The Common Quest

[Batman]

Chicago Citizens,
I have posed a question in other forums on this site that share a somewhat similar thought process with the Chicago School. I am sure that most are familiar with the question so I will not post it here.
After reading the question, would you allow a player under your tutelage to continue to struggle with range and endurance issues year after year without assessing the physical aspects of his playing? Is wind and song soley responsible for forming the physical trumpet playing machine, or is the foundation of wind and song built on a balance of embouchure, wind, and song?

/\0/
Batman

P.S. Don, I read your Bio and feel compelled to commend you on your spirit of service. I am sure your children and all the others who have you in their lives continue to be blessed.

[_Don Herman]

I knew we'd attract the bats sooner or later... I do appreciate your p.s., sir -- it's a lot of work, but I'd rather be run ragged keeping my kids busy than have them causing mischief somewhere else! We just a had a nasty little fire very near here caused by a young girl smoking in the bushes...

As for your question, I can answer only from my own rather experience and readings, which as you know from my bio is pretty limited. Please take all the following as my personal opinion, not as moderator, but as a struggling comeback player with a desire to learn and to play well.

Firstly, that Chicago folk do not address the physical is a myth, or at least a misconception, many have (not saying you, I just wanted to take the opportunity to make the point). Plenty of chop, breathing, etc. folk in the Chicago camp. In fact, knowing the mechanics behind "song and wind" is, imho, one of the reasons a good Chicago teacher can really help a student (at any level). The trick, not one I've mastered, is to translate this deep understanding into simple concepts for the student. The idea is to guide the student with a musical approach so that she or he produces great sound (n.b. I say nothing about range, endurance, etc. -- to my mind, it's all part of the package called "great sound") without thinking about all the physical aspects. That's the teacher's job!

I think that at least partially answers your questions about balancing song and wind with embouchure -- producing "song" requires "wind", and making the whole thing work requires a suitable embouchure (and a whole lot more). The writings of Jacobs certainly address embouchure; he just doesn't feel that's what the student's mind should be focused upon! He does make it clear that the teacher must be aware of the student's other limitations, both physical (embouchure, breathing, whatever) and mental.

Now, why would any teacher let such a student go on year after year without improving range and endurance? Or, any other aspect of his playing? The only time I can imagine this happening is when the student doesn't apply himself. My teacher assesses the physical first, to ensure there are not root problems to be dealt with, then moves on. We go back and forth because I am so detail and physical oriented. He will discuss the physical, at length, and we've had some really great discussions of embouchure, tension in breathing, lip sets, and many other physical things. But, his goal is to always bring me back to "song and wind", providing exercises which will address physical issues while giving me something musical to think about rather than physical. It's as much a mental approach to teaching as anything. But, if the physical ain't working right, ain't no song gonna' come out!

Would I allow a player under my tutelage to continue on...? No. I am not a teacher, or teaching very little, but I want to see progress as much as the student. I am very much an experimentalist, as is my teacher, and I'd keep trying to find something which would work for the student (the "aha" effect, as Clyde Hunt calls it).

A story: My teacher recently took over a student who had been taking lessons for a while and struggles with range. Upon discovering that the previous teacher had simply told the student "it will come" my teacher was rather incensed, to a degree I found interesting, as he was closer to anger than I'd ever seen! (He's very jocular, and while an A+ is tough, I have to totally crash and burn before he says "Well, that was a B; let's make it an A!") My teacher's response was along the lines of "How will he improve range if he doesn't work on range? How will he find his way to good sound and all the rest if he doesn't try things to find what works?" His whole point being that, if somebody doesn't improve, then the teacher should figure out what and why and provide a way for the student to progress. And, yes, with a musical approach, not physical -- but he'll work the student in a manner to drive the physical! Caruso does the same thing, I think, taking the student's mind off the physical and by onto something else. It ain't that the physical isn't important, it's just that it's very difficult to put under conscious control, and ultimately that’s not what you want anyway -- you just want to play the music in your head. The Chicago School fixes the physical by working on the mental, through song (imho).

This got long, and I'm not sure answers your question to your satisfaction, but hopefully will at least provide some of my thoughts on the fundamentals of what I consider to be the Chicago School.

Onwards, one can only hope! - Don
_________________
Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

[Batman]

Citizen Don,
You sir, recieve an A! Very insightful answers from someone who sounds like he's been there. Thankyou. I know you will enjoy great success as the Chicago School Co-Moderator, hope my popping up didn't raise your hackles too much. Play well and don't Bb.

/\0/
Batman