B15M

When I play I am always thinking about how to phrase. A lot of times I come up with a different idea than the others in the section or the band.

Do we have to make it sound the same old way? Shouldn't we look for a new way or try to tell a different story with the same notes?

Sometimes I will say something to the conductor but I usually don't get my way. They just want to play it the way they have heard it a thousand times before.

The other night I asked another trumpet player to play it this way. He said we can't because the low brass played the idea first and since they went first we have to copy them. I get his idea but can we do something else besides ONE two three four.

How about one two three FOUR one?

What's that in the road ahead?
What's that in the road, a head?
Same words different meaning

Just an idea!

Dave

..

rowuk

In many ensemble situations it is impossible to change impressions in real time. The best time to approach a conductor is not generally during a rehearsal - depending on the group, it could be construed as you trying to tell him what to do (challenging his authority).
I get the best results offline - especially if I am excited about something. Conductors have a lot on there mind during a rehearsal and have more time to appreciate or even become infected with your approach afterwards.
You are right about fresh approaches - offer them at the right time and everybody benefits!

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Jon Kratzer

Definitely approach your conductor outside of rehearsal. It's safer lol. I suggested something in a rehearsal once and the director blew it off. After the rehearsal he yanked me to the side and pulled me into a room and bit my head off about trying to challenge his ideas and authority in front of "all of those musicians". I walked away and let it go, although my instincts told me to do otherwise.

Keep your ideas up, just be careful with conductors when you suggest them.

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B15M

I don't have any trouble with the conductor.

That wasn't the idea of the post. I don't think I have ever had a problem with a conductor.

The thought is that we should be open to different ideas. If we play it the same each time we might as well be a recording. Everything the same and played perfectly. Is that what we are trying to achieve, to play it the way we heard it before and not make any mistakes?

I remember the first time I played a piece for the second time with two different conductors. The second time I thought, He's doing it wrong.

That was a long time ago and I'm open to different ideas now.
Last night at rehearsal, at break I asked the conductor about a part that I thought of differently. He said that he had never thought of it that way but, he would see the composer next week and ask him. I was surprised. I didn't know the guy was still alive never mind friends with the conductor.

It will be interesting to hear what the composer had in mind.

This brings up another point. When we play Haydn, are we supposed to replicate what he was thinking when he wrote the piece or do our own thing. Maybe he's rolling over in his grave when I play it.

Vulgano Brother

One useful thing when considering style is to borrow a concept from New Testament scholars: looking at exegesis (what it meant) and hermeneutics (what it means). Case in point; we were playing some Bernstein and really swinging (our strings couldn't really swing that well, but our french horn players could, and that is pretty unusual in an orchestra) and Gunther Schuller stopped us. "Lennie couldn't swing," he said, and told us to play what he called "ricky-ticky." We did, and it worked! As musical as we are, our ideas of phrasing must fit within the style we are playing.

Style trumps interpretation every time.

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rowuk

There is no way you can know what Haydn would think. He didn't have modern trumpets that had even tone and good intonation back then!
You should study the pieces to able to play them in proper context, be aquainted with limiting factors of the day (like keyed trumpets) and then go out and do the right thing. If your concept it consistent, your interpretation is valid. It doesn't matter who you are, even Wynton takes heat here at TM for his Classical and Jazz. Just proof you have NOTHING to worry about!

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.