JAA

Hello Ed,

I will try to do my best with my written english skills (I am a ESL trumpet player). Recently, I have noticed during my performances that the tuning is sharp and that the air flow is a bit restricted. I have not noticed that during my practise.

It looks to me, that tension has a lot to do with it, but I am not very sure. Could you give any advice? tips? or exercises to work on?

By the way, I play a Stomvi Elite piccolo with a Blackburn leadpipe.

Thanks in advance amigo.

JAA

ecarroll

Is this Josu? If so, welcome to TM and it's great to have a Basque colleague here! If not, forgive me and welcome to TM all the same...

Intonation on the piccolo trumpet is very dangerous due to the shortness of the silly thing, and resonance is greatly effected by intonation. Couple this with far fewer overtones due to being an octave closer to the fundamental and, ole!, we have something resembling a shrill baby crying.

Tension is certainly the first place that I'd look if your pitch is wildly innacurate.

Have you tried playing Clarke studies (in all of the keys, please) slowly in mezzo piano? Listen carefully to intonation. Fortunately Stomvi gave you an extra valve. Spend time matching pitches at the piano and determine which alternate fingerings using #4 work best for you. I'm constantly astonished how few trumpet students have made the effort to figure their piccolo trumpet out (!)

Lastly, consider the old Stamp axiom: as you go up, stay down. Think horizontally, not vertically.

Best and watching here,
EC

JAA

Ed,

Yes, I am Josu. Thanks for the advice. I will let you know.

Josu

rowuk

JAA,
playing sharp with the picc is very common and not always tension based. I find that the ear/brain can play terrible tricks in the upper octave.
There is a book by Chris Leuba (was a horn player in the Chicago Symphony) about intonation. He recommends (and I use it myself for exactly this reason) practicing against a sustained low frequency note. For instance, have a computer or keyboard generate a low C (bass clef) and play the piccolo parts - always tuning to that note. In the beginning, it is amazing how often you need to lip down or relax or even tune lower!
I believe that our ears expect the full spectrum of sound from our principal instrument - regardless of which instrument that we are actually playing. Expecting a big fat dark sound from a picc causes our body to adjust, and it could very well be that being a bit sharp could satisfy those expectations. If you practice the picc enough BEFORE using it in concert, you give your brain a chance to get acclimated to the "new" sound. The sustained low note practice routine gives us a frame of reference until we have developed "good" habits. It has worked for me!