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song and wind practitioners



 
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Glord1894
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Joined: 30 Mar 2012
Posts: 60
Location: New York

PostPosted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:07 pm    Post subject: song and wind practitioners Reply with quote

Dear song and wind folks,

When your playing gets off track, what are some of the key Jacobs principals and ideas that get you back on? Do you have a go-to "reset button"?
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Don Herman rev2
'Chicago School' Forum Moderator


Joined: 03 May 2005
Posts: 8951
Location: Monument, CO

PostPosted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 10:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Depends what exactly is "off track".

Note I am an amateur player with a demanding day job. When I was playing pro there were no days off (or very few) and I always played for an hour or two even on an "off" day, just adjusted the musical demands to ensure my mental focus was appropriate.

In general when my chops aren't working, I will take a little break, then relax with my eyes closed to regain my focus on sound and breathing. Staying relaxed, bring the horn up (keeping shoulders down), take an easy, deep breath, and play a G in the staff by essentially "exhaling" in the horn. Do a few times to get the sound I want back in mind, and out the bell, and to remind myself how easy it is to play. (Thanks Jim Donaldson.)

I'll move on with some tonguing, slow quarter or half notes on G, keeping the airflow up and focusing on making each note rich and full. Sort of like slicing pieces off the middle of a sausage; the notes don't start tiny and grow, nor do they taper away, they are just nice "thick" notes played individually. (Thanks David Zuercher.)

Move up and down in range, tempo, and volume keeping the focus on transferring the sound in your mind to the sound out the bell, and a steady wind going. If I lose mental focus and the sound starts to slip, I'll go back to the middle G to recenter, then return to my routine (sometimes in steps).

If nothing works and I am not focused I'll put it down for an hour (or a day), listen to some music, and recharge body and spirit. There are times you have to play no matter what, so arguably you should force your self to practice no matter what, but IME that leads to more troubles. I always try to practice a little, but some days don't get past my warm up.

HTH - Don
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"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music" - Aldous Huxley
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jbmusicschool
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Joined: 01 Feb 2016
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:08 am    Post subject: Re: song and wind practitioners Reply with quote

Glord1894 wrote:
Dear song and wind folks,

When your playing gets off track, what are some of the key Jacobs principals and ideas that get you back on? Do you have a go-to "reset button"?


Just like Jacobs would say, "Your ear takes you to the note." I do a lot of singing and MP buzzing with my students. That seems to work.

I take lessons with someone who studied with Jacobs, and when I get anxious to play the horn during our lessons, he is always pushing it down. He tells me to hear the first note when I inhale, then I have no choice but to play the correct note. Hear it first, then play it.

We often forget the mental side of playing this piece of plumbing.
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