The more subtle deficiencies include lack of flexibility, inability to play anything less than FORTE, lip vibration reduces due to excessive pressure and therefore tone production becomes like trying to fire a faulty rifle.
Stamina then requires active and continually quick mental thought processes and sustained use of correct breathing, blowing technique, body posture, embouchure position and sufficient relaxation to allow the body to continue to function for as long as necessary. How long is this ? It depends.
Nerves can take on many guises, and not all of them are by any means harmful. In fact that 'sense of occasion feel' can enable us to play better than ordinarily, with a real mental alertness organising our body to act in an unusually well coordinated way with strong powerful relaxed attitude to performance. The sense of importance created makes us think about the minutiae of performance details more than usual. The positive effect of the detailed thought can make all aspects of our preparation more detailed and therefore more thorough which gives us the confidence to play better. It is only with the negative effects of nerves that our performance starts to drop off, sometimes quite dramatically and inexplicably. We have to understand the individual topics to integrate them to a strong combination that can sustain and enhance our performing career.
It must seem to readers of the BB that I've been travelling with my euphonium for hundreds of years as many have been hearing of my exploits for some time! Well I enjoy my playing and have in the last 10 years or so been able to concentrate on professional solo playing around the world , while still trying to keep my feet on the ground and look after my family, teaching, private students , writing and other commitments at home. My 'job' has evolved; it was never advertised in the paper but I instinctively moved my career into a position where I was able to play the euphonium as much as possible and make a living from it.
When I left school in 1980 I was told that I'd never earn a living from the euphonium , unless I joined a military band , so why not play the trombone or tuba. I stuck to my guns and after three years at Bristol University and then teaching training at Bath moved to the Midlands to get a real job, teaching at deFerrers High School in Burton on Trent and playing with the Desford Colliery Band. It goes without saying it was a fantastic time to have joined the Band and the atmosphere in the Band was electric. I practiced at school from early morning and then as soon as extra-curricular activities were finished around 6pm, went directly to the band room or stayed at school till 9pm to practice. I was single then !!
Practice makes you lucky so they say and I've never lost the urge to play, I'm a practice junkie , unfortunately. It paid off then and still does, as the solo engagements started coming in , mostly as a result of the exposure I was getting with Desford, and particularly through the BBC Best of Brass . The travelling initially had to fit precariously between Band and school commitments and soon there were not many gaps , as the Band was really busy in the mid-eighties. I also enjoyed early traveling with the Young Ambassadors Brass Band for some years, at school vacation time, although I usually needed a week to get over them, as anyone who has played with the Band will testify !! The regularity of the solo concerts increased to the point where in 1989 I left Desford , to concentrate on nurturing something I seemed to enjoy and for which the demand was certainly there. The high school headmaster was incredibly supportive and allowed me far more time off than he was ever really able to justify to other members of staff, but I will be forever grateful for him to allow me to be able to make the adjustment from high school music teacher to full time euphonium soloist and teacher at schools such as the Royal Academy, Birmingham Conservatoire and now more the ever, the RNCM in Manchester.
My schedule each year , on average, sees me out of the country about 150 , incorporating about 75 concerts and workshops. It has developed year by year and I meet many young players who wish it could happen overnight. Believe me it doesn't and you need to have the following attributes to prepare you for a life style where no two weeks are ever the same, leading what is sometimes a nomadic existence in foreign airports and hotels , constantly worrying about getting practice time and the euphonium not getting any knocks. (Incidentally I never 'check' the euphonium as luggage. I've seen too many instances of destroyed brass instruments courtesy of the airline companies. Whatever they say they really don't care and if you arrive at a destination with a smashed bell you have serious problem. I use a gig back and a smile !! In about 20 years of travelling I've never had a serious problems with the airlines but my secret is never to give my instrument to anyone else. A simple but effective plan.)
So, cultivate the following:
The BB have asked me to share some of the main features of travelling/touring. Well , lets start with a fundamental truth, the music business is a people business. If you treat people in a friendly way and you are professional in your approach and do what you say you are going to do, you may well return to that band, town or country again. I have made so many friends through my travels I could and will one day write a book about it all. The funny stories are too numerous to mention: like being asked to play a short concert on a jumbo jet to Japan when the plane was not too full and the stewardesses were curious as to what a euphonium was. I did play , by the way ! Being chased by a guard dog at the back of Auckland airport who took exception to me practicing one evening on my way back from the New Zealand Band Championships in 1990. Touring stories last in the mind for a long time and most people who tell you about when their band went abroad tell you about everything except the concert !
