John Mohan's Comeback Player advice

[John Mohan]

Several months ago I started a "Comeback Player Daily Routine Journal" thread here and upon my first visit back to it since last May, I've found that some Moderator locked it as they thought that "getting people interested in Claude Gordon's methodology to the right Forum" was a better idea.

Sorry, but this was the wrong thing to do. The fact that I advocate many of Claude Gordon's ideas and studied with him does not give Moderators the right to stop me from posting in a method-neutral forum such as this "Comeback Players" forum.

I chose to create two similar threads in the two different forums for a reason. The one in the CG forum is for players who are specifically interested in the CG approach, and for the most part, are not "Comeback Players", while the one in this forum was started with the intention of helping the specific "Comeback Player", a type of player that can be completely different from the possibly younger player who is developing his ability for the first time, and might also have more time to devote to his practice, than the typical Comeback Player who might also be juggling career, mortgage payments and family and wants to re-approach the trumpet with a very time-efficient practice routine.

Maybe I am at fault for not making that clear in my earlier posts here, but now that I've made that clear, I'm hoping we won't have to worry about this thread getting locked.

So to get this thread started, I will provide a brief synopsis of my own Comeback Player routine up until this point:

Around the beginning of the year, I decided to get back into serious trumpet playing, for both reasons of fulfillment and of economy (I need the money!).

I set myself up with a basic routine that encompassed about 10 minutes of Flexibilities, 10 minutes of Clarke Technical Studies material, and about 20 to 25 minutes of Claude Gordon's "Systematic Approach" material. Specifically:

[CalletJazz]

Thanx!

The overpracticing part helped me a ton. I stopped playing for two days and my playing is stronger than ever.

[pfeifela]

I was very fortunate to attend a trumpet clinic this week led by legendary lead player and jazz man Bobby Shew. Because of my connections with staff at the university I was invited to a faculty dinner function where I spent the evening eating and chatting with Bobby Shew. I was very hesitant to introduce any of my personal playing issues feeling that would amount to a free private lesson and be in extremely poor taste. However, he very graciously opened the door to this conversaiton himself.

With that said; I communicated my cyclic problem of feeling very good and playing well with "dips" where I cannot get the same high quality performance out of my embochure. It is often about 2-3 weeks of "up" followed by 2-3 days of down. And taking a day, or even two off of playing has always helped significantly. And this fix is fine, unless the timing is wrong, and then it can be a disaster.

Bobby Shew quickly suggested over-practicing as th culprit.... not necessarily too much practice in the sense I am working on some fundamentals or etutudes for too long. But over practice in the sense that I am not allowing for enough rest, practicing at far enough spaced intervals or or perhaps not spacing practice time out over intervals at all sometimes. But most notably he suggested NEVER playing to the point I could feel fatigue setting in. He stated simply: "If you can go for 45 minutes then stop at 35, if you can go for and hour stop at 50. But stop prior to fatigue EVERY TIME and on EVERY DAY. He went further into a discussion of the build up of lactate in the embochure muscles and pointed out that this concept is well grounded in pathophisiological fact rather than opinion, which varies tremednously sometimes even among very fine players.

None of this information was brand new. And much of his information mirrored interval training concepts used for larger muscle groups. My inabililty to stop at the proper time is a matter of ignorance if I'm unaware, but a lack of proper discipline from that point forward. Well, I guess I've finally heard it either enough times or from the right source. Never again will I play to the point I am tearing down what I hope to build. Hopefully my cyclic consistency problem will disappear.

On a side note: Bobby Shew advocated very strongly for a brief but proper warm-up and for the use of the wedge breath for lead players.

He was most gracious as were the other clinicians and educators. It was a privildge to spend an evening with them and I will long remember their stories, pearls of wisdom, and love of the art.
_________________
Larry Pfeifer

[CalletJazz]

Great post, Larry!

It's good to hear it again from one of the greats.

Thanx for the heads up!

[John Mohan]

Yes, Bobby's recommendations are well-founded. It's just so hard to have the self-discipline to actually keep from over-doing it.

