"I call this balance; others may call it embouchure.&qu

[trpt2honk]

Those of you who are more familiar with Caruso than I am, I'm interested in your thoughts on his use of the word balance. How literally should we take his meaning?
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Mike Berry
Columbia, SC
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[bagmangood]

FWIW there is a dedicated Caruso sub-forum where you may get more Caruso-specific answers.

I've always taken the phrase to be a callout to the fact that trumpet playing is not a purely muscular/strength-based endeavor. Caruso exercises are intended to teach the player where the notes are on the horn and you end up understanding the appropriate balance of air/strength/whatever to get the note to sound as you need to.

Your mileage will vary
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More than one trumpet
A "few" mouthpieces

[JayKosta]

Does substituting the word 'coordination' or 'coordinate' for 'balance' of any value?

'balance' might be thought of as meaning 'equal amounts', where 'coordinated' might be 'in appropriate amounts'.

It would be helpful if you could provide an example of how 'balance' was used.
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Most Important Note ? - the next one !
KNOW (see) what the next note is BEFORE you have to play it.
PLAY the next note 'on time' and 'in rhythm'.
Oh ya, watch the conductor - they set what is 'on time'.

[trpt2honk]

The quote was directly from the first exercise in the Carouso book. I am thinking that balance literally refers to the balance between pressure on the left side of the face versus pressure on the right side of the face or muscular effort on both sides of the face

[bagmangood]

[PH]

In part, he used the word balance because the lips are often given disproportionate importance in a playing system that uses hundreds of muscles throughout the body and it is the synchronization of those moving parts that makes for good playing, not only the facial muscles.
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Faculty Jamey Aebersold Jazz Workshops 1976-2019
JazzRetreats.com

[peanuts56]

I studied on and off with one of Carmine’s success stories for a number of years. I also spent a year or so with Carmine.
I never recall either one using the term balance.
Jay Kosta mentioned the term coordination. While I never heard them use that term, it seems to be more in line with how I view Caruso.

[mograph]

[Mark Leccese]

I was taught air + vibration = balance. That may be a different way of saying what PH said about "the synchronization of those moving parts that makes for good playing, not only the facial muscles."
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