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commakozzi · 03-14-2008, 08:50 PM

It's not odd at all. I've had a pretty good range throughout most of my playing "career". However, I've gone through an embouchure change as well. Mine is probably different from yours, but I'm experiencing a similar problem. Down to low Ab I have a great sound, but G and F# are hairy a lot of times!!! My upper range suffers now too, but only when I'm tired. When I'm in good form (rested and warmed up properly) I have a wonderful sound throughout my limited range, but still... low G and F# bother me. I'm trying to remedy this by ending every session I do (no matter what kind of session it is besides warmup) with some pedal tones. I'm not sure who popularized this pattern, but it goes: G, F#, G, A, G, E, C.... F#, E#, F#, G#, F#, D#, B... etc. down to pedal C. I'm finding that when I'm getting that "bite" to my notes below F# then I know that I've got F#. It's hard to explain while typing, but essentially, play a low C# and really push it without spreading the tone and you'll hear this kind of sharp sound in the tone. A really brassy sound. That's what I'm looking for on the G and F#. It's best described as being a "full buzz", but it's best heard than described. Another thing you might want to consider is that you may not have found a good warmup for you yet. I know that I've found mine, and it took a long time to find. You might thing you're getting warmed up but aren't able to do what you need to do afterwards. Maybe you should experiment around with some different warmup routines. Hey, the best thing you can do (in my opinion) during a warm up is just play quietly. The more quiet the better. Do some "semi full range" lip buzzing at fortissimo. Then do some mezzo forte mouthpiece work between low C and middle C (and lower... I do). Then do some long tones and scale exercises (nothing that puts you over middle C). Then rest for 30 mins and come back to the horn. Also, play low notes as much as possible, but don't neglect everything else. Geez, this is starting to sound like my day "what do I do? Do I do this, or this? or this? I don't have time for all of that!!!!" Ugh. Sorry.

03-14-2008, 08:50 PM	#2 (permalink)
commakozzi Pianissimo User Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 218	Re: Playing Low It's not odd at all. I've had a pretty good range throughout most of my playing "career". However, I've gone through an embouchure change as well. Mine is probably different from yours, but I'm experiencing a similar problem. Down to low Ab I have a great sound, but G and F# are hairy a lot of times!!! My upper range suffers now too, but only when I'm tired. When I'm in good form (rested and warmed up properly) I have a wonderful sound throughout my limited range, but still... low G and F# bother me. I'm trying to remedy this by ending every session I do (no matter what kind of session it is besides warmup) with some pedal tones. I'm not sure who popularized this pattern, but it goes: G, F#, G, A, G, E, C.... F#, E#, F#, G#, F#, D#, B... etc. down to pedal C. I'm finding that when I'm getting that "bite" to my notes below F# then I know that I've got F#. It's hard to explain while typing, but essentially, play a low C# and really push it without spreading the tone and you'll hear this kind of sharp sound in the tone. A really brassy sound. That's what I'm looking for on the G and F#. It's best described as being a "full buzz", but it's best heard than described. Another thing you might want to consider is that you may not have found a good warmup for you yet. I know that I've found mine, and it took a long time to find. You might thing you're getting warmed up but aren't able to do what you need to do afterwards. Maybe you should experiment around with some different warmup routines. Hey, the best thing you can do (in my opinion) during a warm up is just play quietly. The more quiet the better. Do some "semi full range" lip buzzing at fortissimo. Then do some mezzo forte mouthpiece work between low C and middle C (and lower... I do). Then do some long tones and scale exercises (nothing that puts you over middle C). Then rest for 30 mins and come back to the horn. Also, play low notes as much as possible, but don't neglect everything else. Geez, this is starting to sound like my day "what do I do? Do I do this, or this? or this? I don't have time for all of that!!!!" Ugh. Sorry.