A Three-Part Introduction

1. A fine accompanist once told me “I’m not sure why, but I didn’t expect you to be so musical.  Maybe it’s because the brass players that I have accompanied in the past played the notes but weren’t great musicians.”
2. I have had trombone students who are also pianists tell me that they feel more expressive when playing the piano compared to the trombone.
3. In Matt Guilford’s article Audition Musings, he writes:“Too often, I encounter young brass musicians in training who are technically gifted yet musically bereft. Most need a bit more exposure, experience and time spent living life to become seasoned players. The typical music education in the U.S. places an emphasis on developing technical mastery of ones’ instrument. Nurturing the artistic and creative elements of a student is usually secondary to technique.”

Questions

What is going on here?  Do we expect a string, woodwind, guitar, harp, accordion, or piano performance to be more expressive than a brass performance?  More importantly perhaps, is that what everyone else expects?  Is it more natural to play non-brass instruments more expressively, or are there just as many “musically bereft” musicians who play the other instruments?  Why are there “technically gifted yet musically bereft” young players at all, and what can be done about it?

Causes and Solutions for Lack of Expression

1. Many people are inhibited or reserved, because of having that personality trait, a fear of making mistakes, or a perception that they will be frowned upon for being expressive.Whatever the reason, there are several things you can do if you are inhibited.  You can think of yourself as an actor, inhabiting the character or atmosphere of the piece you are playing, just like you would pretend to be a character in a play.  You can experiment with the following in small doses, then increase as your comfort increases: forget about playing well and cut loose for just two measures, aiming only for a quality like powerful, exciting, serene, frightening, peaceful, stormy, joking, scary, wild, intense, yearning, silly, or brooding. Gradually expand to four measures, or one whole piece.  Begin with easy music and move on to more challenging material.  You can also gradually expand your audience from 0, to a teacher, to close friends, to strangers.  Think of adding expression/emotion as practicing a feature like learning notes and rhythms, which you don’t hesitate to tackle.  It is at least as important.
2. The repertoire you play affects your training, and orchestral low-brass parts do not always contain the richest music filled with long, soloistic, melodic lines.Play the best music that you can, play music that you like, and steal from other instruments.  Imitate recordings of your favorite artists and try to play along with them.Duets can be great when two people connect to the same aspect of the music or push each other to be more expressive.  Accompaniment provides inspiration (see Play-along Materials).  You can make your own “play-along” by recording one part of a duet, and you will learn a lot about your own playing while doing so.
3. People often practice technique for its own sake, forgetting that music is an art form.There is no point to using a “technique book” without the ultimate goal of playing music.  Exercises, after all, grew from passages found in music and only exist to develop the physical tools needed to play those passages. So when practicing patterns to strengthen intonation, evenness, articulation, or flexibility for example, don’t lose sight of the goal.  And remember that even patterns can be played musically, phrased, and rounded.
4. There is only so much time in lessons and expression sometimes gets neglected in favor of developing technique.  When this happens, students carry the same backward priorities to the practice room.If you are a teacher, please teach expression alongside technique.  If you demonstrate it, even a sixth grader can hear the difference between a robotic interpretation and a nicely phrased version of the same piece.  Teach musicality rather than leaving it to students who already have it or for students to discover later.If you are a student, practice for expression with as much attention as anything else.  Are you playing the written markings like dynamics?  Are you using unwritten tools like vibrato, phrasing, bringing out important notes, and stretching the pulse when appropriate?  Are you bringing out the character of the piece?Expression needs to be nurtured and practiced.
5. Besides limited time, expression can also be neglected due to laziness.  It’s easier to point out a wrong note or rhythm than it is to help a person’s playing dance or weep.  If you browse around the web, you’ll find far more articles about breathing, articulation, and slide technique than about expression, and this is especially true among brass websites.Listen for character as much as technique and find creative ways of bringing it out.  Use metaphor, analogy, and imagination:  “What does this piece sound like?  What does it remind me of?  What is the overall atmosphere?  Am I expressing it?”
6. When music is more technically challenging, it takes more time to master.  Devote the time it takes so you can reach beyond the technique, deeper than the surface, the ability to be playful and musical with it.Going deeper requires patience to thoroughly work out the technical kinks.  It also requires a willingness to experiment and take musical risks.
7. Brass students sometimes take the jocular view that expression is “the easy part,” and they therefore don’t practice it.  When I was at New England Conservatory, a fellow student basically said to me “anyone can play musically, but not anyone can play Blue Bells of Scotland.”  Certainly not everyone can play Blue Bells, but is it worth playing if it is not expressive?

More Solutions

1. Ghost Play a passage with great musicianship: silently “play” by blowing air through your instrument and articulating as marked.  Imagine producing your ideal tone, pitch, timing, and musicality, and then match that ideal when resuming playing.  This helps develop a sound image, the sound you pursue when playing.
2. Sing or buzz a passage with complete musical abandon, then play it on your instrument the same way.  By momentarily removing the instrument, you increase your musical connection.  (Arnold Jacobs)
3. Write words or a story to go with a piece.  Try to reflect the piece’s changes in mood in your story and in your playing.
4. Record your practice and listen back for expressive qualities.  To drive home the point, record yourself playing as inexpressively as possible, then as expressively as possible, and listen to for differences.  Did you go far enough?  Too far?
5. Play from memory or rather, by heart.  Playing from memory can be stifling if you are trying to remember notes while you play, but if the music is absorbed and you truly know it, playing without the printed music can be liberating. (Reader suggestion, 9/7/04)

Analyzing the Difference

Generally, I find that musical players use longer phrases and a wider spectrum of dynamics, tone color, articulation, and vibrato speeds than boring players.  These features fit the music and arise from it, rather than seeming artificially applied.  They may be planned but they seem spontaneous.  And the most expressive playing seems to occur when the player is not nervous, and is comfortable with the piece and his or her instrument.

Further Study

The Musicality and Interpretation chapter of my book has quotes from many accomplished musicians and teachers as well as more techniques for increasing expression.

This website has more articles in the drop-down menu.  In addition, the books listed at the end of Performance Anxiety are relevant.  Here are a few more:

Author	Title	Publisher
Bellamah, Joseph	A Survey of Modern Brass Teaching Philosophies	Southern Music Company
Copland, Aaron	What to Listen for in Music	Mentor
Escher, M.C.	M.C. Escher: The Graphic Work	Taschen
Farkas, Phillip	The Art of Brass Playing	Wind Music
Farkas, Phillip	The Art of Musicianship	Wind Music
Fink, Reginald	The Trombonist’s Handbook	Accura Music
Frederiksen, Brian	Song and Wind	Windsong Press
Jacobs, Arnold	Mind Over Metal (magazine article)	The Instrumentalist, October 1992, 14-17
Kleinhammer, Edward	The Art of Trombone Playing	Summy-Birchard
Kleinhammer, Edward and Douglas Yeo	Mastering the Trombone	EMKO Publications
Knaub, Donald	Trombone Teaching Techniques	Accura Music
Kujala, Walfrid	The Flutist’s Progress	Progress Press
McGill, David	Sound in Motion	Indiana University Press
Nelson, Bruce (compiled)	Also Sprach Arnold Jacobs	Polymnia Press
Stewart, M. Dee	Arnold Jacobs: Legacy of a Master	The Instrumentalist
Stewart, M. Dee	Phillip Farkas: Legacy of a Master	The Instrumentalist

 

Written 8/19/2004, revised 11/18/2006 and 12/26/2016