B15M

Hi Manny,

I have been playing my C trumpet a lot for about a year. I would say more C then B flat.

When I go into the upper register the trumpet seems to back up on me.
(from about G above the staff) I can play the exact same music on B flat and I don't have this problem.

I have noticed that I can come in with soft passage more easily on the C.

I seem to get tired quicker on C, I think because I am pushing up high.

What do you think?

Manny Laureano

Dear B15M,

The most common cause of this is tightness of the throat area and neck which in turn make the lips tight and unresponsive.

It is very important that you not minimize the imporatance of keeping the throat area open and relaxed by keeping your head back and chin down. If you do this properly there is no discomfort at all. Rather, you feel very open and you can almost feel your nostrils expanding as the breathing mechanism kicks in. Please watch how the greatest opera singers look when they sing. Their chins are down and it looks as though someone is behind them pulling on their hair from the "bald spot" area.

Think of an arrow drawn through the head from the chin to the bald spot. Then imagine what it would be like to pull on the arrow and have the head gently come with it to the point where the neck muscles relax.

If you were once told to do this, great. It's very easy to forget to do it and blame embouchures and things not relate directly to the problem. Embouchures are laden with symptoms but rarely the problem.

Have you been adjusting your bottom valve caps properly? This can be very helpful when done properly.

Let me know how it goes.

ML

B15M

The tightness if at all would be in my back. I don't notice anything in my throat. I sometimes forget to adjust the bottom caps but I will make an effort to do so.

I was playing in a church a while back and the trumpet was playing out of tune and then I remembered the bottom caps. That fixed the problem that day.

I don't understand why I don't have this problem on B flat trumpet.

Manny Laureano

B15,

The bigger horns will have larger targets in the upper registers than smaller horns. There's more room to move around, more "play", if you will.

ML

sinfoniantrumpeter

Am I missing something? Are you guys talking about Monette valve caps? What does this do?????

-Carl

Manny Laureano

Sinf,

Go to the General discussion... someone else asked about it and I took a stab at it.

ML

rjzeller

ML...I love this quote:

Mind if I steal it??

__________________
There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who do not.

Manny Laureano

Let's see, 5 cents a pop... hey, I can retire off of that!

Embouchure's are like zits.

Huh?!

Yeah, zits.

If I eat a lot of oil-rich food, have chocolate for dessert, and keep that up for say, three days? I will have a pimple garden on my face. Now, I can continue to eat like that and keep the Stridex and Clearasil people in business or I can stop eating junk to excess.

One can treat the symptom with mouthpieces, this horn, that horn... or one can sit up properly, take a full breath, and exhale efficiently.

Some folks get zits no matter how well they eat. They go to the doctor and get straightened out. Folks like that are in the minority.

Some folks get a poor sound no mattter how well they sit up, breathe , and exhale efficiently. Folks like that are in the minority. Then, an embouchure adjustment is likely in order.

ML

Jimi Michiel

Hey B15M,
What kind of horns are you playing? Same brand and general design between the C and B-flat? I also have trouble going from B-flat to C, but I think thats mostly due to a) the incredible difference in equipment (heavy Monette C trumpet, regular Bach 37 B-flat) and b) the fact that I never play B-flat. Sometimes I wonder why people don't think of trumpets in "sets" like clarinetists do.
-Jimi

B15M

It's kind of a funny story why my B flat and C are not a set.

B flat is a 993
C is a pranna 1