Developing Consistency

mbhalpern · Regular Member Joined: 12 Feb 2016 Posts: 20

All:

This may be normal for a beginner, but I am having a heck of a time with consistency. Sometimes a pretty decent sound comes out and/or a perfect lip slurred arpeggio, scale etc. and then an attempt to repeat 5 seconds later results in a range of negative results from no sound at all to a howl/bellow.

Now this wouldn't be so bad if I could figure out why things go well and/or why they don't. I am trying to concentrate on the fundamentals, but I can't seem to pinpoint what may be relatively small changes in embouchure, air, etc. that are causing inconsistency.. FWIW, my local teacher has not been able to really help here.

Any insights or thoughts greatly appreciated.

Best,
Mitch
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Mitch Halpern

1971 Bach Strad 43
1960 Olds Special Tricolor

McVouty · Veteran Member Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 149

To gain consistency, we need to teach our body to do the right thing automatically. This relies on us finding a 'good' starting point and then building on from there. Endlessly repeating 'bad' attempts serves to reinforce those habits that we absolutely don't want and will make progress later a lot more difficult.

A favourite exercise I like to do and have seen recommended by Arturo Sandoval and others is to start with a second line G. Play some long notes a few times at medium volume and try and make the most beautiful sound possible. Once you have established a good sound(and not before) then move onto articulating the G - soft articulation without any hard attack. - Keep repeating until you are happy with the sound. Once your G sounds OK (this might take more than one practice session to establish) then you can use that as your reference sound. So now you start with the G and then move to the G# and repeat the above process. If it doesn't feel/sound right - go back to the G and keep keep switching until you are happy they sound similar. next go back to the G and then down to the F# and back to the G again. Over time you keep repeating this and adding one more note above and below the G each time - so G G# G F# G A G F G Bb G E G B G Eb etc.

The important thing is to pay attention to the sound, always referring back to that beautiful G. With perseverance , you will quickly develop a good and consistent sound over notes in the range Low G to G on top of the staff - and that will allow you to play a surprising amount of music within that range.

Hope that helps and good luck!

dstdenis · Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2016 4:58 am Post subject:

Yes, it's typical for trumpeters at every level to find they need to develop and maintain better consistency in their playing.

Betelgeuse215 · Veteran Member Joined: 20 May 2015 Posts: 186

Work a lot on getting your fundamentals in shape. This helps a lot with consistency.

Andy Del · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:52 pm Post subject:

One now retired player maintained that he felt he had no consistency until he was in his mid 30's. He had been playing in positions since his late teens...

Don't sweat it, just keep working and thinking positively. the consistency will come with muscle memory, confidence and experience. I await the day with baited breath!

cheers

Andy
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so many horns, so few good notes...

NYC-player · Heavyweight Member Joined: 03 Jun 2016 Posts: 627

Take your time, don't get discouraged.

Trumpet playing for me has been more about discovery, than repetition. Once I figured out how to do something, I could do it forever, no matter what shape my chops are in.

Keep at it, till you make your own discoveries. Try and experiment with different techniques, hardware etc until you find what works.

Watch other players, listen to other players, take every suggestion you get with an open mind.

You'll get it!!

Billy B · Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2016 1:48 pm Post subject:

SLOW DOWN!
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Bill Bergren

dmcgee414 · Regular Member Joined: 29 Jun 2016 Posts: 13

I agree with the "slow down". I often get very frustrated with my progress when I can't see immediate results. It is important to just go as slow as you need to and do things the right way, and then your body will start to build muscle memory with the correct technique.

Billy B · Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2016 9:50 am Post subject:

1jazzyalex · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2016 6:20 pm Post subject:

scottfsmith · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 10:02 am Post subject:

One thing that has helped me recently is to get a fixed warm-up routine to go through the same way every time you start. You don't want to think about it, you want to give your body something to help naturally remember.