Help with Air

[pmlync]

Hello fellow trumpeters,

I have been practicing fairly diligently for about a year now and although I've definitely made progress, I'm still struggling with basic tone production.

My intonation is not good and I feel like I'm working pretty hard to produce a sound that ends up being brittle, strained, and sometimes crackly. I have been able to play up to high C but not in any usable way.

My teacher believes I'm trying to do too much with my lip and not enough with air. Having read too much on this forum and listened to too many videos on youtube, there seems to be some disagreement about the proper way to change pitch, either by blowing faster air, shrinking the aperture, and/or moving the tongue. Regardless, I agree with my teacher that I need to relax my embouchure and compensate with more air.

I've been working on that for a couple weeks now, mainly by practicing scales in the lower register, and then trying to push up slowly without tightening my lips. I think I'm getting closer but still have not really discovered that way of playing that feels or sounds right. I know it's out there because I had at least gotten that far before quitting in high school.

At this point, I don't feel like practicing anything else until I figure this out and am wondering if anyone might have some exercise suggestions or thoughts for getting over this roadblock.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Steve A]

You are correct that there is abundant disagreement about how tone production works, and how to teach it! If you want my two cents, it would be that improvement for me, in quality of sound, in range, in flexibility, in stamina, and in general enjoyment of playing has coincided with less air, not more, but this brings me to the primary point here:

Your teacher has their own view, and methods of teaching. If you're not happy with the results you're getting with your teacher, know that you've truly put in your fair share of work, care, and thought, and have expressed your concerns to your teacher in a constructive way, yet the concerns remain, then you should perhaps consider having a trial lesson or two with some other teachers to see if it's possible that someone else would be a better fit.

What you should not do is cobble together a disorganized mishmash of opinions from various sources on the internet to try to form your own approach, or use said online opinions (many of which are worth as much as they cost you) to second guess your teacher. Your teacher has seen and heard you play - strangers on the internet haven't. Also, if you're going to study with someone, you do them, and yourself a disservice if you don't commit to faithfully doing what they teach.

[Ed Kennedy]

Here's a very good aproach to using your air:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVREWJ4xfoI&list=PL976DE9A62F7DEA55