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Lionel
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 25 Jul 2016
Posts: 783
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 Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2017 11:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Rod Haney wrote: | I have absolutely no idea why this helped me nor do I care. I simply followed what Manley told me (because he can do what I wanted to learn) and after some time it started to show some positive benefits. An article of faith that paid off. Some of us dont have long experience and widely traveled exposure to methods and just take our betters advice with a dose of faith. At the time I started I could not do a pedal with both lips so I tried to master that. Then I tried the slur, because if you need the same set across you need to do this. After some work it started to click. All this was from pedal c2 to c4 for awhile till it became more fluid. But when it did I started to feel a ‘grip’ inside the mp. Then I started to try to use this set all the time as it became more comfortable. After 3 months, I cant even remember the old setup. Now I dont look ahead and set for the highest note, just start with normal. I have also been doing about 15 minutes of the Cat Anderson whisper and a set of Daniels ow-eye-ow and flexibility’s. These 3 exercises seem to enforce the set I use and they are bringing benefits faster than I thought possible at this stage of comeback. Not getting that brilliant double c some of you have but a very fine hi e and a stronger and stronger hi g. With some squeaks to dbl c when the moon lines up just right. Point is that 3 months ago the c was where the e is and the g was where the dbl. c is.. Not breakthrough results but at this point pretty good for me. I think everyone should just find what works for them but as this thread point out ‘different strokes for different folks’. I dont know enough about playing trumpet to say anything but it worked for me or it didn’t. And this is working for me.
Rod |
Good work Rod. The case for pedal tones is probably far longer than the one agin it. As I stated in my O/P they definitely helped me. Esp at first. Prior to learning pedals I had never been able to hammer anything above high C. Then within a week my bandstand ready range shot up to high G.
Much of the recommendations coming out of pedal tone books involves breathing exercises. Also just by blowing pedals we tend to activate certain muscles which we had nevet used before.
If there is a downside (and some significant evidence suggests that there is in the writings of Donald Reinhardt and the words of Bud Brisbois) it is that in some players the pedals may make certain embouchure muscles swell. Probably in nearly the same way as switching to trombone or euphonium tends to temporarily screw up our trumpet chops.
A very observant classical trumpet teacher (and the finest trumpet player Ive ever known personally) observed that I was kinda using the pedals as a crutch. This due to me not owning a strong enough middle register. By age 16 I was really obsessed with learning high notes. Not necessarily a bad thing because he who plays lotsa high notes? Improves quickly.
However my obsession (which still exists today but in a more healthy form. I hope (:! ) left my middle register way too weak compared to my high notes. I lost some forgettable auditions due to my problem. About the only way that my middle register could sound loose and fluid was after I had blown 5 to 10 minutes of pedals in the mute.
I guess the caution I'm trying to make here is to just make sure that you dont do too many pedals. Thus getting the same problem low brass to trumpet doublers have. That and a relatively serious problem I'm not sure has been mentioned yet. Here goes,
When your chops are greatly fatigued? Put the horn away for the day and night. Nothing more can be gained. At this point you're beating a dead horse. And while an extensive round of pedals may bring some life back to your most tired chops? You're gonna pay for this the next few sessions. When I was in college I spent all of my years there in a constant state of over-trained chops.
R & R is at least as important as any exercise in the book!
_________________
"Check me if I'm wrong Sandy but if I kill all the golfers they're gonna lock me up & throw away the key"!
Carl Spackler (aka Bill Murray, 1980). |
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Jerry Freedman
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 29 Jan 2002
Posts: 2476
Location: Burlington, Massachusetts
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| Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 4:21 am Post subject: |
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| In Laurie Frink's book ( which contains plenty of pedals BTW ) she says that pedals are good for you but too much of them could be bad |
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trumpet.trader
Veteran Member
Joined: 02 Jul 2017
Posts: 200
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| Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 4:30 am Post subject: |
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If for nothing else, these discussions should prove there is no one specific recipe that works for everybody.
Personally i have only found pedals useful as a way to refresh my chops when they’re fatigued. I feel an extra burst of freshness and fluffy chops after playing some pedals.
I never use them in a warm up or practice routine because I don’t want to become dependent on them or any other prolonged warm up routine and have never found any benefit as others have with relation to range or connecting registers.
I don’t believe any of the trumpet wive’s tales of destroying your chops or needing years to rebuild after embouchure changes or using pedals. Try them out if you’re interested. Maybe you benefit, maybe not. But you’re in no way going to hurt yourselves. |
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