I'm going to re-read that post over and over when I start getting the urge to increase my routine. The suggestion to make sure one rests enough and spreads out the routine as much as possible during the day are right on the money.

I should mention that though I failed to include it in my original post here, my current routine does include the Claude Gordon breathing exercises every day (I do them when I walk my dog Safeway, and he gets LOTS of walks, because he wants lots of walks).



Best wishes,

John

[cinci-sop]

[John Mohan]

I just edited the original post, as acatrp61 sent me a PM asking me about why I was only taking Systematic Part 1 exercises down to Bb below Pedal C. I had meant to write Bb below Double Pedal C, and in fact, I am now going down to the A below Double Pedal C.

I've now fixed my mistake.

My thanks to acatrp61 for pointing this out to me!

Best wishes,

John

[John Mohan]

Well, it's time to move on to my next assignment. I started the previous one on June 17 and played the entire routine 14 of the past 16 days (took one day completely off and played just the Irons and Clarke material on the one other day I didn't do the whole routine).

It's been going good. My tone is good, my flexibility and tonguing are good and I'm getting up to the Double C most days in the Systematic Part 2 routine. So since it ain't broke, I'm going to fix it anyways.

The next routine, which I'll be starting today:

1) Irons Groups 5, 5B, 6, 6B and 6C and 7 (the groups ending with letters are my own creation - I take the last exercises of Groups 5 and 6 and extend it through all 7 valve positions - in the case of my "6C" I do the same, but start the exercise one harmonic higher).

2) Clarke #1 and Etude 1 K-Tongued.

3) Daily Trumpet Routines Lesson 3 for one week, followed by Lesson 4 for one week.

4) Systematic Approach Lesson 10 Part 1.

5) Systematic Approach Lesson 2 Part 2 played in the manner of Part 2 of Lesson 9, but with just one octave on each arpeggio, followed by Part 3 of Lesson 3 to relax my lips.

This adds about 12 to 15 minutes of playing per day to the routine - not too much, but I am a little concerned. I'll rest a lot and if I start running into trouble, I'll eliminate the DTR material for now.

Best wishes,

John Mohan

[John Mohan]

Wow, more than a month's have flown by! I moved onto to my next level of daily routine awhile back, but never posted it here. Then I had Jim New at Kanstul make me a Bach Mt Vernon 3C clone with a #24 throat. Being that it is a larger mouthpiece than I've played in a long time, I have remained on the same routine for a while to get used to it, not always playing the whole routine every day.

But I'm to the point where I am doing the whole routine everyday and have done so for the past several days, so it's time to post what I'm doing.

Here it is:

1) Irons Groups 5, 5B, 6, 6B and 6C, 7 and 8 (the groups ending with letters are my own creation - I take the last exercises of Groups 5 and 6 and extend it through all 7 valve positions - in the case of my "6C" I do the 6B exercise, but one harmonic higher so it goes up to High C).

Rest at least 15 minutes (usually an hour or so).

2) Clarke #1 and Etude 1 Double-Tongued.

Rest at least 30 minutes (usually an hour or so).

3) Systematic Approach Lesson 13 Part 1.

Rest at least 5 minutes (usually about 15 minutes).

4) Systematic Approach Lesson 4 Part 2, but with just one octave on each arpeggio, followed by Part 3 of Lesson 3 to relax my lips.

Rest at least one hour.

5) Daily Trumpet Routines Lesson 5.

The results of my mouthpiece change:

I lost my range above G above High C. Whereas I had previously had a full power G above High C and quieter but solid notes usually up to the Double C during my Systematic Approach range exercise, when I started using the bigger MV3C I had a decent F# and a fairly wimpy G - and absolutely nothing beyond. This has improved a bit in the past two weeks. Now I always get a fairly solid G and usually a bit of a G# and the occasional Double A. It's definitely the mouthpiece, as I can pop a Reeves 43C or 42C into the horn and get right to the Double C.

So one might ask - why would I go to the MV3C and do this to myself?

Answer:

Because the MV3C makes my tone, sound, attack, and everything except the notes above that G GORGEOUS! I don't mean to sound boastful, but that mouthpiece really improves all aspects of my playing except the extreme upper register (which it has basically killed).

