Now that the 5 part Bach chorale book I created is being distributed and shared, I have been asked about specific recommendations for fixing intonation and balance in a brass quintet. In this blog, I’ll share some more detailed thoughts on how intonation in a group can actually get better and what ideas about intonation might stand in the way. It is a complex topic, so let me show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Working on intonation is one of the most difficult things to accomplish. The first step is getting the entire group on board with the project of achieving perfect intonation (which I define for these purposes as having every chord as beat-less as possible). This impossible goal of perfect intonation is actually really important because it reduces the stigma of calling out an individual player. If you are all on the quest together for this impossible goal you can all get really close to it as a group without making one or two players feel weaker since no one, not even the player with the strongest intonation, is perfect. Everyone can get better together.
Once you are all committed to this endeavor, some practical steps must be taken. First, make sure you all agree that you are trying to play at A= the same pitch level, 440 or whatever you all choose. I have found it also helpful in the beginning stages to have everyone individually check where their instrument is generally playing each day by playing into a tuner before rehearsal starts so you make sure that no one is overall sharp or flat. A group can still actually make all of the chords work if someone is way sharp, but it is a lot more difficult and wearing on the chops. Things like temperature, general stress level, or fatigue (both playing fatigue and general fatigue) make a big difference to the pitch level an individual is playing his or her instrument day to day, so checking in is useful - better that everyone starts on equal footing.
After that, the tuners go away. They might come back out again if something is really off, but ideally you want to do all of the rest of the work with your ears. If your quintet has downloaded my Bach chorale book, choose a chorale that looks good. Some are much easier than others. They all represent different voicing difficulties found in the standard rep that require particular care with balance. (For example, the one on page 9 is the only 5 voice one in this book for which Bach wrote all 5 voices. The 2 trumpets must be very aware not to overbalance when they find themselves on unison notes.) Page 6 or 7 make good starting places. Play your chosen chorale, noting any particularly troubling spots, especially any chords at the end of phrases. You can play small sections with pairs of instruments to find where the discrepancies are. Hopefully, this will begin the process of improving a group’s intonation. Sometimes, more drastic measures may be required. When Gaudete first started playing chorales, we would often spend quite a bit of rehearsal perfecting one of them before moving on to other music. The goal is perfection, and this music is easy enough that you can achieve it. Ideally, you don’t move on until the group as a whole can play through with perfect intonation and perfect attacks.
Ensemble balance can be improved with these chorales by focusing on the moving 8th notes as they pass through the ensemble. The tune in the first trumpet is easy to hear and need not be very loud. If the first trumpet understands this, the other players tend to play softer too, leaving the ensemble room to shape the phrases together. Also, having an ensemble that understands that a quintet doesn’t really have "raw power" as one of its expressive tools (the way a large brass ensemble does) will help, too. It is only the contrast between soft and loud that matters. As soon as anyone plays with a sound that is out of control, it becomes hard to match attacks across the quintet, and then the ensemble doesn’t sound tight. Having players out of balance can easily be perceived as an intonation problem.
There are a few misunderstandings about the most efficient way to tune that are pervasive in the brass world. I am going to suggest a few things to try that might sound a bit radical. The biggest problem I encounter when working with younger groups is that we have all been taught to tune by listening down to the lowest instrument. The problem with this is that tuba presents such a large target that hitting “in tune” with the tuba can be achieved by two instruments at the same time that still won’t be in tune with each other. It is actually much easier if the quintet generally starts listening “up” and tuning to the trumpet. (The trumpet should still listen down, starting with listening to the second trumpet.) The trumpet is a very easy sound to lock into. With the flexibility of the valve slides, trumpet players should be able to be pretty accurate if they take care to avoid problems (for example, letting the G go way sharp). The reality is that when a high instrument and a low instrument are out of tune, most people will perceive that the lower instrument is the one out of tune. It is in our interest then to match the trumpet player in the performance moment and then slowly take the passage apart if the group thinks that the trumpet player played out of tune.
The issue of where to place notes to eliminate beats will also come up while working through the chorale book or any tonal music. In many instances, one player has a note that holds or repeats, and other players move around it. My solution is to consider playing in a “key” for each chorale. For example, in an Eb major chorale a C as the 6th note in Eb Major would be played low so that when one builds a C minor chord, the C would be low to make the minor 3rd interval wide, therefore having fewer beats. A player could then hold an Eb in the same place across a few bars while the chords change around it if the tonality remains the same. You could tune a keyboard this way to have most of the chords perfect in one key. For the few instances this doesn’t work when the harmony or progressions are more complex, we who play flexible instruments can make the small adjustments easily. It is like creating a temperament. I believe that brass players generally play in a temperament that is influenced by how our instruments are built and the keys of most of our music. It takes a really good brass ensemble to transcend the problem of sounding good playing in Bb and bad playing in B. This is exactly like the results one would find on a keyboard in a non-equal temperament. If we admit this is what is happening, we can start adjusting for each key by making intelligent guesses about where to place notes for each key in tonal music. It should also go without saying that things like high melodic leading tones have no place in this system.
Certainly the best rule for intonation is to listen and be ready to compromise. Be ready to raise the pitch to help the ensemble sound great under that first trumpet high note that is being played way sharp at the end of a long concert. Although you should always be ready to adjust, you must play as if you expect the chord to be in tune. If everyone is constantly adjusting, it will be almost as difficult to play in tune as if no one were adjusting. Your group can gain confidence from repeated success so individual players can play with confidence. If you can hear your place in an in tune chord before you play it, you will have a significantly higher rate of success. Spending time working on intonation as a group will help you cultivate a taste for good intonation. The more you experience it, the more you will want to have it, and the easier it will be to find. More brass players playing in tune and listening for balance will make a better musical world.