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rowuk · 06-26-2007, 03:36 PM

I believe that your native language makes a big difference in the way that you articulate and that comparing Phil Smith vs Maurice André is asinine! MA is not a world class orchestral player and PS was not the travelling world class picc player. They have different skill sets unique to what they did for a living and BOTH would have to develop additional skills to cross over! You would have to compare Pierre Thibaud to Phil Smith and then you would have a very french vs a very american style of playing that is not interchangeable! The same would be true of the solo trumpet player of the Berlin Philharmonic vs Mr. Smith - a much different approach to articulation!
The position of the tongue in the mouth, the shape of the consonants that we have learned to speak and the overall color of the language change the expectancies at the ear dramatically. If you spend time with singers from all over the world, you see what they go through to develop projection and articulation in all the languages that they have to sing. When you grow up, you generally are not confronted with a big choice of dialects, you learn what is spoken where you live. Your first trumpet lessons are also based on what is available and where you can play.
If you spend time with latino players you learn a different type of articulation than with german posaunenchor or english brass band players. Russian players also have distinct traits based on heritage.
The internationalized type of higher education has "standardized" the skill sets to a certain extent because players want to be able to get jobs all over the world. That just means that players with a light sound and lightning quick articulation would have to spend time learning to get a bigger sound - if they want an orchestral position somewhere. Players with a huge sound, may need to learn to lighten the articulation up for the same reason.
In many cases, the obsession with a big sound does cloud the brain for diverse articulation.
Learning a foreign language does increase the sensitivity of the ear for tonal shading. This can help your playing by giving you a bigger palette of color and articulation to draw from. Living in Europe with a very international community, I do see big cultural differences. While it is impossible to isolate only language influences on playing, your language does create some of the first aural expectations, so why not?

Please forgive the rant, but I do have trouble sometimes when people not in the international scene make comments beyond their scope of experience. It is a very big world that we are in and after 40 years of playing, I have learned that just about anything is possible!

06-26-2007, 03:36 PM	#9 (permalink)
rowuk Moderator Fortissimo User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 4,394	Re: Is language a factor? I believe that your native language makes a big difference in the way that you articulate and that comparing Phil Smith vs Maurice André is asinine! MA is not a world class orchestral player and PS was not the travelling world class picc player. They have different skill sets unique to what they did for a living and BOTH would have to develop additional skills to cross over! You would have to compare Pierre Thibaud to Phil Smith and then you would have a very french vs a very american style of playing that is not interchangeable! The same would be true of the solo trumpet player of the Berlin Philharmonic vs Mr. Smith - a much different approach to articulation! The position of the tongue in the mouth, the shape of the consonants that we have learned to speak and the overall color of the language change the expectancies at the ear dramatically. If you spend time with singers from all over the world, you see what they go through to develop projection and articulation in all the languages that they have to sing. When you grow up, you generally are not confronted with a big choice of dialects, you learn what is spoken where you live. Your first trumpet lessons are also based on what is available and where you can play. If you spend time with latino players you learn a different type of articulation than with german posaunenchor or english brass band players. Russian players also have distinct traits based on heritage. The internationalized type of higher education has "standardized" the skill sets to a certain extent because players want to be able to get jobs all over the world. That just means that players with a light sound and lightning quick articulation would have to spend time learning to get a bigger sound - if they want an orchestral position somewhere. Players with a huge sound, may need to learn to lighten the articulation up for the same reason. In many cases, the obsession with a big sound does cloud the brain for diverse articulation. Learning a foreign language does increase the sensitivity of the ear for tonal shading. This can help your playing by giving you a bigger palette of color and articulation to draw from. Living in Europe with a very international community, I do see big cultural differences. While it is impossible to isolate only language influences on playing, your language does create some of the first aural expectations, so why not? Please forgive the rant, but I do have trouble sometimes when people not in the international scene make comments beyond their scope of experience. It is a very big world that we are in and after 40 years of playing, I have learned that just about anything is possible! __________________ Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.