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EUPHONIUM TIPS FOR PLAYERS &

STUDENTS - From NorlanBewley.com
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"Establish Priorities – Order Of Importance"

When you learn your music, it is very useful to establish

priorities so that you have an order of importance for
putting things together. Priorities make your practice
much more efficient and productive, so that you get
more successfully done in less time. You want to learn
in an order where one thing is learned first because it is
needed for the next thing and so on down the list.
Everything on the list is equally important. It is the
order of importance that establishes the priority in
which you learn.

Here is the most efficient order of importance for

prioritizing your practice to learn your music:
LOW BRASS 1. Learn The Rhythm
ENSEMBLE 2. Do The Fingerings In Rhythm
Learn more about Low Brass 3. Play The Notes In Rhythm
Ensemble Music - a new 4. Articulations
type of listening and 5. Dynamics
performance opportunity. 6. Style Of The Music
7. Your Personal Interpretation Of The Music

Rhythm is first on the list because in music everything

meets at the rhythm. This means that everything else
you do to play music must be done in rhythm. You need
to learn how the rhythm goes first so you can make
sure to learn everything else you do in the correct
rhythm. If you don't, at some point you will have to
relearn your music because it is out of rhythm. You
must then teach the rhythm to the other skills on the
list, and to do that correctly you have to know how the
rhythm goes first. See Say In Rhythm, Play In Rhythm
for more on this topic.

Now that you know the rhythm, teach it to your

fingerings. Say Tah, Too, or Toh out loud while you do
the fingerings in rhythm. This must be done in rhythm!
If it feels too fast, slow the tempo down to a speed
where you can say Tah, Too, or Toh while doing the
fingerings and keep in rhythm. You have to have the
right fingering at the right time before you can play the
right note. See Rhythm Fingerings for more on this
topic.

By now you should know the rhythm by heart, doing

your fingerings automatically in rhythm. You will find it
much easier to play the right notes when you have
learned to do these two things first. Again, if it feels too
fast to play the right notes in rhythm, slow the tempo
down until you can stay in rhythm. Just getting the right
notes is not enough. You have to be able to play them
in rhythm to play your music correctly. See Low-Middle-
High Approach for more on this topic.

Until you can do all of these first three things on the list,
you really can't play your music yet. Learn to do all
three of these before going on.

Now that you can do the first three things on the list
well, you can now play your music correctly in a basic,
or technical way. The next four things add more
expression, or musicality, to your music.

Articulations are symbols in the music that tell you to

add sounds to the beginning of your notes, or to change
the length and end of your notes. Accents, legato,
tenuto, staccato, slurs, etc effect the way others hear
our tone. These add character to the music and help
you express yourself musically. Say them out loud on
Tah, Too, or Toh so you can practice getting them just
right while staying in rhythm.

Dynamics are symbols in the music that tell you about

the mood of the music. You combine volume of tone
with type and degree of articulation to sound louder or
softer in amounts that create the mood of the music. f,
p, mf, mp, FF, pp, etc help give you an idea of how loud
or soft a mood the music requires. These symbols are
not a set volume level, for there are many factors that
can change how loudly or softly you may need to play
to create the mood of the music. You will learn more
about this as you gain experience and listen to more
music.

There are many styles of music, so it is important for

you to determine what style of music you are playing.
Different styles of music can require you to add things
not written on the music to sound authentic. Some
styles require this more than others. Listen for and
learn the differences between symphonic and jazz,
swing and funk, marches and minuets, Bach and Basie.
 This will take some time, so ask lots of questions and
listen to lots of different types of music.

As you listen and learn more about the styles of music,

you will begin to develop your own opinions about how
you like to play all of these different kinds of music. As
you do, you will want to add your own personal touch,
or interpretation, to the music you play. The more you
study, play, and listen to music, the more you will be
influenced by other musicians and their personal styles.
The more you listen and play, your opinions will become
stronger and you will feel more confident playing in your
own way. Make sure to always learn more about any
music you play. No one knows everything! You can have
bad opinions as easily as you can have good ones, so do
your homework. Listen, play, and LEARN. Priorities will
help you with every step along the way.

Copyright Norlan Bewley 1999

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