Claude Gordon Brass Camp 1991 - Dave Evans on Transposition and Auditions

Those transposition sheets first, OK?
So grub those up.
You should now have the two pages, one that says
Cafferilli 100 Melodic Studies, published by Recording.
And you should have a page called Note from the Editor.
All right?
Transposition is something that every brass player has to deal
with, even trombones and tuba to some extent.
But for trumpets and French horn, it's a curse that we all
live with, OK?
Now, you're seeing yourself, but I'm not going to go into
symphony playing.
I'm going to do something else.
And you're still going to transpose.
I can't tell you how many times I've been on a big band job.
And a vocalist comes up and goes, I only sing in a key of
A, and the arrangement's in G or R or Q or something, right?
Or you've got a fake book.
You're playing a combo gig, and there you are, the C fake
book, and you've got to transpose everything.
Or you get called up, and you leave yours at home, and you
got to play off the E flat book.
It's like, it's an absolute horror story, unless you're
hip to transposing.
If you do any work in a church, you're going to have
to transpose.
A lot of times, you've got to fix what they thought they
were supposed to do, OK?
B flat trumpet, oh yeah, take that down a whole step.
You walk in, you go, oh no.
So it's really a mess.
So transposing is something you're going to have to deal
with, and today's a good time to start.
I use the Cafferoli book with all of my students, because
Cafferoli was not a trumpet teacher.
He was a vocal teacher.
If you can't get the Cafferoli book right away, go back to
that good old page 191 in your Arben's book, and start
transposing those songs.
The problem is, in the Arben's book, you get into key
signatures real quick.
And that opens up a whole different Pandora's box when
you're transposing, all right?
All right, for starters, circle of fifths, starting on
concert B flat.
That's trumpet player C, F, trombones are about K, horns.
OK, we're going to do circle of fifths, major scales, up
and down, quarter notes.
We'll repeat the top note and come down.
So we're going to play something like this.
OK, so we're going to do circle of fifths.
Don't look at the book, just simply.
Here we go, ready?
Circle of fifths, let's see how far we can go, ready?
And concert B flat.
Concert F. Concert C. Concert G.
Concert D. Concert A.
Concert E. Concert B. Concert G flat.
Concert D flat.
Concert A flat.
Concert E flat.
And concert B flat.
Concert D. Concert A flat.
OK, you've got to be able to do that right up front to be
able to transpose.
We just went through the circle of fifths.
Take care, Claude.
You lucky guy.
Take care, Claude.
Circle of fifths simply means going through in the order of
key signatures that add sharps and then eventually take away
flats, and there's a certain order you do that in.
And if you don't know the circle of fifths, grab a
pencil, turn over one of those pages right now, and here they
come, ready?
And here we go.
C, G, D, A, E, B, F sharp, C sharp, A flat, E flat, B flat,
F, and you're back home to C.
Now, there are three keys that overlap.
B is also C flat, so just next to the B put C flat.
F sharp is G flat, and which one have I forgotten?
C sharp.
Thank you.
C sharp is the same as D flat.
Now, if you go back up to the top of that and you go through
the sharp keys, that's how you add the sharps.
C major, no sharps.
G major one sharp is F sharp.
Then go through the fifths on that.
Five up from that, F sharp is C sharp.
Five up from C sharp is G sharp.
Five up from that, and that's how you add them.
The flats, you just take them away, unwind the
flats the other way.
That is so important.
Dave Bennecke, I was just talking about knowing your
scales in jazz.
You can't improvise if you don't know your scales.
You can't transpose if you don't know your scales.
So you need to go home and memorize that circle of fifths
and play it.
Memorize it until it's absolutely natural.
That's the first step to successful transposition.
Are there any questions about that?
That's really important, sir.
Does the matter of which direction
we go around the circle?
One is circle of fifths, one is circle of fourths.
Makes no difference at all.
It's all the same thing.
You understand the question?
If you start on the other end, you've got C, F, B flat, E
flat, A flat, and that's changing by fourths.
It's all the same thing.
Sure, it makes no difference.
Most of the time, the classical way, they're in a
circle of fifths.
Any other questions about that?
Very good.
Don't be afraid to ask questions.
All right, now, horns and trombones and baritones and
tubas, I apologize.
I'm going to be doing this from trumpet land, because
that's what I do, that's what I play.
But hang with us, do what you can with us, and when you get
to auditions, kind of jump back in with me, OK?
