Orchestral Players Embouchure

[trptsbaker]

Gentlemen (and ladies, hopefully); "The only thing that matters is what comes out the end of your horn". Renold Schilke, to me, trumpet lesson. Respectfully, T. Baker.

[trumpetgeek234]

Hi guys,
How are you gonna play right, when you are not going by sound?
Good sound is supposed to come out of your trumpet, and that's all you have to look for.
PB

[PH]

Don's last post really nailed it!

I want to add a couple of comments.

Adam & Jacobs (and possibly some of the others) could definitely tell you what was going on with your playing physically and what the exercises they were prescribing would do. They just won't tell you what you don't need to know. That is the teacher's job (just like a physician's), to analyze problems and prescribe solutions.

Great players are 100% obsessed with the sound of the music when they are playing. Anything else entering your mind is a distraction that will have a negative impact on the result coming from your instrument. This list of distractions usually includes things like: how it feels when I play, words that describe the sound (staccato, light, dark, etc.), what my body is doing to make the sound, what kind of embouchure I have, how am I supporting the air, is my hand position correct, is this too much pressure, and self-esteem things such as whether the conductor/reviewer/cute chick/etc. likes me & my playing.

Adam won't tell you anything about the physical changes he is helping you make because it will actually retard your progress. When you are distracted into the realm of the physical you become self-conscious, rather than music-conscious.

It is the teacher's job to think about the "how" of your playing. It is the student's job to focus on the "what".

Great embouchures evolve. This is how the Chicago guys, Adam students, (and Carmine students) end up as great players with efficient embouchures. Rarely if ever would any of these master teachers put someone through an "embouchure change". 99% of the time that results in frustration. Instead they prescribe certain pieces or exercises to play with a certain concept of rhythm, tone, articulation, etc. that will cause the player to work in a more physically efficient manner as they approach the goal the teacher carefully established.

It isn't just hear & pray!

However, even if it was I'd rather place my bet on that than watch & pray, analyze & pray, or feel & pray.

p.s. Mr. Adam had as many successful students end up in the orchestral realm (Berlin Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, etc.) as he did commercial players. The one area where he actually has fewer successful students is in jazz (as soloists). I think that is because it is so tempting to take the fat paycheck a good lead player can get rather than the artistic fulfillment a jazz player experiences. Since virtually all of his long-time students own a great high G and above, the allure of steady employment usually wins.

[trickg]

One of the reasons that I started this thread is that I have always been one to rely on what comes out of the end of the horn as opposed to the mechanics involved. In a concert band or brass quintet setting, or even in a big band as long as I was playing the third or fourth book, I have been very successful in my endeavors as a trumpeter.

Ever since I switched from sax to trumpet in the 5th grade, I've had a naturally robust sound although I would like to think that it has improved by leaps and bounds since then. The thing is, in the last four or five years, I have placed myself in playing situations where although I have good sound and power, endurance and range are limited. I've played in a Latin band where playing between G on the staff and E above high C was required. Now I play in a Top 40/dance band and although I don't have to work as hard as playing Latin band, I'm still chopped out by the end of the night and playing anything above High C or D is always an issue.

Sound before mechanics has only gotten me so far and even though the orchestral players don't really think about the mechanics of playing, they must be doing something right to have the range, control and accuracy they do.
_________________
Patrick Gleason
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"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[histrumpet]

Pat,
You have found out what I learned last November, using more air, singing the note, or concentrating on sound is only part of the equation. Not saying that these things are not relevant, just that these can only be applied after the lips are trained to form an efficient embochure. You can play with an embochure that is not an efficient one, but you will never realize your full potiental if you do. Just my thoughts.

[PH]

I'll agree to a certain extent. The way we (Adam & Chicago students) learn to play will almost invariably result in a well developed embouchure. You arrive at that by first vividly imagining the music being played beautifully. Then you take in a great big relaxed (but energetic) breath and spin that right through the sound you are hearing (which already resides in the acoustical properties of the trumpet-we just activate it). The tongue pronounces the music and the chops, the mouthpiece, and the trumpet act together on the airstream to make the sound the player imagines audible to everyone in the room. Over time this results in a very efficient (and coincidentally usually good looking) embouchure setup.

The embouchure (like every other part of a balanced playing system) is of vital importance. However, 99% of trumpet players overestimate the significance of the embouchure in a balanced system. I have found that when the mind finally starts to work right and the breath begins to be used more properly the embouchure usually only needs minor tweaking.

If you think you need to work on your chops (or get a different mouthpiece or instrument) you probably need to iron out problems in your thinking or problems with your blowing.

As Adam says, "The trumpet is a wind instrument, not a lip instrument".

The earlier in the process of trumpet tone production one has a glitch (or fixes a glitch) the more dramatic the effect on the resulting sound.

The first and most important part of playing is the thinking. This is the control system for everything else that happens. Learning to think properly and hold that concentration for long periods of time will cure 95% of all trumpet playing problems.

The first physical thing that happens in the process of making sound is the inhalation. This is immediately followed by the exhalation. This is by far the most important physical part of playing.

As the air is exhaled it passes throough the chest area, throat, over the tongue (under the palate, etc.) past the lips, through the mouthpiece, through the trumpet, and into the room.

This is also the order of significance of the elements of well balanced tone production:
1) Thinking
2) Breathing
3)Tongue and oral cavity
4) lips
5) Mouthpiece
6) Instrument

I think I'll start a thread with a paste of this post over in the Adam forum, since that is probably where our subsequent discussions of my particular points belong.

Cheers!