But I think with time and development those exteme upper notes will return, and maybe they'll be even stronger than before (hope so). I've been playing the 43C size mouthpieces for years and to have my tone and sound improve so dramatically so quickly by just going to the MV3C tells me that no amount of practice or time is going to create that nice of a tone as that mouthpiece does. But perhaps, as Vincent Bach and Renold Schilke (and my teacher Claude Gordon) would say: With time and proper development, I can gain the embouchure and air power required to play all the way up to the DHC with the MV3C - all the while gaining the benefit of its amazing tone quality and clean articulations.

And did I mention how much better and stronger the low notes are? It's like I added a subwoofer to my horn!

There's one more thing that I want to mention, and I'm curious if others have experienced the following (two of my own students have at times):

Since going to the MV3C, quite often, when I am doing the Systematic Approach part 2 exercises (the upper range exercises) I experience a weird phenomena: When I go for the G# above High C it doesn't sound, but instead, I find myself sailing up WAY beyond it - and locking in on a G# above DOUBLE C. I can't find the G# above High C I'm looking for - my lips won't vibrate for it, and I can't get anything to sound until all of a sudden, a high pitched sound comes out that is around a D or Eb above Double C, and as I push for it to lock in, it goes to the G# an octave higher than I am aiming for.

I'm not even sure it is a note caused by vibrating lips - I think it might be almost a whistle type effect (and this causes me to think perhaps ALL notes players hit in the G above Double C and upwards range might not really be notes caused by lip flesh vibrating but rather a fast vibration of the wind column only – i.e. a “whistled note”).

Anyone else have this type of experience?

Best wishes,

John Mohan

[Back at it]

Great posts John, I;ve been following on the other forum. I'm glad you are putting them on this forum as myself being a comeback player. Relative to your question and experience maybe you are only hearing the overtone? I have similar experience but with lower notes i.e. E above high C. My high range is a long slow process of development, but, that's OK by me. As a comeback player, My biggest obstacle is guaging overplaying. I've had a few expeiences like you where I don't realize until it is too late, like the next day. I always try for that "fresh chops" feel. If it is not there I did something wrong. Recently had the experience over using the PETE.

[John Mohan]

[John Mohan]

Just a quick note: At this point, about 8 months after resuming serious practice after around 5 years of barely playing, I feel I've gotten back to point where I'm in good enough shape that I could handle most pro-level situations. So what I’ve been doing is working. I'm sure if I hadn't experimented with various mouthpieces along the way, I'd have reached this level several months ago.

I not as sure about my sight-reading, since I've done nothing yet to get it back in shape. But as far as sound, endurance, range and technique, I'm finally back! Still not going to pursue work yet, as I want to be sure my sight-reading’s up to snuff. And that can't happen until I get to the point where I can increase my daily practice to include sight reading exercises without over-doing it (I don't feel it would be prudent to limit my developmental material in order to be able to add sight-reading exercises - I'd rather wait until I have enough endurance to add the SR material without limiting my developmental material).

Also, as my endurance develops and allows for it, I'm going to start woodshedding Jamey Aebersold material, and really try to develop the ability to improvise well. My improvising skills have always reminded me of the Genesis song, "I Can't Dance".

One other thing I'd like to share with you: I write up my routine as it changes every few weeks to a month, on similar lesson sheets to what my teacher Claude Gordon used with his students. That way I keep a good record and I know what to do each day. In addition, at the bottom of the page, I keep track of my daily practice – on the days that I do the whole routine, I place a checkmark along the bottom; when I do a portion of the routine, I write an appropriate fraction for that day. And if I don't play at all (it's happened twice in the past month or so), I get a dash. When I've got at least 14 full-practice-day checkmarks, I feel ready to move on and add material, or move to the next set of exercises or models in a particular book. This keeps me motivated, and also allows me to look back and see how much I'm really practicing.

