Losing Flexibility

[Murph]

Remember to allot time for stretching and breathing. There is muscle control in the diaphragm, stomach, low back, sides, etc. that have a great deal to do with your air support. There is no sound without the air. Daniel is 100% correct. I would also say to make sure when you are playing pp that you are using full air support to ensure a full sound out of your soft notes. Building the air moving muscles will help you move the air faster to help with your range.

[fnchdrms87]

www.bbtrumpet.com

very good site about trumpet playing concerns. Playing PP and softer was about the best thing anyone could have recommended to me. It helps develop control of your aperture. Basically, any ape can pick up a horn a toot loud notes, but learning how to play soft is where I think it's all at. Training a smaller aperture also helps with higher notes. I think it would be impossible to play a double G with the aperture size of a low G below the staff. But like daniel said, balance your practice volumes. Warming up at PP is very effective as well, but more importantly, develope a consistent warm up... or find something that you do everyday before you play. This will help develope you as a consistent player which is very important for any brass player. All brass players have there "good" and "bad" days, but by being consistent, you won't have to worry about whether it's a "good" or "bad" day to play a piece. As far as opening up and playing loud and higher, I think it's better to do that towards the end of a practice session. First, you don't want to kill yourself before you get into more refined studies such as maybe arban or clarke. By playing loud and high at the end of your practice session, you should be able to develop endurance to knock out any fanfare. As far as method books go, I recommend

Arban

clarkes technical studies

clarkes 24 etudes and solos

max schlossberg daily drills and technical studies

james stamp lips drills

colins lip flexibilities

36 Transcendental Etudes for Trumpet

[Murph]

be impossible to play a double G with the aperture size of a low G below the staff

Uhhh.. I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with you there. I don't agree with ever thinking in terms of making the aperture smaller. This leads to pinched off high notes. Of course, I've never seen my aperture while playing, but I try very hard to keep it open all the way up and down the horn.

[sunsop65]

Two rules about trying to play after a lengthy layoff, twenty or so years:  :P

1. Don't try to play like you did when you marched even if you were a soloist,

    build your lip slowly. 

2.  Don't fortget rule #1.    :sshh:

For those who think they should be able to play like they did "back in the day".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm dealing with that right now, trying to get back in shape for alumni corps. Haven't played in 30 years and coming back is just hard. What came easy years ago ain't happening now. Argh... :(

[sunsop65]

Daniel, Thank you for taking so much time to respond and help me out.  It will be difficult, but I will:

*rest more between exercises and pretend I'm not cheating myself of practice time

*play pp during some portion of my practice time (this will be hard for me because I'll always be thinking I'm not strengthening anything playing so softly, but at least I get more practice time in.  But, if it helps "muscle memory," that's at least a benefit I can remind myself of.

*Overall, I'll remember to remember dynamics during practice time

*I'll work on other aspects of playing, such as fingering and reading music rhythm.

*and, I'll try to include a lighter day once in a while.

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(sarcastic mode=on)

I rather think Mr. Lukehart has no trouble whatsoever with wind.

(sarcastic mode=off)

[JCSeymour]

Stop trying to pinch off high notes. The way to range is long low tones and flexibilty. The lower you can play, the higher you will be able to play. It's all about the air. The flexibilty excersizes will build the chop muscles. The long low tones will build the air support. It takes more air to play low than to play high. 

Just my .02!

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One of the things I remember from when I started playing 40 years ago,was Lloyd Pesola saying You got to play low,to go high. It still holds true to this day.

Edited April 1, 2005 by JCSeymour

[fnchdrms87]

Uhhh.. I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with you there.  I don't agree with ever thinking in terms of making the aperture smaller. This leads to pinched off high notes. Of course, I've never seen my aperture while playing, but I try very hard to keep it open all the way up and down the horn.

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dude, it's plain and simple physics. The higher you go, the faster the vibrations are. Faster vibrations require faster air, and the only way you'll be able to obtain faster vibrations with a smaller aperture. Pinched off high notes...? Breath support still applies to this area. You are still using air, just faster air and a smaller aperture for support. The only way you should get pinched off high notes is when you don't have the proper breath support. Breath support is another topic we could discuss altogether. I recommend checking out "berp" and the "buzzing book" to better understand some of these concepts.

If you can play a 3 octave G scale in one breath, without resetting, then none of this information applies because you have figured out a way to play 3 octaves with the same aperture size, and that is quite honestly beyond me.