Rich Willey -- Analysis and Orientation Lesson

AverageJoe

Let me start with some PRELIMINARY INFO:

I first became intrigued with Reinhardt's teaching methods in a discussion of pedal tones here back in '06:

http://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=57321&start=0

I'm a reasonably successful freelance player in Atlanta, and I pride myself on being put together pretty darn well from a technical standpoint. However, there are some little issues I've never been able to solve...some nagging little inconsistencies in my low register (response/articulation, sound, stability -- ironic that a trumpet player could be obsessed with playing low notes of all things

).

What I determined (with the insightful help of Dave Sheetz) was that pedal tone playing interfered with my normal setting -- I had to reverse my pivot track to play the pedals, and I carried the habit into my low register playing. This was confusing my chops and promoting the inconsistencies I was experiencing...not good! I was able to gain some elasticity in my aperture from pedals, but I was paying for it in other areas!

I decided then and there to give up my pedal tone playing altogether and force myself to keep the same setting all the time, regardless of the initial results. The next logical step for me should have been to get with someone immediately to be typed and oriented, but true to my lazy nature, I took my sweet time! I have seen some improvement in things over the last couple of years, but still not quite where I want them to be.

FAST-FORWARD TO TODAY:
It took a couple of years, but ascribing to the "better late than never" philosophy, I finally got off my butt and decided to hook up with Rich Willey ("BeboppinFool") this past Friday for a full day of analysis and orientation.

I can't say enough about how Rich handles the process... He spent all day with me and even treated me to lunch! It was a full day -- 10am till about 4pm, then we hung out and talked shop for a while afterwards. The first thing we did was to determine my type and pivot track (I'm a IIIB, by the way). Once we had that taken care of, Rich customized a packet of material specific to my embouchure, complete with daily reading and appropriate routines/exercises to help maximize my development.

The rest of the day was spent going through the packet to make sure I understood what to do with each routine. Along the way, Rich supplemented with several of his publications. When it was over, he sent me away with my customized packet (bound with a plastic cover no less!), a CD recording of the entire lesson and ALL of the supplemental books he introduced. Finally (and even more importantly), Rich has an open-door policy for questions and followup (I'm sure I'll be taking advantage of that as well...so much to absorb!).

If anyone decides to consult Rich for a full analysis and orientation, you will get MUCH MORE than your money's worth, I assure you!

I am already seeing some encouraging things in my playing, but I want to give it a week or two to solidify before I write a report for you all (which I will do here). I just wanted to give Rich some well-deserved props for the job he did with me and give him my highest recommendation for those who are curious!

I'm looking forward to sharing my progress with you all!

More later,

Paul Poovey

jwilson46 · Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:36 pm Post subject:

I was fortunate to study with Reinhardt personally. When you describe your lesson with Rich, it reminds me of Reinhardt. Doc did these same types of lessons with me. It sounds like you are in the hands of someone who knows what he is talking about and who really cares about his students. I feel excited about your first lesson. Please keep us posted on how things are going. Questions will arise from time to time and I'm certain that Rich's open door policy of asking is absolutely genuine.

John

Tim McGinley · Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:39 pm Post subject:

It is nice to hear of your great experience with Rich, he really is a great guy. I had the pleasure of sharing many practice sessions with Rich while doing my graduate studies. I learned more from those session than I have during any other time in my career.

Rich and I made it a point to buddy up and "tag team" practice. During our sessions his reflections on the time he spent studying with DSR (along with many cups of coffee) became invaluable to me. He really possesses an understanding of what it takes to develop as a player. He also has the ability to observe, diagnose and prescribe a method to help just about anyone! Aside from being a knowledgable fellow, he is one heck of a guy. I am sure that the folks whom have studied with him will attest.

If you ever have the chance, sit down with him, he will set you on a path to more efficient and enjoyable playing!

Rich - if you are reading, thanks for everything! Hope all is well!
MFT

BeboppinFool · Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:59 pm Post subject:

hvand · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:23 am Post subject:

I just wanted to second Paul's commendation for Rich's work. I've studied with several excellent players and teachers. However, on an hour for hour basis, I gained more from Rich than any of them.

Here is one Reinhardt nugget that I simply didn't get until I took a lesson with Rich. Don't drop your jaw. Though I had practiced the Pivot Stabilizer exercise, I wasn't doing it without a jaw drop. You can't get much out of it without doing it correctly.

Hopefully this post will encourage others to seek out a Reinhardt teacher. Rich's private seminar is great way for those of us who have been around the instrument for a while to get a good grounding in the system.

