Lip Trills

[Martybucs]

They do generally put a squiggly line over the note(s) to be trilled. Usually a larger zig-zag mark and almost always the handwritten word, "SHAKE!!!" , over the note if the broader, more uncouth version is required.

From my experience, a bona fide shake is used at the discretion of the performer depending on what they are trying to "say" with their interpretation of the music. In musicals you see it a lot, along with the growl and flutter tongue for "down and dirty" type of playing to convey that emotion through the music. They always write it large, like the "SHAKE!!!" above. In trumpet music, the growl is almost always augmented with the use of the plunger mute. Those effects are generally pretty subtle, almost sneaky sounding, greatly effective, and take years to master to satisfaction. Wouldn't translate onto the field, unless you just wanted a loud, wild shake.

(I can only remember it actually being written on music in Broadway transcriptions of musicals, such as Tams-Whitmark. These are the books that the orchestra pit uses. Large, ungainly, heavy books of blue Diazo copied music and literally stitched together. Nowadays, they use plain copies, but the same heavyweight paper, to stand up to constant erasings)

I just remembered, in 1970, my jr. corps did a fanfare, OTL in which we used a shake in the first soprano section and we did it very cleanly and in unison - (ticks back then). If you go to YouTube and type in Brookhaven Crusaders and watch the first part you will hear the "shakes" we did.

It's fun baiting us "horn geeks" ain't it?

[ravedodger]

I was thinking the same thing.

I know my trombone teacher would sure give me grief any time he heard a tongue in my lip slurs.

Heh, I once heard a band director actually tonguing while she was doing lip slurs. As the tech for her band, I gave her hell about it. I never heard her play at the band room again and let's just say that she teaches choir now.

On topic: I think what most are talking about here is the Claude Gordon method, which Drew illustrated well with the ah-ee--a rapid raising and lowering of the tongue. One book that I know of is CG's Systematic Approach to Daily Practice. I think the Renegades used to have an excerpt of the book in the music part of the members area.

I could be wrong.

[JeromeyBush]

When I pee,I stand about 2-3 ft from the turlet.I arch my tongue ,though.

[jdostie]

When I pee,I stand about 2-3 ft from the turlet.I arch my tongue ,though.

***Snicker***

***Cackle***

***Rolling around laughing***

***Oops, I laughed too hard, I should have arched my tongue too . . .

Edited March 2, 2008 by jdostie

[Martybucs]

When I pee,I stand about 2-3 ft from the turlet.I arch my tongue ,though.

2-3 feet from the "turlet"???? Gifted or just good aim? - I don't even want to know what you do with the arched tongue at this point.

[GuyW]

A true lip trill is actually done with the tongue. I suppose a more accurate term would be "tongue trill"...

Gee, for relative eons, practitioners have been so clueless that they called a tongue trill a lip trill....?

Edited March 2, 2008 by GuyW

[JeromeyBush]

2-3 feet from the "turlet"???? Gifted or just good aim? - I don't even want to know what you do with the arched tongue at this point.

I trill,then I shake,silly.

[JeromeyBush]

2-3 feet from the "turlet"???? Gifted or just good aim? - I don't even want to know what you do with the arched tongue at this point.

I trill,then move closer to the turlet,then I shake,silly.

[randomnoise]

There are a variety of ways to notate trills. Here are a few:

[goldingna]

I've found that my jaw does move a little bit, but for me, the tongue definitely drives things. The way I teach lips trills to students is by having them whistle the trills, then recreating what the back of the tongue does while they're playing. Here's a silly little video I recorded a while back...you can see my jaw move.