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2010 Pioneer

Brass Technique Program

Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps & Color Guard


4601 West Holt Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53219
(414) 327-2847
www.pioneer-corps.org

Breath & Air Support


Breath
The most important concept in becoming a proficient brass musician is
the understanding and implementation of proper breath and air support.
With regard to clarity and simplicity, we will address the issue of
breathing with the following statements.
I.

The upper body (shoulders and upper back) should ALWAYS


remain relaxed so that the breathing passage is never
constricted while inhaling or exhaling.

II.

The throat must remain open so that there is no resistance and


no audible friction.

We will introduce several breathing exercises over the course of the


season. The importance of taking full, unrestricted breaths is paramount
in brass playing. Also taking into the account the physical nature of the
marching band activity, it is even more evident that there is a strong need
for control and efficiency in breathing.

Air Support
Proper air support is derived from the ability to breathe both properly and
efficiently. The support created through the exhalation of breath will
greatly increase the quality of sound achieved by both the individual and
the ensemble.
In order for correct air support to take place, a mastery of the principles
of correct and efficient breathing must be achieved.

See above, wash, rinse, repeat.

Attacks & Releases


Breathe, DAH!
Breathe together, play togetherThe concept of Breathe, DAH! has
stood the test of time across decades of marching arts ensembles.

The Reason? It works!


The goal of Breathe, DAH! is to ensure that we, as an ensemble, can
start phrases together.
In order to achieve accurate timing precision while on the field, both our
feet and our playing must be exactly locked in on the drum majors
hands.
In other words, in order to play together on Beat 1, we must all
rhythmically breathe (making sure to take in a full gulp of air) one beat
prior to your entrance. Late attacks are typically the result of either a
capped breath (stopping the airflow into the body) or poor timing.

Releases
Just as the concept of Breathe, DAH! is imperative to the starting of
phrases, the concept of a proper release is imperative to ending phrases.
In order to achieve this, you must BREATHE IN ON ALL RELEASES.
We must think of sending the sound out of the instrument and allowing it
to resonate, rather than capping the sound with an obstacle.

Embouchure & Aperture


Embouchure
Among all brass instruments, the basic concepts associated with the
correct formation of the embouchure remain the same.
I.

The corners of the mouth should be FIRM and STRONG with a


comfortable set position.

II.

The mouthpiece of the horn should be placed as close to


perpendicular on the lips as possible. Not too high or too low.

III.

The mouthpiece must always be brought to the same place on


the lips.

IV.

The jaw should be open and slightly withdrawn to allow proper


separation of the teeth. In the lower register, the jaw should be
withdrawn even more to allow for the flow of more air.

V.

Both lips must have enough flesh on the mouthpiece to allow for
a full, rich buzz.

Each member should be constantly aware of their embouchure formation


and the position of the mouthpiece on the lips.

Aperture
The aperture refers to the actual space between the lips that is created
after proper formation of the embouchure.
The center of the aperture should always remain loose and open to allow
for proper vibration when buzzing and to restrict the flow of air as little
as possible.

Articulation & Tongue Use


Articulation
LEGATO
A legato style of articulation should be used with no explosion in the
attack. dAAH is the most effective way to conceptualize a soft, clear
attack, utilizing less tongue and more tone.
The air starts the buzz, and the tongue gently taps the air stream to give
a defined start.

STACCATO
Contrary to popular belief, Staccato does NOT mean short, but rather
separated. While articulating staccato passages, make sure to create
equal blocks of sound and keep the air stream supported.
ALL NOTES, NO MATTER THE LENGTH, ARE OPEN-ENDED AND
REQUIRE A BREATH RELEASE!
The LAST thing we want to do is produce an articulation that sounds like
dit.

Tongue Use
Definition in regard to use of the tongue for articulation purposes is often
forgotten and not touched on until there is already a noticeable issue.
CORRECT TONGUING TECHNIQUE SHOULD ALWAYS BE USED,
REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION!

