JAVS Spring 2013

F ORWARD M OTION : T EACHING P HRASING USING M ARCEL T ABUTEAU ’ S N UMBER S YSTEM

the arrival of the down bow. 4 He believed that up and down bows were analogous to inhaling and exhaling, which allowed music to breathe and have life. 5 using numbers, Tabuteau taught students how to give music life, providing a system that encour aged forward motion. There are four main number ing systems that Tabuteau developed for his students to consider in deciding how to phrase a musical line: motion numbers, scaling numbers, rhythmic num bers, and phrasing numbers. 6 Each of Tabuteau’s numbering systems can be readily applied to the standard viola repertoire, and this article provides a general introduction to these systems with practical applications in viola teaching and performance. Scaling numbers represent the most basic form of Tabuteau’s numbering systems, with the purpose of developing levels of intensity within a held note or scale. This method is essentially a tool to develop dynamic range as a way to intensify a line. Although increased dynamics is not synonymous with increased intensity, this is still a good exercise to practice when these two conditions are directly relat ed. In practicing ascending and descending scales from the first to fifth scale degrees, one would start at a lower intensity on the first scale degree and gradually increase until reaching the fifth scale degree, decreasing intensity as one descended down back to the first scale degree (ex. 1). For wind play ers, Tabuteau insisted on the breath following the climax of the scale, after the first beat of a measure, to eliminate the unnecessary break that may coincide with the appearance of a bar line. 7 As a violist, where a physical breath is unrequired to phrase, one might practice these scales of five, nine, thirteen, or seven teen notes by using one bow ascending, including the top note, and then another bow descending and then again with separate bows. In both instances, Scaling Numbers

by JoyceY. Chan

Marcel Tabuteau was a French oboist who played with the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1915–1954 and is credited as being the father of American oboe playing. In addition to a successful performing career, he also imparted his knowledge of musicality and expression onto the students of the woodwinds and strings classes at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he taught many up-and-coming musicians, including violist Karen Tuttle. 1 A student of Karen Tuttle’s once commented that hardly a single lesson went by without her telling him something that Tabuteau had once told her. 2 Tabuteau left a strong impression on Tuttle, and his unique approach to teaching the art of phrasing has had a lasting impact on the succeeding generations of musicians. The ability to convey emotion and expression in one’s playing is sometimes considered a natural tal ent. Many teachers have the tools to teach mechani cal technique on their instruments, using various scales and étude books and drills with metronomes and tuners. But they often find it more challenging to teach a student how to play musically. There is a common belief that music, which provides so much pleasure, cannot require so much thought and that musicians must be naturally talented to convincingly emote feelings in their playing. 3 In a departure to this belief, Marcel Tabuteau developed a systematic approach to teaching phrasing using various num bering systems. His method was not limited to the oboe or even to other wind instruments, and he would often refer to playing techniques of string players and vocalists, proving his method could be just as effective on any instrument. When giving an oboe lesson, Tabuteau would often relate his teach ing to string playing, describing how phrases could be shaped using the idea of the natural crescendo of an up bow, which prepared and led to the finality of

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