Last week the UNI Tuba and Euphonium studio had the pleasure of hosting Øystein Baadsvik for a guest masterclass and recital. Baadsvik is a world-renowned tuba virtuoso, and perhaps the only person to make an entire career of touring as a tuba soloist. We are still processing the experience, but as I speak to my students about it individually, certain ideas that Baadsvik mentioned in his masterclass keep surfacing consistently in our conversations.
One of the reasons that Øystein Baadsvik has had such success as a musician is that his manner of playing is utterly natural. His tuba seems to be an extension of himself, and he is able to truly sing through it, making each note and gesture musical. As he worked with several of our students in his masterclass, a major focus was on the general theme of relaxation. There were several variations of this, from adjusting a student’s posture to make breathing easier to describing how to approach playing high-range notes with focused air instead of forced air. But the overall message was that most things become easier on low brass instruments when we relax … in other words, “take it easy.”
Relaxation is one of the hardest things for us musicians (and particularly brass musicians) to enact in our daily playing. This is in part because of the process that most of us go through in order to learn and master our instrument. When we begin playing our instrument, sound production takes a huge effort. Sometimes even holding the instrument correctly is a challenge for young students. As we become more practiced on our instruments, the act of playing becomes easier, but there are always notes or passages that are difficult. In order to achieve what seems just outside of our grasp, we push. And it is that habit of pushing that stays with us into our musical adulthood. In my experience, the study of music at the college level often amounts to a gradual undoing of the various unhealthy habits that have built up until that point. For better or for worse, we build and reinforce those habits in the practice room.
As Øystein Baadsvik noted, simply relaxing is not enough to play the tuba well. Ironically, thousands of hours of training are necessary to get us to the point where we are capable of making our music sound effortless. Because of the tension that can build up in during practice, we constantly need to be reminded to get out of our own way. I personally strive toward a sense of equilibrium; balance between the athletic work that goes into playing my instrument and a sense of relaxed stillness as I focus on the music I intend to make.
In the Practice Room
The act of pushing, or tightening up as we play our instrument is a habit. Like most other habits, simply saying to ourselves “don’t do that” does not particularly help us to stop doing it. Instead, we can counteract the habit by focusing on an approach meant to replace it. Below are some strategies that can help to build relaxation in the practice room.
1. Set a timer to go off at certain intervals (5, 10, or 15 minutes). These are check-in points. When the timer goes off, take a moment to observe your own body. Do you feel tension in your shoulders, neck, jaw, or anywhere else? Take a moment to hit the “reset button” by taking a deep, cleansing breath. Focus on your breath (in and out) until you feel the physical tension dissipate. When you begin playing again, note any change that may occur in your sound or style.
2. Use a written symbol to note places in your music where you can take a moment to release tension. Write a word or invent a symbol if necessary. In my music, I include a symbol that specifically reminds me to relax and reset. I write the symbol between phrases or at the end of larger sections of music. This helps to counteract the progressive buildup of tension that can sometimes occur in solo pieces. If it will help even the tiniest bit, why not include it in the score?
3. If and when you feel relaxed and tension-free in the practice room, record yourself. It can be illuminating to hear the results of a sound that is not overly controlled. Sometimes a recording can dispel the notion that a tightly controlled sound is better than a free one.
4. Develop a simple, relaxed, habitual way of beginning things (phrases, passages, or entire pieces). Over many years of study, we can develop all kinds of strange habits around musical beginnings. Because the way we begin a piece influences our playing during the rest of the piece, it is worth examining our beginnings for anything extra and unnecessary. Simpler is often better.
5. If you employ all of these strategies, but still find yourself overly tense and struggling to relax, it may be time for a break. I know, I know, we should all be practicing all the time no matter what until the end of time. But–and I’m speaking mainly to brass players here–if you are physically fatigued, and the only way you can play is by pushing the notes out with force, then your practice has become unproductive. Instead of progressing, you are reinforcing a tense approach in your muscle memory. Consider shifting your practice to one of the myriad techniques that does not involve the instrument. Listen to recordings, sing or blow through your music with fingerings or slide positions, or plan your phrases and breaths. Or go get a cup of coffee! If at any time you are unable to release the tension from your playing, take it as a sign to stop playing.