Review

Arnold Jacobs
Also Sprach Arnold Jacobs: A Developmental Guide for Brass Wind Musicians:

Arranged by Bruce Nelson


Mindelheim, , Germany
Publisher: Polymnia Press
Date of Publication: 2006
URL: http://www.polymnia-press.de

104 pages with index. Paperbound.

Primary Genre: Study Material - book

Those of us who learned to play brass instruments in the latter half of the 20th century are familiar with the ground breaking pedagogy of Arnold Jacobs (1915-1988), tubist of the Chicago Symphony (1944-1988). His thorough study of human physiology and psychology combined with great musicianship and the objective pursuit of the actual processes at work in brass playing set the gold standard for brass pedagogy. But since his death new generations of brass players enjoy less connection to his influence because Mr. Jacobs did not believe in putting his teachings in print, instead preferring to pass them on through direct lessons, master classes and clinics. To be sure, his influence is passed on through his student’s teaching. But also, through publications like this, Mr. Jacob’s students share his direct teachings and philosophies in festschrift-like tributes to his legacy.

Bruce Nelson, retired bass trombonist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, studied over many years with Mr. Jacobs. He assembled this book at the suggestion of trombonist Gerhard Wolf as a “comprehensive, organized and authentic version of Arnold Jacob’s teachings.” Mr. Nelson takes direct quotes from master classes, private lessons and conversations and arranges them by topic: Concepts Fundamental to Development, Mental Controls, The Vibrating Embouchure, Breathing, Articulating, Practicing and Performing. Several of Mr. Jacob’s famous aphorisms serve as the basis for further subdivision of these topics (chapters): “By studying sound, you are studying breath.” ”The tongue makes no sound.” “Order air as external wind, not as internal pressure.”

Consequently, Also Sprach is not fast food. This is the richest cuisine on the menu, the sort of material best taken in small quantities and that takes time to digest. There is so much to consider in each paragraph. Most emerging brass players, who have oblique experience with Mr. Jacobs’ concepts, will find a text that fills in the blanks, completes partial understanding, integrates concepts together, and draws verifiable conclusions about best practices. Bruce Nelson’s decisions about how to organize this material are both helpful and important. It is easy to get lost in all the profundity here; what a refreshing problem to encounter in modern literature. By categorizing the quotes, something he is uniquely qualified to do, he creates context and helps us understand what Mr. Jacobs really means. As should be expected in a collection of quotes spanning a lifetime there is much redundancy. But far from a pejorative feature this redundancy serves to pursue concepts to completion, to present core philosophies in different ways. Here are several statements taken from different chapters that, in their own contexts, exemplify the core philosophy of ‘music over method:’
“Develop good habits; don’t try to correct bad habits.”
“Embouchure is resultant, not causative.”
“Focus on the psychology, not the mechanics of breathing.”
“Base the concept of vibrato on product, not methodology.”
“Move artistic goals to the foreground.”

It took Bruce Nelson three years to compile and organize this extraordinary collection of wisdom, but it took him a lifetime of study and endeavor with one of the world’s greatest professors of the art to come to a place where this book could be written. We often grace valued publications with statements like ‘should be in every brass player’s library’ or ‘a must read.’ Also Sprach may define this category. It is a preeminent document on several fronts. The pedagogy is unsurpassed, the organization communicates this, and it is comprehensive even including the few pages of ‘Special Studies’ Mr. Jacobs did publish in 1963. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Bruce Nelson and Polymnia Press for preserving to us the teaching of one of the finest brass pedagogues of all time.

-Mike Hall
Old Dominion University