the focused air stream

chuck in ny · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 3:40 pm Post subject: the focused air stream

i haven't paid any attention to this until recently finding a better focused air stream both saves the chops playing high notes, and opens up an easy upper register. i was likely using chop muscles to ascend more than a proper blow.
as to a nice tightly focused air stream, or whatever the alternative would be to that, what are we supposed to be doing?
..chuck

Yamahaguy · Heavyweight Member Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 3992

Hoping this doesn't start an argument...I'll just tell you what works for ME-

Rather than 'focused' air, I like to think of 'faster' air when approaching upper
register playing...and I also 'feel' as if my tongue is involved more here.

Whether or not that is really happening, I don't know and to be perfectly
honest I don't care. All I know is that it works...for ME!

Definitely don't muscle and force the air, this is a good thing. Firm corners,
relaxed center, and tension-free exhalation (some call this compression)
has really helped me.

Peace,
-Dennis

chuck in ny · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 6:48 pm Post subject:

i'm with you yamaha i don't know exactly what's happening.... it's certainly a faster air stream. at this point trying to dial things in as to be familiar with the sensation and gain some control.
although... when you think about it, if you're talking about how fluid moves, to get it faster, it has to be more focused. garden hose type stuff. you would be able to get past that paradigm only if you had a fire hose, and were built like a fire truck. not many of us in that category.
too new with this definitely a stay tuned situation. ..chuck

kalijah · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 7:58 pm Post subject:

The actions we become involved with as we have an image of narrowing the air path have an ancillary effect on the aperture.

oldblow · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 4:28 am Post subject:

Having recently come to see the light myself, I plan to follow this discussion.

After getting back from New York this past Christmas, and hearing Chris Botti up close, I walked into an old cold house and picked up a horn. Somehow, the combination of not having played for over a week, picking up a cold horn, and having a slight urge to sneeze while beginning my buzz, sent the pitch up past high C. I played five or six notes above C with clarity and ease. I realized then that I had done something with my tongue and throat that was different, and began to work on being able to repeat the experience at will.

I have become a keen student of a tongue-controlled embouchure in the process. At the moment, I am learning that the tongue follows the usual laws of physics: the farther it has to move, the longer it takes to get there. That seems to mean that the tip of my tongue is slower than the area behind the tip for playing higher notes.
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razeontherock · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:25 pm Post subject: Re: the focused air stream

NickD · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:07 pm Post subject: Focused air...

There are many ways to think of this. MOST trumpeters use some sort of tongue arch as they ascend in pitch. Many explain it with fast air, focused air or just eee for high notes aww for low notes. Use whatever way of thinking works for you. However, the fast air is a side effect and not explicitly the cause of higher notes. The air has to move faster as you bring the tongue up, but it is the arch and smaller oral cavity the has more impact.

Now, this is really only true for real high. Experiments have been done to show (and do show) that the size of the oral cavity is of minimal importance in normal registers. However, studies have been done that show the possibility of significant impact on the upper register by the size of the oral cavity.

TTFN

Nick
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chuck in ny · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:42 am Post subject:

nick thanks for wading in on this. i'm going to spend some time getting a feel of the tongue arch as relates to the air stream.
..chuck

Pops · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 1:19 pm Post subject:

Tongue arch is very dependent on how you tongue. If you think of teachers who taught arch like Clarke or Gordon; they also taught some version of anchor tonguing.

There are several reasons for this. Anchor tonguing combined with arch means that as we arch higher we tongue farther back on the tongue.

This action creates a channel for the air to follow the groove of the tongue and focuses the air toward the center of the vibration. It literally feeds air to a smaller amount of lip tissue and helps to play higher.
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