How to: Flexibility for brass playing 

Thanks! It takes a little practice but it's certainly achievable.

Thanks Russell. If I play for 10 mins there's likely a ring for me too. I believe you need a certain amount of pressure to maintain a 'seal' around the embouchure but too much and you'll do damage.

@@timweirmusic @russell straight please don't do this type of embouchure, you will only hurt yourself in the long term. Trust me I learned the hard way, I busted my chops and had to re-learn a completely new embouchure. Please go watch this video and get a good embouchure from the get go. Bad habits are hard to unlearn. so start with a good one. I wish I found this video when I started playing 15 years ago. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lLE_-ly8hrQ.html

This is a really late reply but to not play with pressure I usually do just mouthpiece work to start off but I hold the mouthpiece with only my thumb. I'm a tuba player so the mouthpiece is easier to hold like this than a trumpet mouthpiece. If you're having a hard time holding it with just the thumb you could use just 2 fingers to hold it at the very tip

@@timweirmusic tell me how your embouchure works for you...it looks like you are playing in the red.

@@da11king Hi - you know, I don't really think about it too much. I've played this way for 30 years and had success as a pro player. My focus is always on an action being repeatable - if you can be consistent, you'll progress. When I'm working with a student, I focus on them finding a good balance between top and bottom lip, reducing mpc pressure, and centering their buzz. However, we all have different underpinning physiology so a text book setup isn't ideal for everyone. Sometimes you've got to just work with what you've got!

Hi Bish. Long time no see! I don't get much value from long tones. They work for some people, but not much for me. This exercise really helps me keep the mouthpiece pressure down which allows the lips to vibrate at a variety of frequencies, including the upper register.

Hi. i start my warm up with lip bends and typically spend 10-15 minutes on them each day, at the start of a session. i will use them sometimes as a warm down but not often.

Hi Jp. Technically, yes. But if you focus on the tongue alone, you can get stuck. I feel it's a balance between tongue, lips, and air. Focus on the outcome you're trying to achieve, then let your body 'move' in that direction.

Hi Bob. I'd be very happy to chat, anytime. Get in touch with me at melbournetrumpetstudio@gmail.com. All the best, Tim

lip trills

Hi. That's a standard lip trill. I do that by keeping a constant stream of air and using my tongue to modulate the frequency. The lips then respond to the change of air speed to create the change in pitch. Look at Arban page 44!

Trent Austin does great work and his pieces match the Adams range wonderfully!

Thanks!

William Lamb looks like a Phaeton

Hi William. That's an Adams A4. It's a wonderful horn!

Lip bend

RU-vid close captions!

Oui tu as raison....c est vraimant etrange...mais sa Marche pour lui ,🤷🏾‍♂️

Hi Jorge. It's actually a MPC from Austin Custom Brass. It's their Slug blank in a 3C. Check out Trent - he's great!

@@melbournetrumpetstudio1484 I believe Trent is from Massachusetts. As was the late Al Cass. I wonder if his exposure to that musical environment led to an either intentional or subconscious drive to create a look similar to Big Al Cass? By the way, I lived in MA during my youthful years. Played in many clubs circa 1975 - 1978. At the time many of us were struggling trumpets. Our horns still "owned" us. Not vice versa. So I recall meeting a working musician, forget his name but played with a show group, "Mason Dixon & The Line" M & D were the singers and bandleaders. My trumpet playing friend was part of "The Line". He along with a t-bonist who graduated a year ahead me in high school. . And so just through the course of our business we'd occasionally run into each other's bands. And back in the day there were two revolutionary processes we were aware of. Each designed to help trumpet players develop into powerful lead players. At that time, somewhere in 1977 or so I was using one system and moderately aware of the other. The first was Al Cass's "System". The very simple program. Play in an extroverted style i.e. blow loudly using lots of air support. Al would hound me by yelling, "HAW"! So loudly that it scared me for a while. I thought maybe he was crazy. There was no doubt however about his mouthpieces. Much sought after even back then. His "screamer" "3x" series esp the classic lead trumpet piece "3x4" was perfect for turning average cats into powerful marching band and stage band lead players. And Big Al's tpt mouthpieces were part of music history even back then. What with Dizzy, Red Rodney, Donald Byrd all using them. As well as Snooky and many Tonight Show cats etc. But then there was ANOTHER hugely successful system. Only it came outta NYC. This the, "The Stevens-Costello Triple C Embouchure Technique and Embouchure self Analysis". Only the full length 1st edition being in print. As the 2nd and somewhat condensed edition wasn't published until 2005. Some people called this the Holy Grail. Others referred to it as fraud. From.my own experience I consider it to be the best book on trumpet EVER! That said? I had at least one serious problem with the book. Just one problem but it was a biggie. Also one doesn't learn the stevens method overnight.. In fact I'm finally close to eight months into it.. My range? Between E natural and G ABOVE Double C on a given day. More l8ter thank you!