Bloomin Untidy Musician

HI EC,

I have been working quite a lot on p lip flexabilities recently, and i have noticed movement and tension which could be causing issues.

When i am playing lip flexabilities from C below the stave to 2nd line G in semiquavers at 100 bpm, i notice that my chin is moving considerably. Considering that this is one of the largest intervals of the trumpet's harmonic series, should i be dropping my jaw to get down to the C, or should my face remain still throughout the entire register?

I have found that there is a lot of contradictory information about doing lip flexabilities. Some say ah ee ah ee etc, some say that tongue arching makes no difference, some say aim for a good sound and intonation with minimum movement and forget about the mechanics.

Should i go back to the proverbial drawing board, and practice my flexabilities slow without any/minimum movement?

Any tips would be gratefully accepted!


Cheers


B.U.M.

ecarroll

BUM,

Hi from Los Angeles.

From the Hippocratic Oath: "I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone."

I hope that those of us who are quick to "teach" the trumpet here and elsewhere on the internet would consider the last part of that sentence -- never do harm to anyone -- before responding to your question.

It's pretty obvious that the less movement any machine has the more efficient it will be.

That said, I've found over my many years of teaching that each person is unique, and that when a "problem" arises at a certain spot the solution is often found in steps leading to it. There's absolutely no way that I could help you without hearing you play and watching you do so for a moment.

Sorry, Mate. You're a pretty intuitive guy from everything I've read in the past and I'm sure that you will find answers to your questions. Why not take a quick trip over to the RSAMD and play for somebody in person?

Best, as always
EC

Bloomin Untidy Musician

I think Manchester might be more realistic. If i had of been organised i could have got a lesson last weekend at the Manchester Brass Festival. Rex Richardson was playing and doing a masterclass. He looked pretty exhausted during it ;) I suspect it is time to go back to square one.

Cheers

B.U.M.

ecarroll

BUM,

Was that the Brass Explosion thing? I was there with John Wallace years ago...


Best,
EC

mrtrpt

Here are a few ideas that I have found to work quite well from a practicality. It is definitely easy to get confused and start thinking too much with all the conflicting ideas out there.

If you are having trouble with low C to G lip slur, try inserting notes between first. Play C, D, E, F, G, up and down a few times and the try playing just C to G. The C and the G are the same notes whether you are playing the scale or the "lip slur". So your embouchure and air should be the same for both exercises. This gives you a model and frame of reference that you can use for your self.

Another cool trick is to insert false fingerings in a very unconventional way. So if you are working on C to G, you'd play the G 1 and 3. If you were doing Bb to D in the staff you could play the Bb 1st and the D 1 and 3, or the Bb 123 and the D 1st or 1 and 3. These variations will often be much easier because of the aid of the valves in helping timing as well as the change in length of tubing. This is sort of like training wheels for lips slurs... I've found this little trick to be very helpful with students. It takes a lot of the frustration out because it gives you sort of an intermediary step which helps you get there faster (not immediately, but faster...). When you go back to the regular exercise you have something to compare it to in sound and feel, rather than just some theory "blow faster, ah ee, etc." Not that those are necessarily bad, but personal experience I find to be better when you're sitting there alone in the practice room...

Hope that helps a little.
MR

Bloomin Untidy Musician

In answer to your question EC no, it was the the RNCM yearly brass festival. Mostly brass band concerts with a couple of solo recitals and masterclasses thrown in. It is run by Paul Hindmarsh. There was some interesting stuff at it this year. In particular new brass band pieces written by James MacMillan and Andy Scott (superb saxophonist). Brass bands have been sadly neglected by many of the past "classical composers", and it is superb that James MacMillan rose to the challenge. The movement as a whole is pretty conservative, and quite anti- plink plonk composers; brass banders love a good tune! Most of the "test piece" repertoire is composed within the "British Federation of Brass Bands" accepted circle of composers Phillip Sparke, Phillip Wilby,Eric Ball and Gibert Vintner etc.

The only other "big" composers to the best of my knowledge that have composed stuff specifically for brass band is Willy Walton, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Harrison Birtwhistle (the movement went wild at his piece) and Michael Nyman. It would be great to see John Adams, Michael Torke, or some of the Bang on the Can composers to compose a piece. In fact i would love to see Arvo Part, Tavener or Gorecki composing for brass band. All to often i am blowing reams of meaningless semiquavers at 168 bpm, when one beautiful note would be suffice!

So next time EC you are sharing a nice bottle of Merlot accompanied by a slab of fine stilton or brie with one of the Composing Bigwigs above, tell them to write a piece for brass band!


Slainte!


B.U.M.

Vulgano Brother

Allen Vizzutti said pretty much the same thing at a clinic I caught around (gulp!) 25 years ago, but his chops moved around quite a bit nevertheless. If you try bumping the speed up towards Mach something and keep the sound good, your body will pretty much figure out how to do the lips slurs, and if it sounds great, no one will care what it looks like.

Have fun!

__________________
www.letsbuildhope.org

rowuk

B.U.M.
before offering any advice, I would ask, what you think that particular exercize is accomplishing, or should be.

I really like lip slurs, but not low C to G necessarily, rather the Earl Irons type:
//:c-e-c-g-(low)c-g-c-e-g-e-c-g://. I believe that those at piano, contribute to power, blow, endurance and accuracy. there are two factors that contribute to changing pitch. One is the tongue, the other is lip tension. That is it. You can't control the diaphragm to change pitches, so those 2 factors must be balanced out. I wouldn't worry about it unless you have a suitable Plan B.

__________________
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

huwdann

"I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone."

I hope that those of us who are quick to "teach" the trumpet here and elsewhere on the internet would consider the last part of that sentence -- never do harm to anyone"

I think this or a paraphrase of this should be the first paragraph in the terms and conditions of any trumpet related site where people can leave comments.

ecarroll

Huw,

I agree. Every trumpeter in the world is a unique individual with unique abilities and is confronted by unique challanges. After assimilating a few general principles there is no "one size fits all" solution to any problem, technical or musical, that faces us. This is the magic, the beauty, of what we do and, in my opinion, those who proclaim differently speak only to themselves.

Best,
EC