Why do you practice these things?

[thesplitmeister]

At some point along the way in my educational and career I’ve picked up ideas, tricks of the trade and routes around problems. I’ve also been told doctrinally what I SHOULD practice at times when I was younger and heard players I respect warming up and I’ve mimicked their patterns or approach. Nothing new here, that’s what we’ve all done right? In teaching the other day I was teaching a gifted student and we went into the pedal register, I told him the benefits, why I thought it would help and then I stopped…..I realised everything I’d just said was inane waffle, none was based on anything other than best guesses on my part. Now, ideally I don’t want to go down the cul de sac of discussions for which approaches people think are “right” or “wrong” or which are “better” but what I’m fascinated in is WHY do you incorporate the following in your routine (if you do) and more importantly what do you believe is going on when you do it, which I guess will point towards WHY you spend time on it…I hope that makes sense. For example and to get the ball rolling, since my time at music college where Hakan Hardenberger did a number of masterclasses I always started the day with gentle lip bends. I didn’t understand why, it’s something he does so therefore it must have worth was my logic. Over the years I stopped doing it as it felt like I wasn’t getting benefit from it and I couldn’t work out what I was actually doing physically and so couldn’t see why I should invest time on it. In the last year I saw an Instagram video by Tom Hooten reviewing the Flexus book and the way he talked about the lip bends and why he used them, and what he thought was going on physically really inspired me to start using them again in my routine. This may or may not be scientifically accurate, but based on his time, experience and analysis I got inspiration to approach afresh and have seen benefits since. I’d love to read your thoughts and hopefully create a thread where we can inspire people to delve more into these “extended” techniques. I say extended techniques as there seems little point in asking why we incorporate scales, flexibility, tonguing etc into our practice, this is obvious. But we as trumpet players seem to spend a lot of time on exercises producing sounds and notes away from the arena in which we play, more so than other instruments. There aren’t many pieces that call for pedals, mouthpiece playing, leadpipe playing, lip bends etc and yet they appear in a lot of people’s routines (my own included). Here’s the list before I waffle on anymore and I look forward to reading people’s thoughts, everyone’s experience is welcome
1-mouthpiece buzzing
2-leadpipe buzzing
3-free buzzing
4-pedals
5-lip bending
6-flutter tonguing.

[JayKosta]

[jhatpro]

No disrespect but I’ve never had the patience for doing anything but making music. I include scales and etudes but think of them as melodies, not physical training.
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[JoseLindE4]

The various kinds of buzzing: a way to work through various inefficiencies and check what’s going on in my mind in different ways without the emotional baggage of the horn. For example, I spent maybe 15 years capped at around G above high C. Using the rim on a stick, I was able to explore things more freely than just on the horn and finally opened up the next octave. I’ve used similar strategies for dealing with articulation problems, finding a more resonant sound, etc. It isn’t exactly how you play, and there’s value and freedom in that difference.

Pedals: see buzzing; Jacobs talked about introducing weirdness to grow as a player and this is another way to do this; you do have to be mindful of incorrectly applying the lessons from this weirdness.

Bends: getting in touch with the sound of the resonant center. I’ve never had a student correctly do lip bends and not instantly sound better.

Flutter tonguing: it’s just magic; for a passage the has awkward intervals or tricky articulations, it’s easy to slip into unhelpful air habits; flutter tonguing fixes that in a really visceral way; if I can flutter tongue a wide leap, I know it’ll be easy when I play normally.

[Billy B]

I do what I do in my playing and teaching as I was taught by William Adam who I studied with for over 30 years. I worked with him as a student, a professional player, and as a teacher.
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[deleted_user_687c31b]

Mostly when something:
a) makes sense (a good teacher or skilled player explained it the why/how)
b) has an actual, perceived or potential benefit
c) works for me

The fundamentals are common for a reason, but I find putting them to good use is easier said than done. Ideally one would have a good teacher to guide them and make sure the exercises and their potential benefits are well understood, and executed properly to make the most of them. It also doesn't help that there are often multiple ways to go about things, with personal preference muddying the discussion on what works best for a particular player. For example, some players work best when they know every little detail about the physics of playing, which for others can lead to analysis-paralysis.

As for the specific techniques you mention, mouthpiece buzzing is something I deliberately avoid, because it tends to ruin my chops. Leadpipe buzzing on the other hand has been a valuable tool for setting up and checking my embouchure/tone, especially on 'poor chops days' (I often combine it with pedal tones). As for lip bending, it was specifically recommended by a trumpet teacher to help improve intonation.

[trickg]

1-mouthpiece buzzing -- NO*
2-leadpipe buzzing -- NO*
3-free buzzing -- NO
4-pedals -- NO*
5-lip bending -- NO*
6-flutter tonguing -- NO

* - did at one point for a short time and abandoned it.

