Stephen Peterson
These notes are from the 2004 Conduction Symposium, January 16th at the University of Northern Colorado. These notes are from "Suggestions for Better Intonation."
- Balance - In the ensemble, what are the roles of the different instruments at that time in the music? What is your job?
- You can sing in tune better than playing in tune. If in a section of music you are out of tune, stop and sing the part.
- "Bands Play Sharp" so "Assume that you are sharp."
- Almost all instruments are tuned to A440. One exception to this are that most professional flutes are tuned to A442.
- You shouldn't teach students to rely on the conductor to tell them if they are out of tune. You should teach the students that out of tune pitches are wrong notes.
- "Don't be afraid to adjust" - If you adjust the wrong way, you were wrong, but in the end you still fixed the problem.
- Listen down, tune from the bottom down, starting with tuba's.
- "You can't tune a bad tone," "60-70% of pitch problems has to do with bad tone."
- Be able to tune the intervals, internalize the pitch