It's good to stay focused on why people invite you to play . Being a seasoned traveller, you do find ways of looking after yourself and ensuring that not only are the concerts are successful , but you return home safely in one piece and that your family recognise when you do ! So a check list of important do's:
What spurs me on is the buzz you get from a concert that hits the mark, be it a concert for a town wind band in southern Germany where it seems the whole of the town has turned for the annual concert, or a youth fanfare band in the north of Holland, or a University Brass Band in Tokyo, a concerto with an orchestra in a large American city, or a concert with a small Salvation Army Brass Band. Each can be memorable for different reasons. I always hope that people will remember the concert for a long time and if they see you in 5 or 10 ten years time they'll talk to you about it and remind you what you played, what you said , what you were wearing, and its a great feeling to know you made a lasting impression. Live music is the best thing in the world. Even in the computer age we find ourselves there will always be a demand for musicians to be on a stage performing for people. The communication can be electric. Its unpredictability makes me practice hard for each concert, every one is important. As musicians your best advert is the quality of the music you make and every time you leave the country you represent yourself, your band or town and your country.
I feel I'm the luckiest person I know with a job that takes me around the world making music for people. The sacrifices are huge though if it is a chosen career and I know it won't last for ever either. One day I'll get a real job again.
The British tradition of euphonium playing is a proud one, dating back to the middle of the 19th century as brass bands became established and band contests became such an important genre in the largely working class towns and cities of the north of England. The pride and passion of playing with your local band, representing your industrial centre, your cotton mill, your engineering company, your village, your colliery has been the dynamo that has driven generations of talented brass virtuosi in the UK. The amateur tradition is still alive and well although it would be true to say that money has invaded the art form at the highest level of banding in the last 10 years or so as the gap between amateur and professional brass players has closed. In part the growth of brass band degree at higher education, music conservatories and universities has encouraged good young brass band players to find 'careers' in banding.
However for over a hundred years the UK has produced great euphonium players, playing exclusively within the brass band world, never with wind bands or symphony orchestras and the only solo appearances were with their own bands. The loyalty to their bands was as strong as family bonds. The sacrifice of their time, particularly in the summer when the bands went on tour, and in the weeks before major contests was almost total. The tuition they received was from within the brass band movement not from music conservatories. In euphonium terms euphonium tuition at such intuitions in the UK is only a phenomenon of the last 20 years.
In the early 70's as an enthusiastic teenager playing euphonium in Bournemouth on the south coast of England I quickly became aware that all the great euphonium players that I had began to listen to on LPs were way up in the north of England. (In US terms, just 'up the road' !!) . My grandfather would be at my parent's house on friday afternoons with a clutch of brass band records. We would sit listening to bands from 4.30 until my grandma would end proceedings around 7.30. He had his favourite players, some from the Salvation Army and some from contesting bands. We would discuss the tone colour of the players, the way the great players always made it sound so easy, so natural, so much space in the music, so much control. Sometimes we would listen to tracks over again, reveling in the great moments from famous brass bands discs. Even then two euphonium players would feature in our weekly chats, Trevor Groom and John Clough. Both had distinct sounds, immense presence in the sound of their respective bands, the GUS Band and the Black Dyke Mills Band.
From the early seventies I became an avid collector of their recordings. They became my role models. Every Saturday morning I would take the bus into the shopping precinct to the small specialist record shop that seemed to have all major brass band releases. Every solo track on the discs made it onto the cassette compilation that became my euphonium 'bible' for years.
So, as the century comes to its conclusion it gives my great pleasure to be able to write an appraisal and appreciation of these two gentlemen, still very much living I should add (!), and try to explain the motivating aspects of their early careers that turned them both into legends. It is not my intention to compare both players as such an exercise is pointless. They are such unique personalities the reader would benefit more, I believe, from their own individual stories. But first what they both have in common.
Trevor Groom and John Clough were both born in the 1930's :Trevor in 1934, John in 1937. Both spent their entire lives and band careers in one place , TG: Kettering, in the East Midlands of the UK, and JC: Bradford, North Yorkshire Both spent the most important years of their banding careers with one band, TG: 25 years with The GUS Band, JC: 28 years with The Black Dyke Mills Band.
