Some survey-type questions about range

[tipo mastr]

Hi all,

I'm just wondering about different people's perspectives on the matter.

1: What is the general (IE: brief ) history of your high range? In other words, are you currently developing your range? If not, how long ago did you develop the range you have now? What sorts of notes are you getting?

2:What characteristics describe notes that you would consider to be above the "top" of your range? Is it a point where you begin to lose volume? Or maybe when you begin to lose tone quality? Maybe just when you feel strained?

3: Do you practice above said point? If so, about how long every day? If you aren't trying to develop your range right now, were you playing above that point in your practice when you were developing your range?

As a young player, I thought it might be interesting to see especially how players developed their registers.

I might post my answers later. thanks for reading!
_________________
Callet soloist Bb
1965 Conn 36b connstellation (looking to sell!)
Callet Superchops Bb (again, looking to sell)
Olds Ambassador cornet (VB 3B)
French Besson Meha C trumpet (post-war, but still late 1940s vintage)
CG personal mouthpiece

[butxifxnot]

FWIW

[tipo mastr]

thanks for the response. by "developing" i mean actively trying to effect an increase in range, not necessarily that your range has been increasing. after all, it is kinda a weird process that usually only pans out over the long term (in my experience haha)
_________________
Callet soloist Bb
1965 Conn 36b connstellation (looking to sell!)
Callet Superchops Bb (again, looking to sell)
Olds Ambassador cornet (VB 3B)
French Besson Meha C trumpet (post-war, but still late 1940s vintage)
CG personal mouthpiece

[INTJ]

there is no brief version for me...............

I started playing in 5th grade and by ninth grade I could squeak up to High E on whatever mouthpiece came with a Gezten 900. In high school they decided to fix all that, taught me to play with a flat chin on a Bach 1.5C, and I couldn't play above the staff. I switched to french horn my senior year, was a music major for one year in college, the quit playing all together for over 20 years.

I came back 8.5 years ago I played on a Bach 5C sized MPs and was able to equal my junior high range, though I wasn't competent at playing anything above the staff. I went through phase with an Assymetric mouthpiece, and though the mouthpiece actually hurt me, it did help teach me to have an open throat. Then I discovered I lived close to Pops Mclaughlin.

Pops approach is lots of air, lots of stomach support, open throat, and tongue arch with whatever embochure works best for you. It took a couple years but my range above the staff slowly started to become more reliable and my extreme range extended to High G.

I then moved and messed around with balanced embochure for a while and found the "lip snap" rips to very helpful for firming up the upper range.

I then retired from the USAF and moved back home to Oregon where I ran into a teacher who thinks a lot like Pops. With that approach reinforced, some equipment changes, and a focus on not playing sharp above the staff; I can now jsut gig a High G and I can pretty consistently play to DHC during upper range practice sessions.

Notes above the top of my gigable range are just not reliable--I don't know if I'll hit them weakly, pinch off, or blow out. Notes above my practce range just thinly fade away, though I haven't tried to go above DHC for a while now.

I now work on high range stuff 2-3 three times a week for about 5 minutes max, up to DHC. I try not to force out any notes. I spend most of my time trying to play with good tone, good intonation, and good accuracy below High C doing the usual drills. I play pedal C a lot. For me, at this phase, I need to focus on relaxing for the upper range to speak well.
_________________
Harrels VPS Summit
Wild Thing
Flip Oakes C
Flip Oakes Flugel

Harrelson 5mm MP

[TMPTChewie]

1: What is the general (IE: brief ) history of your high range? In other words, are you currently developing your range? If not, how long ago did you develop the range you have now? What sorts of notes are you getting?

I am not currently developing my range, just tweaking equipment to better suit my approach to the upper register. I developed a double A in practice after my age out year in drum corps. I claim a double G but I have solid Double Bb's now, the kind that removes paint off of walls.

2:What characteristics describe notes that you would consider to be above the "top" of your range? Is it a point where you begin to lose volume? Or maybe when you begin to lose tone quality? Maybe just when you feel strained?

Notes that are above my range are the notes that I cant slot and hold for 8 counts randomly through my practice sessions. If it falls off or sounds small I won't claim it. I can get up to a double C but it doesn't slot at all and that register doesn't last very long for me. I claim a double G because I know after 12 hours of playing I can play a double G as I would have at the beginning of whatever I was doing.

