tennis_the_menace

i quess that andante et allegro by ropartz is preety well known right?
i was playing this piece today, and during the part with the triplets that i am double tounging my left cheek(on my face ) puffs. this doesn't happen when i double tounge anything else, it is just that spot in andante et allegro.
i just noticed this when looking in the mirror today, how can i keep this from happening, i don't think it causes problems but it just kind of looks and feels odd.

Manny Laureano

You're not going to get rid of it while practicing a piece of real music. Use scales and arpeggios during your warm up and just focus on keeping the corners of your "mustache" down. It happens to all of us if we don't pay attention to it. I can guarantee you it happens to you more than you think but you're just noticing it on that piece.

ML

CJ Winderman

also nothing to worry if you do puff...as Dizzy Puffed the most and still sounded great

Solar Bell

Uh...Manny...

I'm pretty sure Elaine is a girl...might not have a mustache.

-cw-

tennis_the_menace

um yup, my name is Elaine, I am a girl, and i don't have a mustache...
thanks for the advice
i think i get what Mr.Laureano means...

Manny Laureano

Doh!

Oh, well... she'll get it, I'm sure.

As to the Dizzy comment... sigh... let's get some things straight. Dizzy was a superb MUSICIAN, a classic among trumpeters. His sound, however, was unique to him and not neccesarily what a student might be going for. As much as I love Dizzy's music and style, I, as an orchestral player would likely not look to his SOUND as an ideal for working in an orchestra or Broadway. Let's separate the sound from the musician.

Second, Dizzy's cheeks, when he played, were the result of a medical condition that developed over time. When Dizzy was first coming up he looked nothing like he did eventually. Find some pictures of Diz when he was about 21 and you'll see he looked like most other players you'll see. He played as beautifully as he did in spite of his cheeks, not because of them. That's the larger point.

Now, having said all that, one of the finest players I knew coming up had/has quite a bit of cheek and neck puff and was a great influence on my playing when I was a student at summer music camp. This gentleman holds down a job in a very good professional orchestra and it hasn't bothered him one bit. So, there are exceptions, clearly.

ML

Bugler

With all due respect to Dizzzy, a GREAT guy (most importantly); a master of scales, chords and arpeggios, but I respectfully disagree that he "sounded" great. There are a number of players both pro and amature, past and present who have a far better tone. And there are a whole slew of classical players who will take issue with the way he sounded, if not publicly.

I have some of his stuff and I love listening to it. Sounds hypocritical, but after all, I'm American.

trumpet520

So was the medical condition from puffing his cheecks, or did it just happen that he had a medical condition which made his cheeks bigger?

Brekelefuw

He tore the muscles in his face playing too much. Or so I'm told. I'm not there in his biography yet.

Solar Bell

I believe it is called Rana catesbeiana disease.

-cw-