Both were amateur players, TG: worked his entire career with three footwear companies in Kettering (retires in December this year), JC: is still an organ builder. Traditional brass band teachers, not professional brass instructors/players, trained both. Both had had an immense effect on the current generation of euphonium players, although almost unknown outside of the brass band world.
Trevor started playing a brass instrument as the result of an advert by the famous Munn and Feltons Band in Kettering who were starting a junior band. So long as you were 11 or over you could apply. The cost was one old English shilling per week, lessons were on Tuesday and Thursday. Trevor started age 10 (!) on the cornet, and also played at the Kettering SA Junior Band, sitting no.4 solo cornet. About a year later a vacancy arose on euphonium and much to his dismay the bandleader gave him a euphonium and told him to take it home and practice. Almost immediately he realized the hymn tunes arrangements for euphonium had interesting counter melodies with an individual part rather a section part as solo cornet. Very quickly Trevor's ability caught the ears of a couple of players in the senior band who worked at Munn and Feltons under Bert Sullivan the renowned euphonium soloist with the Band (later to become GUS). They fixed up a lesson with Bert, then in his mid-forties, who was to become the single most important influence in Trevor's life; a man small in stature, a hard, brusque Scot who was single-minded in his approach to playing the euphonium but who had an extraordinary feeling for musicality and sound. He lived just yards away >from the football ground in Kettering where Trevor met me to do this interview, and only 300 yards away from where Trevor then lived. His first lesson was a 6pm on a Monday evening. Bert being fanatical about time keeping opened the door as the doorbell rang. "Come in son, let me hear you play". Trevor showed him his instrument, an old 4 valve Salvation Army 'Bandmaster' euphonium. "Rubbish, rubbish, absolute rubbish, and you'll never play on that mouthpiece" (an old Triumphonic S.A.). Not a promising start!
"Blow me a middle C", was the next request. Duly done Trevor was told, "No don't be shy son, blow me a middle C." Trevor tried again. "No don't worry about me, you play me a middle C", then "Look we haven't much time, blow me a middle C". Trevor was thinking to himself by now, "This fella's deaf !". After several attempts without any positive response Bert walked over the piano and hammered out a concert Bb. Looking up at a beautiful glass chandelier in the middle of the room Bert said, " Look , I want you to make that ring, play underneath it and see if you can make it ring". "No, no, no, give here". Bert put his mouthpiece into Trevor's instrument and blew; powww !!, the chandelier burst into song. "Well son, we don't have much time now. On Saturday I'm going away on tour with the Band for 9 weeks. Come back to this house on September 12th and between now and then all you do for an hour every day is play a middle C and a bottom C, loud and long, nothing else, just do as I've told you". Trevor went home and told his father what had happened and that if Bert was to take him on a student it would be 7 shillings and sixpence per hour, (a days wages for Mr. Groom senior). Trevor did exactly as he was told, returning to Bert's house, a Tuesday as Trevor remembers.
The light shook and rang on the first gigantic middle C, "That's good, that's good! You've been doing as I said. You keep doing that me and you will get on just fine; I can turn you into a player". For the next seven years from the ages of 11 and 18 until Trevor joined the Army on national service Trevor had weekly lessons.
I first took lessons from Trevor when I was 16 years old, in 1978, travelling from Bournemouth to Kettering by train on Saturday morning, a journey of 3 Õ hours. He would meet me from the station and take me to the same Salvation Army Hall and would spend 2 hours putting me through my paces, telling me the things he was instructed to do by Bert Sullivan. Now, 21 years later, Trevor recalls the methods again with the same 'crystal' clarity, with even more detail as then. Bert once told Trevor to take a table tennis ball from the cupboard, to take it upstairs and wash it and then put it in his mouth. After a few minutes, remove it, then re-insert it. This went on a few more times. Every time picked his instrument up he was asked to imagine the sensation of the ball and the space it generated. Keep the lips open , enough to make them buzz. He also shifted Trevor's embouchure position down as the mouthpiece was too low on the face. During most of the early lessons Bert would make Trevor play low G for 30 to 40 minutes, then alternating between middle G and low G, m.p. with good full sound, never moving the embouchure at all. In melody playing Bert always demanded the phrasing to be exactly with the words, and insisted on equal toned cantabile playing. If a note didn't have enough sound Bert would immediately shout "Stop stop stop !"
