Bloomin Untidy Musician

i have been out playing this afternoon on my cornet and i am at the point of pulling my hair out (i am not bald)! Everytime i play a G on the top of the stave it is flat. In fact very flat, i am frequently using 1 and 3 instead. Even this is not satisfactory as it is a little flat and more difficult to center. Any suggestions will be gratefully recieved.

Forever your


Bloomin Untidy Musician

rowuk

B.U.M
you don't say if that note was EVER in tune.

I have read research that shows that the mouthpiece cup, throat and backbore can be misconfigured as to screw up individual notes on certain instruments.

My suggestion is to check if any other mouthpiece is better. If not, your horn may have a problem (just a miserable horn, valves out of alignment, spit valve leaking, brace loose). Also try to get someone considerably better than you to try the horn with your mouthpiece. Body tension can mess up your intonation too!

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

bigtiny

I'm sort of echoing Rowuk here..I would check the following:

-has this always been a problem on this horn or is this new?
-do you have this problem on any other horn?
-does someone else have this problem on this horn?
-try a different mouthpiece just to see if the problem persists (several would be better)
-have the horn checked by a tech or misalignment, leaks, etc.

bigtiny

Bloomin Untidy Musician

Sorry, it has never been in tune. I have battled with her since she was born 2 years ago. Although i think she has got worse since i started using a deeper mouthpiece. The cornet is a Shepherds Hook Yamaha Xeno. I use the Yamaha David King mouthpiece that accompanied it.

ecarroll

B.U.M.,

This is impossible to address from afar, but try tuning higher and relaxing down to the pitch cent(re) rather than the opposite. We used to call this playing on the French side of the note -- creating easy resonance rather than a blending sound.

PM me and we can talk further, if necessary.

Best,
EC

Vulgano Brother

B.U.M., is the high g flat to your ear, or the tuner? (Sorry, had to ask!) How is the intonation of the other open tones? Can you play a crescendo/decrescendo on all the open tones without adjusting for the pitch? Is the pitch of the high g "better" with the tuning slide pushed farther in or farther out?

Based on these answers, Ed and Robin can provide those pearls of wisdom while I hang out in the sunshine and drink lemonade.

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tedh1951

You and me both VB - I learn so much from these blokes - and all I have to do is listen (ears don't seem to work with my mouth open). Cheers ...

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Ted

ecarroll

B.U.M.,

I used to study with a terribly out-of-touch, misguided man named Vince Cichowicz. He used to used to admonish his students with pearls such as not to let the horn be bigger than us.

So true.

Push your slide in, relax, hear the G in tune, and blow it in tune. It sounds overly simple and, with practice, it is. Relaxation = more air speed. More air speed = good.

Tossing bones in the air,
EC (Daisy, D a i s y, g i v e . . . m e. . . . y o u r. . . . . a n s w e r. . . . . . t o o )

Bloomin Untidy Musician

Once again gentlemen, my sincere thanks for your input. I will certainly try out all these ideas, failing that i will take you up on your offer Ed and send a PM.

Cheers


BUM!

nordlandstrompet

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nordlands

"All music is folkmusic. I ain't never heard no horse sing no song?" Louis Armstrong

Wife still says: Trumpets are expensive!