3: Do you practice above said point? If so, about how long every day? If you aren't trying to develop your range right now, were you playing above that point in your practice when you were developing your range?

I practice to a double high C every once in a while but since I am trying to remove a particular habit I don't really get up there often. I am sort of trying to reinforce the better habits up to a double Bb.
_________________
Marching Music Rocks!
Hand Free Buzzing- Can you do it?
Xbox 360 Live is awesome!

[pepperdean]

I am currently re-developing my high range. I went to see Maynard when we were both young and became enamored with high range I hadn't known to exist. In high school jazz band, I blasted high notes that were not called for (obnoxious). While at the Conservatory, I played scale studies up an octave on my Bach 1 1/2.

An injury sidetracked me for a short time, but study with Caruso, Callet, Stevens, and Rheinhardt brought it all back with a terrific understanding. I've been very fortunate to get advice from other wonderful people like Bob McCoy and Al Cass. Part of the result was the ability to play all sorts of work, from lead to orchestral, on smaller mouthpieces.

A career as a school band director and a bout with a little nerve damage have me again playing the role of a comeback player. This time, my goal is to play for myself not to seek steady work. Been there, done that. Besides, I'm not so young any more.

I practice a total of about three hours throughout each day and I'm no longer a slave to the trumpet. If I go away on weekends, I don't always take the horn. My practice includes a range up to high G from start to finish but I do practice three-octave scales to maybe Eb above DHC and five octave scales from the double pedals to the double highs.

Carmine would say the highest register requires the best balance. Sensible work including this range benefits the entire performance package.

My current goal is reliability. Playing does not yet feel as natural as it once did and everything has to be "just right" for the best results. I remember playing an early morning gig with Al Porcino. He lifted his horn from his case and his playing was instantly wonderful. I knew that being a good player meant being able to produce any time, not just sometimes. There was a point where I was able to do that and I'm trying to get back there. Some day....

Alan

[TrpPro]

[pepperdean]

I never heard him say that, probably because I was never there when anyone was having a negative moment. The positive force of Carmine's personality was too much to allow negativity. 'Just do the exercises and you'll improve.' Who could question that?

Anyway, I strongly concur. I am only an observer of my daily practice.

[silverhorn]

1: What is the general (IE: brief ) history of your high range? In other words, are you currently developing your range? If not, how long ago did you develop the range you have now? What sorts of notes are you getting?
My first year of playing, I could only play a D or E above a tuning note C. By the third year, I could play a G on top of the staff. By my fifth year, I could play a high C. By the sixth year, I could play a double high C and above. After that, it was mainly tweaking to build consistency, endurance and strength in the upper notes.

2:What characteristics describe notes that you would consider to be above the "top" of your range? Is it a point where you begin to lose volume? Or maybe when you begin to lose tone quality? Maybe just when you feel strained?
Volume of sound progressively starts to thin out above double high C as the frequency of the pitch gets higher.

3: Do you practice above said point? If so, about how long every day? If you aren't trying to develop your range right now, were you playing above that point in your practice when you were developing your range?
I'm not trying to develop my range right now but still working on endurance and efficiency. When I was developing my range, I would practice as high as I could until my range improved. My feeling is that in order to play high effectively, you have to practice high!

[seilogramp]

[silverhorn]

[tom turner]

It can/is a lot like athletics . . . if one goes at battering the chops with mouthpiece pressure like a boxer "toughens" up his kisser via the impact of his sparring partner's gloves impacting his face.

It is good to realize this too . . . for tissue can't take too much battering on the lips.

There was a post recently somewhere, where a cruise ship trumpet player is taking disability time due to her chops swelling from all the playing that the gig requires. She can't understand why the music director/trombone player rehearses the band so much and why he expects her to have chops of steel like he does.

I hope she figures it out someday, or she's in for a short career. It is no revelation . . . we must all learn to practice and develop our chops so that the chops themselves do the lip compression WITHOUT the d__m mouthpiece being used as a battering ram.

Sadly, little junior in the 9th grade is wanting to be first in his class to be able to blast out a loud Double C . . . and he learns he can mash his chops with the mouthpiece and squeak out a few, not realizing this is the worst thing he/her can do to his/her chances to develop into a strong, beautiful-sounding musician with an effortless range and endless endurance.

Hope this helps!

Tom

[seilogramp]