"It's like riding a bike " Bert would say. "When it goes along on the flat you have to pedal, when you go up you have to pedal harder. You may think that when you come down a hill you can take your feet off the pedals, well that doesn't work on a euphonium, you have to pedal all the time". During our interview Trevor would often start singing the exercises he was given all those years ago. The link between singing and playing was never closer than in that generation of euphonium players.
Also it was a time of character building. Trevor once went to hear the famous Fodens Band and less than impressed by the performance of the solo euphonium player that night and Trevor made the mistake of telling Bert what he thought. "You what? He is very fine player. I will tell you something now, if you want to talk about other euphonium players you do it with your euphonium and not your mouth !"
Trevor was made to listen, think and blow and from this disciplined training flourished the supreme musical artist Trevor was to become. How many students would have the patience to endure such discipline nowadays? It's 54 years since Bert Sullivan began working on Trevor's sound and technique, and the thoroughness and value of the teaching is now passed down to all successive generations.
Trevor still claims the best playing he ever did in his life was when he was 17 year old and other players of his generation testify to this. It must have been sensational. His playing career all but finished two years later. He was hoping to play in a military Band during his 2 years military service with the Grenadiers but it never happened. He didn't play for two years. On leaving he was so frustrated that he couldn't play he thought he's never play again. A few days after leaving he met Bert Sullivan in town, "When are you coming round again?" Trevor told him he'd not played for so long he didn't see any point in continuing. A few days later there was a knock at the front door, as he opened the front door a euphonium came flying through the air with Bert standing a few paces back ! "Get upstairs and start practicing". He rejoined the Salvation Army Band for a couple of years until the call came from the famous brass band conductor Stanley Boddington to join the GUS Band. He was looking for a player to replace Bert Sullivan in about twelve months time and although Trevor was initially very skeptical the prospect of a better job with the company was appealing and the Band was of course, one of the biggest names in the band contest world. Trevor sat No.2 to Bert who was by this time starting to go a little deaf in both ears and whilst he didn't want to finish with the Band sensed it was inevitable, after 30 years at the top. Trevor's playing career really flourished in the GUS Band with Mr. Boddington being the next major musical influence, from about 1960. He was a master band trainer who always took pains to help and inspire his musicians rather than terrorize and embarrass. Often, following a rehearsal Boddington would re-write a passage a player had problems with, find the player on the factory floor the next morning and give it to him. "Try it like this, you might find it a bit easier ". Next rehearsal a little nod or a wink would indicate the player had got it right and no-one else in the band knew. When Trevor was on his feet as a soloist, Boddington would lean across and say "Show 'em how it's done, enjoy yourself". At that time everyone from the Band worked in the factory, including the conductor whose day job was that of welfare officer at the factory. Hard to believe for those not brought up in the UK brass band tradition I know, but it meant that in the week before a contest the band was available to rehearse twice a day, 11.15am-12.30pm, 4.30-6.30pm. Trevor collected recordings by all the other top euphonium players of the day, John Clough (Black Dyke) Len Withington (Wingates Band), Bob Davidson (Grimethorpe Colliery/Brighouse and Rastrick), Ben Lowrie (Grimethorpe Colliery) Frank Web (Cresswell Colliery) Geoff Whitham (Black Dyke), Marcus Cutts (Fairey Band) , Gareth Morgan (Morris Motors Band), Ian Craddock (Yorkshire Imperial), Jackie Argyle (Carlton Main). Trevor knew all the players and of course, they all had the highest respect for him.
When I asked him whether he thought his generation had superior players to today's young stars surprisingly he said no and reeled off the names of several of the leading UK players between the ages of 20-30 and cited the music education opportunities as being the major difference. Also he feels the new repertoire has challenged the technique much further than before taking range, stamina and flexibility to new levels. There may be others who disagree. Trevor is at times critical of himself saying his Arban exercises and 10 or 12 theme and variation solos should have been discarded earlier and new material sought out, but is realistic enough to acknowledge the audiences he was playing for knew what they like and liked what they knew. So 'Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms' or 'Facilita' would always get double the applause of the Horovitz Euphonium Concerto, first performed by Trevor and the GUS Band at the Royal Albert Hall, London October 1972. He certainly feels he would have liked to do more as a soloist, on an international stage. On recordings he is certainly not as well represented as his talent would merit , with only about 11 or 12 LPs recorded during the 25 years with GUS and only a few solo tracks amongst those. Certainly a couple of full solo albums would be essential study material for any budding euphonium players today, but sadly none exist. So what were, or should I say are, the major qualities of Trevor's playing? The first word would have to be sound.
