beartrumpet74

Hi Tony -

I've been having an issue in my playing lately, or more accurately stated, since my youth. LOL!
I have been encountering throat tension.
Here is what's happening. I play up to a G over high C and at the G an octave lower, I start feeling my throat feel like it is closing up. This doesn't totally screw me when I am up on G over high C, but it does screw me when I come back down below C5 in the staff. It's like my air stops. I suspect this is because my air stream is changing drastically just below high C. This is really frustrating me as I am in the shed a TON right now, and my jazz playing is morphing into something I never really even imagined it would be. I'm actually playing good stuff, it's just that this throat thing is preventing my desire to leap back and forth between registers the way I want.
Do you have any suggestions. I'm not opposed to a complete change either...I have the time before I need to hit the road and make money like back in the day before school.
Thanks
Matt

beartrumpet74

bump

beartrumpet74

Looks like Tony isn't online this afternoon, so I wouldn't mind hearing from some people on this...Specifically the following

Trent Austin
Wilmer
Ingrid
Rowuk
Pat Harbison
any university instructor

Thanks in advance.
If you are a player that has dealt with this and won the fight please chime in, but please wait until Tony or one of the others has done so...
Thanks everyone
Matt

miles71

Not any of those guys, but I am a teacher and player. I have also fought with this problem with students in the past and a little myself. I have found we all relax to much when descending. An exercise I have my students do is, once warmed up, start on a G on top the staff and then jump down intervals. Always return to the G between each jump so eventually you are jumping the octave. You might find you are backing off less on this exercise in order to keep a good sound. Another great thing for relaxing the throat and face is leadpipe buzzing. Just take out the tuning slide and play some big "duck-like" buzzing. For an advanced player like you I would also play some overtones on the pipe, even do some valve combinations even though they dont work without the slide. Good way to practice the ear and intonation. The "Wurm" book of studies has some cool exercises in it that you can only play if you are relaxed and efficient. Let me know if it helps.
Tony D.

beartrumpet74

many thanks to the "other" Tony !
Matt
That was good advice !

kadleck

Hi Matt -

I have heard of this problem, but must confess that I've never experienced it myself (probably one of the few frustrating things I've missed!). Any commenting by me would just be speculation.

Anyone experienced this?

beartrumpet74

thanks for giving it a shot Tony!
now that he has chimed in, has anyone else dealt with this ?
let the free for all begin!
Thanks
Matt

rowuk

Hi Matt,
I always try to wait until the artist comments before "piling" on.
Tension can be caused by several things. The trigger for the tension does not have to be directly related to the neck muscles.
On of the main reasons for tension is an intonation aid. Many instruments are built in a way that we need to "pivot" or tense something up to squeeze the high notes a bit higher. Another possibility is tensing up to create higher pressure which makes exteme register possible. Another reason is the tongue getting in the way..................
When approached by a player with tension issues, we go back to my basic breathing exercises. Inhale and then immediately exhale without holding the air in. Try to think of breathing as a big circle - no defined point from inhale to exhale or exhale to inhale- just a smooth transition. Then we replace exhale with play. Long tones WITHOUT the tongue (even the extreme high range should be playable this way). Slurs without the tongue.
The idea is to break the playing up into basic functions in a specific order. We do not need an attack of the tongue to produce tones, so we leave that out when looking for problems. Once we are sure that our breathing is "smooth" and controlled, we cautiously add the tongue, paying attention if and where tension creeps in.
Without seeing AND hearing you play, it is hard to help you pinpoint the specifics. If you troubleshoot through the basics, you should be able to find the problem reasonably quickly.
One other thing: keep a glass of non-carbonated water in the practice room. If you notice tension, take a sip, swallow and try to play again. That helps me relax sometimes.

beartrumpet74

this is why I asked you to post as well. Always good information presented in an intelligent way. Not always the case on the internet, LOL!
I may have actually had some success this morning. I do the stamp thing, and today I did #5 warm up as usual among other warm up playing. # 5 comes at the end of my warm up and I play the extended version up to G over high C. Today I was able to play up to Eb with very little tension felt. If you know these exercises you will know that they start an octave below where you are headed and move up via large interval, and then go up a couple of more steps once you've reached the octave you were originally shooting for. Once on F above high C tension was present again.

This made me realize something that may be true. I may be allowing my throat to do the job of creating resistance to blow against. OR I may be using the throat to aid intonation rather than just "letting go" and ceding control to my muscle memory.

Today when I warmed up, I just played and allowed myself to feel like there was no "control" of the chops or pressure or anything....this seemed to work well. I can't do it on anything fast or difficult interval wise, but I felt much more free and not as tension filled, AND my sound didn't mysteriously cut off when I went back down. It doesn't always do this, just mostly once I get tired.
I hope we keep this thread going. I am believing that this problem affects more people than may even realize it.
I found that I was trying "too hard" to make note come out instead of allowing them to if you dig.

I will say that I am thankful I do Stamp, so I am not "blowing down the walls" in my warm up like some "other" methods...
I used some "other" methods for a while, and maybe I was doing it wrong, but it didn't seem like a warm up rather, it seemed like the trumpet version of the Batan death march.LOL!
Thanks guys and keep the suggestions coming
Matt

The BuZZ