Why does neck shake when playing?

Trpt1182 · New Member Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 7

Hey guys. Lately, in my playing I have noticed that my neck tends to shake almost uncontrollably when i'm playing. The does not happen all the time, mostly when I'm playing a solo or playing infront of people in school (college). This may be due to being nervous, but when I'm not even nervous, it sometimes happens. Now, a few months ago, I was told to put vibrato in a solo that I was working on, and my neck was used to make the vibrato, or shaking of the head. Now, i know that this form of vibrato is incorrect and I've been working on a hand vibrato. Maybe my neck shaking is my bad habit of doing a vibrato coming back...or is it nerves....and how do u stop it? It pisses me off because it messes up my tone if I'm playing a really beautiful passage or whatnot. If anyone has any suggestions....please by all means offer them. Thanks a lot!!!

SCtrumpet · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2004 10:05 am Post subject:

I think it is just a bad habit. You just messed yourself up cuz you were doing vibrato the wrong way. Vibrato should be done through embroucure and air control. More air control and very little embroucure. Hands should not have anything to do with vibrato. Hope you get out of it.

Sammy

jazztrpt · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2004 1:48 pm Post subject:

Hand vibrato isn't necessarily bad. There are many different ways of doing vibrato, but neck is not one of them. I personally use my jaw.

WaxHaX0rS · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 524

May seem like a dumb suggestion, but maybe try taking a few big breaths, it really helps me relax sometimes.

BullJive · Veteran Member Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Posts: 175

Have you noticed that the more you try to make it stop, the worse it gets? Often times when trying to concentrate on NOT doing something, the opposite ends up happening. Usually trying too hard is what gets a person into that bind, yet at the same time they try just as hard to get out of it.

Imagery can be really effective with stuff like this. Imagine your neck totally relaxed. Don't think about what you don't want to happen (tension), think only about what you want to happen (relaxation). And definitely have patience with yourself, and faith that you will EVENTUALLY overcome this, even if it isn't working right away.

Sorry this was so brief... but I hope this helps a little bit.

Kent

Trpt1182 · New Member Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 7

Thanks for all the suggestions. The last suggestion that was posted pointed out something that I have been doing...which is focusing on NOT having tension in the neck when playing...which in turn makes it worse. For instance, when I play a solo or whatever...the first thing that comes to mind is....Oh Crap! I hope my neck doesn't tense up, I hope ppl can't see that its tensing up...Oh Crap! it is tensing up....and then it goes down from there. I have been trying to focus more on playing with a beautiful sound, clear tone, and taking big breaths....which is helping a lot. I feel like my neck does want to do a vibrato or do whatever it wants to do.....but do to my "imagery"..it doesn't. Like you said....i need patience...and hopefully this annoying burden that I have will go away. I want to enjoy playing music infront of ppl without the worry of my neck being too tense and effecting my sound!

BullJive · Veteran Member Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Posts: 175

It sounds like you're definitely going down the right road, and I'm sure things will work out in time. I know exactly what you're talking about when you get that panicky worry thing going on. It's like the alarms go off (Crap! I hope it doesn't happen), and then it happens. And if you think about it possibly happening when you start a phrase, it will probably happen. It takes a lot of training to not think about those things and just think about the music.

If you're into reading books, here are a couple that have really helped me in terms of getting my mind together:

The Inner Game of Tennis (Timothy Gallwey) - A LOT of musicians recomend this book.
The Power of Positive Thinking (Norman Vincent Peale) - An entirely new way of thinking, written from a Christian point of view.

Both of these books were not written with the trumpet in mind, rather they were written with ones entire life in mind. This is probably more advice than you really need, but these books have really spoken to me, and countless other readers. Good Luck!

Kent

_dcstep · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 4:46 am Post subject:

You're on the right track at controlling this. I used to use head vibrato, but switched primarily to hand. Now I occasionally throw in a little of both because they sound different and fit in different places. I focus on the sound I want and there's never a time when I want both.

I also do jaw vibrato, but I've never been able to get the singing quality that I really like. The very best I've heard seem to use jaw, but have trouble getting it to sound as good as I do with my hand.

Dave
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