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Die Walkure, Act. III “The Ride”

Juilliard Pre-College Low Brass Class notes from Sat, Feb 18th
Die Walkure, Act. III “The Ride”

This week’s Low Brass Class at Juilliard Pre-College focused on playing the Ride, discussing both audition preparation and performance as the low brass section of an orchestra.

We had two teachers there today, Demian Austin and myself (Tim Albright was sick this week.)

Everyone had the opportunity to play their part in front of the class, and received a 5min “mini-lesson” to identify critical things they should work on. This excerpt presents similar challenges to everyone, so watching and listening to their colleagues was a great learning experience for everyone, and great for practicing critical listening. After each trombone and tuba student had an opportunity to play in front of the group, we rehearsed the excerpt as a section with Demian playing first trombone. After working on balance, time, phrasing, and sound, the group was sounding great! After this, everyone briefly played their part again so we could check out the progress. It was great to hear everyone get so much better in just a one hour class!

Things we discussed:
  • This music sounds more exciting and interesting at the actual opera tempo of 104-112. This tempo is also better for making 4 bar phrases without extra breaths (on trombone). When performed in a symphonic setting, this piece is often played slower. And in auditions, it can get even crawl to a snail’s pace . Keep it moving!
  • Stay relaxed while playing and don’t try to muscle it. You’ll make a better sound, and won’t risk missing notes.
  • Accent the first beat of each measure.
  • Sustain the last two beats of measure.
  • Make sure last two beats of the measure are in time. To help with this, Subdivide eighth notes or hear the french horn parts in your head.
  • First two notes are super important to get you started well, so spend time practicing them alone.
  • First two measures are very important, once you get them going, the rest of the excerpt practically plays itself!
  • To fine tune your pitch, play the intervals while listening to a B drone from a tuner.
  • Make sure the short notes “pop” clearly.
  • The first trombone and second trombone parts are a little different (octave switches), make sure you’re familiar with both.
  • Fourth trombone has a few notes left out towards the end, so bass trombonists will want to also learn the third part.

We hold low brass class about four times per year. Next class, we’ll be working on Berlioz’ Hungarian March.