University of Northern Colorado Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC Dissertations Student Research 5-1-2012 FINDING PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGIES FOR COMBINED CLASSICAL AND JAZZ SAXOPHONE APPLIED STUDIES AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL Ulf J. Eriksson Follow this and additional works at: http://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Eriksson, Ulf J., "FINDING PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGIES FOR COMBINED CLASSICAL AND JAZZ SAXOPHONE APPLIED STUDIES AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL" (2012). Dissertations. Paper 118. This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO Greeley, Colorado The Graduate School FINDING PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGIES FOR COMBINED CLASSICAL AND JAZZ SAXOPHONE APPLIED STUDIES AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL: BASED ON INTERVIEWS AND A PANEL DISCUSSION WITH BRANFORD MARSALIS, DONALD SINTA, THOMAS WALSH, THOMAS BERGERON, ANDREW BISHOP, ANDREW DAHLKE, GUNNAR MOSSBLAD, JAMES RIGGS, RICK VANMATRE, STEVE DUKE A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Arts Ulf Johan Eriksson College of Performing and Visual Arts School of Music Saxophone May, 2012 This Dissertation by: Ulf Johan Eriksson Entitled: Finding pedagogical strategies for combined classical and jazz saxophone applied studies at the college level: Based on interviews and a panel discussion with Branford Marsalis, Donald Sinta, Thomas Walsh, Thomas Bergeron, Andrew Bishop, Andrew Dahlke, Gunnar Mossblad, James Riggs, Rick VanMatre, Steve Duke. has been approved as meeting the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Arts in College of Performing and Visual Arts in School of Music, Program of Saxophone Performance Accepted by the Doctoral Committee ______________________________________________________ Andrew Dahlke, DMA, Chair ______________________________________________________ Caleb Harris, DMA, Co-Chair/Committee Member ______________________________________________________ Erik Applegate, MM, Committee Member _______________________________________________________ Norman Peercy, Ph.D. Faculty Representative Date of Dissertation Defense _____________________________ Accepted by the Graduate School ________________________________________________ Linda L. Black, Ed.D., LPC Acting Dean of the Graduate School and International Admissions ABSTRACT Eriksson, Ulf Johan. Finding pedagogical strategies for combined classical and jazz saxophone applied studies at the college level: Based on interviews and a panel discussion with Branford Marsalis, Donald Sinta, Thomas Walsh, Thomas Bergeron, Andrew Bishop, Andrew Dahlke, Gunnar Mossblad, James Riggs, Rick VanMatre, Steve Duke. Published Doctor of Arts dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2012. The saxophonist, due to the instrument’s strong link to jazz music, has become an integral part of college jazz programs. However, American music schools maintain a strong link to European conservatory traditions, thus the saxophonist is also expected to fit into, and to serve, the prevailing model based on the western European classical tradition. This development has created a demand for saxophonists that are able to perform and teach in both classical and jazz genres. This dissertation aims to find more effective and efficient teaching strategies for the university educator teaching classical and jazz to the college-level saxophonist, as there has been minimal substantive research presented in the field of saxophone pedagogy for the multi-faceted saxophone educator. This dissertation compares and contrasts expert opinions on a wide array of themes related to multi-faceted saxophone performance and pedagogy. Ten leading saxophone pedagogues and performers are participating in the research and share their ideas and pedagogical strategies. The interviews have been synthesized by themes and subthemes, and the reader is able to see direct comparisons between the experts on each subtheme and will be able to learn from the majority and minority opinions. iii Themes covered include differences and overlapping areas in jazz and classical saxophone technique: embouchure, tonguing, tone, oral cavity and throat position. It also covers philosophical themes: conception, managing teaching and practice time, time- saving strategies, improvisation as part of lessons, becoming a multi-faceted saxophonist, and responding to market demands. The participating experts outline clear strategies and solutions to these themes. iv DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my wife Katie Eriksson who, through multiple proof readings, has become a reluctant expert on multi-faceted saxophone pedagogy. She has supported me throughout this entire process. This dissertation belongs to her as much as it does to me. