britrpt57

Hi all---I have an advanced student who plays good but has to pull his slide out at least twice as far as he should or he is sharp. He also has problems playing low G. I think he has tension in his throat and his tongue is in too high a position.

Any teachers with students that have similar problems? How have you dealt with it or solved it?---Brian

dizforprez

Does he buzz it sharp as well?

I spend a lot of time doing my fundamentals with a Dr beat, you can set it to play a single tone. it can play the tonic of what ever it is you are playing. Great for working the ear and playing intune.

Vulgano Brother

Hi britrpt!

I've known plenty of great players who have to pull their slides out a bunch! That being said, go to www.Monnette.net and read what is written there--some strong arguments for relaxation and blowing the pitch down a tad.

As for the low g, it might be the horn. Some manufacturers like to add resistance at the beginning of the bell, which messes with low g's, f#'s and f's (written, not concert). Let your student try the low notes on another, proven horn, then look for tension.

Good luck!

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rowuk

Playing sharp is VERY common. I wouldn't worry about the tongue, I would focus on breathing. Get him to inhale deeply and then immediately "exhale" a long tone through the horn with no tongue attack. Do that throughout the register. Give him no time to tense up. He will probably be much flatter.

I run into this all the time with players that try to "push" the notes out of the horn. Once they figure out how much the horn can work for them, the pitch goes down and the tuning slide moves in.

I am not a big advocate of just pushing the slide in and expecting them to adjust on the fly. That reduces their accuracy and confidence. It can work perhaps in the practice room, but ensemble work becomes terror. The problem is tension and higher pitch is merely a symptom.

Better breathing is your answer.

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

dhbailey

This is the answer to perhaps 80%-90% of all trumpet players' problems. Posture issues contribute to breathing issues which contribute to players' problems. The technical aspect of playing the trumpet really isn't that difficult once one has mastered proper breathing. Tonguing issues often go away when breathing issues are taken care of.

The remaining percentage of players' problems which aren't directly related to breathing issues are related to conceptual issues -- people playing without paying attention to the tone and without having any real mental image of what the music should sound like before playing it.