Starting the note

[cheiden]

Breath attacks may indeed be weak or scoopy, at least initially. But when practiced properly they can result in a sufficiently supple and tuned embouchure that produces a clear tone and accurate pitch right from the start. I'd also argue that many young players are overly reliant on a tongued attack, making for lousy entrances when they make soft entrances.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[Zeé]

.... OP will just need to practice hitting notes where they should be pitch-wise throughout the scale, keeping an ear for pitch and listening for & minimizing towards elimination of the bad 'swoop' at the start of the note. No getting away from it; awareness and listening and practicing. Good luck!

If you aren't already, record yourself, maybe starting with similar notes, dynamics and attacks that your peer called you out on, both to confirm the problem & gauge progress as you practice (but do try to improve it for all the the pitches, articulations & dynamics you use.)

[kalijah]

[TrumpetDan79]

.... If you can make the P entrance and T entrance sound identical, you are on the right path. You DO use P quite a bit more than some believe. It's especially useful on very soft entrances on delicate phrases. And, the study of P entrances GREATLY helps with all aspects of the action of playing the trumpet. Listen to Hakan, Maurice, etc, and you'll hear it. The clean, centered PING on each note. P is just one extreme, and a very strong T is the other.

When you develop both, you end up with about 10 different colors you can create with the articuation. Violins have dozens of entrance colors. We aren't that lucky.
_________________
Daniel J. Flores
Trumpet Artist
www.dflorestrumpet.com

[mm55]

[NYC-player]

The OP is having a problem centering his pitch from lack of articulation.

.... You should know how to tongue a note before getting into the finer use of softer dynamics and air attacks.

.... Most guys pinch when trying to play soft. Pitch is all over the place. And the note just doesn't sound pure.

You think they are of benefit? Whatevs...but again to the OP, he needs to tongue his notes first, control them, then maybe explore hoofing, pinching, and squirreling out notes via no tongue

[dstdenis]

Dan Gosling, the Chop Saver guy, did an interview with Tom Hooten, of the LA Phil. This included an interesting discussion of articulation. Here's a bit:

[loweredsixth]

Since I could not find anywhere where the OP says they are not articulating the note, I'll add another possible problem.

When I first heard players talking about how most people play too high on the pitch, I started subconsciously playing lower on the pitch. This had the effect of me very slightly swooping into pitches like the OP suggests. I was essentially starting notes too low on the pitch and letting them very quickly rise to center.

Focusing on feeling the resonant sweet spot, and nailing it right in the center fixed all that for me.
_________________
The name I go by in the real world is Joe Lewis

[PhillipChaseHawkins]

.... Starting a note, generally across the board, do not articulate well. Tonguing the note harder does mean that you will be able to control the pitch center. Many people actually tongue too much because this is their default for being able to speed up the air. 99% of the time the tongue is fine, but the air responds too slow to the tongue, getting a dwah kind of attack. By practicing breath attacks, you want to get air and the vibration to start immediately, without any waver in the sound. When you add the tongue, you will get a much more immediate sound.

At sound point, however, the mouthpiece/horn combination can be the culprit. If the rim of the mouthpiece is too rounded on the inside, it makes articulation very fluffy. Backbores and throat sizes can greatly affect this as well. But, before addressing equipment issues, you have to practice the balance between the lip, air, and the tongue.
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Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Principal Trumpet

YTR-9445CHSII
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[Betelgeuse215]

.... You said warm ups are overrated when they are definitely not overrated.

[NYC-player]

.... In my opinion, they are. The rest of my post went on to say long warm ups become a crutch for many, and lots of guys play their best gigs in the warm up rooms, and run out of gas before the show or gig us over....and just can't figure out why.

That 20 minute or more warm up in my opinion is a variable.

[NYC-player]

.... They are my opinions ( you've paraphrased to try and shed them in a bad light) Don't like em? Don't listen to them.

Are my opinions "bad advice"?? Also that's up to you. If you've followed the posts and responses...lots of guys agreed with me, lots disagreed.

Take the good and leave the rest...but try not to be so hysterical and hypersensitive.....like a high school girl.....it's not good for your health.

[roynj]

[Moderators]

Thread edited by Moderators - personal attacks deleted. If this thread is to continue make sure subsequent posts stick to the subject - personal attacks are prohibited. And responses that could be interpreted as racist are especially prohibited. Offenders will quickly lose their posting privileges.

[Grits Burgh]

NYC-player wrote:

[TrpPro]

To the OP.

Play a series of quarter notes (8 second-line mf Gs at mm 60 will work) with a quarter rest in between each note. Keep the embouchure constant and do it all on one breath, stopping each note with the tongue. If there is no swooping after the first note, then that is the embouchure you want to have in place when you play the first note.

Many repetitions of this drill every day for a few weeks can get the embouchure trained to play without swooping on that first note.

[Billy B]

[Pops]

[Pops]

To the OP:

Mouthpiece buzz scales (ON pitch).
You buzz OFF of pitch and then you hear what comes out and you try to correct then note after the sound is happening.

That is what a scoop or swoop is.

Work on mouthpiece buzzing the note that you really wanted to play.
That will cure you faster than anything else that could be done.
_________________
Clint 'Pops' McLaughlin
You can always Google me.
50 years Teaching. Teaching and writing trumpet books is ALL I do.
7,000 pages of free music. Trumpet Books, Skype Lessons: www.BbTrumpet.com

[mograph]