Sing, Buzz, Play

A widely accepted adage with respect to sequencing in brass pedagogy is Sing-Buzz-Play. The human voice is the most natural instrument we possess, and instrumentalists spend a good deal of time trying to replicate its tone and expressiveness. If beginning students...

Basic Principles

Detailing a complete curriculum for beginning students based on the concept of audiation is beyond the scope of a website designed for university students in brass techniques courses; however, preservice music teachers should carefully reflect on certain basic...

Audiation

Musicians depend on good aural perception and understanding of musical sound to perform accurately, expressively, and in response to others in performance. All instruments present their own challenges, but skills in pitch and rhythm recognition and manipulation are...

Why the Math Doesn’t Add Up

There’s a very good reason why valved brass instruments can never be completely in tune without adjustments (trombone players like to hold this above the rest of the section). To lower a length of tubing by a half step, approximately 6% of additional total...