Advice from a “Double Reed Weekend
Warrior.” Presentation at the International Double Reed Society 1st
Virtual Symposium. Terry B. Ewell provides definitions of endurance and
general conditioning, an overview of the five components for sound
production, identification of muscle groups that decline with neglect,
and strategies for a vacation away from the instrument. Translated by
[insert names] BDP #282, www.2reed.net.
[music: Hummel bassoon concerto]
1. Welcome to this presentation of “Advice from a “Double Reed
Weekend Warrior.” I am Terry Ewell.
2. Some of us are fortunate to have several hours a day in which to
practice and make reeds. Others, however, must answer to demands—whether
family or work— and this allows for only sporadic practicing and reed
making. For these, the performance opportunities are not weekly events,
but rather the concerts might occur monthly or even less frequently.
Thus, these “weekend warriors,” those who perform infrequently, are
faced difficult issues: How best can one maximize time with family and
work and then make appropriate preparations for the intensive periods of
performing?
3. There are many reasons for why a person is not able to practice
every day. In my career as a department administrator and a college
professor, frequently I have had to lay aside my instrument to best
maximize my time. And I am not the only one!
4. In the late 1970s, I had the honor of studying one summer with
Arthur Weisberg. Weisberg was not only as a famous bassoonist but also
well-known as a conductor of contemporary music and a professor at Yale
University. His busy schedule, however, meant that often he could not
play the bassoon every day. I remember during one lesson he told me that
he had a method for getting back in performance shape after a period
away from the instrument.
5. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn about that method, but I do have
some advice here for those in similar situations. Whether you have set
the instrument aside due to the COVID-19 pandemic, family obligations,
or work requirements, I hope that this presentation will provide you
with insights and strategies for how to get back into performance shape
as quickly as possible.
6. Highlights of this presentation will include definitions of
endurance and general conditioning, an overview of the five components
for sound production, identification of muscle groups that decline with
neglect, and strategies for a vacation away from the instrument.
7. Music puts varied challenges on the endurance and fitness of a
wind performer. Philip Farkas, former principal horn of the Chicago
Symphony, makes astute observations about the different performance
demands:
8. It can be observed that horn playing requires two kinds of
endurance. There is general endurance, the kind which enables a player
to continue playing intermittently for many hours a day… The “page long”
solo requires a quite different type of endurance. As we compare the
cross-country runner’s endurance with our general endurance, we might
classify this ability to play for several minutes without resting as the
“hundred-yard dash.” It requires a special kind of practice, but does
not necessarily demand daily work, as it is very fatiguing. For the horn
player, there are only a few major works which require this concentrated
practice… Nearly all horn solos and concertos need this practice.
9. Notice that Farkas distinguishes between two kinds of fitness.
First there is general endurance, which is the ability to perform for
extended periods of time with standard literature. Second is specialized
endurance that is needed for extreme musical challenges.
10. The definition for endurance that I prefer is “Endurance is the
ability to continue an action for longer periods of time with greater
efficiency.” Notice that there are two components to this definition:
duration and efficiency. We will keep the Farkas observations and my
definition in mind as we further explore endurance for the double reed
player in this presentation.
11. Let’s consider some of the pinnacle events that could happen in a
double reed player’s professional career. Playing Wagner’s opera Die
Meistersinger, the uncut version is five hours and fifteen minutes. Wow!
The longest symphony is by Mahler, Symphony #3, that is 95 minutes.
12. The Hummel Bassoon Concerto is twenty-seven minutes. The Strauss
Oboe Concerto is twenty-five minutes. Some of the longest phrases occur
in the Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony. The oboe solo is for forty seconds
or more, depending upon the tempo chosen. The bassoon solo in that
second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth is thirty seconds or more.
13. There are stresses put on the performers in terms of articulation
speed. The Overture to The Bartered Bride by Smetana at 160, with 16th
notes. Rossini’s The Silken Ladder, the oboe solo; Beethoven’s 4th
Symphony, the fourth movement solo for bassoon; and Mendelssohn’s
Midsummer Night’s Dream with the very fast 16th notes in there. So, this
certainly puts a stress on articulation. These pinnacle events I just
mentioned put stress on different parts of the body.
