Posted by pdq phelps on May 04, 2003 at 15:03:23:
I remember long ago when a peer/playing contemporary (not a "real" pro) would play-test a horn I was familiar with, they'd refer to problems that I was, um, oblivious to in intonation, certain partials, you know, the standard textbook "I read it somewhere so it must be true" talk.
Not so long ago, I recall a tuba student relating something their teacher said about becoming more than a "button-pushing" tubist, i.e. a musician.
The past few days these recollections have been stirred to my conscience by all the talk of multi-valves and what they will do or not for a player. Seems to me that the cultural abhorrence for "alternate" fingerings fits in the same discussion category (unless, he waggishly suggested we are referring to "Alexander" fingerings.)
Q: Is it possible that our esteemed and well-intentioned talkers are misleading many younger or impressionable players with all the hair-splitting about ideally-you-push-button-get-perfect-pitch tuba dynamics? When is it appropriate to emphasise a players capabilities and move away from "angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin" hardware talk?