Best wishes,

John Mohan
_________________
Trumpet Player, Clinician & Teacher
1st Trpt for Cats, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Evita, Hunchback of Notre Dame,
Grease, The Producers, Addams Family, In the Heights, etc.
Ex LA Studio Musician
16 Year Claude Gordon Student

[John Mohan]

It's been awhile, so it's time for an update. Actually, I have to write two updates, as I've changed the routine twice now since my last post.

Starting on September 11th, this was my routine:

1) Irons Groups 5, 5B, 6, 6B and 6C, 7, 8 and 9 (the groups ending with letters are my own creation - I take the last exercises of Groups 5 and 6 and extend it through all 7 valve positions - in the case of my "6C" I do the 6B exercise, but one harmonic higher so it goes up to High C).

Rest at least 15 minutes (usually an hour or so).

2) Clarke #1 and Etude 1 Triple-Tongued.

Rest at least 30 minutes (usually an hour or so).

3) Systematic Approach Lesson 3 Part 1 in octaves (example: first exercise as written middle c, slur to middle b, slur to middle Bb, but then instead of holding the Bb as written, take a breath, and repeat the exercise down an octave with the normal long hold on the low Bb. This is a modification of the exercise that Claude did when he assigned it to me.)

Rest at least 5 minutes (usually about 15 minutes).

4) Systematic Approach Lesson 3 Part 2 as written, followed by Part 3 of Lesson 3 to relax my lips.

Rest at least one hour.

5) Daily Trumpet Routines Lesson 6.

During the 3 weeks that I practiced the above, I played the whole routine a total of 15 times. I had a pretty major case of the flu this past week (still a bit sick), so I didn't do the whole routine every day this week until yesterday and the day before. But now that I've done it 15 times (I usually move on after 14 times) it's time to move on.

Mouthpiece: I played the above on the Mt Vernon 3C until the last couple of days. Finally was getting a consistent G above High C with it, but anything above that was very sporadic. So guess what? I'm back on my trusty Bob Reeves 43C with the #24 Throat and the Standard Reeves #2 backbore (which is a bit bigger than a standard Bach Backbore). And with it, I'm getting notes up to DHC and beyond fairly consistently (as usual).

Life's a trade-off! With the Mt Vernon 3C, the sound is so nice and big, and controllable. But I lose everything above the G, and even the G is only there if I'm not tired. With the 43C, the upper register is significantly easier, but it's too bright for lots of situations. But, for those situations, there is my 43B which gives an even darker sound than the Mt Vernon 3C with an easier upper register than the MV3C (but not as easy as the 43C).

So for now, I'm practicing on the 43C and I might move my daily practice to the 43B pretty soon (that'll make playing stuff on the 43C really easy - kind of like taking ankle weights off and sprinting).

Enough about my mouthpiece fetish!

Starting today (Oct. 2), this is the new routine:

1) Irons Groups 5, 5B, 6, 6B and 6C, 7, 8, 9 and 10 (the groups ending with letters are my own creation - I take the last exercises of Groups 5 and 6 and extend it through all 7 valve positions - in the case of my "6C" I do the 6B exercise, but one harmonic higher so it goes up to High C).

Rest at least 15 minutes (usually an hour or so).

2) Clarke #1 and Etude 1 Slurred As Written (finally).

Rest at least 30 minutes (usually an hour or so).

3) The KTM exercise from Claude's book "Tongue Level Exercises". This is Exercise 1 appearing on page 8 in the book. You start on middle G and single tongue (using K-Tongue Modified tonguing) 16th notes for about 16 to 20 beats. Then rest as long as it took you to play the 16th note G's for the 16 to 20 beats. Then repeat on G#, then A, etc. up to Middle C, then go back down in the other direction until you get to Low C. For the next two weeks, I'll be doing this without a metronome, then in two weeks I'll start using the metronome, and keeping track of my speed. My goal is to get to where I can sustain single tonguing (KTM) at 16th notes 144 bpm on a consistent basis. When I first did this exercise with Claude in the '80's, I progressed from about 96 bpm to 108 bpm within about 6 months (not too impressive). Then, in August 28, 2000 I started doing the exercise again. By August 16, 2002 I was up to 126 bpm (tenacity at its best!). At various times since then I made it into the 132 bpm range, and on one occasion I managed 140 bpm. As it's now been several years since I did this exercise, I'm guessing that when I start with the metronome in a couple weeks, I'll find myself back in the 108 to 112 range (you lose it if you don't use it). That's okay: it just leaves more room for improvement!

