Ensemble Playing How can you do it well? - Scott Hartman

Our goal as a member of a musical ensemble: A) to bring a musical opinion to the table B) to have the ability to express it C) to have the capability to enhance/enable musical expression throughout the ensemble.

Our goal as a member of a musical ensemble: A) to bring a musical opinion to the table B) to have the ability to express it C) to have the capability to enhance/enable musical expression throughout the ensemble.

A) Developing your musical opinion listen and absorb observe others be discerning develop your constructive/critical skills

Our goal as a member of a musical ensemble: A) to bring a musical opinion to the table B) to have the ability to express it C) to have the capability to enhance/enable musical expression throughout the ensemble.

B) Developing your ability to express yourself musically  Remember, music is a form of communication, i.e., a language. The more fluent we become in our musical language, the better we will be able to express ourselves.

B) Developing your ability to express yourself musically What is a ‘Musical’ Language??? Spoken Language Musical Language words musical gestures (words are) vowels + consonants articulation, timbre words make sentences, stories phrases, melodies emotion, attitude dynamics, timbre rhythmic cadence rhythm, meter form, structure form, structure conversations countermelodies, harmony

B) Developing your ability to express yourself musically Music is often called the ‘Universal Language’  Just as there are hundreds of spoken languages and dialects - there are hundreds of ‘styles’ of musical language If you are making music together - everyone should be speaking the same language!

B) Developing your ability to express yourself musically This is where technique comes in …what is technique? 

B) Developing your ability to express yourself musically My definition of Technique Technique is anything that I do or think in order to communicate my musical ideas. So, as you develop your musical fluency you develop your technical fluency and visa versa.

Our goal as a member of a musical ensemble: A) to bring a musical opinion to the table B) to have the ability to express it C) to have the capability to enhance/enable musical expression throughout the ensemble.

C) Developing your ability to musically enhance an ensemble OK, let’s get together and play. Where’s the melody? What is the harmony? What’s the tempo, what’s the meter? What’s the style? Is it really all on the page?? If we’ve got to agree in Pitch, Timbre, Melody, Harmony, Dynamics, Articulations, Rhythm, Form and Structure – how do we decide?

C) Developing your ability to musically enhance an ensemble Finding the ‘Zone’ The Law of Inertia, ‘an object in motion tends to remain in motion, an object at rest tends to remain at rest.’ In Ensemble playing, ‘an ensemble in sync tends to remain in sync, an ensemble in chaos tends to end rehearsal early’

C) Developing your ability to musically enhance an ensemble Without a conductor to tell us what to do, we are responsible to do it all ourselves! Try this… #1 – Listen #2 – Trust your intuitions #3 – Do what seems natural Then try some of these ideas…

C) Developing your ability to enhance an ensemble I. Leading and Following Ensemble playing, even in unison, is more comfortable with a lead or dominant voice. The best ensembles have members that can both lead musically and support gracefully depending on the function of their part. Leading and 'following' are the obviously related since they are just two perspectives on the same techniques. As we understand these techniques better and better, we become both better ensemble musicians and solo performers.

C) Developing your ability to enhance an ensemble I. Leading and Following  Our musical personalities often predispose us towards being a dominant player or a supportive 'team' player, depending on our musical default setting.  Be aware that the roles, dominant/supportive, are not always rigid or obvious. Often a musical line will have elements of both, complimenting the other lines without dominating or being too passive. An excellent ensemble musician will find ways to imply the characteristics of leading or supporting depending upon the musical line.  A truly dominant voice is easy to track and should be played and perceived as complete by itself. The supportive voice fits within the dynamic context that the dominant voice sets.

C) Developing your ability to enhance an ensemble II. Time Music is rhythmic sound. Without a rhythmic context an ensemble has very little to relate to one another. Be together! To be together, people need to be able to anticipate when to play with confidence. You can’t follow, you must be able to anticipate! Music normally has a rhythmic framework, i.e., a meter or ‘the Groove’. Use sympathetic movement to play together, breathe together, watch and ‘move’ vicariously through others (conductor, section leader), watch the leader for finger/valve movement.

C) Developing your ability to enhance an ensemble III. Articulation  same sound/style of articulation  equal force of articulation from each person

C) Developing your ability to enhance an ensemble IV. Pitch  practice unisons and octaves with one other person. Switch parts.  good intonation tools: Tuning CD, Tuning drones, Smart Music, other software

C) Developing your ability to enhance an ensemble V. Timbre 1. match tonecolor/overtones 2. allow your tone to blend with sounds around you! (both as a lead voice and as a supporting voice) 3. sometimes you’ll want to match vibrato as well

C) Developing your ability to enhance an ensemble VI. Dynamics 1. The music itself has an inherent style and dynamic range that reflects what the music has to say. Context trumps the written dynamics – let the music play itself!! 2. Players must be aware of dynamics in other parts. 3. The instrumentation of the ensemble and the ensemble’s interpretation dictate what the appropriate dynamic range should be.