I know that this is a bit against the goal of what you're trying to accomplish here, but I never really did any of those things for any length of time, mainly because I never seemed to be able to see that I was getting any kind of benefit out of them.

The only thing up there where I can see where there would be some real benefit would be lip bends. I think that if employed in the right way, it would help your chops to know the center of the pitch and slot, but I also think that can be achieved with lip slur drills and relaxed long tones.
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[HaveTrumpetWillTravel]

I think they're useful to learn how to do. Here are several examples:
-I had a teacher who did mouthpiece buzzing with piano as a warmup, but it was simultaneously an intonation exercise. He also used it to work on pressure.
-ITG this year had a speaker who struggled with tongue issues, and focusing on flutter tongue resolved it (french horn player).
-I did the lip buzzing for a while when I was trying Reinhardt stuff and it helped me with working on aperture.
-I worked on bends for a while because I think they did help me work on issues I need help with (intonation, shifting).
-I found that learning pedal notes was fun, and possibly helped me a little higher on the staff.

Just like there's a truism that it's 90% you and 5% instrument and 5% mouthpiece, I think for playing it's 95% fundamentals and playing musical pieces and 5% creative interventions. The interventions can help. One thing I learned through them is that I had to be able to do all of these things on the same aperture, and that helped me get a cleaner tone and better setup.

[royjohn]

Hello thesplitmeister,
I think this is a very refreshing thread. Over the years exploring trumpet technique here on this forum I have found that there are a lot of nostrums, but very little scientific research. After trying several systems to improve without that much success, I almost by accident found Dave Wilken, and in about six hours of instruction (three lessons) he fixed my embouchure problems, which had resulted from trying to place my embouchure somewhere in the middle instead of very high, where it wanted to go...very high and in the red of the lower lip. So according to my results, I'm in the Reinhardt camp.

I would also mention that Dave Wilken is one of the few people who has reviewed the literature on various aspects of brass teaching and even conducted embouchure experiments. His website has some very interesting pedagogy attached to it.

As to what you asked about, I don't do pedals because Reinhardt advised against them and everything else he said appears to be true, but I don't have any other scientific rationale for that...so I guess I ought to look into it. Certainly most people play pedals by dropping their jaw and using a different embouchure from their regular playing. Since Reinhardt felt you should maintain your embouchure placement on the mpc and breath out of your corners and/or your nose, I can't see how altering everything in order to play pedals could help much. The lip flapping to oxygenate the muscles and relax them may help, but you can do that with a horsey flap instead once in a while when tired.

I do lip buzz and that seems like a good way to figure out what the lips are doing without a mouthpiece and mpc pressure. Since I can buzz and then place the mpc lightly on my lips and get a sound with very little pressure, this seems like a useful way to teach myself to use lip adjustments rather than mpc pressure to ascend. That seems like common sense and has worked for me. I can also use it to work the muscles of my lips when not near a horn. So that's my rationale for that.

I don't have much experience with the other techniques you suggest, so I guess I should investigate them...thanks for your interesting post.
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Trumpets: 1928 Holton Llewellyn Model, 1957 Holton 51LB, 2010 Custom C by Bill Jones, 2011 Custom D/Eb by Bill Jones
Flugels: 1975 Olds Superstar, 1970's Elkhardt, 1970's Getzen 4 valve
Cornet: 1970's Yamaha YCR-233S . . . and others . . .

[deleted_user_7354402]

Mouthpiece buzzing- yes I do regularly. Mostly a warm up. I’m a Boyde Hood student and it is a big component in lessons early in the degree program. It can be useful for working out rough spots from the day before, fixing pitch/resonance issues on certain notes, ear training and efficiency. The danger is trying to make the mouthpiece sound like the trumpet.

Leadpipe buzzing- I will add it to help get the air moving and to find efficiency. Psychologically it helps because the upper notes come right out as you figure out leadpipe efficiency. This exercise is a good diagnostic tool for me balancing air speed and aperture. If it’s not going well one day, spending a little time here can help provide solutions.

Free Buzzing- don’t do it daily unless my chops feel unfocused. A little free buzzing and help me activate and work out the corners and supporting face muscles. Less diagnostic, more waking up muscles

Pedals- Constantly in practice. I will add pedals at the start or ends of phrases. A well played pedal tone can create a supple embouchure (thibaud and stamp type concept) and putting them at the end of the phrase or the beginning, requires chop focus and a strongly supported relaxed style of playing.

