Update and Encouragement

[cperret]

I consider myself a "comeback player". In September I started a severe embouchure change which resulted, essentially, in my not being able to make a sound on the trumpet for 6 or 7 months. Finally, on March 23, I received my copy of The Balanced Embouchure.

Let me put this in context: I played through highschool, 5 years of college, and a year on cruise ships, with never more than a Bb or C above the staff. I could never even squeak above a D or Eb. I've always been the guy who could solo well, but was never a competent trumpet player. I've tried all sorts of methods, and studied with teachers all over Canada and the US. Several teachers have tried to steer me away from the trumpet, with comments like "Well, some people just aren't meant to play high." ..And eventually, I started to believe them.

Fast forward to the present. I've been following the lesson plan in The Balanced Embouchure book for four months now. My regular playing chops are still fragile, the damage from my embouchure change still remains, but the results I'm seeing from my "BE" work is nothing short of amazing. My tone is filling out and brightening up, and notes above the staff are popping out bigger and fatter than I've ever been able to play them before. I have to brag a bit here (since it's the first time in my life I've been able to...) ...in the past week I've been hitting double C's and even some double F's!!! (I had to call a friend and get him to witness it.) I don't care if I never play a double F again, but that fact that that note came out of MY chops prove that a range up to an octave lower (high F) is in my grasp.

This coming from someone who's spent years wondering, "Will I ever get better? Maybe I'm just not physically capable of playing the trumpet properly..." So... my point is, if you're frustrated out there, the 'comeback' isn't going well, or somebody tells you, "Maybe you should consider the Baritone instead," KEEP PLAYING! Your answers are out there, and with intelligent, hard work (and, in my case, a lot of help from Jeff Smiley's Balanced Embouchure approach,) you can find them. Hey - if I can play this thing, anyone can. Seriously.

Thanks for letting me get all that out, guys!

Regards,
Cameron
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Cameron Perret

Horns: Bach 37GH, Marvin Stamm French Besson 92BA, Yamaha 6310Z Flugel

[_Don Herman]

Good post, Cameron!

I know what your chances of playing all the high notes are if you give up...

I had a high G (the one over high C) in HS, but looking back I don't think it's as good as what I have now. I still can't play it (the high G) consistently in performance, but it's generally there and generally decent. I can use it musically, at least now and then, instead of just a note popped out at the end of the song (if I was lucky). I've squealed into the triples and never did that in HS or college.

Most importantly, I've learned that the real winning thing is the sound, not the range. It's amazing how much better a good solid high C sounds than a thin, weak, slightly off-pitch high G. And how much more useful it is.

I've also learned that my comeback is going to take the rest of my life, but it's a lot more fun now.

Onwards - Don
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Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

[jarrelainen]

Thanks for posting this!!
Both Cameron and Don! I have had some horrible, horrible weeks, and today it all culminated in me wanting to put the trumpet down since it only causes me to get frustrated. I am trying to reason why I should keep on practicing it? I know when I practice the guitar/piano or whatever else I can almost always know that I have gotten better after I finish in some way, but I can't feel that with the trumpet

Still I know that when I read my trumpet-logg from a year ago I have made improvement in my overall playing, it is only that I have gotten new ones that I didn't have before.

Also I know that I have had times like these before and often it has turned out that it has been a sign of some kind of improvement waiting just around the corner.

Anyways, I think that was something of the best things I've read in a while about us being a comeback-players for life and learning to deal with it is maybe one of the hardest lessons.

Anyways, thanks again!

/JK

[shastastan]

Hi Cameron.

Your post is a real inspiration to me. I too struggled with playing above the staff and I was just a school kid. I've been back to playing a little over 2 months after a 49 yr lapse. I haven't noticed the dramatic improvments that you have with BE yet but my playing has come quite a long way since I started back. I think the BE is helping, but I can't point out anything specific except for the muscle strengthening in my chops. Sure glad to hear that it has helped you and thanks for sharing.

Hi Other Guys:

I get depressed about playing sometimes, too. I think that then it's time to put the horn down and go do something else for awhile. I take the dog for a walk on the trail or work in my woodshop. I've had some real good days that actually seemed like dreams in some ways. These remembered feelings make the bad days of frustration that much worse. Someone on this forum said to forget about the past when you were able to play well. That is now history and we have to go forward.

Stan

[_swthiel]

I love hearing success stories!

I started my current comeback in January '03 -- seems so long ago now! -- and find myself alternating between despair that I will never learn to play the "coil of torture" and joy when I make some real, discernable progress.

My current upbeat realization: Way back in HS, I was able to play up to a high D (two ledger lines) -- I had a reasonable sound, pretty good power, and absolutely nothing higher. Fast forward, my teacher and I are really not working on range, we're just working on good sound, good air flow, good basics in general. As part of this, I use the Stamp studies and I can routinely play them up to an E or F as part of an exercise that starts mid-range, goes down to the pedals, up to my upper limit, and back to the pedals. I'd been doing this for a while when I realized I'd broken the "D" barrier! The E and F (and occasional G) are not usable notes yet, but I now see hope that these can be part of my usable, reliable range. The best part for me is that the new notes showed up on their own -- what I've really been working on is my mid-range sound. I think I sound better now than I ever have!

jarrelainen -- hang in there! I've had weeks where I was starting to believe that the instrument was basically unplayable, or that maybe I should go back to electric bass 'cause it sure seemed like I wasn't cut out to play trumpet! One of the things that's gotten me through the more frustrating times is having a great teacher. As I've said before, he manages to find something good to say about my playing no matter how much of a challenge that may be. If you're not taking lessons from a good teacher, find one. NOW!
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Steve Thiel

Matthew 25:31-46