trumpetnick

Dear Tony and folks,

I started to work on my range beyond top G and for now I am getting up ti B flat, but for some reason the a flat would just not come out. The sound is still a bit thin, but I hope that will the time it will get better. But I cannot understand why I cannot play a flat when I can hit the a and b flat? Any thoughts? For the moment I am just playing arpeggios as it seems easier for my ear till it gets really used to hear those high notes.

kadleck

Nick -

I would say that the majority of us have a "break". For years I could play a double B & C but not an A. Now I can play an A but no Bb or B. I think it probably has to do with a number of things.

I used to live with Greg Gisbert. If he found a note that was difficult for him (not many were), he would just try to squeak it out very softly - in order to find "the slot". He would do that for hours on end (it seemed!), but after a while the note would start to come in to focus. Once it slotted, he would put some real air behind it. It became an actual note. Keep in mind, this process can take weeks.

It worked for him but to be honest, I've never tried it. Any other ideas out there - particularly from people that have no break?

Tony

Mikey

Tony, how much of this do you think can be blamed on the horn or mouthpiece?

The reason I ask this is that certain models of horns have the reputation to have well-defined slots, like the Reeves V-Raptor and the Yamaha 83130Z. (FWIW, I don't care for either one). Also, the Monette horns I've played easily slotted as far up as I was able to play.

I do know that mouthpiece gap plays a part in slotting, especially as you go higher. But yet, there are players out there who seem to have a seamless high range, with no breaks....

Mike

BergeronWannabe

Anything above F# (over high C) is a squeak for me. At least the note sounds, without me straining (which I guess is good). I'll try that Gisbert exercise. Tony, did he do soft scales like you do? Or would he just play the note and hold it?
Thanks,
-Andrew

rjzeller

Interesting comments on the equipment, Mike. I know that on my horn, D, Eb, F, and F# are perfectly playable, then A, B, and C....but that high E is almost impossible to find, and the G is occasionally problematic for me (though it's getting better..). Yet when I tried that Phaeton a while back, it practically sang the E as easily as though I were playing it an octave lower (yet on that particular horn, the C was squirelly), and the G came out just fine.

So it would seem the equippment does have an impact...but surely we can overcome it. So then....how best to do so?

Vulgano Brother

Chase used to finger "A" 123. Give alternate fingerings a try, and at this range, there are a lot of them!

kadleck

I think that alternate fingerings can help to some extent, but for me it's either there or it's not. I agree with Rich & Mike - the horn/mouthpiece match up does come into play. I have a great Besson (Stamm model, mid 1990's) that I could swear didn't have a high D on it. (A bad note to not have.) I was complaining about it to Marvin, so he put his mouthpiece in my horn and played about 15 high D's in a row and handed the horn back to me. I then promptly proceeded to continue missing high D's.

Mouthpiece, chops, gap, horn ... who knows?

Andrew - when Greg did the exercise, he just played chromatically up to the note and tried to hold it (softly). It was all over the place at first, but then he would hone in on the spot.

Certain guys have no break. Faddis, Dave Stahl, and Roger Ingram come to mind. Probably Wayne too.

Tony

richardwy

This one I hope never to forget. Thanks Tony.

Trumpet playing humbles me on a regular basis.

Richard

P.S. Your post also encourages and inspires me after slaughtering that last Arban's flexability exercise. Monday is when the lesson changes and new material rolls around. Good timing.

tptshark

I have found alternate fingerings a great way to work on "filling the gap"

for example - playing the high G on 1-3, then lifting the first valve while aiming to hold everything else )air pressure/speed, tongue position, embouchure) the same. The shortening of the tube will take you up to the next note, as opposed to going from open to 1-2 where you have to switch harmonic. (Please bear in mind that this is based on my very-likely-skewed perception of the laws of physics - but it works for me)

I've also recently started working on the "squeak-til-you-slot" method, but using glisses rather than scales, and this seems to be working really well so far.

- Adrian

Stile442

I've found that on my horn I have a solid high C through F but the F# and G are hardly there at all but my Ab sounds fine. I've never tried different horns, but maybe I'll give that a shot. As for fixing my range issues (which are numerous and varied ) I use a workbook called "Hession's Sessions" and it seems to work well for me.