Tuning with your Ears 2

I'm finally following up on a series of posts that I began a few months ago about teaching students to tune themselves by ear rather than relying on a visual tuner all of the time. In this post I'm going to share some real world ideas of how I use the Harmony Director(HD) and/or the 5th CD in the classroom on a daily basis.

Note: This is not a plug for the Harmony Director but rather a plug for the concept of teaching kids to listen as they play. The HD is just a really great tool for doing this with ease and little effort.

We begin the year by playing Concert F long tones with a steady F playing on the keyboard. I want them to hear what they are meant to play before they actually make a sound. In the beginning, we don't spend a lot of time with the HD but work to first make a clear sound as we dust the cobwebs off after a long summer.  When we have a somewhat clear sound we quickly move to playing Concert F Remingtons while the drone of an F is playing loud enough to be heard. My goal in this is for them to match the 1st and 3rd notes of the Remington Exercise.  I find that as the notes get further apart the students struggle to get the pitch back to a center on the Fconcert so we pause on these notes to listen and adjust to the true pitch.  For even clearer hearing (and the next step) I play a drone of F and C (5ths) to fit into.  This is where the CD can be used to play the 5th and it is acceptable to begin with this if you don't have the HD keyboard.  (Side note: I use the Pure Tuning on the HD to get a pure 5th in the key of F).  So, basically, whatever we are playing for warmup (Remington or Chickowicz or whatever) I try to find something that they will hold out and can focus their listening ears to match.

As we progress, I will have the brass buzz on just their mouthpieces while I use the HD Keyboard to play the Remington Exercise.  We are currently doing this sort of thing in my class.  I play the first group (F - E - F) so they can hear the interval. Then the brass buzz it back to me with the woodwinds playing while I play the interval again so they can match.  Then I move to the next group (F - Eb - F) and they buzz (brass) and play (woodwinds) back to me.  We work our way through the excercise, both decending and accending, focusing on all players really listening to each pitch and matching.  The brass benefit from buzzing the pitches and the woodwinds benefit from not having the loud brass to interfere and it is easier to listen and match.  (Side note: This a great way to use the Berp aperatus for brass instruments)  In the last few weeks I have noticed that my brass are stronger players and have a clearer tone and woodwinds are more in tune.  We still have a lot to work on with this and it will take time for them to really get it, but I can see progress in just a few weeks.  It is difficult to do this excercise with the 5th CD, but can be done with the brass buzzing and and woodwinds playing and matching the drone as before.

When we are working on a Chorale as part of our Ensemble Time I find it very useful to have the HD Keyboard and its ability to create Pure Tuning in any key.  The 5th CD can give you 5th in any key to work with, but the keyboard can provide the 3rd to listen to and can (of course) change chords as the students play.  I play the first chord for them to match and we play the first chord together listening some times to individual notes.  I don't spend anytime at first talking about correct chord tuning (3rd lowered and 5th raised) but just force their ears to hear it and match as best they can.  Later, I may get into those concepts if they seem mature enough.  After we play the first note and tune, we pause and then begin the chorale.  At first I focus on the 1st and last chords for them to hear because they are usually the same chord.  As we progress, I will add a hold while playing other chords to make sure that we are matching.  This can also be used in any piece of music to be sure that the students are listening and matching to correct pitch.

At this point in the rehearsal I will usually only make use of the metronome part of the HD Keyboard but will refer back to these concepts of listening when we have a spot in the music that needs adjusting.  Some might say that using technology can get in the way of doing the real teaching of how to play the instruments.  I completely agree that the first priority is for students to be able to play with a clear sound.  I would say, however, that as long as it is used in a good balance, technology can be extremely useful in the band rehearsal.  There is a time to strap in and work on the music.  There is also a time when the students know the notes and rhythms well enough that we can begin to use these tools to improve their overall performance.  The HD Keyboard will get lots of use in my section rehearsals and as we get closer to our UIL Contest date.

But overall, I am more and more convinced that it is better to help students to listen for their tuning rather than to always rely on the wheel or needle of a tuner.  Climate, room size, muscle fatigue and stage lights all will effect the pitch of the instruments in so many different ways and there is not always a tuner available.  So, let's make an effort to really teach kids at the younger levels to listen and trust themselves to play in tune.  Because after all, they are the only ones that make themselves play in tune!!

-waxler

Tuning with your Ears 1

In my last post I shared a terrific article by Si Millican in the August issue of SBO Magazine.  It discussed the concept of making students use their ears to adjust their pitch rather than relying on a tuner to find what is "in tune".  In this post I want to share why both a CD with Perfect 5th drones and a Yamaha Harmony Director 200 can help students understand these concepts and put them into practice.  In a second post I will share some practical ways to use these in the classroom setting to help students use their ears better to tune as they perform.

The Perfect 5th Drones CD (5th CD) has perfectly tuned drones at an interval of a 5th.  These drones are in all 12 major keys in both low and high registers.  When a student plays any note in that key it becomes very evident when they are not in tune with the drone because they will hear loud beats when the sound waves do not match up.  The interval of a 5th is the purest interval (next to the 4th)  and, basically, the note that is played fills in the chord causing the student to adjust to both notes rather than just the single sustained note.  This allows for little if no wiggle room to be out of tune with the intervals. This is a practical way for students to hear their note as compared to a set (in tune) interval and decide what adjustments need to be made.  However, with only the two notes sounding, you can't adjust chords and other intervals involving more than one note for students to hear.  You also have to make sure that your CD player is on Single Track Repeat so the drone can continue for a long time.

The Harmony Director Keyboard takes the these concepts of playing against a 5th and adds the ease of a keyboard with the ability to play more than two notes at a time, the ability to have real tuning for chords (as apposed to even tuning like any other piano) and to instantly change the notes as the students play.  For instance, when my students play a chorale, I will set the keyboard for the real tuning of the key they are in and give them the beginning chord before they play, but then play the major (long) chords as they get to them.  We will pause on that chord long enough for them to adjust their tuning before we move on in the chorale.  This takes many weeks to get the hang of and the students often want to "get bored" and complain about the drone sound before they begin to grow excited about getting it right.

Next, I'll share some daily drills using these tools to improve student's tuning tendencies.

-waxler

A Great Article on Tuning

I saw this article in this last month's SBO Magazine and I thought it was worth sharing with those who maybe don't get that magazine. 

Article: Turn Off the Tuner for Better Ensemble Intonation

In this article Si Millican plainly speaks to the concept of making the students use their ears to tune rather than the wheel or needle of a tuner.  For years I have been working this concept with my students and I have seen a dramatic change in their tone quality and their performance.  At that time I was using a CD that sounded a drone of perfect 5ths in all keys for students to listen to and match.  Recently, I moved schools and one of the first purchases I made with my new budget was a Yamaha Harmony Director 200.  Those who work in my district asked me why I bought it and how I use it.  When I saw this article, I thought it put together all of the reasons I believe in using the Harmony Director into one article so I immediately shared it with them.

You don't have to have a fancy keyboard to work this idea, though.  Sometimes, when I don't have access to my Harmony Director, I will play the note on my instrument (trumpet) for the kids to match.  This will remind them of the concept of unwanted beats in the sound and begin to make them want to fix it. 

I so appreciate the way Dr. Millican provides a basis for this idea of listening rather than seeing to tune in his article.  In my next blog installment I will share some ways that I have used the 5th CD and the Harmony Director Keyboard with my classes to work the students' ears to become independent tuners when they play.

-waxler