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Masterclass: Laurie Frink
Thursday, 11:30am
Kimberly Stephans
Laurie Frink began her masterclass by explaining that she would talk mostly about Carmine Caruso and his method. He was a saxophone, violin and piano player who became a great teacher of trumpet players, in no small part because he was not a trumpet player himself (and therefore didn't have any of the hang-ups that trumpet players so often develop about their own playing). He was particularly interested in understanding how people completed a physical task or action. In the case of trumpet players, he was interested in "how" sound was produced, the muscle memory and conditioning the body requires in order to accurately produce the desired sound.
To that end, the Caruso method is based on intelligently conditioning the body to consistently reproduce a desired sound, through a process that is more physical than musical. While practicing the exercises, appropriately entitled Musical Calisthenics, all musical judgements are to be temporarily suspended. When the focus is on judging the musicality of each note, the trumpet player ends up practicing how to manipulate the note, and not practicing how to simply play the note. The focus is also placed on setting the mouthpiece and the embouchure, and producing a sound within a framework of time and tempo maintaining a beat internally, and starting and ending the sound in time. This synchronizes the muscles to work efficiently and consistently together.
Another important factor in learning to play the trumpet is repetition. Through repetition, we train the body to respond consistently despite the constant changes we experience in day-to-day life. It is through repetition, and trial and error, that the body trains itself to produce the sound we desire, much as the way that a baby learns, through trial and error and repetition, how to stand and walk.
Frink called for volunteers, and John Lufburrow stepped up to learn the Caruso method. Frink had him play through the six note exercise and the exercise on seconds, and it was observed that as he began to focus more on his rhythm and counting, he was able to play better. After working with Lufburrow for 15-20 minutes, Frink fielded several questions about how to work with the Caruso method. For more information, the reader is encouraged to see Frink's article in the next ITG Journal. (Kimberly Stephans, M.M. student, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana) |
