| Oboist Marcel Tabuteau (1887--1966) is widely regarded as one of the most influential teachers and musicians of the twentieth-century. An especially important contribution made by Tabuteau was his thoughts on musical phrasing. Most often referred to as a number system or note grouping, Tabuteau used numbers to indicate scaling, motion, rhythmic grouping, and phrase groups as elements within a phrase.1 While many facets of Tabuteau's teaching were specific to the oboe or wind instruments, the number system has useful applications for all instruments. This study will provide instructions on the application of numbers to music for the purposes of scaling, motion, rhythmic grouping, and phrase grouping as Tabuteau taught them, while describing the techniques one may use to perform the numbers on a stringed instrument. A demonstration of the application of Tabuteau's number system to Suite No. 6 for Cello (Transcribed for Viola) in G Major, by J.S. Bach follows, presenting the number system as a means to create expressive phrasing in this piece and modeling the same possibility for all types of musical compositions.;1David McGill, Sound in Motion: A Performer's Guide to Greater Musical Expression (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2007), 71-78. |