But transposing, all right?
Line number one, OK?
Let's play it as written, about one, two, OK?
Now, this is going to be, you guys who are looking at this,
that first note is a concert B flat, OK?
Good.
One, two, three, and.
One, two, three, and, one, two, three, and, one, two, three,
and, one, two, three, and, one, two, three, and, one, two,
three, and, one, two, three, and, one, two, three,
and, one, two, three, and, one, two, three, and, one, two,
three, three.
Now, we just played that for us trumpet players, OK?
We just played that in the same pitch as our instrument.
We play a B flat trumpet.
We just played it without transposing.
The very first one, now go over and put that other page up
It says note from the editor
So you have English Italian French and German
Okay, that pretty much covers what you're going into in classical music and church music and on gigs
Okay, so you have the first transposition is trumpet in C
All right the distance from a B flat trumpet to a C trumpet is exactly a whole step
All right, so I come up here
It says trumpet and
C and I need to put that so I'm gonna be playing along with the church organist on Sunday morning
I'm gonna be playing off of a C score because on the way to the band concert I lost that song
Okay, all right, so I'm gonna have to transpose
So now I need to move this thing up
What one step one whole step a major second?
All right
Got it
All right, okay ready
What's wrong
Gonna be F sharp. Okay. So now you have a choice. I can either put a sharp in front of that F
Or I can change the key. This is why you have to know your scales
So now we're D major
Okay, here we go line number one
Trumpet in C. So you guys who are not trumpet players you're now looking at a concert C. Okay, good
Okay, ready stay with me ready one two three
I
Okay, now that's the most common
Problem you come across in music transposition. You have to read off of a concert part
That's true for French horns
baritones
Troubles always do tubas always do but as trumpet players, this is the most common problem
99% of the church jobs if you will is it to put it that way the church jobs you do you're gonna be faced with that problem
Okay, all right trumpets, why don't you get the hymnal out please and play along with the
Chorale and horns. Can you play that that alto part, please? You know and say yeah, there you are. Okay now
The trumpet in C now, let's discuss further key signature problems
Let's say instead of this being in C major. It's in C minor
All right, so let's go over here
Let's say this tune had this for a key signature
And so we end up playing this
Oh
Let's all do that, okay, let's plug in three flats in that key
So now everybody we're back looking at concert B flat trumpets. We're gonna see how are you gonna play a G?
Okay. All right, right
Here we go put three flats in the key now we're in C minor one or concert B flat one ready go
Oh
Bravo now that changes this whole ballgame up here
Because here's the rule you're transposing something into concert pitch onto your B flat instruments your trumpet and C
You take it up a whole step and add two sharps I
Already have three flats
So what I'm gonna be left up over here is with what?
One flat that's right. So instead of this we're gonna have
this because two sharps take care of
Two of these guys, okay
And you go backwards on the keys engine so here we go, right so now we're gonna be in concert C minor
one two
ready and
Third note is now going to be
Gonna be flat for the horn players. It's gonna be flat for the tuba and trombone players
Natural for the trumpet players, right?
Because we've changed the key. There's three flats parked out there and we're transposing it up a whole step
one two
ready
So another reason I like the calf really book is you can change the keys in a very easy also, okay
All right. So trumpet in C
reading concert score
That is something you must learn
period, okay
fake books
vocalist church gigs lost music
You have to know this trumpet in C a
Huge amount of the symphonic literature is trumpet in C in this world the b-flat trumpet
Pretty much rules in America. But in Europe, it's the C trumpet in
Orchestras we use C trumpets because of the sound
Okay, Larry was just talking about what sounds happen. Listen to this
That's
Why we use a C trumpet in an orchestra
