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Thread: morceau symphonique

  1. morceau symphonique

    So I am a senior at my small high school, now I am working on Morceau Symphonique for solo contest and i just switched from a besson 6 to a DW 4 and am having trouble adjusting the new deeper cup. Is there anyone who would suggest something as far as technique for getting the notes out?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    178

    morceau symphonique

    Whenever I went to a deeper mouthpiece, it was just a matter of getting used to it. Think of it like driving a new car. You need to spend some real time getting used to it. In time, the notes will come.

    If it's a matter of reaching those high notes with your new acquisition, Dave Werden has some good advice on building your upper register. If anything, you'll reach your goals quicker and pick up some good habits.

  3. morceau symphonique

    ok, getting used to this mouth piece is the first thing I'll do. Has anyone one else played this? If so i could use some musical suggestions

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    178

    morceau symphonique

    Playing Morceau Symphonique is kind of like an actor doing Hamlet. It has a fairly standard approach. The first step would be to iTune it. Thinking back to when I played this in college, I seem to remember a great recording of it by Christian Lindberg.

    Judges hear this one fairly often. I'm not sure how your high range is, but the folks who have judged this for contest seem to have the same complaint: There are too many high schoolers playing this who are not prepared to handle its range. In the grand scheme, it's not too high, but when you're very, very much in the developmental stage of your playing, it can be a challenge. I guess from here, as mentioned before, you should work to strengthen your upper register. It's not enough just to hit the notes. You want them played solid and centered and sounding as if it doesn't take a whole lot of effort.

    When approaching these higher passages, try playing them an octave down to get the idea in your head. It makes playing higher much, much easier when you already know how it should sound like.

  5. morceau symphonique

    Good points so far made by uieuph. I have a few suggestions regarding both your new mouthpiece, and Morceau Symphonique. As far as the mouthpiece goes, I agree with uieuph, you should definitely take a bit of time to make yourself used to the new mouthpiece. Take plenty of time over the next few weeks and months to go over old etudes and warm up drills/exercises that you had been taught on your previous mouthpiece. You want to essentially take the music and exercises that were very familiar to you on your old mouthpiece and play them all as a way to get used to your new mouthpiece. I mean, just playing on your new mouthpiece you are going to get used to it, but we want to make the learning curve as short as possible.

    Regarding the Morceau Symphonique. It is a piece that is just about as standard as it can get for Trombone and Euphonium players. While this piece offers some challenges for euphonium players, it generally is a very satisfying piece to play. I do agree with uieuph on the point that an adjudicator might be a little bit annoyed to listen to high schoolers playing pieces that have technical requirements that are a bit beyond their current ability, and might be more satisfied to listen to a student who is playing something that is more appropriate for his/her skill level. This is not to say that it is not a good thing to push yourself to develop your abilities (including your comfort in the high range), but as uieuph said it is not simply enough to just be able to play the high notes. It is important to be able to effortlessly leap from a middle E natural to a high C sharp (a major sixth), slot the note and play it with good tone and intonation, and be able to do it while in a concert situation that will probably have you playing a bit more tense than normal, increased adrenaline... well, you get the picture. While many of the things that I have said so far may have sounded negative, I don't really want to discourage you from playing this solo. I just want you to be able to make an accurate decision as to whether you should be playing the Morceau Symphonique, or picking another solo to play that is more appropriate to your level. If you feel that you can comfortably handle the challenges that are provided by this solo in a concert setting, then I would absolutely encourage you to give it your best shot. You didn't mention whether or not you are currently taking private lessons. If you aren't then I would really encourage you to, especially since you said that you are playing this as a solo for contest.

    Uieuph mentioned that you should iTunes the solo... well... lucky for us, we have an absolutely phenomenal recording available to us on this website. It is a wonderful recording of Dave Werden performing it with the Coast Guard Band. Here's the link:
    http://www.dwerden.com/DW-recordings.cfm

    Good luck with the solo, and enjoy the recording!
    Gregory E. Lopes
    Euphonium player
    US Navy Band Great Lakes
    US Navy Music Program, 2009-Present

    Besson Prestige 2052

  6. morceau symphonique

    I just started my private lessons a few weeks ago. So I am just starting out on this piece the range isn't bad, but the tunning on it is like the concert G comes out as a F sometimes. So I'm faced with figuring this out and having trouble with it.

  7. morceau symphonique

    Keep working at producing the high notes the right way - plenty of air and a firm foundation with the corners of your mouth. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that losing security (or even the ability to play at all) in the high register is a common response to a bigger mouthpiece. The good news is that, if you use this opportunity to continue building a proper embouchure instead of trying to force the notes out with pressure or by diverting the air by puffing your cheeks (the problem I faced that I am now paying dearly for now), you will make great leaps ahead with your work on this piece. Good luck!

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