His sound is like no other I have ever heard and is a sound I try to hear in my head every time I play. The timbre is so rich it is like the most expensive smooth pate you could ever buy, if it was coffee is would be so strong your spoon would stand up in, if it was roast beef the aroma would make you hungry from a mile away. Truly a delicious combination but what makes everything more appealing is that the sound is carried by a live lyrical musicality in which every note has meaning. The years of study with Mr. Sullivan taught Trevor the value of every sound and nuance the euphonium could produce. The warm rich vibrato Trevor produced in his heyday meant his sound was recognizable in an instant. The sound was always singing.
His sound quality was as rich in the high register as it was in the pedal range. The airflow always strong and powerful to support the golden sound he heard in his head. He could play very strongly without ever making a harsh sound and at the other extreme could play so soft with a rich tone you thought it unfair!! His training was indeed a 'sound investment'. This was in fact the title of article Trevor did for the British Bandsman many years ago where I first came across his playing and teaching. To know the man is to know the musician too, as he is a man of the utmost integrity and character. Trevor Groom embodies musical sincerity, playing from the heart.
At the end of each lesson I took with Trevor in the late 1970's he never once accepted any money from me. "If you are keen enough to travel all this way to see me, I'm certainly not going to take any money from you" was the reply each time. When we arranged this interview Trevor said his house was quite hard to find so he'd meet me at the football ground car park in Kettering. On arriving some 10 minutes early Trevor was already there at the side of the road looking out for me, having walked the mile from his house.
Although he retired from contest banding with GUS (the band was re-named the Rigid Containers Group Band by the time he left!) in 1986, having won the Open Championship once, the National Championship three times and the World Championship on 1971, Trevor is still actively involved in the brass band scene, conducting a band (The Rushden Band) and guesting with local bands who find themselves short of a euphonium player, also playing from time with Kings Brass an occasional band made of the stars of Trevor's generation boasting a euphonium section of Trevor, John Clough and Lyndon Baglin. He is still modest in the extreme of his achievements as a player so it is for others to award the accolades. Trevor will never tell you what a great player he was. As his mentor suggested back in the late 1940's he let his instrument do all the talking. I hope at some time he will be persuaded to write a book about his career about the methods he adopted >from Bert Sullivan and about the immense pleasure pride and pleasure he took in playing the euphonium the way he did.
John Clough's similarities with Trevor's musical career as outlined at the beginning of this article are out-numbered by the differences, it must be said. Their approach to life and the euphonium were essentially different in many ways; they are different personalities, both immensely strong. John's achievements as a euphonium player with a top brass band in contests will never be equaled I believe, as top players just don't stay long enough in one band to record such numerous triumphs. He won 10 National Championships, 10 Open Championships and 7 European Championships, all but one with the same band, the famous Black Dyke Mills Band. As principal euphonium of this band for 25 years, (he was on cornet for 4 years prior to that) he set a standard in band playing which is the model for every aspiring band player to emulate. His wonderful control in the most extremely testing of conditions and a sound that could also dominate the bottom of the band was the envy of all other bands who competed at the Royal Albert Hall, the Belle Vue ( home for years to the British Open Championships ) and latterly the Free Trade Hall, Manchester. He never was, strange as it may seem , a real euphonium enthusiast in the strictest sense of the word, it just happened to be the instrument he was good at and the Band wanted him to play. A book of John Clough practice techniques, by his own admission would be a rather tardy little pamphlet (!) and he never liked practicing on his own and found the work schedule of the band kept him in shape . He played solos when the Band wanted him to, always doing a great job, and put his loyalty to the Band before everything else. He passion was the Band and helping it to be successful his aim. His ice cool performances on stage, often in front of 6000 highly critical and expectant band supporters at the big contests, always amazed players of his generation . His role in the Black Dyke Band , full of great players as they were in the 1960s and 70s, was pivotal to their success. So what were the key moments in the early career of John Clough that led to this unprecedented success?
