Picking the horn back up

[arsharp84]

Hello

In the last 3 months or so I have picked up the horn after a 20 year hiatus. When I put it down as a college freshman I was a fairly accomplished player ( always first chair in school wind ensemble, first part in regional honor bands, superior ratings for solo and ensemble , etc).

While the muscle memory in my fingers remains , my ability is obviously a far cry from where it once was. In the 3 months I've been playing again I can tell things are getting better , but still a long way to go.

Anyway , there are 2 things happening with my sound off and on.
1. I sometimes get an airy sound ( not intentional or cool like Miles or Chet).
2. When I get into upper range, say a G above the staff, I get a double buzz almost distortion thing happening. Not all the time but most of the time

My question is can both of these be attributed to weak embouchure from such a long hiatus? And will more time with the horn on the face building up those muscles eventually help those problems?

Any specific things to practice to help that along? I have some basic lip slurs as part of my warm up routine but maybe need to spend some dedicated practice sessions on those ? Also maybe start doing the pencil holding exercise daily?

Thanks for any of your advice

[gwood66]

I experienced airy sound and a double buzz at the beginning of my comeback. I would say stay with the process and they will correct themselves.

What is your current routine?
_________________
Gary Wood (comeback player with no street cred)

GR 66M/66MS/66**
Bach Strad 37
Getzen 3052
Yamaha 6345

[arsharp84]

Hey gwood66 thanks for the reply. I've been experimenting with my warmup routine but currently this what i've stuck with the fast week weeks.

1. Long tones starting at middle G going down chromatically all the way down to low F#
2. Flow studies (usually 1,2,3 and 4)
3. Lip slurs - start with middle G down to low C in eighth notes ending with a quarter, then go down chromatically doing the same pattern on each valve combination ending with all 3 valves pressed. Then the next progression is to add an upper partial each time, again working through each valve combination, there are 5 progressions of this, the final of which is C G C E G Bb up and down, then that same pattern through each valve combination
4. Scale exercises on the 5 and 7 of each chord, these were things my trumpet teach had me do when i studied privately, basically take a major scale add 3 notes to the end and then arpeggiate down. Hard to explain but basically major scales with extra notes going up then go back down. I got through these chromatically through each scale but i usually stop at the one that ends on a Eb above high C, these basically incorporate a bit of high register into the warm up.

Then that is pretty much the end of the warm up, from there i start playing through solo excerpts i'm trying to work back up that i used to be able to play.

[jairo_saade]

Hi,

Most comeback players experience similar situations. In my experience as a comeback myself the warm up/practice routine needs to be altered to suit a player that in most cases have limited time to practice and practice on a and off and not daily.

One particular routine that I saw a lot of progress with is:

1. Stamp warm up - focusing on 3b which is an alternate warm up. It allows you to build upper register effortless and with more even sound on low and high register.

2. Instead of scales - Practicing arban 46 which allows to work on all major keys with fluency in the change of keys.

3. Frink Flexus - doing a couple of pages a day and repeat until able to play easily and at a fast tempo. Here I would not rush to advance in the method and would focus more on nailing the exercises.

4. Clark 2 and 3 doing one round legato (slur) and one staccato. This allows for getting good finger speed/tong connection.

After this you can add more and more exercises and other methods but this is a very simple and time effective routine. What I did is a fotocopied the corresponding pages of Stamp, Arban, flexus and clarke and bound them together in a 30-40 pages booklet which is very easy to maneuver.
_________________
Joe S

[jhatpro]

Best things I did to get my chops back:

Move first note of the day from second line G to third space C and, more recently, to fourth space E.

Adhere to rest as much as play discipline.

Practice in ten minute sessions throughout the day.

Play both fundamentals and music in every session.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[bmmont07]

A lot of good advice here! In my own rounds of comeback (I’m in late 30s and stopped playing seriously after college) the biggest takeaway I can offer is to stop before you feel tired in the early stages of your comeback. I have to stop myself from forging ahead too far when things sound good and not overdo it.

Range and endurance seem (to me at least) take the most time, and it’s really easy to overdo it and end up worse off.

I have even taken to setting a timer to remind me to put it down and walk away! I have found that more of something isn’t always better at my stage of relearning. I try to focus on quality reps of whatever I’m practicing.
_________________
Brian
Bb...Yamaha Xeno 8335IIS…Curry 3C.-1.5C cup
C...Yamaha 6445HSII…Curry 3BC

[jhatpro]

I use a kitchen timer.

I also rotate three ring binders with methods, etudes, scales, transcriptions, qpress material,TH downloads and chart parts plus a slew of Aebersold and Hal Leonard play alongs.

I try to focus on stuff I can’t play well yet.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[arsharp84]

Thanks everyone! alot of great stuff here. The timer thing is really interesting because what i've noticed is i have a few minute window after warming up when it seems like my old self again but its quickly lost.

