Considering balance in an ensemble
I can analyse an ensemble performance and consider the importance of balance in my own ensemble performance.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 11
- AQA
Considering balance in an ensemble
I can analyse an ensemble performance and consider the importance of balance in my own ensemble performance.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Having effective balance in an ensemble is key to successful performance.
- It allows all parts to be heard clearly and the melody to stay prominent.
- Perfecting the dynamics in your individual part, listening to other players and recordings are all useful strategies.
- We analysed a brass duet with piano accompaniment that demonstrated many features of a strong performance.
Keywords
Balance - the relative volume of different parts or instruments; effective balance is where every part can be heard clearly
Intonation - the tuning of notes; if a performer has good intonation it means that the notes are in tune
Tone - the specific timbre of a sound, not to be confused with the interval also called a tone
Common misconception
If you just play your dynamics accurately the balance will be good.
Often good balance requires you to listen to the other players and adjust dynamics, and to make sure that the melody is always prominent. Just playing the notated dynamics accurately might not always create effective balance.
Files needed for this lesson
- Performance exemplar - brass duet with piano (audio) 3.4 MB (MP3)
- Performance exemplar - brass duet with accompaniment (brass parts) 65 KB (PDF)
- Performance exemplar - brass duet with accompaniment (full score) 121 KB (PDF)
Download these files to use in the lesson.
Equipment
Licence
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