Weight vs good playing

kehaulani · Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 12:07 pm Post subject:

I attended a performance of the Philadelphia Orch. which had a HUGE Horn player. Infact, he needed so much help, he was one of the first players there. My friend, one of the Orch's players, said this guy figured his optimal weight for playing was 300 pounds!

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spitvalve · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2022 9:59 am Post subject:

I knew Craig Johnson when he was a kid at UNT and so skinny he had to run around in the shower to get wet. He could peel paint with his high A.
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Tiltovich · New Member Joined: 18 Apr 2022 Posts: 3

Well, I think this is formulated in the wrong way. I don't see how the heavier players can play better since it's harder for them to move around faster and more efficiently. I think they wanted to say those who have more muscles can play better. For example, I can look bigger than somebody else, but if we would use a smart weight scale and look at my body measurements, I might have less fat and more muscles, making me stronger and better while playing a certain sport. At least, that's what I think it's about.

Brad361 · Posted: Mon May 23, 2022 3:29 am Post subject:

RussellDDixon · Posted: Mon May 23, 2022 5:44 am Post subject:

Lynn Nicholson; Craig Johnson; Brian MacDonald ad nauseum ...
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shofarguy · Posted: Wed May 25, 2022 11:08 am Post subject:

Rex Merriweather is a friend and professional studio/live music trumpet player. He's tall like me and has been overweight like me, too. He called me one day, about 11 years ago when he was first trying to lose his extra weight, and talked to me about studying this very possibility.

He has lost a tremendous amount of weight over these past years, but he has also nearly died more than once, so I don't expect he would be a good case study.

Myself, I have never been a stand-out player whether at 155lbs or 270. I do know that I had better lung capacity in high school and college. I'm working to regain more of that, especially after suffering through COVID-19 a couple of winters ago.

Personally, I think I gained more presence in my tone with two things. The first for me was changing from a "smile" embouchure to a "compression" embouchure, as taught by Clint "Pops" McLaughlin. This opened up a new world of possibilities I wish I'd had in my school years.

The second thing is emotional. I've often said that playing trumpet is like walking out on stage without clothes. You have to be very comfortable with yourself and without any need to hide from mistakes or criticism. You have to be big enough to fill the room. It isn't about the horn. It's about the player. Most of us are afraid to fill the room. We cower inside ourselves, not wanting to experience criticism or rejection. We call it stage fright. To really fill the room, we have to defang stage fright.

We have to make friends with embarrassment and learn that it doesn't hurt us nearly as much as we fear it will. We need to experience the connection that can come between ourselves and our audience when embarrassment is the bridge. Then, we can accept that our failures are the stones that make up our pathway to success. We can reach out, instead of cower within. We can fill the room.
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cheiden · Posted: Wed May 25, 2022 12:04 pm Post subject:

Craig Swartz · Posted: Wed May 25, 2022 3:14 pm Post subject:

In my years of experience as a player and teacher of many types of people from ages 9-30s, I've found it's the "weight" of the general "brain material", as per musical apptitude, intelligence and intellect that make the most difference between competent players (and musicians) and the rest. I've never found weight, body type, gender or other physical features to matter much provided the person does not exhibit physical traits that prevent one from forming a characteristic embouchure, or inhibit the ability to breathe in and out properly

Just sayin'