Bob Odneal

Hello Trumpet Master people! I am recovering from yesterday's 5 AM alarm and trek to play my Memorial Day rehearsal and church services! I had a Sunday night gig, but an over micro-waved piece of pizza cut me out of it , but fortunately I found a sub that lived 5 minutes from the gig. I haven't done that trick since college. This time I just got the side of my mouth, but in college I would get the pizza stuck to the roof of my mouth! I do not recommend this!!

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I received some questions about my CASUAL DOUBLE HIGH "C" method from a trumpet player that is working on it and I thought I would share these questions and answer with you.

Have a great Memorial Day!


1. do you practice only in soft piano pianissmo?
If I have been playing louder in groups and ensembles, most of my practice is p to ppp. It tends to get you aperture focused down in a manner which will allow to to generate the compression to play the high notes. Most people don't play this soft! If not playing in many groups I will follow my soft playing with rest and then open up the sound with more air but still keeping the aperture small and focused. I rarely practice this extremely loud, but I have been doing this a long time. For more volume, I resist the air with the embouchure and rely on more air and more intense air from my mid-section muscles contracting.

2. which other method books could I use with your "method"?
You can use the Arbans or Clarke or just about any music with this method. I am going to write some more exercises along with some technique studies soon. When you are first learning I try to have students play a lot of lyric , flowing lines without a lot of leaps to develop the idea of compression and relaxation.

3. what about your tongue when playing? Where do you have it placed in the mouth?
I try to keep my tongue as low in my mouth as possible to have the biggest sound possible. I demonstrate this by playing a "C" above the staff with the tongue high in the mouth creating an "eeee" sound and then I play the same note with the tongue low creating an "Ahh" sound which I call a "DOC SEVERINSEN" sound. (I will try to post a recording or a video of this on my site soon.) I tongue from behind the top teeth where they meet the gums for a more legato attack and I lower the tongue down for a more pointed attack and all the way down to between the teeth touching the lips for a harder attack.

Remember- "LISTEN TO WHAT IS COMING OUT OF THE OTHER END OF YOUR HORN!"

THANKS FOR YOUR QUESTIONS AND PLEASE WRITE BACK IF YOU NEED MORE EXPLANATION.

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Bob Odneal
Casual Double High "C" method on CD
www.bobodneal.com