Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 16

Thread: Help Appreciated

  1. #1

    Help Appreciated

    Hello everyone. I'm currently a euphonium player in my highschool who has been playing for a little over 3 years now. I want to become better at the instrument and would like to hear all of your suggestions on how to do so. Thanks for your time.

  2. Help Appreciated

    Do you have any specific areas you want to improve on?

    I'll give you some general advice. The most important thing is to practice. If you don't practice regularly, it would be a good thing to start doing. And when you practice, make sure you are actually practicing, not just running through some music. Warm ups are very important. A metronome is a great tool to have. It will your rhythms more than any other thing. Also, taking private lessons is a great way to improve your playing, if you have the ability to do so. If you already are taking lessons, I suggest asking you lessons teacher what you can do to improve. That is just some basic general advice. If you have a specific area of your playing that you want to improve, let us know. Good luck.

  3. #3

    Help Appreciated

    Hrm... thanks. I do have specific areas that i would like to improve on. Those are getting a better tone, and tonging (you know what i mean, hehe). What might ya suggest for that?

  4. Help Appreciated

    Your horn and you mouthpiece will affect your tone. While the player (in my opinion), has more impact on the tone than the equipment, the equipment still does factor into the tone. What horn and mouthpiece are you playing on right now? Is it a school-owned horn? You should have a fairly speficic idea of what you are trying to acomplish when changing a mouthpiece, and improving tone and articulations is a pretty good idea (in my opinion). You might want to check out the mouthpiece forum to get some more ideas. You emboshure (spelling?) is has big impact on your tone, but that is not something I can really explain over the internet. Also, make sure you are supporting your notes with enough air. Not using enough air will affect your tone.

    As for tounging, I think Mr. Werden wrote something on double and tripple tounging in the blog found on this site. You might want to check that out.

  5. #5

    Help Appreciated

    At the moment, I'm not really sure what euphonium I am using. It is a school owned one. The mouthpiece I am currently using is a Bach 6 1/2 AL. What kind of things in equipment affect tone and how do they affect it? Thanks for your help.

  6. #6

    Help Appreciated

    As well as practice and a good teacher, I think it is as important to know what the range of good euphonium sound is. I would recommend beginning to build a library of CDs by the great players. They are not cheap, and always have to be mail ordered, but diligent listening to a $25 CD, over time, can pay as much of a divident as any $25 lesson from a teacher.


  7. #7

    Help Appreciated

    Originally posted by: Huami

    I do have specific areas that i would like to improve on. Those are getting a better tone, and tonging (you know what i mean, hehe). What might ya suggest for that?
    Might I (humbly) suggest you pick up the Brass Player's Cookbook. There are articles by 57 brass players / teachers. My own contribution is an article on developing proper euphonium sound and style, even if you don't study regular with a euphonium teacher. I think you will find a lot of good advice in the book (I've certainly benefited from reading all those articles), and you can find it on my page of Euphonium Resources:

    Euphonium Resources Page
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  8. #8

    Help Appreciated

    Who might you suggest me listening to and what should I look for when listening to another euphonium player? Of course tone is important, but what else would someone who is more experienced such as yourself might notice?

  9. #9

    Help Appreciated

    Originally posted by: Huami

    Who might you suggest me listening to and what should I look for when listening to another euphonium player? Of course tone is important, but what else would someone who is more experienced such as yourself might notice?
    If you read my article in the book, you will see that I don't usually recommend listing only to euphonium players, so don't forget to diversify!

    If possible listen to diverse euphonium players. You will hear different styles, and you may want to choose the best strengths of each to emulate. On this website you can find free recordings of me, Phil Franke, Brian Bowman, for example. (Free is good!) You can also find some of my favorites in the Tuba-Euphonium store:

    Amazon Tuba-Euphonium Store

    I'd especially suggest the Golden Age of Brass by Michael Colburn. He is now the conductor of the Marine Band and was previously their euphonium soloist. But there are many other good recordings, including those by Adam Frey, Eufish by Mark Fisher, and many others. Naturally you want recordings by Steve Mead. You might also pick up the recordings of Arthur Lehman and Earle Louder, which are both mentioned on my blog. (I'm not leaving anyone out on purpose - we are just lucky enough to have LOTS of euphonium recording artist to choose from.)

    WHAT to listen for? Tone color and tone variety, use and quality of vibrato (and variety), dynamic range, musical expression, articulation, and rhythm all come to mind.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    178

    Help Appreciated

    I think the best CD I have that has given me the best example of tone is Steve Mead's Belle Italia. He displays remarkable tone one each and every note no matter how small which is quite an achievement.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •