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A Few Beginner Questions



 
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MF Fan
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Joined: 26 Mar 2002
Posts: 397
Location: The Great White North

PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2002 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

..beginner to Caruso that is. I'm staging a comeback after a 20 year lay-off, after having played trumpet through high-school, college, and a few years after in misc. bands. If I only knew then what I know now!

I'm just starting to incorporate Caruso into my daily routine. A few questions for the experts:

1. One exercise #1 (6 Notes), I've read many posts saying it should be played at the beginning of the practice routine. Is that to say it should be played prior to a warm-up of any kind? Or possibly in-lieu of a warm-up?

2. Also specific to exercise #1, do I adhere to the rule of keeping the mouthpiece on my chops through the repeat, or do I reset my chops when playing the repeat?

3. On exercise #2, the notion of playing until no sound comes out of the horn is obviously contrary to most traditional approaches, but I get the fact that these are calestenics, not music. However, I find myself using more mouthpiece pressure than normal by the time I top out, nothing extreme, just more than I'd use if I were to reset my chops between the last few note combinations. Is that part of the deal, or should I simply work on reducing the pressure. However, that involves thinking about chops, vs. simply focusing on tapping my foot.

4. Related to question #3, I find that the reason sound stops come from the horn on the top end is because my chops are over-compressed(puckered) more than they "should be" relative to the amount of air I'm putting through the embrochure. Is that the feel I should be going for?

Thanks in advance for any and all responses.

[ This Message was edited by: MF Fan on 2002-04-29 13:13 ]
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_bugleboy
Carmine Caruso Forum Moderator


Joined: 11 Nov 2001
Posts: 2865

PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2002 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here are my answers to your questions in the order in which you asked them.

1. The Six Notes can be thought of as a good warm-up. It's the first thing that I play everyday, as instructed by the man.

2. Keep the mouthpiece on right through the repeat. The Six Note exercise should be thought of as a 36 measure exercise and not one of 18 measures in length.

3. USE ALL THE PRESSURE YOU WANT!!. You will learn to use less pressure by using pressure. You should however resist sliding, twisting or pivoting the mouthpiece to help you achieve the notes. Work your lips instead. Pressure, sliding, twisting and pivoting are manipulations. Pressure is the ONLY one that you don't have to worry about.

4. Don't worry about how it feels. You can't go by feel. The "feel" can change from day to day, so you just put the horn on and blow and forget about feel. Eventually it will always feel about the same, and your playing will be very consistent. Your lips should be trying to spit a thread off to start the note (except on breath attacks). Once started, keep the blow constant.

CR
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