"Kissing Off" A Note

Blue Devil · Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2002 11:04 am Post subject:

Can anyone give me a good explanation of how to "kiss off" a note? Every time I ask other trumpet players how they do it, I always get the proverbial "I don't know...you just do it". After getting that answer in trying to learn the other jazz "tricks" over the years, I was able to figure out most of them on my own, but this one seems to stump me.

Mike Trzesniak

trickg · Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2002 11:07 am Post subject:

I squeeze it like I'm going to smear it higher and pull the horn off of my lips at the same time. I think that's how I do it anyway, I had never really thought about it before.
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ChopsMcgraw · Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2002 12:30 pm Post subject:

Just yank the horn off your face, and throw both arms above your head, Maynard style. It'll get ya chicks. Just don't do it to much, directors don't always like lead players kissing off every high note.

ChopsMcgraw

trjeam · Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2002 4:36 pm Post subject:

Its simple. While playing any high note (the higher the better it sounds to kiss off) Well while playing the note hold that note and you yank the trumpet off your face and kiss it while yanking it off your face. Like Maynard or Arturo. Once at a rehersal we were playing some christmas music and I kissed off a C on the staff. It sounded gay but it was kissable. My friend that plays for crossmen kissed off a hung over High F at the end of every show during marching season. And it cut right threw the band like crazy

_bugleboy · Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2002 9:32 pm Post subject:

It sounds like there is a short burst of air just as the mouthpiece is pulled off the lips. Hold the note even as the mouthpiece is released (like a follow through). Ususally the pitch will go up and then come down before it is cut off (this all takes place in a split second). If you are kissing off your highest note, the pitch may just be a drop off.

As someone mentioned, the higher the notes the better. Probably at least G on top of the staff and up. The good ones really start around high D to F, and up from there.

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[ This Message was edited by: bugleboy on 2002-03-31 01:03 ]

octavia · New Member Joined: 28 Mar 2002 Posts: 2

Greatest Trumpeter · Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2002 6:15 pm Post subject:

Just playing normal on my trumpet attracts women. But I guess good looks play a role in it too.
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screamertrumpet · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2002 10:38 pm Post subject:

There goes those trumpet egos again (just kidding).
In my 5-6 years of playing, not once have I ever atracted a girl by playing the Carnival of Venice...not once.

Actually, kissing off is one of those things like "the" tonguing and "flutter" tonguing. As my teacher put it to me, "When someone comes up to me and asks how do you do that, I just say 'it can't really be described, ya' dig it?'". Kissing off to me is like shakes, the higher, the better. It sounds a whole lot cooler if you do them once in a while.
This is how I do them (I think...): When you're done playing the high note stop the air and flex your chops (or maybe it's the the other way around... I can't really tell) then yank the mouthpiece off the lips (but not so it's totally visable).
Anyway, sorry if I mumbled on. Hope this helps.
Trevor

[ This Message was edited by: screamertrumpet on 2002-04-04 01:40 ]

Quadruple C · Heavyweight Member Joined: 28 Nov 2001 Posts: 1448

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-09-29 14:32 ]

mark936 · Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2002 11:55 am Post subject:

I guess I like Trickg's description.

Although I think I do rips rather than kiss offs.

I was reading "Gary Grant's" website about studio playing and he says never hang over. But, we're talking jazz here.

However, too much of it may be unprofessional. But I haven't seen any Big Bands lately.

HBD · New Member Joined: 21 Jan 2014 Posts: 4

The real question on the kiss off is WHY it is better above high C? Most trumpet players cannot play above high C, so the question is whether the action that creates or allows the kiss off is the same as what makes possible playing the very high notes.

Jaw04 · Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 10:41 am Post subject:

You just take the horn off your face while still blowing the note.

Billy B · Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 10:47 am Post subject:

And don't back off on the note.
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Didymus · Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 1:00 pm Post subject: Zombie Thread Record

It's not every day we see a nearly twenty-year-old thread resurrected. The necromancer responsible is quite skilled.

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HERMOKIWI · Heavyweight Member Joined: 24 Dec 2008 Posts: 2581

Nick Marchione explains the "how to's" and differences between a "kiss off" and a "cha" in the following youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPE6-jsSG4M
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huntman10 · Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 2:33 pm Post subject:

I haven't really experienced a "Kiss-Off Note" since 1970. But it was before email, I was in college, so my girlfriend sent it on the back of a 5 cent post card. And not even a picture post card.

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onlyson · Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 3:08 pm Post subject:

Chicks? Really? In the musician pecking order, trumpet players lag way behind (in this order): Singers, Guitarists, Drummers, Keyboardists and Bass Players. There are likely others they rank behind, but they may be slightly ahead of Banjo players, Accordion players, and Trombone players. But only slightly.
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huntman10 · Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 3:40 pm Post subject:

Well, onlyson, after my last kiss off note, I did find a few discerning chicks who preferred brass players. One told me she really liked trumpet players, especially right after we played,cause it made our lips sorta soft and warm. She had dated a French horn player before we met, but she said he seemed to hold her strangely!

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bg · Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 5:48 am Post subject:

Are you guys saying that people do this on purpose?
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falado · Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 7:36 am Post subject:

Isn't a "kiss off" just a schplee-ah in the upward direction? Purposely done, of course.
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