| Ryan- I am going to give you a tip taken directly from our wonderful neighbor a few "floors" up...Mr. Laureano.
Let me preface that by saying that good articulation is sort of like a string of pearls...each note is a pearl, and the air is the string. Keep the air moving through the notes, be they molto legato or marcato or staccato.
Sounds like you are saying "tut" on your staccatos. Manny suggests (and I have been using with great success) a "tooh" syllable.
(I am going off on my own here, but if I get off track, just revert me back, ok?)
Try this OFF THE HORN: pretend you are blowing out a birthday candle by going "toooh!" Try that several times until you get the feel of "following through" with the air. Then try several 2nd line g's the same way. Relaxed, comfortable volume. No blasting! Then try this: play a G (2nd line) dotted half, but play it as if there is a quarter note immediately following it with a broad accent over it. Don't actually play the quarter...imagine it. The half should go right into the rest.
Listen to some great players, such as Mr. Laureano (Minnesota Symphony Orchestra), Phil Smith (New York Phil, no pun intended), Maurice Andre, Ed Carroll, Empire Brass (Rolf Smedvig) for starters. Try identifying key elements of their methods of articulation, then try to incorporate those into your own playing.
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-Glenn
"Roses have thorns; shining waters mud. Clouds and eclipses stain the moon and the sun; and history reeks of the wrongs we have done. After today, after today, consider me gone."- Sting |