nordlandstrompet

Those are topics that have been discussed over in a lot of threads.
The discussions have often been about “what gear to use to achieve the supposed sound”,
and there has been given advices about how to “tweak the hardware”
as special trumpet models, mouthpieces and mutes.
Of course, tweaking can help, but only to a certain degree.

What I have missed, is a real
“how to play with the trumpet, and not only on the trumpet” discussion.

As music is an art and not a sport, we need to engage the brain
before we put the mouthpiece in gear, as Wilmer states in his signature..
My personal experience is that I need/try to get into the mood that the composer of the
piece of music I am going to play had in mind when he/she wrote the music
and form the black print on the paper into moods instead of “black dots in a row”.

Fanfares are made to wake you up, and Lullabyes are made to get you to sleep.

“Playing with the trumpet, and not only on the trumpet”?

Anyone jump in?

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nordlands
roarmp.com

"When you play an Andante, people have to cry..." Maurice Andrè


Olds Recording
Yamaha 731S cornet
Conn V1 flugel

Markie

Well, here goes my 2 cents:
First: I do not separate art and sports. When done correctly, both lift the spirits and cause memories that live with us the rest of our lives. When done correctly, both can make you tear up as you watch. Only music can match the thrill of winning, only music can match the saddness of losing. Both in my opinion require the brain to be engaged and both are heady stuff for sure.

On to the trumpet:
Does equipment help? well sure it does. I've got a ton of mutes and a half ton of mouthpieces. But equipment helps only to a point. In my opinion, its what's between your ears and your approach that makes the difference. No amount of equipment will help if you suck.

On to emotion and approach:
I hear a lot of trumpet players that can make the trumpet sound close to perfect. They are uber machines that can play any note and when it comes to sight reading, they can read flypoop on staff paper.
However, I don't want to hear someone make a trumpet sound perfect. I want to hear the person "sing" through the trumpet. I want to hear what they have to say, not what the outer limits of the instrument can do.
I require students to learn the words (if it has any) to a song and then ask them "what's the song about?" If the piece doesn't have words, I ask the student "what do you think the composer was trying to say with this piece?".
I don't want to hear what a trumpet thinks of the piece, I want to hear what "you" think of the piece.
I was once at a Maynard seminar and he was saying how he sings through the trumpet, kinda like an opera singer.
As a kid I thought "Bull*#^&, just show us how to play the high notes"
Now that I'm older (questionably wiser) I get what Maynard was saying.
Now when I play, I sing through the horn and I think "how would Bocelli sing it"
I'll go a bit further (which will probably cause a certain amount of hate mail from the Miles fans out there).
Take Miles Davis for example, did he have a great sound? how was his technique? did he miss notes? did he play sloppy from time to time?
Well, anybody that has spent a lot of time seriously listening to Miles can answer these questions easily.
However, and its a big however. Regardless of how Miles played (missed notes and all), he sang through the horn. When you heard Miles, you heard Miles.
Miles' ability to speak to people with his horn is the crux of the biscuit.
"You pick it up, blow through it and talk to people"

Vulgano Brother

It may seem overly Zen, but as far as I am concerned, music happens between the notes. It is not so much how we play note "A" or note "B," but the journey from note "A" to note "B" determines the "glad, mad, sad" that we emote.

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RHSbigbluemarchingband

I have to agree with Markie somewhat about not seperating arts and sports. Arts and sports both have their differences, but more then the difference is the main things they share, passion, effort and dedication. Taking into account all three, you can easily work your tone into whatever your heart, the composer, or conductor wishes it to sound like.

As for equipment, yeah it makes life easier, but all in all with passion, effort, and dedication, you can compensate for what you don't have.

Personally, although not as experienced as the rest of you, I get my mind into a sad, happy, mad, etc. state. And through my tone, you can hear my emotion, although the fiery-bright sound in my personal tone is there, i normally can help make it smoother or sadder, etc, depending on my state of mind. The sound isn't perfect, but it has a little bit of me in it while still getting that mood that the composer wanted out of the piece, or phrase.

......just my opinion,
Kristina

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rowuk

I most definitely separate the art and the sport. It is AMAZING how musical even beginners can be and on the other hand how BORING the "technicians" are.

I agree with Vulgano Brother, it is the journey that includes uphill, downhill, head and tailwind, tears of sorrow and joy and flame throwers to chocolate sauce.

Unlike sports, EVERYONE wins when music happens. There are no "points" for the highest, loudest or fastest. Audiences tapping their feet is one of the biggest compliments!

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

EdMann

I find music more analogous to acting than to sports. When you get your sides (script) you'd better spend most of your time considering where the emotion is, where the truth is, where the inflection points are or your audience will never get where you want them to go. Same with music. On the face of it, just two dimensional notes on a page, but when a "musician" makes it come alive, that's the thing! Sports doesn't prepare a musician for that experience, but other artistic endeavors certainly do.

Some of the best reactions I've gotten from an audience are when I'm somewhat lost in the music, not really thinking so much about the notes, but getting the rhythm, the feel, the dynamics of what I want and feel at the moment. I may miss some notes or cues, but the audience doesn't care about that. Frankly, what if Maynard had never considered his instrument a "singing" instrument, but just a way to get high notes. He would have been just another one of the high register lugheads screeching and bellowing double C's like so many others who have passed with little recognition of their "talent."

Ed

muchan

Well, I'm still a beginner on brass instrument, (so being humble here, but),
from experiences playing other instruments, i tell you you can develop the expressiveness,
or the technical base to express various kind of sound/emotion, etc., by picking
a simple phrase, note choice, pattern, scale, anything, and try to strech it, repeating
many times but everytime trying to make different from before. more this way,
more that way, extremely xxxx, extremely oposite, very rigorous, very comical,
wispering, slow, fast, strech to the limit of your ability.
This way, you know, and expand what you can do, then every moment of playing
you will chose the right balance of expression for that moment.