Response Problems

[Musicdude2013]

Hello, I am new to the Trumpetherald seen and I just need some more opinions.

For the past couple months I have been experiencing a good amount of response problems. Such as I would play a line and for some reason a random note just wont come out, lips stop buzzing I suppose.
Do you think my lips may be too tense? Not enough air? Or maybe I might have some lip damage, who knows. I know it may be hard to figure out you not hearing me play or seeing me but I was wondering if anybody experienced this same issue and if they have conquered it.

My teacher and I are struggling to figure out what may be wrong and we are running out of ideas. Just need some help from fellow trumpet people.
Thanks

[swingintrpt]

I'm not sure exactly what your problem is - your description is pretty vague. However, I don't think that a better description will be all that helpful to us without being able to see/hear you play in person. Having gotten that out of the way, here's my best guess:

90% of the time the problem lies in the airstream. This does not mean you need to push more air or blow harder, nor does it necessarily mean that you need to back off. It just means that somewhere in there, something's not quite right.

Here's the first step: Sing. And I don't mean just hork out some pitches that resemble the line you want to play - I mean sing the line as you want it to come out. If it's too fast for you to sing, treat it just like a fast passage on the horn - slow it down, concentrate on musicality and accuracy, and then speed it up. This may be all you need to do to fix your problem, it may be a tool you can use to pinpoint what it is you're doing wrong, or (if it comes out perfectly fine but your playing still has problems), it may mean you need to look somewhere else.

As to where that somewhere else is, I can't even guess without seeing you in person. I can suggest that, if your teacher is as stumped by this problem by you are, it might be beneficial to see another teacher, someone who can approach the situation with fresh eyes. I can also suggest/hope that you're doing all the usual stuff: A consistent and effective warmup, lots of listening to players with sounds you admire, crystal-clear mental rehearsal of the sound you want to produce, and a playing load that will allow you to improve and not force you into damaging your face.

Welcome to TH - I don't know if anything on here is going to help you with this particular problem, but I think you'll find that, as internet BB services go, this one's a pretty hip place to hang out.
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RJM
Examining the difference between
music and Music.

[Derek Reaban]

This post might be helpful.
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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Winds / Symphony of the Southwest

[roynj]

[Musicdude2013]

Thanks for the help guys. I know it was a little vague but I keep thinking its an Air issue. Important thing for me is every time remember to blow through the line.

[Kennedy]

I used to have issues like this. I would be playing a phrase and my lips would simply stop vibrating. Some of the issue was excess pressure, but having dealt with that problem separately I found I was still having a issue with it. So, on my own, I began using the "poh" attack to start all of my tones. You simply try to start the note without using any tongue attack at all. You are trying to achieve the cleanest, most well centered attacks possible through this method. The theory is "you can blow air without buzzing your lips, but you can't buzz your lips without blowing the air"-Arnold Jacobs. My teacher studied with Chicowicz so that is how I found out about it. Basically, if you can get the embouchure to respond immediately when the air contacts the lips then, it probably isn't an air or a lip problem. What you do not want it to release the air and it get into the horn 2-3 inches before your lips vibrating. This is also an exercise in embouchure efficiency. When you can do this through out your entire range and at all dynamic level and you are still having issues it may be excess pressure.

I'm not a fabulous teacher, so you can take my word for what it is worth which is not very much, but I've had success, not only with my playing, but also with my private students, using this method of fixing response issues. I hope something I might have said helps you with your problem.
_________________
Andrew Kennedy
University of Southern Mississippi
Trumpet Graduate Assistant

[lmaraya]

[Al Innella]

If no note, only air comes comes out,you're lips aren't vibrating , you might be opening you're jaw too much forcing the lips a little too far apart. Long tones and lip flexibilities will help fix this, also try playing the passage tonguing every note, then slurring every note, then see if one way is better than the other, then exam what you did different with you're embouchure.

[BeboppinFool]

Breath attacks, breath attacks, breath attacks, breath attacks, breath attacks, breath attacks, breath attacks, and then a few more breath attacks at the beginning of each playing or practice session.

A breath (or Hooo or no tongue) "attack" means get your tongue out of the way. 9 times out of 10 I find that students with the problem you're describing need weeks and weeks of breath attacks and playing lots of phrases without using the tongue at all.

Start each day without tonguing any notes . . . do as much of that daily as you can. When you go to rehearse or play a gig, then your tongue will tend to behave correctly more and more the longer you do this.
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Puttin’ On The Ritz

[holeypants]

Rich is right on. Breath attacks are money in the bank.
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Jonathan Vieker
The Lip Rip Blues
My ongoing recovery from a torn lip muscle, updated regularly!

[janet842]

[butxifxnot]

Or perhaps he's using too much mouthpiece pressure or blowing too hard. Maybe he's not blowing hard enough. Maybe he's got too much upper chest tension, or maybe not enough.

To the OP:
is there any way you could bite the bullet and post a sound clip (or better yet a video clip) of you playing? Since you are earnestly asking opinions, you may as well give the community here a good chance at diagnosing the problem without giving you a bunch of guesses.

Generic exercises that WILL help, but may not solve your underlying problem:
-Breath attacks
-whisper tones
-low long tones
-combination of all three
-buzzing without the tuning slide (mpc + leadpipe alone); air attack when doing this
-flow studies
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"Never practice, always perform."
-Adolf Herseth

[Maxtpt]

The problem is almost definitely your air, and probably partly mental because you've been focusing on the problem. In my experience, when you focus on something, the tendency is to develop a trying, careful mindset which leads to a way of playing where you're controlling and correcting every note you play, and reacting to feel and sound.

I'd do some breath attacks, then take beautiful melodies such as in the Bordogni or Conconi books and just play through them and try to "sing" the line, using as much air to produce as vibrant tone as you can. Ignore mistakes and just keep singing. As you get used to employing your air more and more and get out of your own head, I think the problem will solve itself. Just stop focusing on it for a while, and focus on your all-around trumpet playing and beauty of sound and I think you'll find your problem behind you. Good luck!

[cheiden]

To the OP - how much time are you putting into practicing fundamentals? Too much emphasis on range studies or difficult literature/etudes can cause the proglems you're describing.
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[progmac]

[shofarguy]

I have had two mouthpieces that give me this problem, or uncover it in my play. I was able to overcome the tendency by setting my embouchure and focusing my air stream for the highest note in the phrase.

The problem happened when I would flinch and suddenly relax too much to play a certain note; momentary laziness. Or in the case of my Flugelhorn Vortex mouthpiece, it would require more effort to play a certain note, I wasn't giving that effort, and air would happen.

Since you are talking trumpet, I suggest that, along with the above advice from other posters, you investigate Bob Reeves' sleeve system and adjust the receiver gap. I have less trouble with the other mouthpiece now that I've had that done.

Brian
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Brian A. Douglas

Flip Oakes Wild Thing Bb Trumpet in copper
Flip Oakes Wild Thing Flugelhorn in copper


There is one reason that I practice: to be ready at the downbeat when the final trumpet sounds.

[crzytptman]

Buzzing the Pops McLaughlin way is excellent for conditioning the proper lip response. Spend a few minutes a day doing it, then apply the sensation to all the above advice and you should be good.
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