In order for proper use of the tongue to take place, care must be given to
ensuring that the tip of the tongue is striking the spot in which the top
front teeth meet the gums and then returns to its resting place on the
bottom of the mouth.
We must also understand the effect of utilizing the pitch of back of the
tongue to increase or reduce airflow. If the tongue is pitched too high, it
will restrict the airflow and cause the sound and quality of the buzz to
weaken. If the pitch is too low, the air will lose velocity and cause a
bottoming out of the buzz.

Free Buzzing & Mouthpiece Use


Free Buzzing
In regards to brass performance, one common thing is always forgotten:

Your Instrument Is Your Lips


Taking this into account, the ability to properly develop a full, rich buzz
without the hindrance of an amplifier (the mouthpiece or the horn) is
essential in your development as a brass musician.
Free buzzing gives the musician the ability to not only work on proper
formation of the embouchure and aperture, but to see and the feel the
affect that proper breath and air support has on the quality of the buzz.
Special attention should be paid towards using free buzzing in
conjunction with lip slur exercises as an opportunity to develop important
ear training skills that will become invaluable as we progress through the
season.

Mouthpiece Use
The first notes that you should play everyday should be on your
mouthpiece.
As this will only amplify the sound you are able to achieve through your
existing buzz, we must make sure to pay special attention to the type of
sound that we produce when utilizing our mouthpiece.

When rehearsing on the mouthpiece, a consistent look and technique


must be instituted across the entire brass section.
I.

The mouthpiece should be held between the thumb and two


forefingers of the left hand and be applied to the embouchure
with minimal pressure.

II.

When buzzing, strive for a dark, open and warm sound. If the
sound is too bright, drop the jaw and make sure the corners are
firm. If the sound is too muddy, firm the corners and ensure
that proper air support is being used.

III.

Correct posture should be maintained. Just because the


mouthpiece isnt your horn does not mean that breath and air
support should suffer due to laziness.

Intonation & Pitch Tendency


Intonation
As brass musicians, we must be constantly aware of the deficiencies that
exist naturally within our instruments and the applications that help to
correct those issues.
As we tune (with tuners), we more closely approach being what we call
on tone, meaning your instrument is resonating the frequency
commonly associated with a given note based on your particular
instrument. Once this is achieved, we attempt to become in tune with
each other as an ensemble.
In order to do this, we must rely on a series of overtones. Overtones are
pitches created from copasetic frequencies playing off of each other. For
example, if two Tubas are playing a concert Bb and are both on tone
and in tune, we would hear a concert F (perfect fifth) ringing above
them.
Because of their reliance on two elements being on tone and in tune,
overtones are only created when true harmony exists. Thus, overtones
are ALWAYS PERFECT.
This is the technique that we will focus on through the entire season AND
is something that you can take on with you through your performance in
other ensembles.

Pitch Tendency
Each horn will have a natural tendency to be either sharp or flat within
certain pitches. A thorough understanding of ones horn and its behavior
in relation to tuning will aid greatly in the ensembles ability to effectively
be on tone and in tune.
Within chords and in regard to intonation, we must also understand the
role of the different notes with the chord. In order to accomplish this task
of micro-tuning, you must know your place within the chord.
M3

Narrow by 15 cents

m3

Widen by 13 cents

P4

Narrow by 2 cents

P5

Widen by 2 cents

m7

Narrow by 4 cents

Yet another issue with pitch tendency that we encounter is the effect of
valves on intonation. For each valve or combination of valves, we have an
undesired affect on the pitch. In order to correct this, the appropriate
slide or lip adjustment must be made.
1

1 Step, Flat, Lip Up

Step, Sharp, Lip Down

1+2

Sharp, Use 1st Slide

2+3

Flat, Lip Up (NO SLIDE)

1+3

Sharp, Use 3rd Slide

1+2+3

Very Sharp, Use Slide 1 & 3

The last of the great issues is temperature.


