Reaching Your Potential as a Member of a Wind Ensemble or Band

The word “ensemble” is French for “together.” Your goal, with your fellow musicians, is to unify all of the art and craft of each composition you play. Some important things to unify are intonation, style, dynamics and rhythm.

The first step toward playing in tune is to make a good tone. A poor tone is difficult to tune.
(Good tone = fast air + secure embouchure)
Playing in tune is the result of making the correct number of vibrations per second on any given note. Using a mechanical tuner can teach you three important things:

This means of measuring intonation is scientific and accurate, but in performance, the tuner will not be on! When playing with an ensemble, good intonation begins with each player making the same vibrations per second as anyone else on the same pitch. You must know how to adjust pitch from note to note as you play while maintaining a good tone. Always assume that you are the one who needs to adjust when arriving on a unison with another player.

A typical tuning scenario for an advanced Wind Ensemble:

Oboe plays “A” for woodwinds, “Bb” for brass.
Listen – play – adjust – stop
Woodwinds start with principal players matching oboe, and add other players down the line. Piccolo and Eb clarinet wait until the bulk of the group is playing to join in.
Brass begin with principal tubist matching oboe, then add from low to high instruments.

General rule while playing: “tune down.” Lower instruments establish the fundamentals, the overtones of which higher instruments must match.

Tuning chords: In diatonic music, chords sound better if we adjust our usual equal temperament to agree with the overtone series. Therefore, in a major chord, the root holds steady, the third should be lowered and the fifth should be raised. In a minor chord, the fifth is still raised but the minor third is also slightly raised.

General rule while playing: “style up.” Listen to “lead” players, like a good jazz ensemble does.

Unifying style: Start with the same syllable—make the same shape during the note itself—end the note the same way.

	Gentle beginning	Firm beginning
Lifted ending	Staccato	Short Marcato ^
Connect to next sound	Legato	Long Marcato > (some of these lift after at least half value)

Balance in bands relies on players to allow the bass sounds to be strongest and soprano sounds to be the lightest in tonal weight. Good balance may require you to change your concept of the dynamic you are reading.

Music is often divided into foreground and background. Foreground players play printed dynamics, background players play one level softer than printed.

In crescendo, diminuendo and more complex dynamic shapes, ensembles should unify dynamic contours.

A metronome provides a perfect and emotionless arbiter for passages which remain a constant tempo.

Goal 1: Play perfectly with a metronome (in rapid passages play under tempo, then increase)

Goal 2: Play in perfect pulse with the ensemble

Subdivision can be a superb method for maintaining tempo and analyzing rhythms. Many metronomes can be set to indicate subdivision. Ultimately a good player must internalize subdivision.

“Most music either sings or dances.”
Music that sings depends on the player to shape the melodic line into identifiable phrases. Tonal music from the Western civilization usually arches through a crescendo to a climax, then through a diminuendo. The length of each part of this arch and the point of climax have to be determined by the player or conductor.

Music that dances relies on meter, rhythm, articulation and agogic accents to define its performance. The downbeat of common meters is the strongest beat. All beats following that usually lead toward the next first beat in a bar. Rhythms imply their own system of weight for the tones involved. Articulations are addressed above (see “style”). Agogic accents are caused by variations in duration. Frequently, “big notes big, little notes little” can be applied to rhythmic music.

Solo playing vs. ensemble playing
In orchestral playing winds expect to function frequently as soloists. Composers treat wind ensemble players as both solo players and supporting ensemble. Ensemble playing is addressed above.

Solo players are expected to make a musical judgment for each solo encountered. Though the wind ensemble repertoire is not as well known as the orchestral, one may find recordings of most of our pieces and use them to guide solo interpretation, just like an orchestral musician would.

Part Preparation
Ideally, parts for each piece are posted in advance of rehearsals. Your responsibility is to come to the first rehearsal of that piece with the notes learned. A good player will already be forming opinions regarding style. Coming to rehearsal unprepared hampers the progress of the ensemble.

Conclusion
Tone should always be your first priority. Are you playing with your best sound? Never play louder or softer than your best sound, no matter what dynamic marking you encounter. When tone is the first priority of every member of an ensemble, the ensemble will unify all musical elements with greater ease, resulting in a more enjoyable musical experience for both conductor and students.

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The Texas School Music Project is a source for ideas and information concerning pedagogical practices in the music classroom or rehearsal hall. The TSMP is a service provided to all music specialists by the faculty of the Department of Music at Stephen F. Austin State University.
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