very rare use a b-flat trumpet in an orchestra the C trumpet has more carrying power and
That's another reason why almost all of your modern music is trumpet in C because the composer has this sound in their gear in an orchestra
So this idea C trumpets incredibly important
All right
Everybody with me so far
Good. All right. So on the back of that paper, you should have C trumpet equals
Up a whole stuff plus two sharps for your trumpet players. Okay
Now the next most common transposition is trumpet in a
Coronet in a coronet a pistons in a all right, so turn it old paper over
Okay
Coronet or trumpet in a
equals
Unison plus seven flats
You
Have trumpet in a Tchaikovsky Berlioz
Wrote all kinds of music for Coronet
Pistons in a trumpet and a lot of Coronet solos in the back of the Arbus book you look at this Coronet in a
All right, you're gonna see a karate class
We'll show you some interest we just kick the old slide the piston will change the whole thing into a Coronet in a
Some neat stuff. So here's what I mean by unison plus seven flats you add the seven flats of the key
And play
In other words you play what you see but you add seven flats
And this is the most it's the second most common transposition you're going to find
Okay buckle your seat belts here we go
Okay French horns you're reading concert II
Concert D
Now let's see how to be flat concert a so it's gonna be a concert a horn part, okay
Okay, ready here we go play everything you see and put a flat in front of it
You got here we go one two ready
Go
Good so when you get your Clark book out tonight don't avoid those bad keys. All right
See the problem
All right, that's the next most common transposition. You're gonna run into is a trumpet player
Coronet in a yes
You still have the same problem I like to just simply say add seven flats because you're still get the same notes
You just put in a flat
Sure
Yeah, yeah, so now you're doing with double flats sure that's the problem key signatures we'll get that Carmen
That's four flats to start with it's coronet name
Okay
That's when you memorize the excerpt
questions, okay
All right
Oh
Everybody with me so far
Basically, okay now
Doing okay. All right. Now the next most common transposition is trumpet in D
Turn your page over
Oh
Trumpet in D. All right. What's have a trumpet that we own again B flat trumpet
What's the difference? What's the distance from B flat to D?
major third
Okay. Now here we go ready key signatures
if you're in C you go up a major third you're gonna be in the key of
How many sharps or
All right, so trumpet in D equals ready up a major third plus four sharps
So
Now horn players will be playing this in the key of concert D
All right, here we go ready line one. Oh
Welcome to orchestras
Here we go add four sharps play it up a major third one two three
Three
Very good, very good
Okay now
How many of you are?
Going to be someday
Music be out there doing band directing jobs. Mr. Mr. And Mrs. Band director a couple of you
Okay, how many of you want to go into arranging maybe do some arranging once in a while?
Okay. All right. Good. Here's the trick turn the paper over again
Trumpet in D equals bass clap
Play the ink
And change the clap
Take a look up there
So much for so much for every good boy does fine an FACE
Okay, the trombone tuba player is going. Yeah. All right. Cool. Okay. Look at the bass clap
It's good boys do find always GBDF a
Okay, all cars eat gas here in LA. Okay, um AC e g
Look at the right side. Look at the left side
Third space and bass class an e fourth lines an F fourth space a G
Isn't that what we have up in the right hand side?
But if you look at the left hand side you play it's the same ink, right?
You don't change the notes you just change the clef
I
Accidental stay the same
Do I
Really I had I had lunch I had lunch the cafeteria really
Let's try it again
Okay
Okay, thank you too much. Okay now
So let's take a look
Take and mentally cover up the treble clef
Plug-in bass clef look at the first note. What is it an e?
What's the second note?
F sharp third note is
Okay, I strongly suggest what you guys can do is simply get Roshu RCH UT
Melody Bordoni Melodious
Vocalizes published by Carl Fischer and bass clef. Did somebody get it the first volume and learn to play them in bass clef?
