Eddie, Kyle, Henry, et al:

    <%SNIP%><<Bravadobbq wrote: How about comparing the speed of a violin bow <<to
the speed of our air? A faster bow does not (obviuosly) make the strings vibrate
<<faster. You can say that they are not the same, but indeed they are. >>

       Bow speed on a string instrument affects the quality of the sound,  and can most reliably be related to the thickness of the lips(from outside to inside, NOT left to right) and thus, perhaps, to relative richness of sound, or even darkness of sound, if you will, but not really to compression of airstream, either by tongue level or aperture* or

*wedge*......

    String instruments also produce sound based on the stoppage of the string, unless you are utilizing their *harmonics*, in which case the bowing process more readily approximates the *squeak* technique of high notes on the trumpet.....

    Brass instruments, on the other hand, are based on the process of blowing, or over-blowing the harmonic/overtone series of a standing column of air....

    I am not an advocate of using the syllable *EEE* for playing higher notes...Let me repeat that: *I AM NOT AN ADVOCATE OF USING THE SYLLABLE *EEE* FOR PLAYING HIGHER NOTES!*.....

    That said, the reason for not so doing involves the anatomy of the soft palate at the back of the oral cavity and the entrances into the nasal sinuses which drain into the throat....(If I can figure out how to up-load a scanned mid-section of an actual human cadaver's skull to the list, I will, if not this explanation will have to suffice)....

    Every person's oral cavity, like every person's lip/teeth/tongue  formation is slightly different, so there needs to be some sort of modification of any system of teaching to adapt it to the individual player....That said, there may be some persons with an exceptionally high arch to their oral cavity for whom the tongue arch, as in saying *ee*, would not be a problem.....

    This can be noticed with certain singers as well and will reflect in their choices of head versus chest tones in various registers.....

    The difficulty I've observed(and before you ask on this one--no, I haven't done a controlled study on this--at least not yet<grin>) is that players who use the *eee* arch to play into the higher register often seem to have problems with head-rushes--sometimes even to the point of nearly passing out on the bandstand....

    Now there are some who will, no doubt, disagree with me on this, but I believe that the cause of such headrushes is the uncontrolled force of misdirected airstream which is channeling up, into the nasal sinuses, rather than out, through the lips and into the horn.... Part of the reason for this idea is the existence of some players who experience *nasal leakage* of air while they are playing.....

    If you examine the interior of the mouth...Go ahead and check your own right now....you'll notice that the hard palate starts at the top of your top front teeth and extends back, arching across the roof of your mouth, until it meets a spot which is far softer(this is the soft palate, which is where, pardon the indelicacy, those who *hawk* on the sidewalk collect their amunition...)

    If you arch the back of your tongue, as in saying *eee*, the air will come up from your lungs, meet the tongue muscle, which is stronger than the soft palate, and be misdirected up into the (extremely) delicate nasal sinuses which can be injured by the force of the air and even haemorrhage from the process.....

    If, however, you bring the tongue farther forward, as if saying the French sound of *eu*(in other words, think of pronouncing *ee* while forming your mouth into the shape for the *oo* sound), the arch of the tongue is brought into the *cathedral ceiling* area, if you will, of the _hard palate_....Thus when the air meets the tongue it will seek a softer surface, bounce against the hard palate, and back against the tongue before being directed out(along the line of the downward sloping front of the hard palate) and through the lips and into the horn.....

    Where this system will probably not apply is with someone who has an extremely low arch to their upper palate, in which case I believe that any tongue arch is best avoided....

    As far as whistling is concerned, it isn't so much the tongue level that applies(imho) as the useage of the orbicularis oris muscle(which will become fatigued after long periods of whistling or playing).....

    Henry and Kyle both brought up some excellent points and I'd like to agree with Henry that higher notes do not require a greater volume(quantity) of air, but disagree with him in my belief that higher notes do require a greater velocity (speed) of air...Now this speed of air, granted, may be caused by the compression of the lips at the *aperture* or by the use of abdominal/chest/back muscles, as in the *wedge*, but nonetheless is necessary to produce higher pitches....And no, Eddie, it doesn't relate at all to the bow with a string instrument(take it from one who has played and taught strings, as well as brass, for years...)

    I'd also like to agree with Kyle on his concepts about teaching beginners to use their airstream, as well as his comments concerning air speed in higher or lower registers....

    Once again, it's important to remember that the greatest of teachers can only, at best, be great coaches, since, in actuality, every trumpeter must teach him or herself (credit Charles Collier Jones, composer/trumpeter/student of Hindemith, for this gem!)

Take Care!
Jeannie
jarcher@shore.net
chopshopdoc@musician.org