Lip bending- Yes I do the same. It’s great for centering notes, balancing air to embouchure. Rob Roy MacGregor says he uses bends to relax in phrases while practicing certain phrases, I don’t necessarily understand their benefit that way. I find I remember to keep the air more engaged and things feel more forward and focused. Additionally, the Upward bend ala Boyde Hood in addition to the Dan Rosenboom (via Jon Lewis I think) stable upward bend (hold G while fingering G# etc.) are great. lathe center of the note becomes super obvious and the notes take on a sparkle to die for

Flutter Tonguing- I don’t use it too much but I have seen it help some people over come some challenges. Awkward intervals can become easier. I sometimes incorporate a flutter on long tones to reinforce core support. I think, though I’m not sure, the flutter tongue also keeps the tongue more up in the mouth during longer notes or phrases where the temptation/instinct might be to try and relax, but only leads to the tongue disengaging from its position, opening the oral cavity too much. That’s my guess for what it helps me with.

All that said- these are what I do and how I put them to use. They are all used in service of my musical intentions. Some are diagnostic, some are therapeutic. Enough people use these techniques that they can and are helpful for many of their students and themselves. They might not help everyone working on them. I would say that all of these “methods” are done by each of the musicians with the end goal of playing music the way they hear it and getting better everyday as well. Other practices to consider: cardio training, weight training, mindset training, etc. they can all help.

I hope the thoughts are interesting.

[Steve A]

I've done all of them at various points in time, and still use some of them regularly, and others once in a while. I think that the key point is this: none of these exercises are essential to become a good player, but there are many potential "false positives" in learning trumpet playing where you start doing something new that initially seems like progress, but later turns to be a troublesome dead end. I think all of these (primarily) non-performance techniques are ways to try to get people around obstacles that result from taking a wrong turn and getting lost.

Every time someone talks about any of these indirect practice techniques, someone else chimes in to say that you should just spend your time practicing the actual trumpet, which obviously works when it's done correctly. These techniques, when used correctly, at appropriate times, and in appropriate amounts, can be useful ways to help get people back on track when they've gotten lost, and they're not finding success from just trying to do the same thing, only better.

I always present these subjects cautiously with my students, because I think they're all basically ugly and tiring wastes of time, unless the person playing it understands what they're looking for and why, and how to tell when they get it right. (In which case they can be really useful for some people.)

[Grits Burgh]

I'm an amateur. I am not qualified to give advice. That said, I have found two things to be very helpful for me.

The first is that I need to understand why I am doing something. If I don't understand the point of an exercise, I skip it.

The second is that I have personally found pedal tones to be very useful. I was taught to practice them by a very good teacher (Jeff Purtle) who himself was taught by Claude Gordon. Gordon was big on practicing pedal tones. Now, I don't really know all of the reasons why Gordon was big on pedal tones. But I do know that pedal tones taught me what a good embouchure should feel like and how it works.

For me, the way I had to form my embouchure to play the the first notes below the low F# (F, E, D and C, descending) set my embouchure up for everything else and resulted in an improved upper register. I keep practicing pedal notes as a way of keeping my embouchure properly formed.

Some folks say that practicing pedal tones killed their upper register. I don't doubt them. I presume that the reason is that they form their embouchure differently than I do - but what do I know. I just know that what Jeff Purtle taught me works. In the several months that I worked with Jeff, we didn't get into talking about theory all that much. It was more like going to a doctor, having him diagnose your problems and write out a prescription ("here, take 2 pages of pedal tones and 2 pages of Clarkes and call me in the morning"). What he accomplished with me a few short months was quite surprising.

For all I know, there may be an infinite numbers of ways that people form their embouchure and how they play. But pedal tone exercises are what my instructor used to teach me how to play and what he taught me really paid off. Now I use basically the same embouchure for my entire range (currently up to an F above high C); I can play a scale from low F# to above high C without breaking to reset my embouchure. I know, an F above high C may not impress too many people on TH, but it is higher than C, which was my previous limit. Also, everything above the staff is much easier for me to play, is much louder and is much more musical. My tone is better and my endurance greatly improved (as a result of an improved embouchure which was itself the result of pedal tone exercises).

Also, I use pedal tones to loosen and relax my lips.

By the way, when I was taking lessons from Jeff, I actually used to practice up to a double high C, but the notes above F weren't consistent, loud, fluid or musical. After taking lessons for several months, I suffered some dental problems and laid off playing for about two years before picking back up. I firmly believe had it not been for that setback, my range would be higher than it is today, but I am more than happy with an F; I'm not playing lead in a big band. Besides, I expect that will improve in the next year or so now that I am able to practice again.

Warm regards,
Grits
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[Vin DiBona]

I suggest getting this book on the teachings of Vincent Cichowicz.
https://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-Trumpeters-Teaching-Cichowicz/dp/0615302459
His insights and years of teaching and playing at the highest level gave him the unique opportunity to hone skills of players by using many of the methods discussed above.
All those exercises must relate to air flow and the sound produced.
Cichowicz was not interested in mere mechanics, it was the end result.
One does not lip buzz to make an embouchure setting. Lip buzzing helps with control of air, not building chops. In the cup, the lips vibrate. Mouthpiece buzzing allows for smooth air flow and note to note transitioning.
Leadpipe playing works helps in getting a smooth flow out the embouchure through the horn itself.
He felt these exercises would rid folks of thinking of pure mechanics to produce sound allowing the student to make the instrument sing.
They were not overdone, either.
In this book, a friend of mine is frequently mentioned both as a student and colleague of Vince. My music school teacher was also a pupil of Cichowicz and he taught me much of what he had learned from him.
Cichowicz students have gone on to legendary careers and not only in classical setting.