Hot = Sharp

Cold = Flat

Balance, Blend & The Wall


Balance
Balance refers to the dynamic sensitivity between players. In order to
achieve our desired balance type, we must visualize the ensemble as a
sound pyramid.

The idea behind the pyramid is to illustrate that the most prominent
sound should be the bass voice and as you move up the pyramid, each
voice group above that should be heard a little less. This may also be
referred to as building from the bottom.
We will use this as the basis of our approach to balancing the brass
ensemble.

Blend
Blend refers to the characteristic colors and voices of each group of
instruments and how they relate to each other.
Blend issues will become apparent once the entire section is both on
tone as well as in tune and properly balanced.
When examining the concept of blending, we will look at the pyramid as
if it were a concentric circle in which each player strives to fill up the
circle of the lowest sounding voice.

It is through the effective use of first balancing, then blending, that we


can effectively utilize the overtone series on non-unison parts, leading to
a new level of performance ability.

The Wall
The Wall refers to a Wall of Sound. Much of what we do as a marching
arts ensemble relies heavily on the effect of everyone playing all the time.
Because our arena is outdoors and we dont have the acoustics of a
concert hall, our sound dissipates extremely quickly.
In order to create such a seamless sound, we must effectively utilize the
concept of stagger breathing. The basic rules of stagger breathing are:
I.

Do NOT break phrase connections.

II.

When you do breathe, take a full, rhythmic breath.

III.

When you breathe, it is okay to leave a note out.

IV.

After you breathe, play every note.

V.

Sneak in and sneak out. No one should know you took a breath.

By doing this, we will always have a solid Wall in which no parts or


colors are missing.

Marking Time & Step-Outs


Marking Time
Expanding on some of the concepts presented with the Attacks &
Releases material, a brass section will never be a great brass section if
they cannot play and move together.
In order to effectively practice this, marking time will be used many times
throughout brass rehearsal.
Perhaps its greatest contribution to your development as a great brass
section can be seen as a physical realization of musical concepts.
Keeping the feet in time will give way to better rhythmic timing in the
breath as well as give a visual cue to releases.

Step-Outs
For the same reason we utilize mark time, we will also utilize step-outs.
Step-outs will serve as a physical representation of the beginning of a
musical phrase, much as they do in representing the beginning of a visual
phrase in relation to drill.

The Arc, Breathing & Mouthpiece


The Arc
In regard to instrumental setup within brass rehearsal, we will utilize a
standard arc to appropriately acoustically balance the ensemble.
The arc, from left to right, should constitute:
I.

1st Trumpets

II.

2nd Trumpets

III.

3rd Trumpets

IV.

2nd Mellophone

V.

1st Mellophone

VI.

Tubas

VII.

Euphoniums

VIII.

3rd Baritone

IX.

2nd Baritone

X.

1st Baritone

It will be the responsibility of the Horn Sergeant to set the arc prior to
rehearsal beginning.

Breathing
As stated earlier in this guide, we will be using a myriad of breathing
exercises throughout the season to better serve our purposes of helping
to create a great brass ensemble.
While it is not practical to include details about the different exercises,
there are few terms that you will need to know in relation to concepts
that will be discussed pertaining breath and air support.
Capping the Breath
The term capping the breath refers to physically stopping the intake of
air during inhalation. We want to strive for a smooth, fluid motion when
both inhaling and exhaling.
Diaphragm
Although many of you have undoubtedly heard this term, it is a safe bet
to assume that youve never actually been told what the diaphragm really
is or how it actually works.
The diaphragm is a convex muscle attached to our ribcage that, when
contracted, creates a negative pressure inside us. This causes air to rush
in to balance the pressure.
In athletic breathing (brass playing included) other muscles, including the
intercostals (rib muscles) assist in creating this internal vacuum, thus
increasing the breathing capacity.
During exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes allowing for a natural release of
air. However, during athletic breathing, the intercostals as well as the
abdomen and lower back muscles will engage to literally push the air out.

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