Into The Third Generation
In 1984, the 2nd International Brass Congress was held at Indiana University at which Arnold Jacobs, the tubist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was the honored guest. He was regarded as a master performer and pedagogue. During the event M. Dee Stewart, Professor of Trombone at Indiana University, held a series of interviews and a panel discussion with Arnold Jacobs and some of his most successful students. These students have since become representative of the most prominent figures in the world of brass playing. They independently testified about the effect Mr. Jacobs' teaching had on their performing and teaching. Many said it was a turning point in their lives, and had become a new standard for their own performing and teaching.
During a private lesson with Arnold Jacobs, he said to me, “Don’t do it right, just sound better than anybody else. Then the next generation will want to do it your way.” The world of music has seen this pattern emerge time and again. Countless musicians have sought and often struggled to meet the standard of excellence set forth by those masters who came before them. As they labored toward the goal of sounding like the masters, generations of musicians naturally followed their human inquisitiveness and asked the question, “How do I do what they do to sound how they sound?”
While some brass players experienced high levels of success in their playing and teaching, this question drove many to experimental applications based only on personal experience or observation. While some had extensive knowledge of the physical responses of the body, this knowledge was overshadowed by their misdirected focus and became a stumbling block rather than a stepping stone. Rumors, opinions, and erroneous information become rampant. As a result, Arnold Jacobs began an in-depth study of human physiology and functionality. In turn, he became a well-respected expert on the matter. In contrast to the inclination of many to focus on how to play (physically), Jacobs’ approach was to focus on how to sound. His philosophy was to view music as an art form. He believed that we work most efficiently by the stimulus of the product and not the process. (Stewart, 1988, 14-17). This project was an attempt to qualify the effect of Arnold Jacobs' philosophies of brass performance and pedagogy based upon the testimonies of his private students over more than 30 years, taken from the interviews and a panel discussion conducted by M. Dee Stewart in1984.
In 2015-2016, the same group of participants were interviewed again.
These participants, interviewed more than 30 years ago by M. Dee Stewart, have held some of the most prominent positions in the field. The follow-up interviews were constructed as closely to the originals as possible. To maintain validity and establish reliability, the questions from the original interviews were revisited, retaining their integrity by focusing on the participants’ current opinions and observations and not reminding them of their past responses. The participants were also be presented with a list of new questions that focused on Jacob’s principles and their application to brass playing today.
Interview Questions (selected from, but not limited to)
Original Questions
1. How long did you study with Mr. Jacobs?
2. What was the reason you initially began to study with Arnold Jacobs?
3. Was Mr. Jacob’s approach innovative? If so, how was his approach different?
4. Please tell me some of the effects Arnold Jacobs’ teaching had upon your own performing and pedagogy.
5. Did he make any changes in your playing? If so, what changes have been made?
6. Some have said that Mr. Jacobs’ approach may have been too analytical. What is your opinion on this?
7. Was Arnold Jacobs a role model for you career?
8. Have you found Mr. Jacobs’ methods effective in your own teaching? If so, was it as effective as it was for you?
9. Do you feel Mr. Jacobs’ approach of teaching changed over the span of his career?
10. Mr. Jacobs often talked about playing with ease. Can you please talk about this?
11. Do you feel that Mr. Jacobs’ extensive knowledge of anatomy and physiology in brass playing got in the way in his teaching?
12. How does Mr. Jacobs’ method of teaching relate to your performance?
13. Is there one aspect of Mr. Jacobs’ teaching that has helped/influenced you most?
14. Is there a relationship between your success and Arnold Jacobs’ approach?
15. How long have you been teaching?
16. Can you discuss the emphasis on the mental aspects of playing in Mr. Jacobs’ approach?
17. Is there a general approach in Mr. Jacobs’ teaching that you have been able to successfully incorporate into your own teaching?\
New Questions
1. Do you feel that Mr. Jacobs’ approach to brass playing and pedagogy is still valid today?
2. How have Mr. Jacobs’ methods evolved in your playing and teaching?
3. Do you feel that Mr. Jacob’s approach is affecting the current and upcoming generations of brass players?
Conclusions
Upon evaluation of the video footage of the original interviews from the 1984 Second International Brass Congress, conclusions have been drawn, based upon the testimonies of the participants, that Arnold Jacobs’ philosophies of brass performance and pedagogy were revolutionary and defined a new standard in their brass playing and teaching, thus establishing a new standard of playing for future musicians. This document was a case study of the effect of Arnold Jacobs' philosophies of brass performance and pedagogy based upon the testimonies of his private students over a 30 year span. This qualitative research study will be based on information extracted from the interviews and a panel discussion conducted by M. Dee Stewart in 1984, compared with testimonies from the same musicians between 2014-2016.
A thorough review of the interview data, in comparison with the interviews from 1984 has confirmed the original supposition that the current generation, the third generation, is without doubt or question being shaped by Jacobs' ideas and teaching philosophies. His teaching has withstood more than three decades of challenge and change in the world of brass playing. Evolution has been unnecessary as his methods were already rooted in learning theories that we now know as differentiation and the theory of multiple intelligences. Jacobs was modeling these methods decades before they were identified, specified, and labeled.
No aspects of his ideology was proven to be extraneous or detrimental to great brass playing. The current opinions of these experts in the field, matched with their statements made in 1984, have demonstrated this not to be the case.
Jacobs’ teaching has withstood more than 80 years of challenge and change in the world of brass playing. In addition to the effectiveness of Jacobs’ philosophies initially demonstrated by the preliminary interviews, it is now clear from the testimony of the same participants that Arnold Jacobs' teaching methods are continuing to influence brass players young and old, all over the world.
Sources
Bibliography* Erb, Richard: The Arnold Jacobs Legacy.” Instrumentalist, April 1987, 22. Frederiksen, Brian and John Taylor, ed. Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind. (Gurnee, Illinois: WindSong Press), 1996. Kelly, Kevin: The Dynamics of Breathing with Arnold Jacobs and David Cugell M.D.” Instrumentalist: December 1983. Stewart, M. Dee, Ed. Arnold Jacobs, The Legacy of A Master. (Northfield, Illinois: The Instrumentalist Company), 1987. Students of Arnold Jacobs, interviewed by M. Dee Stewart; video tape recording, Indiana University 2nd International Brass Congress, Bloomington, Indiana, June 1984. Students of Arnold Jacobs, interviewed by John Bryan Heath; video recording, 2014-2016. *Note: These sources are referenced throughout the documentary film and this website by the participants and the interviewer.