Hans Gansch
Hans
Gansch - soloist with Nordic Brass Ensemble, March 2007
Photo: J�rn Simenstad
Background
Hans Gansch was born in 1953 in Kirnberg an der Mank, in Austria.
Seven years old, he got his first music instruction from his
father, Johann Gansch (on flute and a small drum).
When he was eleven, he began playing trumpet in a band led by his
father. He studied trumpet with Prof. Franz Veigl at the Anton
Bruckner University in Linz.
From 1974 to 1976, he was principal trumpet with Brucknerorchester
Linz and from 1976 to 1982; he had the same position in the
Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
From 1982 to 1996, he was principal trumpet in the Vienna State
Opera Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since 1996, Gansch has been professor of trumpet at the Mozarteum
in Salzburg.
How to play the trumpet
In a masterclass in Oslo in March 2007, Gansch first talked a
little about his teaching philosophy:
Playing the trumpet is a subjective thing. "I sometimes change
my mind about this."
Some very lucky few have no trouble playing (they have musical
talent, good teeth and lips).
The vast majority of practitioners have to figure out what works
for them - they are not what we call natural talents.
"I had a talent for music, but I have problems with my uneven
under teeths."
To compensate for this, he developed a false embouchure (by
putting the under lip behind the upper lip to get to higher
tones).
Since then he has worked for almost 40 years to get rid of this
bad habit.
The idea is to place upper and lower teeth aligned and strengthen
the muscles of the lips and cheeks so that they can resist
pressure from the mouthpiece. This will make the upper lip free to
vibrate.
He demonstrated the different roles of the lips by buzzing and
then placing a finger on them.
When putting his finger on the lower lip, the buzzing sounded a
little disturbed, but you could hear it all the time.
When his finger hit the top lip, it stopped the buzzing sound at
once.
Preparing for the warm up
Start first with a strong exhalation to get rid of stale air in
the lungs.
To get ready to play, it is usually wise to do simple relaxation
and focusing exercises without the instrument.
Sit in a comfortable and relaxed position and take in air through
the nose. Let the air out slowly through the mouth with an "open
feel". Repeat and try to let the air out even slower.
To make the body more relaxed, but focused, you can then do some
basic types of yoga exercises where you feel different parts of
your body:
Feel right thumb - is it a little warmer? Then feel the left
thumb, feel the right big toe, feel the left big toe, etc., etc.
The warm up
The warm up starts with some loose lip flaps to get the blood to
flow. Gansch starts with a "favorite tone" in the middle register.
He plays only this single tone until it is "clean". First, he
concentrates on the start of the tone - trying to hit "the bull�s
eye" (center of the tone). When this is good, he goes to the
"center" of the tone - get it to flow as freely as possible.
When this tone is good, keep the memory of it in the head and go
to other tones. It is important to be patient and not rush on with
the warm up. By working with just a tone, you establish a very
good foundation for all playing. A problem for many trumpet
players is that exercises are full of errors. Stop it!
The next step is short tones - the same procedure here, work to
get a clean first tone, the got to other tones.
About trumpet playing
Sometimes we should put it to play trumpet in a wider perspective.
Gansch mentioned some points one can think of:
The
trumpet is a "tool".
Playing the trumpet is a "game". It may not make you happy.
There are
other more important things in life than trumpet.
Think of
the universe.
Think of
love.
Masterclass - Play all in a "straight line"!
Gansc talking with two young Norwegian talents,
Audun and Lasse.
Photo: J�rn Simenstad
In the masterclass, Hans Gansch many times came back to points he
had talked about in regards to the basics of trumpet playing.
He frequently asked his students to avoid too much movement when
playing larger intervals. :
Play
everything forward in a straight line!
By thinking
like this, you will develop a much more economical use of the
embouchure.
Solo recordings:
"Trumpetenkarneval"
(1993)
"Trompetenkonzerte"
(1994)
"Da oana
Summa" (1999)
"Trumpetenmusik
des 20 Jahrhunderts" (1999)
"Gansch
Meets H�fs" with Matthias H�fs (2006)
o.j.
2014 - Article first
published in Norwegian in �Schallstykket� No. 2, 2007