By the way, if you're actually reading all this dribble, you are a major brass playing geek!

After the above, I'll rest at least 30 minutes.

4) Systematic Approach Lesson 4 Part 1.

Rest at least 5 minutes (usually about 15 minutes).

5) Systematic Approach Lesson 4 Part 2, followed by Part 3 of Lesson 3 to relax my lips.

Rest at least one hour.

5) Daily Trumpet Routines Lesson 7.



At this point, I think I've got my playing back into the shape where I am physically ready to work again. But I've got one more hurdle before I rejoin the Union and seek work here in Chicago: Sight-reading. I'm very concerned because not only has it been more than 6 years since I played as a full-time professional, but from 1999 until I retired in 2004, the vast majority of my work was doing musicals in Europe, the same show, 8 shows a week, 6 days a week. Hardly any sightreading, ever. It's been 12 years since I sightread at a studio session in Los Angeles! And first impressions count. It won't matter how strong I am, and how good my sound is if I don't sightread the book nearly perfectly when I get a job subbing for an established player. It won't matter how technically perfect I could play the book after thoroughly learning it - because if I don't sightread well on those first subbing calls I get, there won't be any more calls.

As Earl Nightingale said, "Luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity - and opportunity is there all the time." He also said, "if a person does not prepare for his success, when his opportunity comes, it will only make him look foolish." Some of my neighbors that have noticed how I've greatly increased my trumpet practice have been asking me if I've sought work downtown yet. They are surprised when I tell them I don't quite feel ready yet. But I think it's better to be conservative in this matter. First impressions count.

Best wishes,

John Mohan
_________________
Trumpet Player, Clinician & Teacher
1st Trpt for Cats, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Evita, Hunchback of Notre Dame,
Grease, The Producers, Addams Family, In the Heights, etc.
Ex LA Studio Musician
16 Year Claude Gordon Student

[maynard-46]

John...just out of curiosity...are your Reeves pieces cut-for-sleeves or a solid shank??? I ask this as I play the Reeves "40 Series" with a solid shank and was thinking about sending them to Bob and have them cut-for-sleeves but I was reading somewhere on the internet that the use of the rubber o-rings actually deadens the sound. Don't know if there's any merit to this statement or not. BTW...I've been playing Bob's pieces since 1980 and I have both...solid and cut-for-sleeves shanks but not two of the same cup/BB so have have no way to A/B them. Thanks!

Butch
_________________
TRUMPE: YAMAHA Lacq. "Shew Gen II" / Legends .585 "CatMaster" Top / KT "TKO" BB / Reeves #5.75 Sleeve.
FLUGELHORN: ADAMS Custom "F1" / Legends .585 "CatMaster FL.

[John Mohan]

Hi Butch,

My mouthpieces just have the normal stock shank.

Best wishes,

John

[EdMann]

Hey John,

This is directed as much to the community as anyone in particular, but after I came back to the trpt, the least often heard attribute to someone's playing was range. Sound? on occasion. The most: reading--"never missing," and swinging. I dedicated myself to getting those reading chops up, perhaps to the exclusion of adhering to a routine as you seem to, and things like range and sound came later as a result, but I got my butt in the union bands.

As for your mpc fetish, I've made a similar decision to put aside the MV3C and Shew Jazz (same thing, really) after a few years on that for legit, brass quintet mostly. Got my G and G# on 'em-- why I need that on these pieces, I don't know--- but my endurance is not what I'd like for quintet, which I believe is one of the more "enduring" genres in brass, so I'm on a Curry 5M and can immediately feel a difference. Yes, I'm giving up a bit of largeness in the sound department, but I can always pop in the 3C for solo work, or some symphonic gig I'll never get called for. More than one fine pro made the recommendation and it makes tremendous sense. Da chops can take only so much!!

btw, got my Arturo lesson on Monday and the jury's out on using the MV3C during the lesson. Guess I'll bring both, toss them at a dart board and see which one flies.

