Bad Habits

[mazzus]

Hey guys,
I always hear about how players can develop bad habits from being self taught(and other things). And since when I started I was self taught (for the first 3-4 years), I was wondering what exactly is it that you consider a bad habit? I always hear about bad habits but never what they are in particular. So, if you will be so kind I would like you to help me grasp this better.

(I realise that to one person a certain habit can be bad and vica-versa, so please don't complain about things like that in this thread)

-Kendall

[Simply Swingin']

For me, I developed a horrible ammount of pressure and a terrible way of tonguing- through my teeth. I had no idea I was doing anything wrong, though. I thought I sounded great!

...when I really didn't. When I got a teacher, everything changed dramatically... In a good way, of course.
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"Behold, I make all things new."- Jesus Christ, God Almighty
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Zeus Guarnerius ZTR 900
5C
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Keep swingin'...

[PowerSpectrum]

I played 3 years self taught and have a teacher only since december last year.

The first time I saw him he said:
- I'm way too tensed
- I'm playing too much on the chops with not enough air support
- my attacks are too hard without any balance between air and tongue
- I take air with tongue in bad position
- my slurs are not done correctly
- I pull the corners back when playing the first attack

I was a bit discouraged when hearing that evrything I was doing was incorrect, so I asked if finally there was at least something who is correct in my playing. He's answer was "yes, you have at least a good tone, but that's all...".

Michel

[Syntax]

[davidk]

I've seen a wide variety of interesting habits so far in my career (as a teacher and performer), some of them bad, some of them not. One thing I've learned is that someone, somewhere out there has managed to sound terrific doing things that many would call the "wrong way". That being said, I have noticed that, in general, there are some habits that tend to be universally inhibiting:

1) Having the mouthpiece too far to the left or right of center. Most play a little off of center, but there is a limit as to how far you can drift.

2) Having a really low horn-angle. After a certain point, you have to warp your embouchure just to keep the mouthpiece on your lips or you end up tucking your chin in too much (etc. etc)...

3) Not practicing enough or the right way. Many young players just won't play outside of school, so they never really develop much ability. There are exceptions, but most of them sound terrible for a long time. As far as practicing the right way, all I mean is really practicing and not just playing through the music. I don't want to start a debate about the proper way to practice!

David

[shastastan]

I think, as some have pointed out, that "good and bad" can fall somewhere on a relative scale as opposed to being totally absolute. I'm just an amateur but my teacher identified some of my bad habits as:

1. Breathing through the nose.
2. Not pushing air from the diaphragm
3. Not breathing often enough and not using breath marks in the music
4. Not warming up properly using long tones.
5. Not practicing soft so as to build the chops.

I agreed with him on every point and am continually working on them.

[RBtrumpet08]

a bad habit my section leader is trying to fix and i have only a minor problem with is the puffing uf my lips above the mouthpiece. He will have an air pocket develop up there. my previous section leader would poof one cheek a little.
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"Music is a combination of logic and emotion that together express more than either could possibly express alone."

[Syntax]

Again, puffing the cheeks, mouthpiece pressure and breathing through the nose are not necessarily bad habits. They are most likely effects of embouchure efficiency, not a cause of deficiency. Some of these things can actually be very beneficial to development at certain stages.

I think a lot of players get confused identifying bad habits. They just take what their teacher says or what they observe in a pro's embouchure as holy grail, not truly knowing WHY these things are bad, or even if they are in the first place.

Think about it this way. In most cases, we don't purposely or deliberately do most of the bad habits listed here. They kind of happen on their own and only when the embouchure needs them, right? Right, so they are symptoms. Try deliberately taking them away and see if it helps your playing. Chances are it won't. It may just get you confused.

They are not causes, they are just effects. If they help your playing, use them to the extent that you need to and that is safe. As your embouchure becomes more efficient (on its own), these things will fade away. This is where teachers get mixed up too. They look at efficient embouchures and notice these things and try to force you into them, calling them bad habits. This view is very backwards. Just focus on your development and efficiency and the symptoms will disappear on their own without calling attention to them as "bad habits."

Just chippin' in.
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The buck stops here.

[Simply Swingin']

[DLoeffler]

"Bad habits" us a term that I do not use with my students for one simple reason - it gives a negative connotation to a habit.

Humans are creatures of habit. Therefore, the way I handle incorrect or less efficient ways of playing is to stress an exercise that becomes more of a predominant habit than the habit that is less productive for trumpet playing. Afterall, what is trumpet playing, driving a racing car, playing baseball, or reading? These are activities we begin to excell at through practice. If we don't practice enough, then there is no mastery of the activity because it has not become a habit to our mind and body. If we practice sufficiently and effectively, we then develop the "habit" of that activity.

Regarding the comment about pushing with your diaphragm -
1) that is a good way to give yourself a hernia
2) the diaphragm can do NOTHING to assist air leaving the body. The diaphragm, when flexed, creates negative pressure in the lungs which we call a vacuum. Since nature abhors a vacuum, air rushes into the lungs to fill the void. Perhaps you need your teacher to restate that. If your teacher insists that the diaphragm is involved in expiration of air from your lungs, have a pulmonologist explain the breathing process or, get another teacher.
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Drew Loeffler
http://www.eastshoremusic.com

[Tbazz2k]

I was also self tought, i picked up the trumpet in 6th grade, and with little instruction, began playing. I literially just figured out that my range problems were all caused by developing my chops, using pressure. Which held them back. I also learned the whole "tight corners, relaxed lips" thing about 3 weeks ago. Now for me, now that i play with no pressure, my range has droped about 4 notes, but thats okay, because its all coming back, stronger too. if i had to list the problems that plague self tought trumpet players i think they would be:
1. Using pressure
2. Probs with embouchure (like me)
And since you instructed yourself, you take these bad habbits and your continue to use them, which makes them seem right. But they're not!

My advice is, find someone to watch you play. it did wonders for me!
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Russell J. Kasem
Yamaha Xeno, YTR-3885S, L-Bore.
Bach Megatone 3C
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Southern Polytechnic State University
Carolina Crown Drum & Bugle Corps (07,0