14. Now, these are not routine events during which general
conditioning or general endurance will suffice. These call for
specialized endurance. These pinnacle events I just mentioned put stress
on different parts of the body. For instance, some of the endurance
activities would certainly put stress upon the lungs. These long solos
in the Tchaikovsky symphony would do that. The fast-tongued passages
discussed would certainly put stress on the tongue. In addition, some of
these works would provide extreme demands on the oral muscles and
embouchures.
15. The important thing to know about these five different components
for sound production is that each of these components make use of muscle
fibers that respond in similar ways to stress and to work. Whether you
have the respiratory mechanism here. The diaphragm brings in air. You
have abdominal muscles and other muscles that push out air.
16. The second number here is in the throat area. This is the place
where many people, such as me, have the vibrato mechanism. There are
many different musculature structures in this area. It is extremely
complex. These structures can be used to produce vibrato. Various
studies on vibrato have shown that different structures are used for
that. I provide a lot of details on the various components in my
published work on Lulu, which is given here as a reference.
17. The number 3 is the back of the tongue, which can be used for
tuning. That can also be used for the “K” or “G” consonant in a double
tongue.
18. Number 4 is the front of the tongue, which is the most common
place for articulation. Then number 5 is the embouchure.
19. Each of these components engage muscle fibers. Similar to each kind
of muscle fiber in the rest of the body you can increase endurance in
those fibers, you can increase efficiency in those fibers. Those are the
fibers that you feel stress in, that you feel fatigue in when you engage
those muscles over and over again.
20. I just want to give another point here. An important part of the way
that I view playing is to consider that each of these five components
operate independently. Because they can operate independently, you can
create greater variety in your sound and greater abilities for musical
expression, if indeed you master each of these components independently.
21. Here is just a quick overview of the muscle types that we find in
the body. Type I muscles are the slow twitch fibers. These are dense
with capillaries. They primarily work with oxygen. They are fibers that
are built for endurance, for activities that go on over and over for a
long time. For instance, long distance runners have more of these Type I
muscle fibers than the faster fibers.
22. The Type IIa and IIx are the fast twitch muscle fibers. They tend
to give very quick response, but then they don’t give that quick
response over longer periods of time. These can all be developed in
different ways and there is targeting [exercises] for those. I mention
those in the book that I have written on endurance.
23. The different components of your body are actually a mix of these
fibers. It is not that you find all Type I fibers or all Type II fibers
in a certain location, although there are different concentrations,
there is often a mix.
24. One thing you may have noticed, for instance, if you are talking
about the front of your tongue and the back of your tongue (actually the
top part of you tongue) that I mentioned here in component 3, is that
these have different muscle fibers in them. The front of the tongue is
blessed with a lot more of the fast twitch fibers than the back of the
tongue.
25. That is the reason that you would find if you say “K K K K K K..”
over and over again you get much more fatigued than if you say “ T T T T
T...” The front of the tongue with the “T” sound has more fast twitch
fibers than at the back of the tongue. That makes a difference for the
responsiveness of articulation and the way in which you use articulation
on our instruments.
26. All of these muscle types can be increased in power and
efficiency through use and exercise. One can strengthen all five
components at the same time through regular practice. Philip Farkas
termed this “general endurance” in the quotation above. However, each
component can be targeted more efficiently with a unique set of
endurance building exercises.
27. By doing so, a person can more swiftly increase muscle
development and control in that component. This has precedence in sports
and weightlifting where certain skills or certain muscle groups are
targeted with carefully crafted exercises and regimens. Targeting
certain areas is particularly helpful if one has identified an area of
weakness.
28. Now, everyday life stresses the five muscle groups of the five
components of sound production differently than playing on the
instrument. Some of the five components receive adequate exercise to
maintain general conditioning for performance. For instance, if I
maintain a vigorous exercise regimen with aerobic and muscle building
exercises, I find no diminishing of the muscles needed for blowing air
into the instrument.
