Lip Slurs

[goldmello15]

Hey there everyone! So this is my very post post on anything in dcp. So go easy on me;)

I hope this is the right place to ask this, and I hope my question isn't too small or specific....but I need some help. I'm absolutely terrible at lip slurs. There's no other way to put it. I've been playing mellophone for a few years now and this will be my first year of marching drum corps. I've been great with show music in my old high school marching band and everything, and we were quite good, but it's just embarrassing doing slur exercises in the arc with my future corps and getting stuck on one note almost the whole time :P

Basically, my problem occurs when I need to slur from a tuning C up to the next partial, and the next. The exercise also calls for a little 16th note exchange back and forth between the C and the higher E. I'm completely hopeless once the exercise gets here. Slurring down has never been a problem for me, but slurring up higher than a tuning C is just killing me. The note won't move nearly fast enough to the next one and I end up stuck on the C all the way through the 16th note section. To say the least, it sucks.

Again, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question or how directly this is related to drum corps but any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks a lot everybody

[Ryan McDonough]

From my experience its just a matter of practicing them. Do lots of "compound slurs" (jumping around through multiple partials. i.e. low Bb - middle Bb - F - D kind of thing)

I'm a tuba player so I'm talking concert pitch but the same principle applies.

I've been in the same position as you, the only way to get better is to practice your face off.

[MelloHorn13]

Steady fast air stream to increase velocity of the the lip buzz. I teach my students to slightly roll the lips inward to play higher notes, which will create a smaller apperture.

[Ch1k3n]

I'm in the same boat as you.

My lesson teacher taught me by having me play each note that I'm going to skip to, and remember how my lips feel for each note. Then he explained it's as simple as going to that mouth position that I practiced and the note should come out. It's theoretically that simple.

Doing it effectively comes with practice I guess, and having a steady airstream the whole time is a biggie as well.

[JGuy1288]

Basically, my problem occurs when I need to slur from a tuning C up to the next partial, and the next. The exercise also calls for a little 16th note exchange back and forth between the C and the higher E. I'm completely hopeless once the exercise gets here. Slurring down has never been a problem for me, but slurring up higher than a tuning C is just killing me. The note won't move nearly fast enough to the next one and I end up stuck on the C all the way through the 16th note section. To say the least, it sucks.

The problem you're describing is a result of two things: 1) insecurity in those registers of the instrument, and 2) taking the exercise too fast starting out. So first buzz the slur on your mouthpiece and make sure that you're not straining to get up there. When you plug it back into the horn, take the exercise at a slow tempo - slow enough so that you can play the rhythms perfectly. Once you get it there, then speed it up little by little, and you shouldn't have too much of a problem with it.

[Potts]

Hey gold mello, my advice would literally be don't fret over it. I marched gold last year and you have no idea how much time was spent to work on lip slurs. It was quite weird though how even thought did get better through the season, it really clicked for the first time about a week or two ago for me. This is actually one of the things that is truly great things about open class, which actually quoting from the trumpet/mello tech, open class is about growth, it's about pushing you to that next level and to prepare you for what world class has. In the mean time, take it slow, let yourself build the embouchure, so when we do artic 10 at higher tempos, your lips will be able to take it. And believe me, it's a very difficult exercise, so you're not alone