False Tones in the Low Register
by
, 06-28-2013 at 06:48 PM (31492 Views)
We all know how brass instruments work, right? Without using any valves, our instruments are like a Boy Scout bugle - there are a bunch of relatively fixed notes available over the range of the horn (the partial series). We can bend each one a little flatter or sharper to match pitch with other players on the same note, but most of us can't bend as much as a half step dependably.
While I was in high school I discovered an exception to that limitation. I learned that I could start on a pedal Bb and lip it up a full 3rd (or a 4th on a good day). It was approximately as smooth as a slide trombone's gliss, but it was a little hard to control.
Because the upper range of this "gliss zone" is about a D concert, and because that is a fairly firm ceiling, I find it workable to get a chromatic scale down from the pushed-up D by using the same fingerings I would use two octaves higher (0, 2, 1, 12). Or if you can push the top of the false tones up to Eb, then play the D with 2nd, and continue down with 1, 12, and 23.
Back in high school I got to be pretty good at producing these pitches. However, I would not say I had perfected the technique, and I certainly would not have wanted to use them in a solo.
Many years later I heard this technique demonstrated by a professional. During some of my Coast Guard Band years I played trombone in our jazz ensemble. For one concert we had as our guest artist the great studio/jazz trombonist Bill Watrous. I always knew he had a terrific lyrical style, terrific ad-libbing abilities and technique, and a very terrific high register. But during one of his cadenzas he showed me a slightly different side of his playing. He was somewhere up in the stratosphere and then did a diatonic scale down to a pedal Eb. This was on a "straight" trombone (no F attachment) so he had to cover the no-mans-land between low E and pedal Bb using false tones. The thing was, though, it didn't sound like he was using false tones. He just played a scale, and it sounded fine.
Try it yourself. Play the pedal Bb, let your tone close (pinch) a little, and try to move the pitch up. It seems to be easier on a small-bore euphonium than a large-bore horn, but I can still get the effect on my Adams with a .592" bore. I haven't tried it on tuba, but I assume it is about as easy to do.
I have not figured out a good use for this skill on a 4-valve instrument, but I think working on this can contribute to flexibility in general, and may make one more comfortable lipping down the dreaded low B-natural (concert, played with 1234). Of course, on a 3-valve instrument it can be useful. And tuba players tell me it is absolutely essential on a 3-valve EEb tuba.
Also, I believe the technique works differently on trombone. At least today, at this point in my non-trombone-inclusive practice habits, I can't push the pedal Bb up. If I remember correctly from my earlier days, one needs to lip downward from the general area of Low F/E. But if your experience has been different, please comment.
If you just decided to try this technique (or have in the past) please post a comment about it.