Happy reading,

ed

[John Mohan]

[John Mohan]

This one's going to be long - sorry!

And here we are nearing November. I've moved on to the next level in my routine. I've added another Irons, and started on Clarke #2, which I will be running through all the articulation models on (KTM, K-Tongued, Double Tongued, then Slurred), 14 days on each model.

Normally, I would have a student progress all the way, or at least halfway through the Clarke book doing the various articulation models and repeating each individual exercise with just one repeat before going back to the beginning of the book and doing the slurred version with more repeats on each exercise. But I'm a fairly well-developed player, so I decided to go ahead and do two Clarkes a day. After my Irons exercises, I'm doing Clarke #1 slurred, 4 times each and doing them up to around F above High C to G above High C depending on how I feel, the velocity of the wind, humidity, etc. Then, after a rest I do Clarke #2, KTM with just one repeat on each exercise. I should mention, I'm also doing the Etudes after each technical study. On Clarke Etude #1 I'm able to play it three times in one breath, but I usually just do it twice in one breath, as I've got plenty more playing in the day ahead of me. On Clarke Etude #2, I'm playing it twice in one breath single tongued (KTM), though some days I laze out and take a breath at the repeat.

Then, it’s on to my KTM exercise, SA, and DTR. The routine now looks like this:

1) Irons Groups 5, 5B, 6, 6B and 6C, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 (the groups ending with letters are my own creation - I take the last exercises of Groups 5 and 6 and extend it through all 7 valve positions - in the case of my "6C" I do the 6B exercise, but one harmonic higher so it goes up to High C).

Rest at least 15 minutes (usually an hour or so).

2) Clarke #1 and Etude 1 Slurred As Written with 4 repeats on each exercise, up to around F or G above High C.

Rest at least 15 minutes (usually an hour or so).

3) Clarke #2 and Etude#2, KTM with one repeat on each exercise, up to around the one in Bb that goes to F above High C (though I sometimes stop a little earlier if they don't feel perfect).

Rest for about 2 - 3 minutes

4) The KTM exercise from Claude's book "Tongue Level Exercises". This is Exercise 1 appearing on page 8 in the book. You start on middle G and single tongue (using K-Tongue Modified tonguing) 16th notes for about 16 to 20 beats. Then rest as long as it took you to play the 16th note G's for the 16 to 20 beats. Then repeat on G#, then A, etc. up to Middle C, then go back down in the other direction until you get to Low C. After the above, I'll rest at least 30 minutes. At this point, after warming up on the first few sets of notes, I am comfortably tonguing in the 116 to 120 bbm range. I know this from watching my watch second hand. I'm still not using a metronome on these, as I want to be really solid on the exercise and playing very cleanly before I pressure myself to build speed. Will probably start using the metronome sometime during the next few weeks.

I usually try to rest at least half an hour at this point.

5) Systematic Approach Lesson 4 Part 1 in octaves (I play the five notes, then I play the same five notes down an octave, holding the last note). This is one of the modifications Claude did with Systematic Approach when I went through the book with him.

Rest at least 5 minutes (usually about 15 minutes).

6) Systematic Approach Lesson 4 Part 2 slurred, followed by Part 3 of Lesson 3 to relax my lips. (Again, playing this one slurred was one of Claude personal mods of the exercises he assigned me).

Rest at least one hour.

7) Daily Trumpet Routines Lesson 8 with all articulation models.

I started this routine about a week ago, but didn't play the whole thing every day. So far I've gone through the whole routine just 3 or 4 times.

By the way, I've switched mouthpieces AGAIN!

