Tone Problems...

NeedHelp · Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 5:13 am Post subject:

i have already been practising on my cornet for 3 years now and i have problems improving on my sound....please give me some advice....

plp · Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 10:19 am Post subject:

Private lessons.

AverageJoe · Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 10:30 am Post subject:

First, I agree with plp...get some lessons with a competent teacher if you aren't taking already.

Second, without seeing and hearing you, the only meaningful advice I can give is to buy recordings and attend live concerts featuring performers in the kind(s) of music you want to play, then emulate the sound of the players you like the most. You must have a concept of sound established in your mind...all of the tecnical tips in the world will not help you very much without a direction to go in...like the old saying goes, "if you aim at nothing, you will surely hit it."

Best of Luck,

Paul Poovey

mheffernen5 · Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 4:58 pm Post subject:

OK, what I might suggest is if you practice, take lessons and do all that jazz of standard stuff what you might want to do is ask for a different cornet or trumpet because sometimes tone isn't all you. It could be the cornet's fault.

trumpetmike · Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 11:44 pm Post subject:

Welcome to TH

What instrument are you using?
There are those that will make producing a beautiful sound easier and those that hinder this, with the knowledge of all on TH we will soon find out whether it is you or the instrument that needs work.

If it appears as if it is you that needs working on (not a problem, we all need to work at our sound), as well as joining the recommendation for getting a decent teacher, do you do much work on long note exercises?
I am a huge fan of these (as both a player and a teacher), especially when you start out with a tonal concept of how you wish to sound. By listening to the tone you are producing and working to achieve that in long notes, you will find that your overall tone imporves as well.

If you do a search on TH you will find a huge amount of advice about tone production, read it all - it's good stuff (and not just because I have partaken in many of the recent threads!).

oj · Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 2:05 am Post subject:

Hi there over in Singapore.....

A very important aspect of good sound is playing in the center of the pitch. Most, that are not aware of this, play above. Jim Thompson says it like this: That is my observation, that 99% play above center. If we can get it down into the center, that's where we can get the most overtones. The interesting thing is that if you relax your lips a little bit and play a bit lower you get more overtones. You are not holding your lips so tight and this will give you more endurance. That's an added benefit.

Derek Reaban (a member of TH) wrote a very good article called

Resonant Sound:

http://abel.hive.no/trumpet/practice/sound.html

Have a look!

Ole

[ This Message was edited by: oj on 2004-03-26 05:06 ]