Need range fast

Bri · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 10:21 am Post subject:

I am a solid 2nd trumpet player. I am by no means a lead or a screamer. In fact, I almost never play above the D 2 leger spaces above the staff. Even then, it's a reach for me. I can "pop" the E when I have to. I have been douped into playing lead in a pit in less than a month. I need a solid G a perfect 4th above the D I mentioned earlier. What should I do to get myself up there?

Thanks!!!

Note: I'm using A GR66S mouthpiece.
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Bri

[ This Message was edited by: Bri on 2004-02-03 13:23 ]

trumpettyler · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 12:26 pm Post subject:

Pray...

da_roadrunner · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 12:52 pm Post subject:

well i hate to break it to you, but nothing, not a thing, zilch, nodda, nil. adding a 4th to your range in less then a month is pretty close to impossible. course what would i know, i'm just a high school student, who was in almost your same position last semester, except i needed a third, and I had the whole semester to get the G... and i didn't pull it off.
i'd compare this to trying to cut 30 seconds from your mile time. you won't be able to do it in a month, but you might in a year.
sorry... maybe you can take it down or something

trumpetmike · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 12:59 pm Post subject:

Find a dep?

I know this isn't the advice you are after, but in that period of time I think you might be asking a bit much.

To give you a clue about my experience with this - In just over a week I have a concert with Surrey Brass (for details go to http://www.surreybrass.co.uk ) during which I have got two monster piccolo pieces to play (a ludicrous arrangement of "Finlandia" (where the tessitura is at the top of the piccolo stave) and Paul Archibald's arrangement of Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juilet," where the piccolo part is in the Gods for the whole work), followed by a great piece by Alan Botchinsky, on Bb, that is almost all above the stave, by quite a few ledger lines.
To get my range and endurance ready for this concert I have been doing Clarke exercises, extending them up to double C, every day. Scales going up to double C (and beyond), lip flexibilities and long notes. I have now been doing these for the past two weeks (I already had a double C long before I started this, I just need to get the endurance up there sorted out) and keep doing it every day. It is getting better, hopefully it will all be sorted by the concert!

There is no secret to getting higher in a short period of time (that I have found), range takes time to build up.

If I know I am going to be using it a lot, I do masses of exercises and see an improvement in it, but I don't usually obtain many (if any) extra notes on top of my range.

_Japle · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 1:05 pm Post subject:

da_roadrunner is right.
If you try to do this in a month, you just might end your trumpet playing career.
What happens when you can't get a note and you try to get it anyway? Pressure. Or to put it another way, PRESSURE!!!
If you pop one of those little tendons that control your lip muscles, you're done. It's over. Take up drums or keyboards.
Find some way to get out of that gig. It's not worth it.
_________________
John
Cape Canaveral

bigbrowncow · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 12:37 am Post subject:

Everyone is right that this is going to be tricky. Your best bet is to put the bits that are too high down an octave and play them perfectly in tune and in time. The audience won't know its meant to be an octave higher.

The fastest way to improve your range is to:
- Find an absolutely excellent teacher that understands playing high
- Make sure that teacher also understands how you play today
- Make the teacher aware of your goals
- Take lots of lessons and pay lots of £££s
- Be lucky

If you are serious about this, some of the other NY residents will be able to suggest some teachers.

Also consider Trumpetmike's point - even if you can play (and not "hit") the G, what are the chances of nailing it after playing in the pit for 2 hours?

Steve

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Bach 10-1/2A
Lips, lungs, brain...

[ This Message was edited by: bigbrowncow on 2004-02-04 03:38 ]

[ This Message was edited by: bigbrowncow on 2004-02-04 03:39 ]

_bugleboy · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 5:30 am Post subject:

Bri,

Beg off the gig while there is still time for the contractor/leader to find someone else UNLESS there is a clear understanding that you will be playing everything above the D3 down an octave.

You're not going to get this kind of playable range in a month.

FlugelFlyer · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 6:36 am Post subject:

See, there is hope!!!
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bigbrowncow · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:49 am Post subject:

To clarify - if you're being paid you should dep in someone that is comfortable doing it.

Steve

Bri · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:22 am Post subject:

Someone please define DEP...
_________________
-Bri
"Teachers make every other profession possible!"

_Don Herman · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 11:37 am Post subject:

DEP = Deputy -- a sub, or substitute, to those of us on this side of the pond...

