The Reinhardt Routines—a total embouchure development plan

Nick Mondello · Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:15 am Post subject: Reinhardt Routines

Several purchasers of the book have written emails to me asking about the Pivot Stabilizer, and there were three or four (before we included the "warning") who were doing it and claiming that that one concept of keeping the weight on the lower lip during descending slurs revolutionized their playing.

I agree that this drill unquestionably works better when you know your correct pivot, but I also think it's interesting that a few players (ones who have corresponded with me) have claimed great benefit from it without knowing their pivot or type. [quote]

Rich:

As one who tends to be hyper-literal, instructions/directions/guidelines are VERY important to me.

The direction included to maintain "weight" on bottom chop has helped me a great deal, not only here in the Routine, but also in other stuff I practice.

I guess I've become less of a "lazy lipper and more of a "lip gripper!"

Also, the "Chop Opus" you suggested has helped as well. Am a better player for it for which I thank you and Dave.

Best,
Nick

AverageJoe · Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:56 am Post subject:

OK...I'm a consummate self-analyzer, and after months of investigating DSR and his teaching, I have come to the conclusion that understanding my pivot should help me solve a few nagging issues that years of diligent practice have not adequately addressed.

I have ordered Rich's new adaptation of the Routines, and I am excited at the prospect of ironing out those elusive creases in my playing! I'll be working with Paul Garrett on getting myself "officially" typed (unofficially, I'm a IIIB), and he'll be giving me some tips on how to best use the exercises.

I look forward to sharing my story and giving progress reports!

Paul Poovey

healey.cj · Heavyweight Member Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 2011

PhxHorn · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:31 am Post subject:

Well, it gets curiouser and curiouser. I spent 3 hours with Kenny Smukel yesterday, and he typed me as a IIIA. I'd told him about Crotty typing me as a IIIB three weeks ago, and within a couple minutes of playing, Kenny told me he wasn't so sure about that. We spent quite awhile having me play in the different registers, and he went from pretty sure, to 99% sure, to 100% sure I'm a IIIA. I don't know what happened with Mike Crotty; maybe I was unconsciously doing what I thought he wanted me to do? At any rate, we tried it both ways and the IIIA pivoting or tracking (or whatever you call it) produced the best results. Crotty's lesson was by no means a waste--he gave me a lot of valuable info, including several pages of routines he'd engraved himself and some general advice on learning and practicing tunes. Between the two gentlemen, the time spent was some of the most valuable I've spent on the horn in over ten years.

Kenny also spent awhile talking about my tongue placement. Since talking to Crotty, I'd suspected something was up in this department, because I tend to put my tongue over my bottom teeth and against my bottom lip when playing. I've got good range and can play lead, but my endurance isn't what it should be unless I've been playing 5 nights a week, and Crotty got me thinking that this might be part of the problem. Kenny told me to get the tip of my tongue down onto the ridge below my bottom teeth when sustaining a note, and at the same time to arch the back of my tongue like I'm pronouncing the letter 'k' (he called this the k column).

It took awhile before I was able to coordinate this stuff, but I'd also come down to Tucson for a 4-hour gig. He told me not to think about this stuff on the gig, but during the more mundane and repetitive stuff, I tried working on it. To the extent I was able to make it work, I could feel a distinct difference. It's also worth pointing out that I've been practicing pretty consistently for the last month, including playing the Arban endurance drill every three days. What a drag that is to play, even for the 25 minutes I've made it up to. Ditto for the pencil/jaw/buzzing routines on a daily basis. But the results speak for themselves. I've always had a pretty good A above high C, but last night that note practically played itself.

Kenny also gave me my pivot point, which is my bottom left tooth, and my attack point, which is my upper right tooth.

I also asked him about some bebop articulation things at faster tempos, and he grabbed his horn for the first time and demonstrated an exercise for me. As it turned out, the example exercise he gave me is in Rich's new book.

jwilson46 · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:21 pm Post subject:

healey.cj · Heavyweight Member Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 2011

Rich G · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:43 am Post subject:

Just ordered the book. I look forward to the guided direction for applying Dr. Reinhardt's principles.

BeboppinFool · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:42 am Post subject:

fox · Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:10 am Post subject:

Just received the book yesterday. Thanks Rich. I really don't have much time over the next few weeks to start on a daily schedule. I am assuming that the 3 off-horn exercises can help until that is possible.

In playing through Day 1 today, however, I find that playing with wet chops is very challenging and the buzz does not come easily. So the word 'strain' must be a relative term.

I can see there is plenty of work to do. It seems this book will provide a nice sense of direction. I also love the quote by Doc in the front of the book about attitude. He sounds like he was a great person as well as teacher.

