BrassThoughts from Aubrey Foard, Principal Tubist, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Do you advocate buzzing? If so, how and why? If not, why?
I do advocate buzzing because it ensures that your embouchure muscles and air are in the right place for each pitch that you're attempting to buzz. I'm particularly fond of free buzzing for 5-10 minutes a day because it helps to build up your embouchure muscles. This helps you to have greater control over the width and the amount of air moving through your aperture. Without a well-developed embouchure, that control is harder to establish and maintain, which adds more unknowns into your playing.
What are some creative ways you practice away from the instrument?
I'm a big proponent of being able to sing the music that you're preparing. However, it's important that you go beyond just singing the pitches:
1.) You need to show that you can sing it as expressively as you'd want to hear it played so that you have a musical template for your preparation.
2.) Ensure that you have a version of singing it where the vowel remains constant. So, for example, if you use "AH" as your vowel when playing (which I do), practice singing through the piece with that vowel and make sure it stays constant, or doesn't change. Then, when you sit down and practice with the instrument, you've already established a good example; you'll just need to make sure it stays that way while you play, which is its own challenge.
I think it's also worth saying some things that are obvious to me and most people who have big jobs in orchestras, but aren't always built into students' instincts:
1.) Record thyself. 15 minutes every day - more if it feels right. Listen back and for goodness sake, take notes. You will make exponential gains as a musician if you do this.
2.) Listen to every single piece you're going to be practicing as soon as you start learning it. Also, this is a huge issue with most students I've run across: It's not enough to know the piece! Know the performer(s) and the conductor! Far too many students have listened to the music but have no idea who the recording artist is. How can you expect to make good musical, stylistic, sound, articulation, and other interpretive decisions if you don't know what makes each recording unique? You simply must be well-informed about recordings to succeed as a classical musician. There's no other way.
Do you do a daily routine? Is it important in your opinion? Is it the same every day? Why or how does it change?
I do have a daily routine. It's essentially a 20 minute warm up that hits all aspects of my playing but especially allows me to work through some of my weaker aspects as a player. I'll do soft and accented articulations, long and short note lengths, high and low, loud and soft, technical stuff and footballs. By focusing on some of my less-than-ideal playing characteristics, I'm fully prepared to deal with any challenges that might come up throughout the day.
What is a recording (plural if you want) that you think exemplifies great musicianship? A favorite track from your own recordings and why is also favourable!
When I was in school at the Cleveland Institute of Music, I had the honor of hearing bass baritone Thomas Quasthoff perform Haydn's Creation. I've been addicted to his work ever since - you simply have to hear him to understand. I'm particularly fond of his recording of Brahms' Vier Ernste Gesänge (or Four Serious Songs). There are many vocal artists who I've grown to love over time: Marilyn Horne, Dame Felicity Lott, Bryn Terfel, Gwyneth Jones, René Kollo, Renato Bruson, Renee Fleming, Greer Grimsley and many, many more.
And those are just opera and lieder singers! I love soloists of every instrument and treasure the opportunity to learn more about those who have contributed to our art. I have always been a fan of Anne Sophie Mutter, Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn, Leila Josefowicz, Christian Tetzlaff, and Augustin Hadelich in the current generation of violin soloists and have loved David Oistrakh, Nathan Milstein, Fritz Kreisler, and Jascha Heifetz in the older generation.
I could go on with flute (Rampal, Pahud, Galway, etc.) or piano (Lang Lang, Andras Schiff, Pariah, Horowitz, Fleischer, Lupu, and so many more), or cello, or a bunch of other instruments, but you get the idea.
The point is that most students I've worked with one-on-one or in a master class setting couldn't name more than one outstanding soloist on violin, cello, and piano. How do you become a better musician if you don't know music?!
Of course, you should respect and love the recorded works from tuba artists like Roger Bobo, Oystein Baadsvik, Michael Lind, Eugene Dowling, Aaron Tindall, Sergio Carolino, and so many more that I can't fit into this paragraph, but, if you don't branch out to listen to other great music by artists who have set the standard for all of classical music, you'll never be fully equipped to become the best musician you can be.
(This goes for orchestras too: what separates the sounds and stylistic approaches of Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Concertgebouw, London Symphony and London Philharmonic? Not to mention the orchestra's I've left out. What about back home? What makes Chicago different from San Francisco? New York different from Cleveland? Pittsburgh different from Baltimore? How have these orchestras changed under their music directors? What did Berlin sound like under Karajan and what does it sound like under Rattle? Chicago with Reiner vs Solti vs Barenboim vs Muti?)
I know this is a long answer, but I have to be clear about this: there is a trend to not be informed or curious about music these days. Ironically, this has happened in a day in which recorded music is much more readily available, so the tendency is to take it for granted. But if you want to become the best you can be, you absolutely must buck this trend. You cannot ascend to the upper echelons of music-making if you don't.
What is/are some of the pieces of advice/exercises/etude books that you felt were most crucial to your development?
Piggybacking on my last answer, most crucial to my development was the advice that you must be curious to succeed. Beyond listening to great music, you should always be looking for new solos to perform, new excerpts to learn, new etudes to read. If you're bored, have friends over and play through some chamber music.
Read about how to become a better musician: there is a ton of good writing on practice techniques and mental preparation for performance. Watch the operas that are a part of our repertoire as well as the ones by the same or similar composers that aren't. Watch videos of orchestras performing and observe the habits of the musicians while performing. Go hear every concert you can and take every audition you can get your hands on.
The point is: this is not just a job that you aspire to. This is a lifestyle. You have to sleep, eat, and breathe music. If you do that now, as a student, you will be ready to take it to the next level when you get out of school.
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