Just so you're familiar with bass clef music
Okay, if you're gonna be a band director you be able to slug off that bass clef like if you're gonna be a range
You could do bass clef and this is a lot easier changing clef
Honest
Okay
Roshu R. OCH UT. He's a piece of one who did it. It's Bordoni vocalizes
Published by Carl Fischer for trombone and they're beautiful if you're gonna be a band director you want that in your library anyone
Okay. All right. We go right
Be quiet nobody cheats
Try it we're gonna base clap still be concentrated. Okay, wait
bass clap ready
one two three
Oh
All right, so there's a little mental gymnastic for you
Okay. Yeah, turn the paper over. Here we go again
That was trumpet indeed
The next most common transposition
Bruckner Mahler Shostakovich alto saxophone parts
French horns, okay is trumpet in e flat
Okay, here we go buddy up a perfect fourth and add one flat
You're having a alto sax sectional and they're not getting it and you need to play along with them
You've got to do this, okay if you're reading a lot the trombone section the tuba section in your band
They're already in bass clef. You got to do this
Okay, I'll get to that a little later, but this is an important transposition
Bruckner Mahler Shostakovich wrote for this instrument a friend of mine at Cronkite
Mahler Shostakovich wrote for this instrument a friend of mine at Cal State Long Beach has the old e flat f trumpets
And they were the size of French horns, but they were wrapped up as trumpets
The darndest things you ever saw and trying to play them. It's just like trying to play a French horn
I have great appreciation and admiration for you folks
Okay, and it's really interesting you pick that thing up and all of a sudden the overtones are about this close together. It's like
I got it. Okay
It's really interesting okay, all right, so now what happens is this
That's what you end up
Oh
Okay, here we go line one trumpet in e flat
One two ready
Okay
One more turn the paper over
Trumpet in F
Or trumpet in the case one of the other okay trumpet in F
Now you're playing a lot the French horn section. They're all good. Yes, okay, all right
What you're going to do is going to be up a perfect fifth and add one sharp
So it's just a whole step up from that so it's gonna be CD each of you G a B with an F sharp and a key
Turn the paper over we go line one
One two trumpet in F go
Ah
Okay now
Sit back and relax for a second
Those are the fundamental
Transposition problems on a B flat trumpet
When you start monkeying around with all these other fun-filled pitched instruments you open up an entirely different
can of worms
Because then there's other possibilities
For example Monday night I
Had a D trumpet part in front of me on the Torelli, and I had an a piccolo in my hand
Oh
Yeah, that sums it up pretty well, okay
Okay, the next tune was trumpet in e-flat, and I had an e-flat trumpet in my hand
What's the transposition
Good all right sometimes I say that they go down a fourth, okay
The
Next tune was a C trumpet part, and I had a C trumpet in my hand
All of a sudden I'm looking at the note G and every time I walked on stage that G meant something entirely different
So the mental gymnastics of owning a case full these little beasties and different pitches
Really makes for a whole different ballgame
Okay, for example
I now have a C trumpet in my hand, and I want to play a B flat trumpet part
What do I gotta do down a whole step and add two flats
Okay you all now have a C trumpet in your hand here we go ready
See trumpet
I'll switch I'll be a nice guy okay
You all have a C trumpet in your hand
And you're gonna play a B flat trumpet part horns. We're gonna be a concert a flat
You're right okay here we go wait one two ready go
Okay
Okay now give an example how wild that can get a
Couple of years ago. I was doing nothing but symphony work again, and I wasn't making a dime playing a B flat trumpet
I was doing nothing but C trumpet work, and I got a call to play in a big band
On a Saturday night, and I grabbed the quad case, and I went and I sat down I
Pulled my B flat trumpet out of the case
Looking at a B flat trumpet part, and I couldn't do it I
Had to transpose
It was it was almost impossible to play C open I wanted to play it first valve
Okay, it was the weirdest sensation to sit there look at the park going don't transpose don't transpose, okay
So you can really get gummed up in this
All right
E-flat trumpet parts become D flat trumpet parts when you pick up a C trumpet
Well that simply you leave it in bass clef and playing three flats instead of four sharps right because you're an E flat D flat
No, that's how that works
All right
Well, okay, I'm playing I'm playing with your minds
Here's another reason. It's nice to have C trumpets. Whatever the transposition is that's the key you're in
If it's C trumpet you play C trumpet. It's a D trumpet
You're in D if it's E trumpet you're an E if it's F sharp Q trumpet is F sharp Q whatever it is that you're in
Okay
All right now
For the biggest can of worms this will make you go buy a C trumpet faster than anything you overdid, okay?
San Diego State's where I went for undergraduate school. We had a really neat conductor
Dr. Anderson and after each concert we'd spend the next two weeks
reading
Passed out the William Tell overture
One of those things where you have a front page and turn over the back page right so it's not a two page thing
that was my downfall right there and
The front page is cornet and egg
Okay, so we're okay. We're happy and I can play it on a half-step. I'm happening, right?
So Bill and I are talking during the oboe solo, right and we're talking say we get to do that fanfare
This is great. I've never done it. I turn it over just a nick of time to look at it says
Marcus is on the floor, okay
I'm going great time. All right, so
Yeah, that little puppy is an F sharp major chord, okay, you got your B flat trumpet
Take a look at that little exercise
Trumpet in E the first notes in F sharp and we're in six sharps
So if you're a trumpet player you're gonna play F sharp G sharp a sharp
Be natural C sharp D sharp C sharp
And if there's a whole bunch of sharp accidentals, what's the opposite of an augmented fourth?
