| Re: coins on the valves
The pre-Euro German Pfennig is an ideal coin to use (and also useful for checking mouthpiece diameter). Besides forcing the fingers to stay on the valves during the upstroke, we are forced to keep the pressure on the valves "vertical" during the downstroke.
There may well be a physical advantage in the valve stroke, but it may be that the added concentration adds to the "here-ness and now-ness" of our playing. A fun test would be to continue using the coins, and see if the positive effects wear off over time, as the stroke becomes natural.
__________________ "A tool good enough to be so used and not too good" C.S. Lewis That Hideous Strength www.letsbuildhope.org |