Articulation Clarity

[CJceltics33]

I’ve decided to spend this extra practice time focusing on articulation clarity. I’ve been using the Arban, the Shuebruk, and the first Laurent Etude as tools to work on it. Unfortunately I’ve been struggling to make any improvements, especially at soft dynamics. I’ve turned to listening to orchestral players I like and am struggling to emulate the distinct “pop” and projection of their articulation. Do you have any insight on creating this clear and precise articulation?

[JetJaguar]

Two personal reflections I have are:

1. Keep the air moving. The steady stream of air shoulders the burden of pushing the tongue down and you only have to push it back up. But don't over think that. Just keep the air moving.

2. Even though you tongue with your tongue, you need strong lips to support strong articulating. Chops are the foundation everything. Building strength in the lips changes everything. You no longer look for that one mouthpiece that will rescue you from something. You find a variety of mouthpieces will work for you, just with different sound or feel.
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[TrpPro]

Play it as slow as needed on the mouth piece first and then play it on the horn. This works.

[Tpt_Guy]

If you're having difficulty with a clear articulation at softer dynamics, it seems the lips aren't responding quickly to the airstream.

Practice unarticulated ("breath") attacks. Start with "hoo" until the lips respond quickly. This may take a few days or even a couple weeks.

After that, move to "poo". Once "poo" attacks are responsive, put the tongue back into the equation.

Practice these as soft as you can clearly do them, gradually getting softer until they work at pianissimo.
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[JayKosta]

Do you use a particular 'tongue placement' position - perhaps recommended by a 'method'?
Have you attempted to train your tongue to move in some specific way?

Can you play (and articulate) without being aware of tongue position and action? 'just do it'.

Jay
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[LFRoberts5]

Tongue thru the teeth....
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[CJceltics33]

Thanks for the replies thus far. After much research I've decided to add practice on breath attacks and pop tones.

I anchor tongue, or dorsal tongue, or KTM

My lips move when I play staccato. Even when tonguing on the same pitch. Is this an issue??

[Jaw04]

[abontrumpet]

When I was younger, I cornered Chris Martin after a San Francisco Symphony Concert in the CSO hall and asked him a question about the pop his "first" notes. Similar question.

His answer may have changed but he said its more about having the air ready to go and the lips ready to respond (aka hitting the resonant center of the pitch with a great sound) more than it is about the tongue. Basically its less a tongue issue and more an everything else issue.

So, air + lip = responsiveness. We are always striving for peak responsiveness/efficiency out of the lip. We are always looking to have to do less to get the lip vibrating because that makes all of trumpet playing easier (great runners expend less effort per stride than your amateur runner). So we should work on fostering that responsiveness.

Air attacks come to mind but also another exercise that I feel like I saw Ryan Beach do or somebody I can't remember. Basically play a note and then as you're playing it, create the seal you would normally create when tonguing but hold it there (like if you were stopping water from gushing out of a water bottle, the energy of the water is ready to go behind your finger, but your finger is creating a seal) and then simply release the seal (tongue) and see how quickly your lips begin vibrating again. You are looking for immediate vibration both in initial attacks and subsequent attacks.

Keep the sound of the attack you want in your mind at all times and work on just a few quarter notes. It will do more to focus on a simple thing and do it extremely well than to work on any set of exercises just because it has the word "articulation studies" in front of it. Enjoy!

[Turkle]

A concept that works well for me when starting a phrase is to think about "starting the air before the note." That is, the tounge is the last thing to happen, first I "energize" the air and prepare to "sing" the note. If I get my air energized properly, and hear the note well in my head like I'm going to sing it, then my first attack is better.

A similar concept works for articulating in the middle of the phrase. It's really easy to get in the habit of slightly interrupting the air between notes as we articulate. Practicing our phrases slurred, on the mouthpiece, then slurred on the instrument, then articulated on the instrument, is an easy way to practice keeping the air constant through the phrase. If the air is constant, then you get those nice crisp articulations.

I hope this is helpful. Cheers.
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[dstdenis]

Articulation clarity improves with embouchure response. The Franquin method has great embouchure response exercises. Some of the other exercises in the method, although focused on other skills, also develop good response as a side benefit. This was a big deal with Franquin.

Shubruk has similar exercises in his Lip Trainers book, although it isn't as extensive as Franquin.
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[Jaw04]

To the OP I also recommend thinking about the space you're playing in, and how you are hearing yourself. Try to play in different size rooms, outside, in the car, small room, concert hall, and record yourself. If you have some decent mics even better, but you can hear some useful things even on a phone recording. A concert hall sounds a lot different than in your car, and it will also change the way you play a lot. Right now because of the lockdown I have played in my car, my apartment, and outside, and each space is so completely different articulation wise. Experiment with the weight of your articulation and see what you notice in recordings.