diminished fifth so that could be
G-flat
Okay. Yeah, I mean and you know give me F. They just go crazy with this thing
G-flat R flat kill whatever you're gonna do. So trumpet in E and that happens quite a bit
Okay
All right
Now the other one they get you into big trouble
You're sitting down in an orchestra, and it's a German edition
And it says trumpet
No, no worse
Trumpet
And now watch how I write this my mother's German
Trumpet and Bob gross about okay
The problem with this the publishers don't give it to you that way. They just give you a normal little stupid looking B
What are you gonna do there you sit looking at a German edition that says trumpet and B
If you don't know what you're doing, I'll tell you what you do you go
Okay, I figured out when you have a German edition this is trumpet and B. That's B flat trumpet
Okay, take a look there look at the German CB trace it back across the page B flat
Yeah, I've been known to do that once in a while yeah, okay
Okay, now look at the very bottom of the German edition trumpet in H
No, that's not a joke
All right, let me play for you a very famous German composer
Block right bah a C H
And if you listen to art of fugue
Towards the end you'll start hearing this chromatic little theme
It's box signing this music
Okay
Pretty smart for a three valve instrument. Huh? Okay now all right, so you have trumpet in H
Johannes Brahms is the only one that I've come across on a regular basis. It has that
Mr. Brahms
It's interesting to trumpet players because mr. Brahms was around at about the same time as Arvind's
Outlived Arvind's by two years and I don't know about you
But a lot of times you go to music history class you always figure out these composers like, you know
All a bunch of you know monks around going la la la
Mr. Brahms apparently liked to tip the cold beers on a regular basis. He wrote a cornet method
There is a Johannes Brahms cornet method
And in the preface he says to my best friend. It was a friend of his who played in a band in a bar
to my best friend
Goodness knows you need this book
Johannes Brahms, and that's the preface to the book
Okay, and they wrote this thing. Okay, so he had the cornet
And he had cornet and H
You know, it's just simply a change of the crook. So you did on those things. Are you gonna see those on Friday again?
What would trumpet H be trumpet B the opposite of trumpet neck take everything and put seven sharps in front of me
That happens in bronze
That's the common transpositions it's something you have to deal with
Yeah, I lose myself sometimes on this okay
H up a half step in German the scale is
They have B and they have H and the problem is in English we only see this B
Okay, and you also have H
So if you have a B trumpet and B in the German edition
It's B flat if you have trumpet and H
Yeah, that's that's E flat the S just stands for a flat sign the same thing right that's your E flat
It's a very valuable little page
the first time I played in a youth orchestra we did pines of Rome and
The offstage trumpet part said trumpet and dough I
Was about I don't know 15 years old
You know and I went off stage, you know, the notation was
I'm off stage. I'll look at that trumpet and dough part B flat dough
B flat dough
Whoa, what are you doing? I took it up a third
Okay, it's up a whole step. We've got do re mi fa so la si do
So it's you have to know the Italian also, which is solfege
Take a look at those trumpet in ray is trumpet and D
Trumpet in me is trumpet knee
Trumpet in fa is trumpet F. Okay, so you look at those signs and you're going
So these you'd really need to know if you're gonna have to an orchestral job and that's horn parts same thing
I mean, you know horn and law
Okay
Okay questions or trumpet in case it's another good transposition, okay
Transposition, okay
D and and D flat. Yes
You see a written what
Not the step if you're looking at E gave your what you
Okay, make sure you what he's asking, okay, let's say he's sitting back there with my friend the tuba player
And
You're sitting there with this and let's say this note right here is written
Okay, it's bass clef you got a B flat trumpet in your hand
Okay, remember me that tuba is a concert pitch instrument you're gonna play
That note treble clap
So it's a concert E you're gonna play a sure
Okay
That's
Plus because we were going the other way we were going from a trumpet part into bass club
Now you're going base club into a trumpet part, that's a whole different product
You were transposing on top of that
Right, yeah, but we're talking okay. Yeah, okay
We weren't
Not if you're talking to me we weren't because we're talking B flat trumpet you pick up your C trumpet then what you're saying works
Right
Mm-hmm because it's a B flat trumpet and the tube is a double B flat instrument
So you got you were going the opposite way of what we're doing. We're going trumpet to bass clef
You're going bass clap to trumpets. You got to change the whole step
I'm not trying to fool with your mind, but that's what you're doing you were doing it backwards from what I was saying
Okay, see me afterwards and I'll show how it works. Okay. All right, everybody else is going God
I hope they have steak for dinner. Okay
All right now
Sit down relax. We've got one more thing to do now
Okay transpositions a can of worms. Here comes the other can of worms auditioning
Okay, take out the other two pages. I gave you
Watch you stand up and stretch a little bit too. Okay, if your butt hurts as bad as my feet, okay
You're in bad shape
Give me a favor he snag
Surely once you turn off take a break for a second
Shostakovich did the same thing as Bach and in one of the symphonies wrote his name
There's one I forget what it is one of the symphonies
Stalin or Mousseline one of those farmers
Said something boat didn't like the
What I'm doing something he did?
