Hi I got back on.
This bad days thread has several related parts including embouchure,
pressure, working on range, and normal off days.
>>
If you feel sore or tired the next day then you bruised them and there
is some swelling present. That kind of soreness can only come for execessive
mouthpiece pressure. What is normal and acceptable mouthpiece pressure
for compressed lips (cushioned ) is too much for flattened chops. You would
be amazed at how many players set their chops and then unset ( thin the
lips and spread the embouchure ) as they take a breath. This is the case
in 75% of the cases that you described.
>>
No amount of lip pushups will cure this. Isometrics were only taught
by Stevens to people who had a viable embouchure. For people who need some
embouchure help (fine tuning ) the embouchure must be fixed before the
gross muscle building program begins. Remember holding a pencil between
your lips is not the same as playing.
>>
One is for gross muscle building while the other requires a great deal
of finesse training. Finally I would say that if you bruise your lips on
a daily basis then the setting is spread. You can only play when mouthpiece
pressure flattens them enough so that they are touching. Also I've seen
many players start a session right and distort the lips as they breathe.
I would advise you to learn to buzz just your lips. Mendez made all new
students buzz their lips 30 days. After 30 days they got a mouthpiece.
After another 30 days they played the trumpet. The backpressure from the
trumpet is a crutch.
As is the mouthpiece. Plus buzzing the lips uses all of the playing
muscles at once unlike other isometrics. Buzzing the lips uses the entire
length of the lips. The mouthpiece divides it and prevents over half from
buzzing.
>>
The other 25% has bad days because they LEARNED to RELY on the swelling
to FORM the embouchure. This is different in that they tend to learn a
setup. If I play this long then tomorrow will be good. There is a window
of work because a certain amount of swelling is needed to play. They usually
have a lip flip or mouthpiece ring that they need to keep pumped in order
to play. A really hard day hurts their playing for a couple of days.
However a couple of days off and they are at a loss to play also.
>>
Let me assure you that a properly trained and formed embouchure requires NO set routine. It is nice to have a warmup but you should be able to play with no ill effects without one. Also taking a day or two off should only affect your sound for a couple of minutes at your next playing session. And playing a really hard day should be taken care of by a warm down that day. The next day should not suffer at all.
>>
Work for a close embouchure setting.
Set your lips close together , breathe through your nose ( only for
this example ) and buzz them . After a couple of minutes of this sneak
the horn up into playing position while you are buzzing. You should have
a very full sound with no air. You will also need less mouthpiece pressure.
I like to advise some buzzing 15 minutes any day that you don't practice.
While it is true that hours of buzzing will stiffen the lips 15 minutes
will not. BTW hours of isometrics will
stiffen them also but with fewer tone building benefits.
>>
What working on range is NOT.
Let's look at how you developed your range. From low c to g on the
staff you played scales, etudes, songs, ect. From high c to super c you
played arpeggios holding the top note. So your lower register was developed
by making music and it IS musical. While the upper register was 'developed'
by making noise and it is NOT musical. I hope that my
point is clear. Arpeggios are only for power. To make music you must
play music. Maynard Ferguson developed his range by playing the Arban book
an octave up. Jacoby had me use the Williams book. It's the same idea.
To be reliable you have to play music. You have to work on tonguing, lip
trills, vibrato, phrasing, you know total music. That's what makes
Maynard Ferguson, or Bill Chase different. They played musically. So you
say that you have tried all of this yet still the notes don't come out.
Then you are not letting the sound out. There are several ways that this
can happen. Too much lip compression will roll the lips in so far that
the air can NOT come out. Too much pressure on your top lip can pin it
and again hold in the sound. Finally Too much lip curl will prevent the
notes from coming out. Let me expand on
playing musically in the upper register. I've known players who developed
range by arpeggios only. It works to a point. They worked on it as weight
training. The problem was that they increased the stiffness in their lips
to a point where they lost flexibility. This approach also easily leads
to requiring an embouchure shift. Think about it as you play your 1 octave
arpeggio or even scale the starting note gets higher and higher. You take
a breath and play the next series. You take another breath .... There is
an almost overwhelming desire to make subtle changes on each breath. Here
is a test start on high c and play an arpeggio up then play it down to
low c. Was it slow to respond or of a poor tone quality? Then you are playing
with an embouchure shift. There are some ways to avoid this. Always set
your chops for a g on top of the
staff. It is only an octave to high g and only an octave and a half
to low c. When you do practice arpeggios or scales up for range always
play them back down to low c or below on the same breath. This will help
you to learn to play all registers with one embouchure. The reason to play
simple songs one or two octaves up is to learn to play musically. Even
if it is Mary had a little lamb there IS phrasing. Play old Jr. High
or HS solos an octave up. Tired of your Concone studies play them up an
octave. That's a real workout. Work on tonguing drills in the upper register.
A range to 2 octaves over high c is no good if you are NOT in CONTROL all
of the time with a good tone.
>>
Working past a bad day.
A bad day is mental part of the time and the other times it is due
to strain a day or two before. They are both cured the same way. Play a
second line g over and over until it sounds good. Then play a simple melody
Mary had a little lamb would do. Play this over until the tone phrasing
and tonguing are right. Play a c scale tongue each note 4 times. Do the
scale until it is right.
Why so simple a workout over and over. Because IT IS MENTAL. Use your
head to think about playing without worrying about notes. As 'Jake' used
to say 'Where's your head?'
'Pops'
http://www.Bbtrumpet.com