I'm like Goldilocks. The Mount Vernon 3C was too big. The 43C was too small. One of my best friends sent me a Curry 3C. and it's JUST RIGHT! I never would have thought I'd like it, because I had a (modern) Bach 3C and I hated the rim (so I had it cut and had the underpart fitted to my 43C rims). I still didn't like the Bach version of the 3C cup even when mated to the 43C - perhaps because in retrospect, the 43C rim is a bit too small for me, or maybe the shape just isn’t' quite right for me - though it felt pretty "right" when I used it for 1st trumpet on "West Side Story" during the winter of 2002/2003 in Basel, Switzerland and for the year and a half I did the Euro tour of the musical "Grease". But anyway, my friend sent me a Curry 3C. to try and I LOVE the thing! Unlike the Bach mouthpiece I had, the Curry 3C rim feels great, and it feels just exactly big enough, and though it’s slightly bigger and deeper than the 43C, the high notes still come out just fine on it. And the sound is great - very similar to what I get with the Mt Vernon 3C, but with less physical effort up high. I seem to be able to vary the tonality and style A LOT with it. I'll do a shout chorus or a screaming part from West Side Story and it flat out sizzles, then a minute later I'll do a Leonore call or the Mahler 5 opening and I can get this big symphonic sound with it. Imagine what I could do Orchestral-sound-wise with Curry's 3BC! This brings up another thing I like about Mark Curry’s mouthpieces - all mouthpieces within a number size range, have identical rims. So if a player chooses to use a 3C. for general playing, a 3BC for Orchestral playing (this is Curry's version of the Bach C-cup rim mated to a Bach B-cup cup shape), and perhaps a 3ZM for lead or rock playing, that player will have a consistent rim size and shape on all three mouthpieces - for around $66 each. The bargain of the century!



So anyway, I think I'm sticking with the Curry 3C. for now (the "." after the "3C" designates Curry's current post 2004 3C size). Prior to 2004 Mark made his 3C based on the Mt Vernon 3C which is bigger than the current Bach 3C. Since many players were falling into the things and hurting themselves, in the interest of safety and insulation from product liability lawsuits, Mark elected to go to the modern, slightly smaller 3C sized bowl for his post 2004 3C mouthpieces. To make it clear which is which, his post 2004 3C mouthpieces are labeled "3C.".

What was it Claude said about mouthpieces? Something like “find a good, open, common sense mouthpiece, and stick with it always”? Yea, something like that… Claude’s smiling right now, where he is. Because he knows if I had saved up all the money I’ve spent on mouthpieces, I’d have enough to finish getting my Private Pilot’s license!

I’ve found it. Now I need to stick with it.

Playing Results/Update:

Adding the second version of the Clarkes (slurred and starting to build up the repetitions on each exercise) is having a great effect on my range - especially my playable range. While I am getting to the Double C area during Systematic Approach more and more often, what's really exciting is my full power, able to slur, single, or multiple tongue range is now in the sold F# to G range. I can play any of the high licks from the shows I've done in the past that have G's in them and nail them every time now. I think I'm stronger up to that G then I was even when I was playing 8 shows a week.

And my consistency and accuracy are finally up to pro standards. I can play the excerpts (Mahler, Beethoven, Strauss, etc.) over and over without a miss. Gee, who would have thought that building one's practice routine up over a period of 10 months to the point where one is practicing nearly two hours a day would result in positive gains?!?!

I'm a happy camper at this point. As soon as I have a spare two or three hundred bucks, I'm rejoining the Union.

Best wishes,

John Mohan

P.S. While I am finding a positive correlation between good, consistent practice and playing improvements, I'm finding no such effect from spending lots of time arguing and posting in various threads here on the TH. In fact, it seems the more time I spend posting in the "Tongue Arch" thread, the less likely I am to finish my practice routine by the end of the day, the less likely I am to do the homework I need to do, the less I improve on the trumpet, and the less I improve on my academic performance at school. Hmmm...

[John Mohan]

Happy New Year Everybody!

Time for a long overdue update to this journal.


Too Much Mouthpiece Switching Caused an Overpractice Condition:

I spent much of the fall switching mouthpieces in an attempt to find the perfect one. The Mount Vernon 3C gave me the best sound and I could pretty much do any type of playing with it. My trusted 43C gave me the strongest upper register, but is too bright in the middle and lower registers for most styles of playing. The Curry 3C. (his newer 3C with a dot after the 3C stamp which is the same size as a modern 3C and therefore in between the two fore mentioned mouthpieces) seemed like a nice compromise. So one would think I finally settled on the Curry mouthpiece - but I didn't.