BSH, okay
And I remember playing out a band one I forget what it was one of the symphonies on my stationary
I have DBE a treble clef. It's pretty funny
Only the musician guys catch it. Yeah
Okay, folks go ahead and sit down. I'll get you out of here in about a minute or ten minutes. I promise
15 okay
All right now these two lists
Okay, what you have on the kind of grainy looking sheet here
This was the San Francisco Symphony
Principal trumpet audition sheet from a few years ago
Okay, this was the required pieces you had to walk in and be able to do
The second page is titled survey of 43 orchestra audition lists for trumpet I got this out of the ITG journal
and
What they did was they checked all these audition sheets from various orchestras and came up with this survey
so
If you want to do orchestral auditions that gives you a pretty good idea right there what you're going to need to have
Okay
Now how in the world do you go about practicing that string of stuff?
You could spend hours and hours and hours and hours and hours every day just on that list
Here's what you do split it up into like a five-day cycle
Get the orchestral excerpt books
And there's a variety of them to pick from there's the international edition
Okay, and they're written for every instrument on the planet
Okay, or orchestral?
Excerpts for symphonic repertoire if you're a trumpet player is edited by Bartold volumes one through five and six through ten are
edited by voice on
There's also a separate Strauss edition
You
International
They're now coming out and I really like this with Mahler
Symphonies and what's great about this you get the whole part
You get what you're going to see on the stand and these are being done by Auto Press publications
We're Auto Press, where they know New York, New York
Yeah, just wait it looks Otto as an automobile press, okay
And if you could find them they're getting harder and harder to find because he went out of print and what's great about them is
They're basically illegal
Is the Lutak?
Polish excerpt book and the communist bloc
And the communist bloc did not care about our copyrights
And what's neat is in here is all of the rental pieces of the standard literature a
lot of orchestral things you do are
Rental therefore you can't put them in an American publication because it's under copyright still
And you open this up and all the Gershwin's in here
Ravel's are in here, and it's neat as you go. Oh, it's called Lutak. It's very hard to find
Lutak
I'm not aware of they are not okay by PWM publications of beautiful downtown Poland
And that is an incredibly valuable book
And
What you should do is this listen we're not gonna be stuff
This is really important because everybody here sooner is gonna do an audition someplace somewhere somehow okay?
What you want to do with these orchestral lists and horn players you can get them trombone players you can get them tuba players
You can get them okay check with your instructors
Call some major orchestras and have them send you the current list for auditions that type of thing
Take these take your excerpt books Xerox those pages out and put them in a notebook and
Make it a systematic
Weekly practice of cycle if you have one is particularly bothering you put it into every day's practice
And start working on it
Okay now a couple more things I'll have you out here, okay, I want to start taking notes on this
Auditions
When you go to an audition
Dress conservatively
Dress comfortably
No reason to wear a tuxedo
But then again don't show up in shorts and a t-shirt
This is true for orchestral auditions. It's true for school auditions. It's true for orchestra auditions
We have our auditions coming up for Cal State at the end of the month here and actually end of July end of August
and I'll sit in on the audition board and
If some trumpet player comes in kind of dressed in a nice shirt and slacks or nice sports coat that type of thing
Nice sports coat that type of thing and he comes in and plays
And he needs some financial support
I'm gonna kind of lean towards that guy just because he looks like he cares
If some guy comes in and his surfboards on the wall
And you know and he's got his tie-dyes on and he's got his cutoff Levi's his kneecaps are showing the sand still falling
On the shorts okay, and he plays really well. I'm still gonna wonder about his sincerity
So you want to dress conservatively
Every audition board I've ever seen a Republican basically that that conservative attitude
Okay, and you're trying to sell a product you as well as what's your place
Okay, who's gonna sit in on a college audition the head of bands
The orchestra director
The trumpet instructor or the horn instructor or the tuba instructor it's usually the whole brass staff sits in
If you're auditioning in
Orchestras you're gonna audition for the director
Any associate directors that are there?
the section leaders of the orchestra and
The elected orchestra board members are going to be sitting in on that audition
You
Okay, so you want to be conservative what are you going to be judged on yes
Most of our behind screens now, but the final one when you finally nail it down to three or four
You're out there on the stage to be seen in or yeah
We'll get to that in just a couple seconds. That's right
All right, what are you gonna be judged on?
