camelbrass

Dave,

I've noticed that as my range and endurance improves note by note above High C so has my ability to play and pitch pedal tones. I haven't concentrated on either particularly, just tried to push the limits in my normal playing until it becomes natural and of course lots of very soft long note work.Is there a relationship between the 2?..I must admit it's not obvious and may only be coincidental. Any thoughts?

Regards

Trevor

dbacon

As a developing player I spent time everyday doing pedal tone studies from Maggio (ala Carlton MacBeth and Clyde Reasinger), Claude Gordon (I practiced through that book for several years). Keeping the same embouchure from top to bottom seemed like a good idea, and getting the best tone possible on each pedal (as good as that's going to be) then moving back and forth between registers smoothly also seemed like a good idea. It was when I heard Robert Nagel practice note bending/pedal tone excercises that it really hit me that correct pedal practice was important. His pedal register had such resonance and ease, his note bends sounded like a trombone gliss, it hit me that there was more to do with this type of practice than I'd understood. His complete control all over the trumpet convinced me to work with note bends/pedal tones for more efficiency in embouchure development rather than just range building. This was about (or just before) Jimmy Stamp's book was published. Using Mr. Nagel's book "Trumpet Skills" I found an entire new approach to pedal practice that I've followed ever since. A couple of years ago I got lazy and stopped doing them for a while, got back to them over a summer and was re-convinced of their importance. I've also heard Tony Plog (before he retired from active playing), Ray Mase, Dave Hickman (what a great pedal C he has!!) play in and out of this register effortlessly and with a marvelous sound. So I do a pedal routine as part of my daily practice and find it does help my playing. Keeping a good set-up (not changing anything as I move in and out of the pedal register), using air flow very freely, getting the best possible sound, and not making a big deal out of it. I don't do the triple pedal thing anymore, like Tim Morrison says, "I get the most good down to pedal C." Note bends/pedal tones done but not overdone seem a good part of the daily workout.

MPM

" The purpose of pedals is not only to increase range, but to release tension. The pedals do not allow the left hand to come into play. Consequently, there can't be any twisting or pressing. Automaticly the lips become free - free to move, climb and sound. By playing the pedals and freeing the lips from the left arm, you will then release tension."

Carmine Caruso

dbacon

"Tommy T." <thomas.w.taylor@att.net> wrote in message > "Peter Bond" <crbpcb@aol.com> wrote in message
> > In the beginning, flat pedals are indeed case for many people, but if
> > you play correctly, the pedal C, (and B and Bb) will be perfectly in
> > tune. >
>
> Sorry old man, but that C does not exist as a resonance in the modern
> trumpetat any place near an octave below the C one ledger line down. The
> resonance is actually more than a fourth lower.

Hey, I'm not THAT old (gray hair notwithstanding).

It is true that one way of
> using pedals in practice is to dramatically lip it up into tune, but being
> able to bend a pitch doesn't change the physics. See, Backus, The
> Acoustical Foundations of Music (2nd, ed., 1977), Figure 2, p. 263.
>

Are we talking about the same note? I am speaking about the
fundamental of the instrument; the fifth space below the treble clef
staff. What is usually referred to as "low C" is it's first harmonic
(one line below treble staff). These fundamentals are clear and in
tune on every (modern)horn I own, and the production is the same as
for the more conventional range. An octave below THAT (advocated as
benificial by some methods) would indeed be "fake city." A deeper
mouthpiece (flugel, cornet) makes producing these even easier,
because-just as in the normal register playing-they are more
"forgiving."
The tendency for some to play the fundamental flat on the trumpet
seems irinically to be a product of too much tension. As one relaxes
the chops, the sound "floats" into tune (the opposite, if you will, of
'bending'). The lip and wind function used in obtaining these
"fundamentals" is identical to that for the upper octaves, but they
can be "muscled," and pedals cannot; thus the usefullness of
practicing them.


> Because of these problems, recognized and respected teachers and writers on
> trumpet pedagogy differ as to whether, how and to what purpose pedals should
> be practiced.

This would be one recognized and respected teacher that believes them
to be useful for the reasons I cited earlier.

>
> As for the "false pedals," I agree that my use of the term "embouchure
> distortion" is causing semantic problems. It is clear, however, that
> playing those notes does not use the lips and air stream in the same way as
> playing the higher notes.

Not to be deliberately contrary, but I believe the function to be the
same, albeit a little more forced (one can buzz these notes on the
m'piece alone with no trouble) because the instrument does not
resonate (or reinforce the standing wave) at these frequencies.

Respectfully,
Peter Bond