He was born in Bradford in 1937 , began playing the cornet at the age of nine, then gave up after about a year. His teacher was a Mr. Clarkson, from a Salvation Army Band. He began playing again when he was eleven when he went to his secondary school and he first band was the Highfield School Band, initially on trumpet as his mother had bought him one, swapping it soon for a cornet. His first experience of the magical setting of the Belle Vue Hall, Manchester was in May 1948 , playing 3rd cornet with the school band. The following year he was on top solo cornet playing at Belle Vue for the next two year also. His first main band was Bradford Victoria, on principal cornet , a position he held for seven years, apart from a two year break for national service in which he served with the 5th Royal Inniskillen Dragoon Guards Band. Here he met some of the colleagues that were later to be in the Black Dyke Band.
He also was a member of the first National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (1952) sitting on the front row cornet section that included the great Maurice Murphy (principal cornet) and Richard Evans (current conductor of the JJB Leyland Band).
In 1960 came the opportunity to play with the Black Dyke Mills Band, joining on 3rd solo cornet for a while then onto 3rd cornet, playing for four years in the cornet section before a fateful move. His mentors at the time were Maurice Murphy and Willie Lang...no mention of any euphonium influences whatsoever yet !
His earliest strict brass instruction that he recalled to me was about projection. His teacher would hold a lit match at the end of the bell and john was told to play . If the match flickered he was told he wasn't 'blowing right' as he'd be directing the air rather than expanding it. Try blowing at a candle with your mouth open , it doesn't flicker nearly so wildly as if you purse you lips and blow an air column at it. He has never heard of anyone teaching like this before but it certainly worked for him as recordings can testify to the projection of sound John was capable of at all dynamics. His other teachers were Tom Atkinson and Arthur Atkinson. He claims he never really practiced for his teachers. He would look at the set exercises just before leaving to go the lesson and if something looked a bit 'tricky' he 's play it once , work out why it was difficult and went on his way, turned up at the lesson and played it !! "I think I've been lucky" said John during our interview .
Even now with the playing he still does he is able to go two to three weeks without touching the instrument, turn up at a concert and play and still turn on the magic. I hear you saying , 'it's just not fair'! John also said "Well perhaps if I'd practiced like Trevor I'd been a world-beater, I don't know. Trevor must have done a 1000 hours a year more than me and over 20 years that's 20000 hours . Is he really 20,000 hours better than me" !! Only Cloughie could say this !
Its clear though that the Band John was part of for all those years kept up such an incredibly high standard and was so busy (two rehearsals and two concert a week) , the days when the Band wasn't rehearsing or performing were rest days. "Match practice is better than rehearsal isn't it".But is was the contests that really mattered and when I asked him about the pressure of playing in such a band you said "Well if you didn't 'do it' at contests, you didn't do a next one". So you just got on with it and did it. The only occasion John recalled when he felt the pressure a bit was the 1987 National Championships when the test piece was Harmony music with the slow solo early in the piece that soars up to high concert D. Needless to say John played it perfectly but was able to remember feelings of anxiety in the moments before the solo. He left Black Dyke the following year. I asked him of the all the conductors he played under were there any that were particularly inspiring. After a short pause he replied, "Well I think it was the Band that motivated you to play your best". He enjoyed playing for Major Jaeger, Geoffrey Brand and at the period of the Band's greatest success Major Peter Parkes, with whom the Band certainly went through a 'purple' patch in the 1970's producing a tone colour and blend of sound that frankly has never been achieved since. It was a sound instantly recognizable, build from the bottom up that had a perfect blend of all the instruments. It was also a time where there were virtually no changes in personnel for 10 years. When I asked him to explain the 'secret' of the Bands sound and performance he said "We never changed anything, we always did things exactly the same way, on the contest stage , the week before". It was a winning formula; even the times of the rehearsal would never be changed from year to year. The Band discussed everything; every decision that was to be made was done by the Band. They auditioned every player in the same way, in front of the whole band. "We reckoned if they could play in front of the band they could play in front of the Albert Hall". Any new player had to play in the style of the Band, and they didn't take kindly to anyone who thought any different. Once a player was accepted into the Band they played for the Band in every sense of the word. John learned this the hard way when he first joined on cornet , on no.3 solo cornet. In the first concert he was obviously keen to impress and he was advised at the interval just to hold back a little as the leader of the section , Maurice Murphy was sitting at the other end of the line ! Shortly after that John moved to 3rd cornet. "It was done very nicely" as John recalls !