29. This is not the case, however, for the embouchure and oral
muscles. After a period away from the instrument, I notice these muscles
very quickly fatigue. It is for that reason that I have developed a
special exercise to target those muscles.
30. In addition to a loss of muscle strength during a vacation period
I also notice loss of finesse. This is not just a matter of muscle
fitness but also one of muscle efficiency. Dynamics and control over
tonal nuances quickly degrade often in just a few days. Careful control
of the tiniest movements is easily lost. The dance between the
embouchure and the reed requires both to be in top shape. If either are
even slightly lacking, the tango doesn’t go well!
31. The worst mistake that a performer can make is to end the last
note of the concert, lock the instrument in the case, and give no
further thought about preparing for the break and the process of getting
back into performance shape. Time spent preparing for the break
immediately after the last performance will be rewarded with quicker
transitions back to performance fitness.
32. A day to a day and a half after the final concert are golden
hours for reed adjustments. During this time the embouchure is in shape
and well sensitized to how high-performance reeds should be working.
Those precious hours must be put to good use by preparing new reeds for
the period of time after the vacation from the instrument. In these
hours with the best reeds at hand, it is easier to compare and contrast
the ideal reeds with developing reeds and trim the new reeds in proper
ways.
33. Make certain that the instrument is packed away only after a good
assortment of well-adjusted reeds of all ages are available. By all
ages I mean those reeds that are concert proven (older), concert ready
(mature but not old), and developing (younger).
34. Be sure to engage in healthy habits during the vacation away from
the instrument. Continue your exercise routines with aerobic and muscle
strengthening exercises for your whole body. Aerobic exercises such as
running, cycling, or working out on elliptical machines are particularly
helpful for maintaining the performance conditioning of the lungs.
35. In addition, exercises that target the arms, shoulders, and back
will help to keep in shape muscles needed to support the
instrument—particularly the bassoon. Sleeping well and eating well will
further help the transition back to the stresses of concert
performances.
36. Special consideration should be given to how one will get back
into performance condition. I think that adopting a strategic approach
will help minimize the time getting back into shape. Here I present a
sample practice session that can be used as a practice regimen for
getting back into shape. Just keep in mind that this is a sample, it
doesn’t mean that you have to adopt it line by line rigorously and not
depart from it.
37. Of course, you should adopt this according to the condition of
your body, according to what you can do, and perhaps even your time
schedule. It may very well be that the first day or two you are doing
only part of this sample session and you are easing into getting back
into shape. Of course, you want to avoid any sort of injury.
38. So, let’s discuss a bit this chart and take a look at several
important features that reflect current research on optimal athletic
performance. It is important to know that I developed this by looking
into the research into athletes and the way in which to best use
interval training and other activities to increase their endurance. So,
starting here, giving yourself a time of warmup is very important. Just
like an athlete you need to warm up the muscle tissues. This helps to
avoid injury but also gets you into a position in which you can stress
the muscles, stress the body more in order to build endurance and get
yourself back into shape.
39. So, I have allowed here about 10 minutes for warmups such as
scales or arpeggios. This should be easy, fluid work. You are not
pushing yourself with any endurance activity, but instead you are simply
trying to warm up the muscles. Get a feel for the embouchure on the
reed, the lungs working, the fingers working, and all of that.
40. Now the next thing, and this is the important part of the
practice regimen, is this issue of interval training. Interval training
puts stresses on muscles in a very concentrated period of time in which
you are working towards fatigue. It is important to use that. This would
be your interval training session 1. Here is a video example of that
session.
41. Let me point out a few features of this chromatic endurance
exercise that I have developed. Notice first that you play until
fatigued. You don’t have to complete the exercise. When you reach the
point of fatigue then stop. You need to be the best judge of how far to
push your body. If at the end of the exercise you are not fatigued
enough, then simply repeat it or repeat a portion of it.
