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swthiel
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Joined: 02 Apr 2005
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Location: Cincinnati, OH

PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:39 pm    Post subject: The Latest Buzz Reply with quote

The pedal C discussion here stimulated some thinking about my own practice patterns, and I decided maybe it was time for a change. Not quite back to basics (because I try to work on those regularly) but back to a different basic: playing the mouthpiece. I had let that go by the wayside, so I decided to add some of the Stamp mouthpiece work (the preliminary stuff and 3/4a up to a high C), alternating with the Thompson Buzzing Book.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Playing the mouthpiece didn't seem to make that much difference the last time I really invested some serious time into it. Now, playing the mouthpiece as recommended by Stamp and Thompson seems to open up my sound and make my playing noticably more relaxed -- my tuning slide is in farther than it used to be! I don't know why playing the mouthpiece didn't make such a difference before, but it sure does now. Maybe it's because of where I am as a player, or maybe it's because I have a better understanding of the technique (as in, I think of it as "playing" rather than "buzzing" the mouthpiece).

YMMV, but if you're not playing the mouthpiece for part of your daily fundamentals, I think you owe it to yourself to consider it.
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Derek Reaban
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Joined: 08 Jul 2003
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Location: Tempe, Arizona

PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steve,

Excellent topic. I know that I've gotten away from playing the mouthpiece alone and like the way you've framed your topic. After I finish with my Summer reading orchestra season, I think I'm going to start adding a little mouthpiece work, via the Thompson Buzzing Book.

There is a post from MrClean that I always think about when this topic comes up and I thought it would be good to link it here.

And this is a brief comment from the lesson that I had with Jim several years ago...

Quote:
You touched on mouthpiece buzzing briefly when we were working on the excerpts. I’ve been watching the video of the Charlier part of our lesson many times to really get my mind around all that we discussed for foundation work, and then buzzing was later in the lesson. I do recall that you buzzed an interval of a perfect 4th that I would have accepted as very good, and you said, "See how I missed that from above?" And then you buzzed it 3 or 4 more times moving from center to center, absolutely dead on”. That attention to detail clearly stuck with me!


The attention to detail comment that I wrote seems a little too passive. The first time Jim played this one interval on his mouthpiece, 95% of people hearing it would have said that was perfect. Jim's relentless and unwavering "attention to detail" caused him to stop. Then he slowly addressed the discrepancy he heard from the mouthpiece against the perfect template in his mind for the interval of a fourth. He honed his concentration and then repeated this same interval 3 or 4 times perfectly. It was that attention to detail that caught me off guard.

When he talks about spending 5 minutes on the mouthpiece, in the post that I linked to, these are most definitely 5 minutes that are at the highest level of concentration that I would be able to muster. To get tangible results from "buzzing", this attention to detail is something that I must remember when I begin rotating this into my routine again.

Thanks!
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dsanchez
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Joined: 01 Feb 2010
Posts: 65
Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have had the pleasure, and great luck, of studying only with direct students of Stamp. That being said, the approach to buzzing on the mouthpiece is very important to me.

Based on my teachings, and how I teach, I treat buzzing as a medium to hone in on my intonation and resonance on the trumpet. These are the most important to me. I spend about 10ish minutes a day going through the buzzing portion of Stamp's routine WITH a piano. Playing along with the piano is super important to match the intonation while buzzing. Do it very slowly to match as best as you can with the piano. As you get more comfortable and can easily buzz the entire range of your playing range then you can speed up the process. Somedays I still buzz slowly with focus to the piano.

After I started buzzing, when I first got to college, everything about my sound (timbre, intonation, etc..) improved greatly. I've been on the same(ish) routine for the past 10 years and always feel great.
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dbacon
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DB

Last edited by dbacon on Thu Jun 23, 2022 1:46 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Derek Reaban
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Absolutely! I got to hear him with a recent SRB concert and doing the Posthorn from Mahler 3 with the ARO. Another plus for looking at this again in my regular routine.
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Derek Reaban
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dsanchez
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Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 7:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks guys. Now go do some Stamp!! HAHA
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CountBiscotti
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Joined: 17 May 2014
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 7:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For myself. I find that:
a) buzzing plateaus and then takes you to a new level every so often if:
b) you take it seriously and pay attention while you are doing it, as if you were going to do the concert on mouthpiece alone.

It's so easy to just stand there and make duck calling noises. That doesn't work very well.
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