When I started, everything was too easy. I finally realised I had to organise my practice and learn to practise intelligently. I was fed up being a slave to my instrument and I was determined to do anything that would enable me to play my instrument for as long as possible. So I started by taking stock and letting the questions surface. What is it that’s really difficult? Not necessarily a passage with lots of notes but, for example, playing well something easy. That’s already a whole programme, a whole philosophy. I eventually started a serious detailed study of the etudes of Kopprasch and other masters who have bequeathed to us the keys of mastery. Nothing too difficult (generally speaking, in the music world, people practise things that are too difficult) I established a warm-up system and developed my own artistic conception of sound and style.
In 1978 Gregory Cass was appointed to the Geneva Conservatoire populaire de Musique, an institution which is particularly dynamic and open to many sources of thought which make it possible to provide subtly varied, sensitive and sensible teaching. It was there that he discovered the Alexander technique which helped him enormously.
A musician is often his own enemy! Why is there such a drop in standards among musicians who played very well at 20? An instrumentalist’s characteristics change constantly, seldom for the better, especially if he doesn’t take care. A talented brass player can make a spectacular breakthrough in a few years whereas string players, for example, have to spend many years acquiring the necessary skill.
This kind of thinking gradually revealed to him the serious deficiencies in brass teaching. His personal research and the problems inherent in every pupil combined to produce a fruitful educational experience (Gregory Cass has guided many pupils to success).
Deficiencies in teaching
There’s something wrong in brass teaching. Why do people want at all costs to start by producing a sound? That’s the start of the trouble. There’s bound to be too much air, and the seeds of the faults are sown. This excess air will fatigue all the muscles pointlessly. Why not start by clearing the way, by analysing the mechanisms? Why not start by teaching patience? You have to change the state of mind which gives priority to the goal and the result instead of to working on oneself. It is more fruitful to bring a philosophy to bear, to stimulate thought and analysis, than to obey mechanical routines and silly intensive training.
Some advice from Gregory Cass
Warm-up (approx. 15 minutes)
— I use James Stamp’s Warm-ups (especially with the mouthpiece alone), without too much air!
— I start every session exclusively legato
— Then I play slowly, slurred and detached, in a single breath:
A) Major scales
1) over one octave, descending gradually by semitones;
2) over two octaves, ascending progressively higher and higher.
B) Minor scales over two octaves in a cycle of fifths or a low octave scale alternating with a high octave scale, detached.
C) Slurs on harmonics, slow, each twice ff and twice pp.
Then I take a break before going on to the studies (Kopprasch, Clarke, Arban (Method), Maxime-Alphonse 1-4 etc.) or my solo repertoire, or else orchestral excerpts.
Gregory Cass’s equipment
Instruments
— Alexander F/B♭ horn (1960) (That’s what I’ve found best!)
— Lawson interchangeable mouthpipes.
— Alexander little high F horn.
— Alexander F/B♭ horn, 3rd valve ascending (An extraordinary instrument, for the B minor Mass by Bach, for example).
— Engelbert Schmidt triple horn.
— Alexander natural horn.
(I sometimes play other horns but that’s rather rare. It’s a pity that people are obsessed nowadays by big bells and large bores. People who care about sound can’t play large bores. Moreover I find it lamentable that people try to play everything on one and the same instrument, especially a high F! That pitch can be useful at times but it should only be used as a last resort.)
Mouthpiece
— Bach no. 11
(But that’s not very important. The essential thing is to find a balance: rim not too wide, cup not too deep.)