Hank

AverageJoe · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:57 am Post subject:

WEEK 1 REPORT:

I'm VERY excited at how things are progressing since I've been doing Reinhardt's stuff for a week. I've been doing the Pivot Stabilizer and Track Routine as my first thing every day, followed by work from the "Ten Test Drills." I've had a fairly busy playing week, so rather than play everything every day, I've pared it down slightly...some I do every day, and some I have rotated (I should probably keep a journal so I can keep track of it...don't want to neglect anything!). I'll go for about an hour on this, then put the horn down for a while before playing again (several hours).

In short, the results have been profound! The theme to it all is simply an increase in EFFICIENCY. I'm getting better results on less effort. Here is the break down in the areas I've seen the most improvement so far:

1. SOUND -- I feel like I have more harmonics in the sound -- it is "rounder" and more complete.

2. RESPONSE -- Articulations have an immediacy to them...I've worked for years to this point to improve clarity and suppleness to my attacks, and now they just roll off.

3. TONGUE SPEED/AGILITY -- not surprisingly, I can tongue a bit faster now since I don't have to work so hard to get the clarity. My comfortable single tongue speed (over several measures) went from about 110 to 116 bpm, and I can easily double and triple tongue exercises and passages that used to be a challenge for me to do cleanly.

4. ENDURANCE -- I have to admit that it was awfully hard for me to put the horn down at the end each day...I finally felt tired last night after a day of playing for the first time all week! I've felt STRONGER at the end of each day...not "beaten up" ever!

5. LOW REGISTER -- My main reason for pursuing this in the first place was inconsistency in my low register. Yes, I'm only a week in, but it seems that those inconsistencies were corrected from day one. I simply haven't had any issues, and whenever I've needed to play low, BAM -- it's there. I haven't had any concerns at all about low notes speaking or not...

Rich, thanks for getting me started, and an extended thanks to the rest of you Reinhardt guys for keeping his teachings alive! I feel like I've got a "new lease" on my playing so to speak. I've worked pretty hard through the years, and I thought my days of seeing big breakthroughs were long past.

I can't wait to report on week 2!

Paul Poovey

razeontherock · Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:06 pm Post subject:

Paul, that's great to hear!

BeboppinFool · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:12 am Post subject:

AverageJoe · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:02 am Post subject:

WEEK 2:

Sorry so late on this -- Rich was correct --VERY busy! Friday and Saturday consisted of a total of 10 hours of rehearsal with the Georgia Brass Band...we had a guest conductor come in to help us prepare for the upcoming NABBA championships...

I've struggled to get everything in every day, to be honest...even using the "touch upon" approach (hitting each of the 10 "test drills" in abbreviated fashion) has been a challenge. Things are well, but there has been a bit of a return to normalcy for me -- perhaps "3 steps forward/2 steps back" is a good way of describing it. This is NOT a negative thing, but those initial improvements I noted have not held up quite as prominently in week 2 (into week 3). I expected nothing less in my adjustment to something new, and I want to re-iterate that I have NOT had any negative or detrimental things going on...just more of a relaxing back to "normal" so to speak.

I have some questions, and I'll post them here for Rich to answer. Maybe my questions will be beneficial for others who are starting down this path.

I think the biggie might have to do with the statement "Don't fall in love with your sound." I must admit that I have issues there -- when doing the stabilizer and 10 test drills, I have been striving for the "core of the sound" except where specifically instructed not to do so (like in the compression drills). I'm striving to obey instructions first, though (like in the Stabilizer drill). But regarding the rest, is the goal to hit the drills "loose" (without listening too critically), or is it OK to strive for cohesiveness and beauty? For instance, in the Track Routine, I want to hit the articulations right in the center, and I want my slurs to hit the proper harmonics along the way (bumping through is OK, but in general, don't want to be skipping over or fudging slots along the way). I'll slow them down so that I can "control" the direction/pitch accuracy a bit without sacrificing the high/low/loud/soft in one motion thing...

My training to this point has been all about trying to do things with the best sound possible ALL THE TIME. If I need to check that stuff at the door when doing the routines, I will gladly do so...I just need to know what to focus on, I guess. I can always revert to that kind of critical mindset when I'm practicing/performing music.

Paul

Doug Elliott · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:24 am Post subject:

There's a time for each. When learning proper mechanics, sometimes you have to sacrifice sound for the sake of getting the mechanics right. But then you should also spend some of that time making it sound good. Neither one should be exclusive. As you get better at each exercise, start trying to make it sound great. But the first goal is correct mechanics.

BeboppinFool · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:10 am Post subject:

Very succinct and well-put, Doug!

Each of those drills works on certain aspects of our playing, and after we've been playing them correctly for awhile, then we can concentrate on making them sound good.

But you pretty much already said that!

In particular, don't fall in love with your sound in the middle and low registers during your practice periods as that can expand the size of your aperture and can make it tougher to develop the upper register.

