Why not “extend” your palette? by Dean
Stallard
Artists
work unceasingly not only to find new shades of colour but to master new
techniques. Although an artist might prefer to work in oils they will also work
on other techniques to give themselves a choice of artistic mediums.
Why then do
we as flutists usually only aspire to attaining a standard tone and technique?
What is
a standard tone and technique? Who decided that was the standard? Will the
standard change?
The answer
to the last question is YES meaning an answer to the first would be subjective
at best! Playing styles and interpretation change constantly which means that
the standard perception of what a good and desirable tone is will also change.
Our perception of what is good music is also constantly changing, meaning that
what might seem far out and crazy now could be perfectly standard in 10 or 15
years. What will you do then with your perfect tone and technique which has now
become obsolete?
The answer
of course is like the Artist to have a wide palette to choose from and to work
constantly at adding new colours and techniques to that palette.
Some of
you might have guessed by the title that I am talking about Extended
Techniques. You
know those funny grunts, whistles and bangs that really advanced players use to
wreck the standard technique they spent years perfecting!!!
If that`s
your preconception of Extended Techniques then think again. You don`t have
to be an advanced player to learn these techniques. I teach extended
techniques to 6 year olds in their first year of playing. For them singing and
playing simultaneously is no more difficult than playing slurs and
articulating. On the other hand a 15 year old that has spent 6 or 7 years
playing just one way has a good deal more trouble.
You`d
also be wrong in thinking that working with these things will wreck your
developing sound and standard technique. I regularly “prescribe” some extended
techniques to help students address a problem they might be having. Singing and
playing is marvellous for sorting out tone problems and playing and
articulating music backwards really helps to understand how the attack and
decay of a note should be built up.
Thinking
that all extended techniques are really modern is also misunderstood. Flutter tonguing first entered the classical
repertoire over 100 years ago, key clicks over 60 years ago and alternative
fingerings have been used by players for centuries to change the tuning and
timbre of notes. Modern players and composers have simply done like the artist
and adapted the techniques for their own use.
So why
not do like the Artist and extend your palette? Learn new techniques, see what you can learn
from them and what you might use them for. Be creative and think about how YOU
might apply a technique, you don`t have to just use crazy modern techniques for
crazy modern music (but you can if you want). Develop the technique to suit you
and your preferences.
That`s what
Artists do and after all isn`t music an Art too?
Next time we`ll take a look at singing and playing. How to go about doing it, how it can help improve your tone and what you might use it for other than playing Avant Garde musicJ