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Building a Beautiful Fortissimo

Articles - Pedagogical articles

It may be true, that legend that I’ve often heard about conservatory graduates in the late forties moving to New York City and learning how to play fortissimo by practicing on the rooftops of Manhattan’s buildings. If it was true it probably worked; the absence of any resonance and the ambient city noise of the busy metropolis certainly would have created the right elements to develop power, but we have to ask what kind of power.

That’s a very important question, which all brass players must ask themselves. Is it our goal to create sonic bricks that are a strategic part of a beautifully constructed sonic wall? We know that it takes strength to play a brass instrument ff but we also know today that the strength we need for ff is better compared to that of a powerful gymnast rather than the strength of a weightlifter.

To be a part of that sonic wall, which sounds so beautiful when it’s in tune and well balanced, can be very gratifying but it also can be dangerous if it is not maintained in a healthy way; in music we’re frequently required to play at very loud dynamics but we’re also frequently required to play in the more delicate end of the dynamic spectrum.

The fact is, having a beautiful fortissimo is contingent on also being able to play a beautiful pianissimo; without a healthy balance in our dynamic diet we can easily loose our dynamic flexibility. Sometimes during periods when, because of repertoire, our dynamic responsibilities are required overwhelmingly in the fortissimo direction, it’s easy to forget about that dynamic diet. If this situation continues over a long period of time, performance problems can begin to appear in our playing. It usually starts with the fortissimos sounding less good and pianissimos becoming unreliable, especially the attacks; at its worst it can cause a stuttering effect in attacking a note, which in turn can become the precursor to tonal dystonia, a nerve disorder that causes lack of control and refinement in a brass players embouchure and is usually terminal to a brass player’s career.

Dynamic Elasticity

Frequently, these “Sonic Bricks in the Beautiful Sonic Wall” are exactly what is musically required; the question is how to maintain that beauty. The beauty of a dynamically static (a stationary dynamic) note is always greater when the player has the capacity to make subtle dynamic changes even when it’s not needed; both for beauty and embouchure health, this dynamic elasticity will enhance our ff performance.

The Rochut/Bordogni Melodious Etudes for Trombone, or any similar materal, played espresivo and dynamically active between forte (f) and fortississmo (fff) will assure the beauty in our loud playing and also our general dynamic elasticity in all dynamics. Ten to fifteen minutes of this kind of work a day will usually guarantee the beauty of our fortissimo playing and keep the functionality of our complete dynamic register.

Practicing fortissimo in our normal practice environments or on the skyscraper rooftops in Manhattan will certainly expand our ability to play a beautiful ff, but the way that we do that loud practicing is strategic to the health and beauty of the fortissimo that we develop.

Valencia, Spain

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