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A Legit "Stamp" Question


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Batman
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Joined: 24 Mar 2002
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2002 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Although I have heard of James Stamp I was wondering if some one could give me a short explaination on what his approach to trumpet playing is and what type of material, if any, is needed to study the Stamp method.

Batman
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Quadruple C
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2002 7:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-09-20 16:24 ]
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mcstock
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a page on my website that summarizes the approach to the Stamp book that I learned from Bert Truax, a former student of Stamp & Thomas Stevens. The URL is: http://www.geocities.com/vienna/strasse/7826/stamp.html

Hope this hepls,
Matt
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Batman
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Matt,
I visited the web site and found one part very revealing... an emphasis on chops!
I know it is not the first thing on the list but at least it is mentioned. This idea of lips pressing together in the center could change the way alot of people are playing. What a concept.

Enlightened
Batman
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mcstock
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

On 2002-04-07 16:53, Batman wrote:
Matt,
I visited the web site and found one part very revealing... an emphasis on chops!
I know it is not the first thing on the list but at least it is mentioned. This idea of lips pressing together in the center could change the way alot of people are playing. What a concept.

Enlightened
Batman


Glad to have helped. Please remember the emphasis really needs to be on the balance. In about three years or so of lessons and sitting in on other people's lessons once in a while someone would need to be reminded to grip the mouthpiece. Probably 95% of the time the emphasis was on "spinning the air" thru the center of the pitch or that feeling of a steady, light crescendo.
Two things I probably should go back and add to that artcle: 1. The ears -- don't stop listening. It's the sound that must tell you if you're on the right track, both on the mouthpiece and the horn. Keeping the timbre consistent is what makes these exercises a challenge. 2. The Stamp exercises are only a means to an end. The goal is to be able to play whatever music you face without having to worry about getting around the horn.
Todd, I know you also studied with Bert, jump in if I'm missing something or not being clear.

Best,
Matt
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trumpetherald
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

On 2002-04-07 16:53, Batman wrote:
Matt,
I visited the web site and found one part very revealing... an emphasis on chops!
I know it is not the first thing on the list but at least it is mentioned. This idea of lips pressing together in the center could change the way alot of people are playing. What a concept.

Enlightened
Batman


An emphasis on chops ... hmm ... that makes me pretty uneasy. Stamp is not an 'embouchure method...' I really don't recall much discussion of embouchure mechanics with Stevens, Bert, Burns, Boyde Hood, or any of the others. I do recall alot of discussion of air movement and sound. The only specific embouchure stuff I really recall was related to excess tension in the embouchure brought about by improper/insufficient air support.

Stamp in its essence is, I think, very 'organic.' By that I mean that if one practices the drills in the manner indicated in the book, and applies the same concepts to actual musical material, the result will be great mechanics in addition to great sound, flexibility, endurance, etc., and all the things we need. But I don't think Stamp believed that this could be achieved by attempting to consciously put the embouchure in a certain shape.

In other words, do the drills and all your playing while keeping in mind the central concepts of his approach and always listening extremely intently to what's coming out of the bell, and the mechanics will come naturally.

'Nuff said.
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Quadruple C
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 6:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-09-20 16:25 ]
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pbtrpt
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 7:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To me Stamp was/is all about air efficiency. Less=more. Getting the most possible from a relaxed, efficient, and natural movement of air. Doing his exercises properly (and not too loud, @mp-mf) leads to a suppleness, flexibility and strength in your sound quality as well as slotting and evenness throughout the registers. Tom Stevens is a perfect example of these concepts put to use properly.
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Batman
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 7:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My comment on embouchure was based on what was on Matt's web site. The fact that it was even mentioned suprised me because most of the methods that place emphasis on sound, wind, etc. never take what the lips are doing into consideration, not saying that the other things mentioned are not significant. I have read in the Gordon forum in effect if you play music and create a good sound that range will develop, is this the case with Stamp?
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Quadruple C
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 10:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-09-20 16:25 ]
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Batman
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 08, 2002 4:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay,
So range is a product of practice with the embouchure you have already developed.
By playing music, using proper posture, and all of the other things we learn as we develop into trumpet players, the upper register will develop as we sing our way through the music. Is this pretty accurate?