When you're not doing squeakers (compression), I think it's okay to try for a good sound in the upper register (not necessarily tons of volume, though).

Compression is the foundation of the house in Reinhardt's teaching. We develop compression with the benefit of the pivot that's correct for our physical type (IIIB in your case, Paul) and then everything else starts coming together.

Glad to hear you're still moving forward (more forward steps than backward steps). Plateaus are to be expected, but please let me know if you feel like you're heading backwards.
_________________
Rich Willey—Click here to hear my SoundCloud clips

AverageJoe · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:43 am Post subject:

Thanks, guys -- good to know I'm not out of kilter...it seemed common sense to try to clean things up a bit, but I wanted to be sure it was OK to focus there a bit as I move forward! I'll post more stuff soon...another grueling week ahead of me playing lead for a show. I just got my music, and it's going to be a chop-buster!

Paul

AverageJoe · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:26 pm Post subject:

OK, time for UPDATE #3:

I feel I've gained a step this week, and the key has been to set up a bit more firm. Thanks to Doug and Rich for your commentary about sound+mechanics (balancing the two). The key guiding comment was Rich telling me not to fall too much in love with my sound in the middle and low registers...I had been inadvertently dropping my jaw (i.e. opening the gap between my teeth) a little bit to gain more core in the low register sound, and it was messing with everything after I was done with the drills. I'm practicing my drills near a mirror so I can check myself now, and I'm almost back to where I was in week 1.

Steady as she goes!

Paul

AverageJoe · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:51 am Post subject:

UPDATE #4:

OK, I've got a nice rhythm going with the Ten Test Drills now... I literally don't have the time to spend 2+ hours to do them all, so at Rich's suggestion, I'm using the "touch upon" approach -- after going through the Stabilizer Drill, I'm spending about 3-5 minutes on the others, rotating what I do within each drill on a daily basis. This allows me to hit them all and be done in 30 min to an hour.

After that, I'm either practicing music, etudes, etc., or gigging. I really feel like those test drills hit a LOT of things in a succinct but meaningful manner. My playing feels very stable and consistent from day to day -- I'm oozing confidence like never before!

I need to get some questions together for the "panel" (Rich, Dave, Doug, Chirs, etc...). I don't have time to formulate them now, but I'll get them here in the next week or so.

Paul

P.S. -- I've got some of my students doing variations of the "Legato Tongue Drill" and the "Track Routine" (modified/customized in some instances to their level of development and ability). Those two exercises are pure gold!

BeboppinFool · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:16 am Post subject:

Doug Elliott · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:55 am Post subject:

Harrisburg's not too far for me! If I don't have to change the air in my tires that week, I'll try to make it up there.

AverageJoe · Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:43 am Post subject:

I might just have to make the trek up to ITG this year! Dave/Rich -- if you need a "posterboy," let me know... I'm SO hooked on this!

It's about time for UPDATE #5!

On my Pivot Stabilizer, I started out extending only up to C above the staff (2 ledger lines). Now, I've progressed to begin incorporating the G (4 ledger lines)....I can't get it every day yet, but I'll give it the old "3-strikes" attempt and move on if it doesn't happen. I'm also adding this range to the other routines as well (was limiting things to an E or F until last week -- 3 ledger lines).

It is also worth noting that I am doing all of my maintenance/routine work on my C trumpet right now because I'm gearing up for some orchestra auditions. That means that everything above is concert pitch, not Bb transposed pitch.

Still getting stronger, still getting easier, gaining more "ownership" over everything -- Steady as she goes!

Paul

BeboppinFool · Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:19 am Post subject:

oceandrive · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 5:29 am Post subject:

Hi Rich,
some months ago I bought the encyclopedia of the pivot and the reinhard routines.
the infos about the embouchures and two pivots were very interesting and helped me remarkably.
Now I want to tell s.th.
I discovered that on most mpcs I blow downstream and on some I seem to blow upstream.
The ones were I have more upper lip inside the cup I am sure to play downstream.
Recently I changed the mpc to a bigger inside diameter(bach 3d).
On that one I have more lower lip inside the cup, my jaw is more foreward,when i stand straight looking parallel to the floor my horn points down a bit but I feel that my airstream inside the mpc is upstream.
I feel now also that my lips are more vertical under each other, that my sound improved and the range too, and that my lower lip does not hurt so much than before.
1. Can it be that I am really an upstream player under these circumstances and do you think I am?
2. If yes, would you say I am a type 4 or a type4a?
3.I really feel enthusiastic and more fired up to continue tp playing after this positive changes. I believe it definitely comes from
this specific mpc(mostly rim shape). I definitely want to stabilizes these successes.
some short tips how I could do that?

Sincerely,
Chris - trumpetplayer fr0m Hamburg,Germany

BeboppinFool · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:34 am Post subject: