soul3n

Can someone explain to me a way to get rid of the bad habit of tightening the throat to play higher? It bothers my playing and I feel pressure centered at the nose trying to play high. Even playing notes in the staff I can feel the tightening. My comfortable range is reaaaaaaaally limited probably just in the staff..

Foxytrpt

Stop playing high notes, it's overrated.

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TheRiddler

Try this:

do some basic scales, and just focus on keep a beautiful focused sound, up and down (don't allow ANY change to sound). Then do some Arbans, Schlossberg, Clark, etc... and go about your daily trumpet life - but stay focused on sound.

Don't focus on mechanics - i.e. Feel, chops, air, etc.
FOCUS on SOUND - Just breathe in easy and full, then BAM its all about the sound.

The less you worry about physical problems, the more you focus on the music which is the goal. At first this may be tough, because you might lose some of the range you had when you were closing up. HOWEVER, practicing to play with a more efficient approach your range will be better than ever, AND it will sound better in the future. Bill Adam once said,"Only after we take our eyes off the goal do we see the obstacles." Stay focused purely on sound, and stay relaxed. Good Luck!

eisprl

"high" is a relative term. I would certainly not suggest you stop playing notes that are, for example, still below high C. To some people anything above the staff can be considered high and some do struggle with it. To be any sort of a trumpet player, I would highly suggest that you have a range of at least low C to high C. The double octave stuff, though it is not over rated I would say, is not commonly asked for anyway. If you can keep your throat open for those two octaves than that's a start.

Eric

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MrClean

Great answer. Concise and perfectly logical.

dow30

Be wary of advise from MrClean, he plays with a Budgie perched upon his leadpipe! (I'm just jealous, mine fly away and hide in the lavatory when I play!)

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soul3n

I guess thats what I consider high. I need to be able to play at least low C to high C to be a trumpet player.

eisprl

I didn't mean to say "to be any sort of trumpet player". What I meant was that mostly anything you see written seldom goes above high C. So if you have a strong high C you should be able to get by for sure.

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Eric Sproul
Practice is like filling a leaky bucket

Bb: Yamaha Xeno 8335
C: Bach Stadivarious 239L and 25A leadpipe (Owned by Eric Sholtz)
Flugel: Yamaha Bobby Shew 6310Z
Mouthpieces: GR tech
www.stadband.ca

soul3n

Eh I meant that then.. sorry for confusion, not like Maynard Ferguson high, high school band high

Railfan90

I got 2 tips for you:

1. Do plenty of lip slurs. Start out slow and gradually get faster. I have found these to help a lot.

2. Work on your lower range first. Playing low teaches you to open your throat. I used to have a real bad problem with pinching around a D or E above the staff. Once I started working on low stuff (like pedal tones) it really helped my range. Within about a month I could play an F with no problem. That's just my results, I'm not saying it will work that fast for everyone. Just thought I'd try to help out.




Paul Wise