Jhorn229h

Martromba
New Member


Joined: 14 Apr 2006
Posts: 10
Location: Chicago

PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:13 am Post subject: Reply with quote
Arban is very clear in his method that the articulation and vowel should be TU. I have been through chop problems and have seen many professionals recently admit to having problems also. From my experience, tongue position is the primary problem. The tongue is the regulator of the air: i.e. the heighth of the tongue. Low brass players seem to use a vowel that is on the lower side, AHH or OHH. This does not work for trumpet players. the higher tongue placement (U vowel) is necessary to keep the air pressure and volume relatively equal to the pressure from the horn on the embouchure. If the tongue is too low, the volume increases but the velocity drops and throws out of balance the pressure on the embouchure. The converse is also not ideal, raising the tongue level ( ee or i), because the velocity is greater and the volume is to little. At some point, the muscles of the embouchure will just shut down. This is what happened to me. It was not until I was able to stabilize the vowel created by the level of the tongue that my playing came back. It is a daily vigilance for me now to make sure I keep the vowel the same every day that I play.

Like in language, it takes vowels and consonants to make your speech understandable. The same is true in trumpet playing. Without exaggerated consonants(Kathy Battle, etc), the message of your playing is not always understandable. Bud was the master of consonants both at the beginning of the notes and at the ends of notes.

Check out the Arban book again. In my opinion, Arban is still model that trumpet players should use: U vowel. Add to that good consonants and your musical communication should be much clearer and understandable.

Mark Ridenour
CSO
_________________
MR


http://trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40279

Good stuff!

J