I also flip back and forth on some days getting good reps in of stuff i can already play, or at least used to be able to, so i can get some satisfaction from playing and other days woodshedding stuff that sounds downright awful.

[Dayton]

Welcome back to trumpet playing! Take some lessons if you can. There are lots of good exercises out there; how you practice them is at least as important as what you practice. Your teacher can help you figure out what is going on, help you set realistic expectations, and put together a routine to meet your needs (what to practice, and how to do so). Good luck!

[raynjtrumpet]

Welcome back! Before getting into your questions, it seems worth mentioning that there is a dedicated forum here titled "Comeback Players," and I have personally found the advice there helpful.

I'm a 74-year-old comeback player, having played most of my life (since 8 years old), but less and less over the years until I stopped playing at all about 3 years ago. About 10 months ago, though, I got the urge to play again, and started playing daily. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much I still enjoyed it, and it didn't take long for me to become obsessed again. I've gradually worked myself up to 2 or 3 sessions a day of about 45 minutes each, and hope to keep going even further.

You've gotten a lot of good advice already. I do recognize the specific issues you've mentioned, and I can say from my experience that it will get better over the coming months. I'm feeling like my mid-range tone is back to at least 75% of where I used to be, and my range above the staff is coming back, albeit slowly. I still struggle to get my useful range up and achieve a clear, singing tone, but it is gradually getting better. I can hit something like an F above high C during my warmup routine and sometimes go much higher when I'm just noodling around, but a high Bb or C are usually the top end of my exercise and music sessions, and for performance, I'm not yet trying to go above a high A.

My own daily routine includes:

1. Warmups, usually 10-15 minutes, but sometimes only five minutes, depending on what I want to do during the session. I use Schlossberg and also Augie Hass's book "Build Your Range" during this part of my session. Recently I've added the Caruso "Six Magic Tones" drill to my warmup, and found it helpful. I've been neglecting mouthpiece buzzing recently, but I did that for a few minutes at the beginning of each warmup when I started up again, and I plan to go back to that.

2. Fundamentals can take the remainder of my first daily session, depending on what I'm working on as new music. I usually do some Clark 1 or 2, and often follow that up with working on one of Phil Snedecker's Low Etudes, and maybe some pedal tone work. Arban stays on my stand, and I have bookmarks on at least a dozen items there at any one time, though I may only work on a few on a given day.

3. I try to keep some interesting and challenging etudes or studies going all the time. I've been working for a while on several of the Charlier etudes (1, 2, and 6 mostly so far) and have also worked on several of the Arban characteristic studies. When a specific problem in an etude is giving me trouble, I try to find a drill in Arban or Schlossberg to help me with that issue.

4. In August, I started playing in my church again by doing a version of "Amazing Grace" for a prelude. I've since done a couple of more performances, and will be playing several times during the Christmas season. I'm trying to increase the challenge and range of the pieces, but the most important thing here is to try to support the service and play musically. Putting myself out there gives me extra incentive to work during my practice sessions, and I'm finding my anxiety level decreases with each time I play in public. My church friends have been very supportive and complimentary, but I know I've not playing yet to my own standards, so I just try to be patient and improve each time.

5. A couple of months ago, I got my nerve up to start taking online lessons from a jazz trumpeter I really admire. Initially, I was intimidated by his level of skill and hesitant about this - I hadn't had a lesson for more than 50 years. But a young friend of mine encouraged me to approach him, and it's been working well for me. My teacher finds something very specific for me to work on in each lesson, and I feel more accountable for improving in specific ways because of that. I'm not primarily a jazz performer, but have done a fair amount of big band section work in the distant past, and I keep a couple of fake books with hundreds of jazz standards on my stack of things that I play during my sessions. I've also been working from Randall Reymann's "Technical Drills and Duets for the Jazz and Commercial Trumpet Player" as part of my rotation of items I work on each week.

6. Real music: In addition to the Charlier Etudes, which I think are musically brilliant, I try to rotate through a lot of different styles music, from Classical to Contemporary and Baroque to Jazz. I try to spend at least one session each day almost totally focussed on music rather than technique. And more and more, I try to make my technique drills as musical as possible. I follow a number of trumpeters on Instagram, and when one of them plays a piece I like or recommends a particular book, I'll often seek it out and if it looks within range of where I hope to be in the next year or so, I'll order it and start working on it. The important things here are 1) try to improve my musicality and my ear, and 2) keep myself from getting bored, always looking for new challenges.

I also want to mention to you that in this forum, under the discussion topic "Orchestral trumpet routine," Jason Rogers recently posted a very helpful set of notes on practice habits based on someones notes from lessons with the late, great Adolph "Bud" Herseth. A copy now sits on my music stand.

Good luck in your comeback - I hope you have as much fun as I've been having!

Ray
_________________
Ray Ritchie
Freehold, NJ USA