Batman
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Quadruple C
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 11, 2002 9:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-09-20 16:26 ]
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Trptbenge
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 28, 2002 10:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am excited about the Stamp forum. I first heard and learned about the Stamp method at a Master Class given by Malcomb McNab at the University of Central Floridas Trumpet Day. (By the way Bud Herseth will be there next Feb). I was intrigued by the concepts presented by Malcomb so I picked up the two books - The Stamp Method and the Roy Poper companion book. While I have not been as diligent as I would have liked practicing the concepts and studies the Stamp method has helped me in several ways. First, if I perform the warmups I find that my endurance is 3 times better then my normal warmup and my sound is improved. Second, my ability to play in tune and my confidence in hitting the center of the note is improved. Third, my ability to play in the lower register has improved because Stamp emphasized using more air ascending and descending and finally, as I have practiced the concepts in playing music and with groups I have found it easier to play in tune and to listen to what others are doing. I know I have yet to realize the full benefit of the Stamp method but these are some of the things I have gained from it.
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ggoodknight
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 30, 2002 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I studied with Jimmy for about two years, 1970 to 1972. There were no Stamp method books, just the warmups which were learned by ear. Starting with Jimmy as a half decent high school player, Arbans and Clarke were mainstays, along with Schlossberg and appropriate solo pieces.

The Editions BIM Warm-Ups book is of course the only "Stamp" book out there, but the Roy Poper Guide is faithful to my memory of my lessons; I'm not sure it can be improved on in print; as a comeback player (off the horn from about 1976 to 1993 or so) I found reading Poper to be nearly as good as I think a few lessons with Jimmy would have been to get me restarted on the right track.
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Batman
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PostPosted: Thu May 02, 2002 6:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

On 2002-04-08 19:44, Batman wrote:
Okay,
So range is a product of practice with the embouchure you have already developed.
By playing music, using proper posture, and all of the other things we learn as we develop into trumpet players, the upper register will develop as we sing our way through the music. Is this pretty accurate?

Batman


Stamp citizens,
I quoted myself, kind of batty huh. All joking aside here is a question that has rattled around between my ears for awhile, maybe you can help.
A young player walks into your class and wants to be in your band, pulls out his horn and with a fantastic tone plays but his range is not developed. He sounds great so you sit him at the end of the row on the 3rd trumpet part. He plays that part the whole school year and sounds great, even his articulation improves. The school year ends and the kid goes home and works like a dog over the summer. He returns to school much improved on the technical aspect of the instrument but still struggles with range, can't play over a G above the staff. He's good enough technically to play a more advanced part but he still has to sit on the 3rd because he has no range. As we have decided earlier range is a result of practice so you tell him to work harder and the range will come. His third and final year arrives and this senior wants to play the 1st part thinking it may help him when he goes to college to get his degree in music, it's ok that two underclassmen are sitting ahead of him in the 1st and 2nd chair, he just wants to play the 1st part. What do you do with this guy? Do you tell him to practice more, put him back on the 3rd part and tell him that writing music is as rewarding as playing it, or tell him to take everything he can't play thats out of his range down an octave? Or even more, say he goes to college and pursues another course of study. Two years into college he picks his horn up and starts playing around with a group of guys for fun. The lead player looks at his chops one night, gives him some advice on correcting the way he sets his lips when he plays and 3 months later his range has vastly improved. You run into him at a gig sometime later and he is playing lead in your section. What do you say to him when he approaches you and asks, "Do I know you from somewhere?"
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Quadruple C
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PostPosted: Thu May 02, 2002 11:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-09-20 16:27 ]
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Batman
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PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2002 4:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Citizen David,
Yes, I am familiar with Gordon and his teachings, I just wanted to get the "Stamp" angle. I was intrested to read what you posted about Gordon being an advocate of the embouchure that compresses in the center and with corners that pull in toward the mouthpiece. It's good to hear that Gordon placed importance on chops and not just air. So getting back to "the question" you say the player should get a good teacher, would you suggest another Stamp teacher or a chop doctor.

Batman
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trumpetteacher1
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PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2002 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Batman,

The student scenario you present is pretty detailed. A little glimpse behind the mask, perhaps?

Don't worry, your identity is not compromised, as I suspect there are thousands of players out there who fit that profile, and who would similarly benefit from a change in basic chops setup.

A clarification on the Claude Gordon thing, although I am certainly drifting far from anything to do with Mr. Stamp - sorry all!

Claude told me - emphatically - to ignore the few lines in his book that David quoted (they are pretty general anyway). Claude said that when he wrote those words, he thought it was a good idea, but that he later changed his mind, and that one should forget about lip movement, and NEVER play in front of a mirror.

Jeff
http://www.trumpetteacher.net

[ This Message was edited by: trumpetteacher1 on 2002-05-05 11:38 ]
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Batman
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PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2002 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Citizen Jeff,
You are correct, this could be any of 1000 or more trumpetest but not my story. You are an asset to all trumpeters and I value your opinion. Feel free to e-mail me anytime.

Batman
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Batman
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PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2002 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess what this player needed was a teacher who could assess and correct an embouchure problem, not one who liked his sound. One that understands that a efficient embouchure is the base on which one builds good sound and technique. This exchange has revealed a lot about Stamp and his followers.

Enlightened
Batman
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