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge all the dissertation participants who generously donated their time and expertise. They represent the best of our profession: Thomas Bergeron, Andrew Bishop, Andrew Dahlke, Steve Duke, Branford Marsalis, Gunnar Mossblad, James Riggs, Donald Sinta, Rick VanMatre, and Thomas Walsh. I would also like to acknowledge my dissertation committee members who had to spend many hours reading this dissertation: Caleb Harris, Erik Applegate, and Norman Peercy. Thank you also to Dana Landry. I am especially grateful to Andrew Dahlke, my adviser, teacher, and dissertation committee chair. Thank you for taking your weekends and breaks to improve this dissertation. As this dissertation is the culmination of my formal education, I would like to thank my past saxophone instructors for helping me reach my goal of being a university saxophone professor and professional saxophonist: Lars-Gunnar Pettersson, Magnus Nilsson, Tommy Wiklund, Craig Whittaker, Steve Stusek, Steve Duke, and Andrew Dahlke. Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank Christopher Zumski-Finke for lending his considerable language and editing expertise to this project. vi TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………............... 1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………… 8 III. METHODOLOGY………………………………………………….. 13 Interview Questions 15 Section 1: Overview 15 Section 2: Philosophical 15 Section 3: Tone and Tonguing 16 Addendum: Miscellaneous and Equipment 17 IV. BECOMING A MULTI-FACETED SAXOPHONIST: SPECIALIZING OR MULTI-STYLE?.............................................. 20 Why Did the Participants Decide to Pursue Multi-Styles? 21 Should Multi-Styles Be Systematically Taught at the College Level? 22 What are the Positives of Pursuing Both Styles? 24 What are the Negatives of Pursuing Both Styles? 25 Do We Risk Having Students and Teachers That Do Not Excel in Either Style Using a Multi-Faceted Approach? 27 Who does the Academic Job Market Favor – Specialists or Multi- Faceted Saxophonists? 29 V. CHANGES IN EXPECTATIONS OVER TIME: SPECIALIZATION AND MULTI-STYLE AND PERCEPTION OF THE CLASSICAL SAXOPHONE OVER TIME……………… 30 Specialization and Multi-Style 31 Perception of the Classical Saxophone over Time 33 VI. RESPONDING TO MARKET DEMANDS IN THE SAXOPHONE STUDIO: MULTI-STYLE AND DOUBLES………………………. 35 vii CHAPTER PAGE VII. MANAGING TEACHING TIME AND PRACTICE TIME FOR THE MULTI-FACETED SAXOPHONIST………………………… 39 Dividing up the Practice Time 39 Dividing up the Teaching Time 42 VIII. TIME-SAVING STRATEGIES: TIME MANEGEMENT AND OVERLAPPING AREAS…………………………………………... 47 Time Management 47 Overlapping Areas 49 IX. SHOULD IMPROVISATION BE TAUGHT IN LESSONS?............ 51 X. EQUIPMENT……………………………………………………….. 54 XI. CONCEPTION……………………………………………………… 56 In Depth Listening over Time 57 Transcribing 59 Imitation 61 Body Awareness and Psychomotor Skills 62 Cultural and Historical Awareness of the Style 63 Recording and Listening Back 64 Perception of Style 66 Comparing and Contrasting the Experiences of Branford Marsalis and Donald Sinta 68 XII. EMBOUCHURE: MOVING BETWEEN STYLES………………... 72 XIII. SUBTONE AND JAW MOVEMENT……………………………… 76 Subtone Introduction 76 Jaw Movement Introduction 77 Subtone and Jaw Movement: Moving from Jazz to Classical 78 Subtone and Jaw Movement: Moving from Classical to Jazz 80 XIV. THE ORAL CAVITY: PITCH CENTER AND VOICING, MOUTHPIECE PITCHES, AND TONGUE POSITION…………... 83 Pitch Center and Voicing 84 Mouthpiece Pitches 86 Tongue Position 87 viii CHAPTER PAGE XV. TONE: OVERLAPPING ASPECTS AND DIFFERENCES IN STYLISTIC APPROACH………………………………………….. 89 Overlapping Aspects of Tone between Styles 89 Differences in Tone between Styles 92 XVI. TONGUING………………………………………………………… 94 Tip tonguing versus anchor tonguing 95 Tonguing problems moving from jazz to classical 97 a) Airy Attacks 97 b) Heavy Tonguing 99 c) Clipping Notes 100 Tonguing problems moving from classical to jazz 101 a) Off-Beat Tonguing 102 b) Smooth legato vs. hard accents 103 c) Ghost tonguing 104 XVII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS………………….. 106 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………… 136 APPENDIX A. ANDREW BISHOP INTERVIEW…………………………………. 139 B. ANDREW DAHLKE INTERVIEW………………………………... 159 C. STEVE DUKE INTERVIEW……………………………………….. 179 C2. STEVE DUKE FOLLOW UP INTERVIEW……………………….. 221 D. BRANFORD MARSALIS INTERVIEW…………………………... 234 E. DONALD SINTA INTERVIEW…………………………………… 260 F. RICK VANMATRE INTERVIEW…………………………………. 287 G. THOMAS WALSH INTERVIEW…………………………………. 303 H. PANEL DISCUSSION: SHOULD JAZZ BE TAUGHT IN PRIVATE LESSONS AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL?.......................