janet842 Heavyweight Member
Joined: 04 Aug 2005 Posts: 570 Location: Denver metro area
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Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:08 pm Post subject: |
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Pressure at any point in your range is to be avoided. Stamp himself played with probably the least amount of pressure of anyone that I have ever met. At my first lesson, Jimmy had me hold his horn by one valve cap while he played open notes all over the scale. By having me hold his horn, I could feel how little pressure he was using. It was pretty amazing what he could do.
The big thing about going from pedal C to high C is your mental perspective. Let your notes go up, but don't go up mentally. Does that make sense? I'll try again. We want to make trumpet playing harder than it is -- as if it isn't hard enough already! If your mind starts freaking out because you are heading toward the high notes, your body reacts: pressure gets laid on, lip tension gets too tight, tongue arch is too high, and (this is the biggie that Stamp nailed students on) the slur from one note to another becomes sloppy as you start to overshoot the embouchure settings for the notes. If you can keep your mind on the low notes as you ascend you will find that your slur cleans up and the high C will sing out as pretty as can be. (Assuming of course that a high C is within your range capabilities.) If you look in a mirror while going from pedal C to high C, you should see very little embouchure motion as physical effort is cut to a minimum -- and don't forget to use good breath support!
Hope this helps,
Janet |
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