42. On bassoon, the most fatiguing portion I find is the last half of
the exercise. Less so in the first half of the exercise here. Notice
that I have written “p-mf for lip endurance.” This is if you just want
to target the embouchure muscle group. If you want to primarily target
the intra-oral endurance—this is the inside of your mouth and the muscle
structures there—then you need to play forte or fortissimo.
43. Now this also taxes the embouchure, so you are doing both, double
duty, with the forte to fortissimo. But you can really target the inside
of your mouth and those structures in there with greater endurance. The
exercise obviously also taxes the lungs as well because you are
expelling more air with all of that. This is the chromatic endurance
exercise for bassoon.
44. I have also created a chromatic endurance exercise for the oboe.
Both of the exercises will be published in The Double Reed in a
forthcoming article.
45. Now let’s go back to our sample practice session. We have
completed the warmup, ten minutes or so; the interval training, it could
be three minutes, two minutes, or four minutes—however long your session
will work out; and then, this is very important after the interval
training, is to have a period of active rest.
46. They have found that working with sprinters and other athletes,
that once you do your interval training instead of having the athlete
sit down, they should be engaging in an activity where the muscles are
moving and where there is a continued motion. For instance, the sprinter
might do their sprinting and then they may go to do some stretches, or
walking, or something like that.
47. So, for us active rest would be practicing a difficult finger
pattern, a rhythmic passage, or some articulation. The idea is to work
with another muscle group. We don’t want to stress the embouchure, we
don’t want to stress the inside of the mouth, or perhaps even endurance
with the lungs. So, we will continue to use those but engage in
something else. This is very efficient because there are usually things
you need to work on for a concert—fingering, articulation —which would
be helpful there. So, having finished the warmup, interval training 1,
and the active rest, then it is time for your second interval training
session.
48. Once again you do the same routine you did in the first interval
training session. You might find that you may be more quickly fatigued.
That is quite common. Then I have allocated a place here for break away
from the instrument. This is roughly half an hour into the session.
49. I think that it is really important that you really get away from
the instrument. Put the instrument down, don’t make reeds, get up, walk
around, have a cup of tea, give yourself a break, and maybe not even
think about music. You will find that your practice session is much more
fruitful when you allow your subconscious some time to work on what you
were just doing and allow your conscious mind to be engaged in something
else.
50. So, having taken a little break from the instrument, come back
for some more active rest. Maybe you work on some arpeggios, scales,
other patterns that need some touching up. Then if you are able to do
it, now follow up with your third interval training session. Three times
will really help you to get in shape. Follow that again with some active
rest and then a break away from the instrument.
51. Here is a weekly regimen that you might want to be involved with.
For instance, on Day 1. The first session you have some interval
training. If you do a second session, then definitely practice without
the interval training.
52. On Day 2 you may decide that you are not going to do the interval
training on Day 2 and practice some other things. Then on Day 3 you
bring in the interval training. Again, you will have to see how best
your body responds. But consider ways in which you can alternate
stressing muscle groups and then giving them a day off, stressing muscle
groups and then giving a day off. This is much as a weightlifter would
do or somebody in sports or athletics.
53. The best way to keep yourself practicing is to keep your practice
sessions interesting. So, vary the kinds of things that you are doing.
Keep yourself physically challenged. Keep yourself mentally stimulated.
All of that is so important to keep up your practice regimen.
54. Let me give one last comment on playing the reeds after the
break. Even a well-adjusted reed will take several days to adapt to
performance conditions. At first the reeds and embouchure will feel
foreign and uncomfortable. Resist the urge to scrape the reeds! The
reeds also need several days to get back into performance conditions.
Trust the procedure and allow the embouchure and reeds to come back into
performance shape.
55. Well, I hope that this presentation has been helpful for you. The
keys to a quick rebound to performance after a break are to pay careful
attention to preparations before the break. Keep up a healthy lifestyle
while away from the instrument. Last of all, apply a systematic
approach to regaining endurance. All of these steps will result in
success.
56. We are fortunate that the human body is so resilient and able to
re-establish past endurance levels. Applying a few of the strategies
provided in this presentation should help you to return quickly to
performance shape. Thank you for your time, bye!