Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Euphonium under adverse circumstances

  1. Euphonium under adverse circumstances

    Shortly after Christmas I came across a couple of youtube videos of euphonium performances and instantly fell in love with the instrument. Prior to that I had not even known of its existence.

    Well, I just checked the calendar and as it turns out, I have been owning a euphonium and practicing on it for exactly two weeks, now.

    The wealth of information on this forum is helping a lot. Where I live there does not seem to be much of a tradition, when it comes to the euphonium. When I read through the discussions here and compared what the local online stores had on offer, I was still not fully convinced, the whole thing was a good idea. Although I have a musical background, there is not much experience with wind instruments to speak of, and picking up a new instrument in your mid-thirties may not be as easy as one would like. I do not know of any local euphonium teachers. On top of that my, current housing situation (apartment building, thin walls) seemed to make practice at home almost unfeasible.

    In the end, I found a good offer for a used euphonium, I just could not let pass. I ordered the instrument, a practice mute and a tutor book. I regret nothing.

    What can you achieve in two weeks? At this point I am playing simple tunes within about an octave and a half worth of tones from sheet music (please don’t ask about tone quality...).
    Practice time is sort of self-limiting due to muscle fatigue. I try to practice in the morning, so that I might do some more in the evening, but sometimes my lips just say ‘nope’.

    Things I am a bit worried about include the possibility of picking up a whole zoo of bad habits, because I do not have a teacher to correct me. After the first week I signed up for a course of instructional videos, online, and that is definitely something I would recommend for someone under similar circumstances. It already helped me to correct quite a few things about how I approach the instrument.
    Another thing is the practice mute. One could argue that I am not really learning to play the euphonium but rather the euphonium-with-a-practice-mute-in-it. Unfortunately that is something I cannot do much about, right now. I am looking forward to warmer weather and will try to get into the habit of practicing outdoors, on a regular base. Hopefully the euphonium-with-a-practice-mute-in-it skills will transfer to euphonium skills

    Thanks for the forum! I will post an update later this year, if anyone is interested.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Hidden Valley, AZ
    Posts
    1,034
    Good on you! Keep it up, and try and spend more time without that mute.

    Convince your neighbors it is good for them, too.

    Dennis

  3. #3
    Welcome to the forum, and you can be proud of your efforts!

    A practice mute does a few bad things, and it's hard to avoid them. It ruins your audible tone (while the mute is in), messes up intonation, and it makes the extreme ranges somewhere between hard and impossible. I assume you're not worrying about the extreme ranges yet, so that's not a problem. You'll just have to more-or-less ignore intonation issues.

    BUT... otherwise you can work for quality results. I've found that when I have used a mute extensively, once I open the horn my tone is more solid. That's kind of a free bonus.

    Work for even attacks on all notes, and work on your different type of attacks (more or less "point" to the front of them). Work on sustaining notes at a steady volume and pitch. Work on quick, clean finger actions between notes. And you can still work on musicality. Lots to do, which will get you some positive results. Then just think how much fun you'll have when you are in a room where you can take out the mute!
    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

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
    1,870
    Excellent, Bob Kent!! Good for you. I don't know your financial situation, but if you can afford to get the Yamaha Silent Mute for Euphonium, you will have a much better experience. It is a mute you put in the horn, but there is a pickup that goes to a control module and you wear earphones. What you hear is a euphonium, rather than the sort of lousy sound you hear with a mute in the horn. Do a Goggle search for the Yamaha Silent Mute and read about it. For sure if you are going to be in the situation you are in for a considerable amount of time, you would really be much happier with this product.

    If you live near a school or church, these are likely spots where you might be able to go to play from time to time without a mute.

    If there truly are no teachers around, consider this: https://www.udemy.com/intermediate-euphonium/ Brian Bowman is a terrific player and teacher and known around the world.

    Good luck in your endeavors. You have picked the most wonderful instrument in the world. Go master it!!
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  5. Thank you for the advice and encouragement.
    I will try to work out something to get more mute-free practice time in.

    Quote Originally Posted by John Morgan View Post
    I don't know your financial situation, but if you can afford to get the Yamaha Silent Mute for Euphonium, you will have a much better experience.
    This is the one I got. It felt somewhat pricey for what it is, but even the current model can be had used. So, along with a used instrument and a used stand it did fit my limited budget.

    Quote Originally Posted by John Morgan View Post
    If there truly are no teachers around, consider this: https://www.udemy.com/intermediate-euphonium/ Brian Bowman is a terrific player and teacher and known around the world.
    Again, this is exactly what I got, I think I had read about it in another thread here on the forum. At the moment the four Bowman courses seem to be on sale for $15 each.

  6. #6
    You are correct. The Udemy course with Brian Bowman (and their other courses, I think) are being offered for $15. Pretty great deal!!
    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

Posting Permissions

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