Doug

jwilson46 · Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:14 am Post subject:

healey.cj · Heavyweight Member Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 2011

healey.cj · Heavyweight Member Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 2011

PhxHorn · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:54 pm Post subject:

Just thought I'd pass along an update. I've been playing the 9-day routine fairly regularly for a couple of months now, along with the Arban endurance drill twice a week, the advanced form studies, the fingering drills, and my usual jazz stuff. Typical day's practice is 90 minutes to two hours, split up into 2 or 3 sessions.

This past weekend I had my busiest gig day in months, and held up just fine. Two two-hour dinner shows, which were quasi-classical and not incredibly taxing except for some long horn-on-the-face moments. But they took their toll. Then a two-hour R&B rehearsal for some touring acts at a large venue, followed by a 4-hour R&B show playing lead. Stage volume was excruciating, with the horns taking a direct hit from the side fills, making it hard to hear ourselves. The monitors were cranked to the point of feedback, and they still couldn't compete with the sidefills. It was nuts.

Anyway, I made it through in much better shape that I ever have in the past on that gig. There was one vamped passage with some high E's and no rest (the intro to "I'll Always Love My Mama") that eventually took me down and I had to stop for a couple bars. But my recovery time was very very short, and I never really felt like I was falling apart. Even better, the next day I was expecting to feel swollen and beat to hell after ten hours of playing, but I felt just fine. I was shocked. It felt like any other day.

As far as Kenny Smukel's recommendation to get my tongue away from my aperture, I can keep it away OK up to a high C or maybe D. Above that, it seems like I have to push the tip of my tongue against the inside of the bottom lip to get the next 4 or 5 notes. I guess I could call Kenny and talk to him (I won't be in Tucson again for a couple months), but if anyone has any advice on how to eliminate or at least minimize this, I'm game. I've been trying to move up chromatically across the 'break', but around a C# I seem to hit a wall unless I press my tongue against my bottom lip.

BeboppinFool · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:08 am Post subject:

That's a pretty remarkable testimonial of how much Reinhardt routines have helped a guy who never actually studied with Reinhardt. Thanks, Kurt (that is you, right?).

I have heard from reliable sources that your playing has gotten noticeably better since you've been doing the Reinhardt stuff, first Warmup 57 and then The Reinhardt Routines. Can't say I'm surprised, although I wish more people would proclaim their progress publicly.

Thanks for posting that! You're an inspiration for the rest of us, definitely!
_________________
Puttinâ€™ On The Ritz

jwilson46 · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:38 pm Post subject:

JazzABCs · Regular Member Joined: 10 Feb 2008 Posts: 32

I ordered The Reinhardt Routines a few days ago knowing that I probably have all of the material in the book. I took monthly lessons with Doc in the early to mid 80s when I lived on the east coast. I received the book today and I must say that I am very impressed with the layout, contents, and quality.

This price of the book is very reasonable. If it contained only the Pivot System Warm-up 57, it is worth the price. Well done Rich!

GG

PhxHorn · Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:07 pm Post subject:

jwilson46: I used to do the same thing. What I did to correct this was to lower the front end of my horn a little. This put a bit more pressure on the lower lip which in turn helped me to strengthen the lower lip compression including the muscles that run from the mouthcorners down to the chin. It was the lower lip weakness that my tongue was compensating for. Doing the jaw retention exercise may allow the angle to come back up slightly as you build lower lip strength.

Well, my horn angle has always been extremely low to begin with, as I have an overbite. A year ago I bought a bent version of my mouthpiece, which helped the horn angle thing and also tends to cause me to put more weight on my lower lip. Took a couple of months to figure out, actually. Between the bent piece and the Reinhardt stuff, I'm definitely putting more weight on my lower lip and have been for some time. I'm developing a callus just under my lower lip where the mouthpiece hits. I don't know what more I can do in this direction! I'm doing the buzzing/pencil/ jaw drills, too. I feel pretty good holding the pencil for between 2 and 3 minutes.

What I can tell you is that as I ascend, I have more and more lower lip curling in over my teeth. It wants to move inward over my lower teeth, and I think I'm pushing against my lower lip from the inside to keep it from coming in too far. If I pull my tongue away above a high D, my embouchure wants to fall apart because there's not much lower lip left to do any buzzing--it snaps inside over my lower teeth. So it tends to get squished pretty good if I have to play upstairs for any length of time, because I'm holding it in place with my tongue.

BeboppinFool · Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject:

For some reason, Dave Sheetz was unable to submit a response to TH, so he emailed me with it and I'm posting it below:

airdyn · Heavyweight Member Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 579

Rich,
Thanks. My computer is ok now. One more thing: Doug is a IIIA , I'm a IIIB, so this is not a thing related to any particular "type". Doug can probably relate to a girl student of his that had this problem. I think she was of Asian descent. Maybe her problem and/or solution may help you here.
Dave S.