And back to reality. Really makes you think about the hours these guys put on throughout their life to achieve this assumptions, basic yes, but they embrace them every day as they are unavoidable!!
Excellent Ian. Wish I'd had someone like you to teach me when I first started, and I wouldn't have picked up so many bad habits, and learned proper technique, right from the start.
Such important advice being given here! Perhaps along with the listening to music tip - I've found that it can be very beneficial to listen to accomplished vocalists as they sing melodies. Connecting the notes as a singer would. Thank you for providing this information.
Very good concepts I wish I would have understood 40 years ago as a frustrated student. I now think about the lips as the reed on a clarinet or string on a guitar. No one plays different pitches by adjusting the tension of a reed or twisting the tuning keys on a guitar. So don't try to play high notes by increasing the tention in your lips. I think of different registers as somehow raising the tounge and jaw to make a smaller air column like a smaller string on a guitar. You adjust the length of the string by pushing pressing on frets or on a trombone by the position of the slide. Positions of the slide equate to frets.
💯 % Chris Barber gave me that solid advise on the sound 👍 warm ups are vital you cnt just dive into DF lip trills , I would advise long tones softly get that airflow going . I dnt know about the tongue hitting the back of the teeth as I dnt have any but totally agree with do not push with the tongue. I used to hate major scales but now I love them. I try to cover 3 octaves. Great advise on this vid
Bousfield’s comments about the high register have confirmed for me that it really is the air one should focus on. I certainly achieve much better tone (on the French Horn) when I lead with the air. So how should one START a note in a high register? How to get the air moving quickly enough right away so as not to hit a lower partial first? I’ve have had success lately by changing the the vowel, and therefore volume of my oral cavity and direction of airflow. Anyone have tips for high onsets? I should probably mention that I’ve only been playing for about 2 months, so my embouchure obviously needs to get stronger too. However, I have a lot of musical experience, and practice frequently, and the general principles of producing a high note should apply regardless of whether the note in question is “high” for everyone. My notion of “high” now starts around treble D (fourth line of the staff for a horn). The highest I can manage so far is the G above that.
I would like to give this more thumbs up, if I had more thumbs. Both of mine are up. This is obvious without being slightly obvious - what I think I mean is that it's explained so well that it sounds as if it SHOULD be obvious. Makes me want to RUSH into the practice room right now (instead of waiting for my daily 5pm that my wife agrees to). Not hard to see why he's one of the best on the planet (if not THE best) and one of the few that would be on everyone's top 5 list. Oh, wait - there are 15 thumbs down here. That's nuckin' futs, honest to god. Some people shouldn't be issued thumbs.
This is SOO WISE. I've been playing Tromobone for my 5th year now and I've gotten a good feel for tone. How do you effectively practice going from the lower range to the higher range in jumps or just runs and still sound fluid and full. I'm trying to relax my lips and tongue more, but to hit or break through the air vacuum in the mouthpiece is hard for me( the accuracy to hold it after hitting it) Any advice? Or could I send a audio of me doing high scales to hear me?
Hey, I've playin for about 5-6 six years now too. Similar difficulty with large jumps--it's really tough--this book has helped me a ton. www.amazon.co.uk/Trombonists-Bass-Clef-Crees-Peter/dp/0570272300
Well aside from the obvious improved awareness of the notes when playing pieces, look at what he said about timing. Playing scales is an excellent way of improving your slide timing. Try moving your slide at the exact instant when you tongue the note. That'll improve your speed and accuracy. Another thing is tuning - really listen to every note in the scale. Is it bang in tune? I sometimes use a digital tuner app while doing scales.
You're not going to ever be able to sightread well if you don't know your scales. Sightreading, for all trombonists, is a skill you are required to be very good at.