HTH - Don
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Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

JoeCool · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 7:15 am Post subject:

You need to find your own unique efficient set. Check out the leadpipe exercise on Brian Scriver's web site. http://www.brianscriver.com

Everyone is different. But maybe it will help you. It did me. I went from an iffy E3, meaning it was always a 50/50 prop, to owning it as well as the F and F#. Now the G is there pretty solid on the days when I was off the day before. This was in a matter of days. You need that smaller aperture to compliment the air support and the upper register takes off.

musicemt · Veteran Member Joined: 04 Jan 2004 Posts: 419

Flugelflyer....you da man! That is absolutely hilarious!

Ben
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Zeus Guarnerius
Bach C 239 w/ Blackburn pipe/slide
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jazzartizt1742 · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 6:41 pm Post subject:

Buy a schilke 6A4A lol seriously it worked for me. All this and that about not buying i bought it and whammo first time i used it i was screamin at pep band it was soo fun but thats just me.

Boy meets Horn · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 1:02 pm Post subject:

Well, you could press alot.

Just kidding, I am also a high school player and I can play double Bb's (not to brag) the point is that I find that playing in the altissimo register has a lot to do with how you voice the note. When you try and play the note, aim for the "sweet spot" of the note, the very center of the note and blow from the gut. Find the slot in the horn where the note is and blow, this way you are working more efficiently instead of against yourself. Personally, I would start on high C's or the highest note you feel comfortable with and go up and down chromatically a few notes and as you get stronger go higher. This was recommended at a clinic I attended where Allen Vizzuti was the clinician. Work efficiently, not against yourself, and if in the end you can not hit the double G it is not the end of the world. There are several excellent trumpet players that did not have a range past high C in high school. On example I can think of is Allen Vizzuti.
I was in a similar predicament last year in which I had to play a double G at the end of a Gordon Goodwin chart we played last year called "Count Bubba" in the recording, Arturo played a double C at the end. Like you, I was set up with having to play it in a very short time. So I started working efficiently, by doing lip bends, pedal tones, long tones, wide lip slurs, anything to strengthen my chops and it worked. I am not saying it will work for you I am however saying that it is possible. Good Luck.
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Bri · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 5:53 pm Post subject:

Thanks for all the advise. I dumped the gig and will not accept a lead gig ever again. I know my place...I'm a 2nd trumpet player.
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-Bri
"Teachers make every other profession possible!"

DaveH · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 Nov 2001 Posts: 3861

I think you, or anyone else for that matter, can get range, but I do not think you can get it "fast."

da_roadrunner · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 6:39 pm Post subject:

Posted: 2004-02-10 20:53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for all the advise. I dumped the gig and will not accept a lead gig ever again. I know my place...I'm a 2nd trumpet player.
_________________
Bri

if you have that attitude, you'll always be a 2nd trumpet player. If you're willing to work, then you'll get the notes and then some. But limiting yourself to a "oh, i'm just a 2nd player" gets rid of tons of possibilities for you, and a few jobs.

Bri · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 5:10 am Post subject:

da_roadrunner,
There's nothing wrong with being a 2nd trumpet player. I was in no way demeaning that role. I pride myself in being a solid 2nd trumpet player. My colleague (the 1st trumpet) can always count on me to match their style, intonation, and articulation. This is a skill that I spent countless hours working on while I was in college, and I still spend as much time as I can on. Once my students reach the point of playing in an esemble this is a skill that I stress! I believe anyone can play by themselves, but it takes a truly sensitive ear and a well trained musician to properly play with another musician. I truly enjoy sitting down in a pit or in a band and playing 2nd. I absolutely LOVE harmony. I find it fascinating how the 2nd line accompanies (melodically, harmonically, and contrapunctually) the 1st part as well the rest of the ensemble. I do play principle in a few local wind ensembles (some audition, some not), but my heart is in the 2nd folder.

_________________
-Bri
I'm not a trumpet player, I'm an educator who happens to play the trumpet.

[ This Message was edited by: Bri on 2004-02-11 08:14 ]

roynj · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Oct 2002 Posts: 2065

Tell whomever duped you into that job that the part asks for more range than you got. Let the director decide whether to sub in a pro, if that high G is all important, or rewrite that part down into your range. My guess is that 99 percent of the 1st part is under high C, and there is a lot more to playing lead in a show than just hitting the notes. I agree with the others that trying to add that kinda range isn't doable in a month.