R. Tomasek

[kalijah]

[kehaulani]

Notwithstanding - do I have my acoustical terminology wrong? My understanding of a Pedal Note is "the lowest or fundamental note of a harmonic series ".

That would mean (ascending),
Pedal
Octave
Perfect Fifth
Perfect Fourth
Maj 3rd
Min 3rd
etc,

Using only open tones (C overtone series, trumpet terminology)), that would be:
Pedal C (C below low C )
Low C (C below the staff)
Middle G (in the staff}
Middle C (in the staff)
High E (top of the staff)
etc.

That would mean one octave below Low C is Pedal C. and so on. In other words, notes lower than Low F# are Pedal Tones.
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[kalijah]

[zaferis]

I don't do these in a "regular" part of my routine, nor do I teach these in that manner. However, each has a useful application either as a refreshing variant or to tackle a specific weakness, task, or musical stumbling point.

I also like to talk about the "master's tools".. exercises, drill that a life long player who has put in those 10,000 hours and is playing/performing.. using these momentary drills help focus something but are a very small portion of the work - For us commoners, as someone who hasn't reached that point yet, doing any of these for more than a short time means they are taking up a much larger portion of your chop time, reaching the point of overuse/out of balance with your practice efforts, making them everything from overused to detrimental.


1-mouthpiece buzzing - very briefly moslty on days that the chops feel swollen or stiff (sometimes with students in ear training drills)

2-leadpipe buzzing - rarely if ever - IMO you can do the same thing on the full instrument if you listen.

3-free buzzing - again only when the chops are stiff and for a very short time (less than a minute or two) IMO-very different than what we do on the instrument-like practicing a golf swing with just an empty grip (next to worthless)

4-pedals - yes, at times to open up and learn touch (chops) and moving air and in range expanding exercises. Good for intermediate to advanced students to aid in opening up the air flow.

5-lip bending - rarely, often more of a pitch, tone centering exercise when needed (things are feeling or sounding tight)

6-flutter tonguing. Yes, to practice cumbersome licks: slow it down, slur it, flutter tonge it, play it as written. And it is a required affect at times. So, when it's called for I will work this to clean it up.
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[Dayton]

Free buzzing and mouthpiece buzzing: I do them briefly at the start of my warm up. For me, this combo is an effective way to get my facial muscles warmed up and sound centered.

Leadpipe buzzing: No.

Pedal tones: I'll include false pedals (which are note bends) and true pedals here. I always do them at the start of both of my practice sessions as part of full range studies (Stamp, Verzari, Gordon, Thibaud, etc.). I find that practicing pedal tones helps with the quality of my low register. Doing them as part of full range studies also helps me maintain a single setting.

Lip bends: Aside from false pedals (lip bends), which I do daily, I only do lip bends occasionally. I find them useful for finding pitch centers, and I feel that they also help with flexibility. John Daniel and David Hickman both have some good exercises involving lip bends.

Flutter tonguing: Frequently as it is a useful tool and is sometimes required in music. Seems silly not to practice something you might have to (or want to) perform.

[Seymor B Fudd]

Some comments regarding your list: from my amateur(I know a lot of you guys are pros) point of view: I only include lip-bending and pedals (double). Never found any advantages by using the other stuff. But that´s me.
Lip bending - in limited portions in order to make my lips flexible.
Double pedals that per se may be used to relax (Horseflapping is for horses only, never seen a trumpet-playing horse) - but used the BE way also help building strength in the corners, hone one´s sense of pitch, and by being used in connection with Roll Ins develop the flexibility.
Progressive (going low to higher) lip flexibilities same purpose - making my chops lithe, supple. My sincere belief is that our chops are made up by the muscles - hence should be treated as such. Gently - rising degree of load.
The subtle coordination by infinite feedback loops is needed. Our face is by far the area most heavily "populated" by nerves/sensors etc etc. Imagine a gymnast - so much time to hone all the delicate movements, balance, you name it. Flexibility, "contortonistic" abilities are necessary so from my point of view exercises that build on this should be preferred. Then, you also need exercises that develop strength, the ability to withstand the unavoidable build up of lactid acid. Probably all that buzzing stuff is meant to do that but I do prefer playing the horn in order to secure all these feedback loops. Playing without the horn means that you will not blow against the "complete system resistance" (you + mouthpiece+horn) - I fail to see the advantages of that.
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