Okay, if you're auditioning for an orchestra you need to get their orchestral list just like the San Francisco one
I gave you every major orchestra publishes a list and you'll need that
If you're a trumpet player you can guarantee the Haydn or the Hummel is gonna be on that
So learn it and learn it on the e-flat and learn it on the b-flat and learn it on the C
Be prepared
Last orchestral audition I did I played the hiding on the e-flat
Pretty much got all the way through the first moment. The conductor stopped me said that's very good
Can you play it on the biggest instrument you have with you? I said sure and
You just got to pick it up and play you guys say yeah, can you give me a couple of seconds?
Got pick it right up play it on the next instrument
Be prepared to do that
Okay
Frank was telling me one of the tricks he does in Philadelphia auditions is
If you're doing the Haydn the guys put on the e-flat the next excerpt he asked for is Carmen on a b-flat trumpet
See if you can make that switch and get down it so be prepared for that
You're gonna he's gonna ask me to switch horns just like that and that's reality
If you're auditioning for a college
Okay
Find out what your instructors favorite pieces
Okay, I
Love the Hindemith trumpet sonata. It's one of my favorite pieces on the planet and
Kid comes into Cal State Fullerton or Azusa Pacific where I teach and nails the Hindemith. I'm just going yes
Okay
Okay
Play a standard piece of real
Trumpet or horn or trombone or tubular don't come in and play the third trumpet part to your parade march
Don't come in and play some incredibly wild modern thing that makes no sense at all
Come in and play a standard piece of literature
Okay
What are you gonna be judged on the first thing you're gonna be judged on any audition you go to is tone
Curie
Stop and think you're auditioning for the Chicago Symphony principal trumpet job. Mr. Hurst says finally retire
Okay
What do you think you should probably sound like probably a little bit like mr. Hurst if I would think okay
You know, I'm gonna learn, you know tip over the apple cart
So tone is the first thing you're gonna be judged on and if you're auditioning for a major orchestra
Or a major band position at a conservatory or anything like that. You had best go and listen to those guys play
And figure out what it is. They're doing
If it's possible get a lesson from the guy who's retiring or the guy who sits next to him do it
Okay
All right
Second thing you're gonna be auditioned on is intonation. How well do you play in tune with yourself?
Okay, if you're auditioning with a humble trumpet concerto
You would better have the high F and the low F in tune
That's at the sharp flat flat flat
Thank you very much next okay, so intonation play in turn
Rhythm is the third thing you're judged on
You must have rhythmic integrity
Use that metronome
Make your music fit around that metronome
The other day I talked to you about those vocal eases and arbors and I said throw your metronome away, right?
Go get it back out of the trash
After you can play all that music and then add the metronome and still make the music fit around a beat
Learn to play on the front of a beat in the middle of the beat and on the back of the beat and you can play
All kinds of rubato and still get to the end of the measure and have four beats
It's supposed to be four beats in it and still sound incredible rubato
bless you, okay
Musicality is the last thing you're being judged on
Now a lot of times I do clinics on this and I ask somebody what are you doing?
