jdshankles

Hey team,

So I was giving a couple lessons yesterday and two of my students were really struggling.

One of my students is in the middle of a slight embouchure change but is a strong player. He has a great concept of sound but as he ascends, he is almost completely rolling in his lower lip so that the top lip almost fully over laps it and he loses the buzz around Eb top of the staff. Any advice or techniques to help him from rolling in his lower lip?

Then one of my students who can usually produce a huge great sound could get nothing but a double buzz on any part of the horn. Neither of us knew what was going on or how to help it. Any thoughts?

thank you thank you
--jD

cornetguy

the occasion that i got a double buzz, usually the lower jaw starts creeping up check that out.

__________________
Per aspera ad astra

Manny Laureano

JD,

The problem, musically speaking, is that the student is being inconsistent. That's why the jaw changes. Give him simple cues to kep him consistent. Get him to pronounce the same syllable over and over using, first, chromatic scales. Then major and minor scales. Follow that with arppeggios. Then use dotted rhythms to play the arppeggios (Schlossberg has a several of those or make up your own by using the Arban book).

Get him to pronounce Toe or Taw and to manitain that all the way up the range (it will change but he doesn't need to know that, let him just try to maintain Toe or Taw). Have him sing (in tune) some scales and arppeggios so that you know his sense of pitch is good.

Let us know in a month how he's doing if he can manage to implement this idea.

ML

jdshankles

Manny,

I assume you were talking about the guy struggling with range and overlaping, and not the double buzz situation?


-jD

P.s. I should be at the concert on Friday....good luck!

Manny Laureano

Yes, JD... I should have been more clear. Actually, i focused so much on the first kid i forgot about Mr. DoubleBuzz.

The double buzz thing is easy. It's a confusion between the tongue and the lips. One is set for one register and the other for another register. Often, this is excacerbated by great abdominal tension which kicks off a host of lovely sounds like Mmmbraccck, usually in the middle register.

Mr. DoubleBuzz needs to understand that the breath needs to be free. have him blow out a match from a distance of about three feet (put the horn away, out of sight). After you run out of matches use a kleenex and have him notice than when he forces and really "tries" it doesn't work so well. When you demonstrate a big, relaxed air collumn for him and he sees the kleenex flap almost to a flat position with hardly any effort on your part, he'll start to make the connection between a thick air collumn and a rich, clean sound.

The trick is to have him connect that sound to the entire range of the horn. At that point you refer to the above post and have him connect one beautiful sound to another by using his ear as the motivating factor.

ML

Billy B

Another way to frre the beath is the bucket exercise. Have the student play a second line G with the bell submerged about 1/2" under water. The air bubbles should be small and in a tight consistent stream. If the student can't do that, first have him try it blowing air with no sound.

tpter1

Also check out Manny's game under the "Y'all ready f'dis?" thread (this is for the lip roller dude/dudette).

For Mr. DoubleBuzz (as Manny has so named), have him try some simple lip buzzing excercises in addition to and after the air stream excercises Manny suggested. Things like sirens, scales, glissandi, anything to help him practice connecting register to register. All the better if he has BERP. If not, he can emulate the resistance of his horn by simply covering part way the end of the mouthpiece. Just be sure to save some paper towels so he can dry his hand!

__________________
-Glenn
"Roses have thorns; shining waters mud. Clouds and eclipses stain the moon and the sun; and history reeks of the wrongs we have done. After today, after today, consider me gone."- Sting

jdshankles

Once again, you people are outstanding! Thanks for taking the time to give the advice. I think it will prove very helpful for Mr. Doublebuzz and his friend Mr. Overlap....

peace,
jD