After going around and around, I finally stayed with the Mount Vernon 3C. It had seemed for a while like I just wouldn’t be able to break into the extreme upper register with it. But in the end, I found it wasn't the mouthpiece that was holding back my notes above F# above High C - it was the overpractice condition I had inadvertently gotten myself into.

You see, though I did progressively increase the amount of practice I did during this past year at a nice, slow, steady pace, I did NOT take into account all the mouthpiece switching and testing I was doing. THAT is what held up my high notes and led to tired, sore lips much of the time. I’d been overdoing it.

Around the middle of November, I cut my routine back to basics, and within a week or two, I found myself approaching Double C's again during my Systematic Approach Part 2 exercises each day - no matter which mouthpiece I was playing. And the rest of my playing became easier and more enjoyable as well. Tone, articulation and accuracy rose.

So starting around the second week of December, I've stayed with nothing but the Mount Vernon 3C and a fairly basic routine that only takes about an hour a day. Can I still play a high-note shout chorus with more penetrating sound on the 43C than on the MV3C? Yes. But I think the gap is getting closer, little by little between the two mouthpieces as I get stronger. And I can tell you from my many years of experience playing: I'm never going to get big, full, darker notes on a 43C like I can on a MV3C. With the MV3C I can really seem to shape the sound - and that bigger cup diameter allows for more volume of tone (with the same soft volumes if not even softer volumes available), meaning more overall dynamic range.

I'm still not quite reaching Double C's on the MV3C - but at the end of the Systematic Approach Part 2 exercises I'm consistently getting nice solid G's and G#'s, decent A's, and I usually get to a Bb or a B natural. So I'm heading in the right direction (and when I'm fresh and warmed up, I can usually reach a Double C or even higher). More importantly, I love playing a mouthpiece that I can play the Haydn on, or I can choose to play a big band shout chorus on. So I think it's going to continue to be the MV3C for me.

If I need something darker for certain situations, I can always order a Curry 3BC (Curry's older model 3BC with the Mt Vernon size rim and cup diameter, but a Bach 3B depth), or have one of my deeper underparts matched to a MV3C rim (I’ve got one custom underpart Bob Reeves made me years ago that has a deep V shaped cup, a #22 throat and a HUGE backbore – its inner cup diameter would be a close match to a MV3C rim). And if I need something brighter for certain situations I can order a Curry 3ZM or have a custom mouthpiece made merging a MV3C rim with the cup depth and shape of my old Marcinkiewicz made custom mouthpiece (inner cup diameters are about the same on both of these).

But for now, I’m a one mouthpiece kind o’ guy.

I promise, in the future, this journal will be more about what and how I practice, why I practice it, and the results of that practice, and less about mouthpiece safaris.



The current routine which I’m going to stay on until mid January:


1) Irons Groups 5, 5B, 6, 6B and 6C, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the groups ending with letters are my own creation - I take the last exercises of Groups 5 and 6 and extend it through all 7 valve positions - in the case of my "6C" I do the 6B exercise, but one harmonic higher so it goes up to High C).

Rest at least 15 minutes (usually at least half an hour).


2) Clarke #2 and Etude #2, KTM with one repeat on each exercise, up to around the one in G that goes to D above High C.

Rest for at least half an hour (usually at least an hour).


3) Systematic Approach Lesson 2 Part 1.

Rest at least 5 minutes (usually about 15 minutes).


4) Systematic Approach Lesson 2 Part 2, followed by Part 3 of Lesson 3 to relax my lips.



That’s it - a fairly short, simple routine. In a few weeks I’ll probably add the Claude Gordon KTM exercises and multiple tonguing exercises (from Arbans) back into the routine, and move on to the next Systematic Approach lesson. And then a month or so after that, I might add the Clarke #1 Study, slurred and four times in one breath each back into the routine. It all depends how I feel at that time.

Best wishes,

John Mohan