That's usually the first thing everybody thinks you're gonna be judged on is musicality
It's the last thing you're judged on they don't want some prima donna coming in there
Okay
They don't want somebody who is you know totally out and obviously he's got his mindset on certain things
He's gonna do and it's gonna be no way. He's gonna be able to fit into that group
Okay, if you want to be a soloist be a soloist
If you want to be a soloist be a soloist, but whatever you play play it straight down the middle
All right now in preparation
Every day that you practice you should tape yourself
It's like the first time you hear your voice on tape how you think you sound you don't
Okay tape yourself regularly play it back it's also a great way to rest
Tape yourself constantly
Be incredibly critical. Don't let one single note not have a reason to be there
If you've ever done any recording work
The first time you sit down in front of a microphone, it's that far away from your face. It's a god-awful sensation
Because that thing doesn't lie
If you even tick a note
Take two take three take four take him out
Okay
So tape yourself put yourself under that gun
All right
now
most orchestral auditions
and most
honored group auditions and
Conservatory auditions are done first of all on tape you submit a tape
It behooves you if you're really into this to go to what I call a garage studio
Probably within about 10 or 15 miles of where you live somebody has a little recording studio in their house
garage
Basement attic bedroom someplace
They've got a pretty nice little setup and you can go in and play your excerpts and play your audition piece
It might cost you fifty to a hundred dollars, but have you make some professional copies for you, and it's money well spent
Okay do that have a prepared resume
Have a prepared resume
Start it now every honor group if you're in junior high from your junior high school honor band even if it's the local Yoko one
Okay, and you were dead last chair. Don't put I was dead last chair in the local
Okay, I was in the podunk honor band
Dude, and you start making up that resume
Okay
All right, so you need to have a resume
And a tape
Live auditions
Okay live auditions. We always talk about going conservatively on my friend in the back here brought up the point most auditions
Now are done behind screens the people that are on the first call back
There might be two or three hundred people who sent in tapes and resumes for one position
And maybe 80 out of that will get called out of that 80 maybe 50 or so. I have enough
Nerve to go to that audition you go backstage you draw watts
out of a bottle whatever and you go behind the screen and you play and
There's a monitor back there, and he tells you what the place you don't even talk
Candidate number 72, please play the Mahler 5 opening
Please play Leonore, please play Petrushka, please play B minor mass, please and just right through it
Got prepared to switch horns like that
Okay
Then they'll have a call back they'll post who's gonna come back
number 72
Okay, number five number eight number six and by that point the screens gone and you're out front and you're just up there playing yes
When you play those pieces, are you reading off your own copy of the music or they are copies they provide?
Sometimes your own copy sometimes a copy they provide should you also just in case oh, yeah bring everything memorize it even but bring everything with you
Yes, but usually they'll supply the music and they'll have a bracket exactly what you want for the monitors
They start here, and you're expected to know the tempo the style
everything
You don't say excuse me. How does this go? Oh?
Okay, that's you know wrong, okay, you're expected to know this stuff up front right now, okay
All right
Always arrive an hour earlier than needed
That gets that gives you time to get lost
Gives you time to run out of gas
Kind of go back and get your horn
Go back get your mouthpiece go back get your mutes you name it it gives you plenty of time to do it
Okay, all right
When you're auditioning for honor groups and colleges
You need to find out ahead of time. Are you gonna be accompanied by piano?
Do you need to bring a piano player with you or will they supply a piano player for you, okay?
What
What you bring on with you what that yeah, all right now, okay and know the piano part
Nothing drives a piano player crazier than you go to something, and you don't know what he or she has
Will me come in Mel whoo okay? It does help to know the part okay listen to a lot of recordings
Okay
Always thank the committee especially if it's a college or high school audition that type of thing. Thank you very much
When
Warming up there's the public warm-up, and there's the home warm-up
And I'll tell you right now you can always tell the pro whether he's 11 years old or 91 years old
in a warm-up room all
The yahoos are trying
Blowin her brains out there's always somebody over here just sitting there very calmly
Numbers 43 and the guy just kind of unwinds
Takes his horn out plays a couple of notes
And walks into the audition room and just blows everybody away
More auditions have been left in the warm-up room, then you'll ever know
Do what you got to do to make it happen and then put the cotton-picking thing away don't impress Joe idiot child over here
Okay, he's not judging you okay, all right
That's how you do it
That's the idea of auditions yes
If I ask for scales okay in a Cal State we do we ask for circle of fifths, and they don't want you to do this
The
Best way to play scales is like you're playing the second movement of the Haydn Trumpet concerto you go
Oh
Okay
Yeah, that's where it helps yeah, it's what it helps to know you know what the guys want
Those are little picky things
Right
But remember I just said a little while ago play a standard piece of literature for your instrument
They don't ask you for your degree
It doesn't matter that your resume doesn't say
But herself
Well, I know that okay well bud herself got the Chicago Symphony job
He came around the Navy Band and auditioned and got it. They're not gonna ask you for a degree
Yes
Trombone no
What you want you handle it with them okay Bruce, okay good, okay?
All right any other questions
Sorry when it's the late square for five. Thank you very much
Mr.. Cataractics tonight at 730 if you're not there shame on you