 Performance Techniques
Changing Tonal Quality
(Note: All the scores on these next two pages are written
in .)
Probably the most unique characteristic of a brass instrument
is its ability to change the tonal quality of its sound. A brass section
playing softly has a distinctly different tone color than when it plays
loudly. Soft playing produces a sweet tone, while loud playing produces
a metallic, brassy tone.
These characteristics are often showcased when holding
a chord. Listen to what the brass section sounds like as it increases
the volume of a chord from soft to loud:
You can actually hear the metallic sound metamorphosize
right out of the initial sweet sounding chord.
A common way of beginning a brass
is to start it with a .
By doing this, both the initial entrance and the ending have bright, metallic
sounds. Let's listen to what that sounds like:
Notice how the sforzando announces the crescendo that
is about to happen. This effect always adds an element of drama to the
music.
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