Starting the note

[Lie601]

Hi All,

So I have been playing for a few years now, but recently one of my peers told me that I am "swooping" into the note. Let me clarify, she said that I am not starting on the note but rather I am starting somewhere below it and sliding up to the note. How would I fix this!

Thanks!

[Sarah]

One of the pedagogy books i recently read (can't recall which author though, sorry) talks about 'singing' the note mentally.. setting up the vocal chords etc to the right air speed etc, and then playing.

You sort of have to aim for the middle of the sound, rather than climbing up through the harmonics, if that makes sense. It is hard to do on high notes. A trick that helps me with my woodwinds, is to think about coming from above the note, and sliding down. it is sort of an over correction. and is quite effective.

[zaferis]

Could be, and probably several physical things going on. Without seeing and hearing you play it will be quite difficult to understand what the issue is physically.

You need to hear that you're doing it so you can fix it; record yourself and listen critically... do you understand the problem? Stop it!

At first blush, I'd GUESS that you're not getting your air stream fully pressurized at the beginning of your note(s) and may be a way of feeling more secure in hitting the note.

Start in an easy register (2nd line "g") practice "hitting" the note dead center. Both with an articulated start (tongue) AND with just an air/breath start. A chromatic tuner may be a good tool - it may show you that you're sliding also will help train your "ear" and chops to play a steady tone. Take the mouthpiece off of your chops momentarily, then repeat, repeat, repeat.
Make it a part of your daily routine - this is not something you'll fix overnight; 5, 10, 15 or more minutes everyday, over time will clean this up.

Then move up and down in your register being observant to your accuracy.
Hear the pitches, sing the tone (don't scoop or slide into them when singing), then play them.
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[stanton]

I think this is one of those things where the conceptual can lead to the mechanical. I believe that from your description, listening and awareness of sound is something you need to work on generally.

Imagine a piano or keyboard. One presses the key and a note comes out. Volume aside, the note rings at a given pitch and does not change. Each note on the trumpet (with the exception of intentional bending) should have the same exact pitch from the beginning to the end, regardless of the volume.

So I believe you need to begin training yourself to create pitches that come out on pitch target and stay there. You'll need to train your ears to hear and discern the subtle differences. And while I am not necessarily an advocate of mouthpiece buzzing, in this case I would make an exception, if only to remove the horn from the equation as it can act as a crutch.

So, with mouthpiece in one hand and your horn in the other, do the following: [Tips- Start with single notes only. When your are 100% successful with single notes move onto simple phrases. Initially do not go beyond your most comfortable range. Do not interpret "close" as being successful. It's a simple exercise in pitch perfection]

1) Hear the pitch. Use a piano or keyboard (or computer) to generate a pitch. Hear it as precisely as you can.
2) SING the pitch. Sing it as accurately as you can. Try to be precisely in tune.
3) Buzz the pitch on your mouthpiece. Attempt to get the pitch to be exact at the exact moment it exits the mouthpiece. DO NOT ADJUST. If it comes out wrong stop and begin again until you can get the exact pitch from the moment of attack until the moment of release.
4) With mouthpiece back on horn play the pitch. It must have the same exacting pitch stability as when you were successful with your singing and buzzing. DO NOT ACCEPT *CLOSE*. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

When you can do this with single notes, progress to two connected notes, then three, then a short phrase, etc until you are no longer swooping or scooping notes.

Also, while doing this you may also want to pay attention to the "front edge" of the attack. Like the piano, the sound comes out at full strength. The volume should not swell into the note. As you release the note make sure the pitch doesn't change. This is important because you will need to learn to shape releases, if not now, in the future.

Hope this helps you.
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[kalijah]

[zaferis]

[quote="kalijah"]

[stanton]

[kalijah]

[mm55]

[mm55]

The speed of air through the space between the arched tongue and the soft palate does not control the speed of air through the lip aperture. Notwithstanding incorrect application of the Bernoulli principle and misunderstanding of the "thumb on a garden hose" analogy.
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[TrumpetDan79]

[stanton]

[Sarah]

Hmm. I guess it is how u think of air speed....

Again. Please be aware m speciality is woodwind.... So that is my knowledge base

But if u blow harder then u split to a higher harmonic... It may not sound pretty but you get it. The molecules in a higher harmonic move differently to a lower one. There are more nodes inside the instrument (and therefore outside too) is. I am pretty sure the sound wave goes from a peak to. Trough faster too (just thinking through create harmonics on the violin where u can see the amplitude of the various waves

Now we can speed up the air without blowing faster, curvature of the tongue, size of embouchure being the main ones.w which as we know produces a better sound.b it if the air leaving your lips is the wrong speed then the swooping thing happens.because you are adjusting your air speed mid note.

I assume that the thinking about singing thing is actually achieving the same control of air speed actually... As it chooses the write amount of air t set the sound wave in motion. . But that is hypothesising now.

[kalijah]

[Jerry Freedman]

Probably redundant but practice "releasing' air in a through a set up embouchure. Maybe you are getting the notes to sound and then bringing them up to the pitch you want them to be

[dstdenis]

[McVouty]

Arban pg 125 slow and steady, daily until you can't miss every note.

As others have mentioned you need to get used to hearing the note before you play it - you have to show the trumpet where the note is and not let the trumpet tell you where to go!

Hope that helps.

Carl

[mm55]

[TRUMPONIMUS]

Did you try and ask the person who told you that you were doing this?
She might be able to show you how to fix it and you will hear the results at the same time.
Jimmy
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