A vacancy arose on first baritone and at a band meeting, it was suggested that one of the cornet players should 'have a go' on baritone at the Albert Hall contest. John recalls "Every bugger turned round and look at me !" So he 'gave it a go' and after the contest went back on cornet . Shortly after that Geoff Whitham retired as solo euphonium and someone suggested to John that he might like to think about it. In a rehearsal Geoffrey Brand stopped the band and said, "Someone has suggested that you play solo euphonium. You've never blown a euphonium in your life and now you want to be solo euphonium. Want do you think about that ?" "Well, I've have a go" was the reply which possibly turned out to be one of the understatements of 20th century brass band history. "Well we don't want someone who's going to have a go, we want someone who's going to bloody do it". "Alright then I'll bloody do it". For those who have seen the movie 'Brassed Off', band room banter rarely gets milder than this!! There was only one in the Band who expressed dissent at the appointment , principal tenor horn Bernard Sutcliffe. The 1964 National Finals test piece was Variations on a Ninth, by Gilbert Vinter with a very busy and important solo euphonium part. John's performance on the day, his first ever at the R.A.H. on euphonium was tremendous. At the end of the performance Sutcliffe stood up , walked over to John and publicly shook his hand in congratulations. John said "He soared in my estimation, there couldn't have been a more public situation for Bernard to accept me".
I quizzed John if there was one out of all the contest-winning performances that was particularly special from his years at Black Dyke. The one he cited was a pleasant surprise at it was the first ever contest I went to (age 14) as a spectator at the R.A.H., having driven up from the south coast with my Dad. 'Sinfonietta, The Wayfarer' by Eric Ball was the test piece and Dyke were drawn to play number 15. The atmosphere built during the day and by the time the band resplendent in their black red and gold jackets settled down to play around 3.30pm you could have heard a pin drop. The gentle opening in the horn and low brass transfixed the audience (one judge told John later in the day the band had won by the end of the 16 bar opening). The solos from John , principal cornet Philip McCann and other principal players were all perfect and the conclusion totally magnificent. It was one of those performances that make the spine tingle whenever you think about it.
In terms of his solo playing at Black Dyke his approach couldn't have been more different from Trevor Groom. "I only got up because I had to. I got asked to go and solo with other bands or do some solos with piano and when I got there I'd say to myself, what the hell am I doing here? All I wanted to be was solo euphonium of Black Dyke Mills". When I asked him whether, if he had his time over again, would he like a career like mine he replied, "I think what you are doing with the euphonium is absolutely marvelous. To carve out a good living with a thing like a bloody euphonium is great". To hear this coming from one of my childhood idols was hysterically funny. He did say if he had his time over again he would do exactly the same again. What a proud achievement to boast. Sadly the way things have developed in his old band in recent years such longevity and stability and total dedication from the players is unlikely to repeat itself. John himself feels sad the golden age of brass banding he enjoyed is probably gone forever.
The proud traditions of brass banding stretch back a long way. John told an American visitor to the band room some years ago, "Do you realize when this band was formed (around 1840) you lot were still playing cowboys and Indians". Humour is never far away when John is around. John's advice to up and coming players is to always play musically, phrase sensitively. Don't ignore the basics, and learn to play important works >from our history first rather than some of the more difficult-sounding modern works that seem to have no meaning. Concentrate on good production, practice all the triple and double exercises really slowly and clearly. John estimates he made about 34 LPs with the Band so his expertise is preserved for future generations. There are several solo tracks on these and should be sought after by every serious euphonium student.
John Clough is a totally unique personality in the UK tradition of euphonium playing in the 2nd half of this century. He selfless dedication to his band allied to his refined and totally dependable band playing makes him undoubtedly one of the all-time greats. His sensitivity and musical feeling speaks through his instrument and is never disguised by his tough no-nonsense Yorkshire manner.
Perhaps the finest band euphonium player of all time. He has my vote.