Brass Clinic Maurice Faulkner, Contributing Editor Trumpet Talk for Teachers Clifford Lillya When I audition an applicant, more interested in discover ing what his basic capacities are than how much repertory he knows, During the audition I ask myself What's right (not what's wrong) with this student? What does he have that we can build on? How far is he from leveling off in abil- Lam ity? Is his temperament favorable to trumpet playing?” If you feel that you can work with the appli- cant and decide to accept him, then be careful to make any techni- cal changes slowly at fi give yourself a chance to really get to know the studeni Fundamentals In evaluating a student's tone production, I make it a point not 10 tohandlehis instrument with grace and ease, so that his imagination and musicality can function un- hampered. To reach this point, the student must master certain fun- damental techniques. Tone production Producing a sound on the trum: pet is an almost mystical experi ence — a thrill which only trumpet Players can appreciate and under. Stand. The fascinating riddle of tone production has inspired many theories, systems, experiments, and research projects, and almost all of the resulting explanations are worthy of serious considera ion. Faithfully and diligently ap- lied, most can be expected to get sults with certain students. But the individual's image of what hap- he Wind ‘at the Unt jl of Music. And Pereussion Department versity of Michigan adiison to serving as @ trumpet umpet Gui pens when he plays is really more important to him than knowing, in scientific terms, what actually does happen. It is best to encour age the student to develop his own rationale, In evaluating a student's rone production, I make it a point not to look directly at the embouchure — since this is only the tip of the ice- berg in the whole process of tone production. However, if I do fee the need to visually check a stu: dent's embouchure, I view it indi rectly through a mirror. In general, the best embouchure is the one that leaves the lips looking nearly as they do when in repose. Moving from one pitch to another Imagine that a trumpeter is ask- ed to play two examples: one slur. ring from low C to third space C; the other from second line G to third space C. One requires a much greater leap in pitch than the oth. er, but it should take the same amount of time to get from one note to the other in both examples = zero! In other words, th should never be a gap between the two notes. Students must learn to experience this feeling of smooth: ness and associate it with the de. sired sound. The teacher can de- scribe the process with various analogies and similes, which will help lead the student to the brink of discovery (compare to a yodel a harmonic, an oboe playing an octave). With sufficient repetition these mental images become wo- ven into the fabric of the player's personality and the mechanisms will begin to function automatically Sustaining the tong sow To sustain a long sound in all playing, we must try to keep the sound continually even, with no TRUMPETS e CORNETS e FLUEGELHORNS e esky TRUMPETS & GORNETS Coens ately priced instruments and Perec ae ts Sc ae ee tere Pema haere Peet ete Pome rach and world’s finest workman- ship. M MODELS Eee ROMS rd eee ean eat Veg tte) Viner rears Veet etary MIIE Eb Trumpet Pra MOUTHPIECES Custom and Standard for all Brass Instruments Riles rea on bye Nees eer ead Ere A ATTENDING THE “MID-WEST"'? VISIT SCHILKE'S NEW SHOWROOM Two blocks north of Hilton Hotel BE OUR GUEST! Senarrow or frayed spots, especially when a pitch change is involved. To help the student, try using analogies such as “keep the paper n the wall” or “keep the bow on the string Articulating while sustaining the sound is simply a matter of blow- ing continuously while tonguing, Blowing through the valve changes Sometimes we find a young play- er constricting his throat uncon- sciously each time a valve goes down. In order to give him the feeling of blowing through the valve changes, move the valve for him while he blows. Not knowing when the valve is going to move, he doesn’t make the throat con: striction and he gets the point immediately Single tongue delivery Here we try to create the illusion that the tones move along on a conveyor belt. Although the listen: er hears the tones as detached, the player knows that the effort is continuous from beginning to end. Only the first note is “from scratch.” Each one thereafter re- lates to the one that follows it and the one that preceded it. Some students have a tendency to make 2 separate impulse with the blow- ing muscles for each tone. Instead, the student should think of a group of notes as a string of beads — the tones are the beads and the unbroken wind is the string that holds them together. Another common problem among trumpet students is the pro- duction of extraneous vocal sounds in the throat each time a tone is played. This indicates a tightness in the throat. Some people can play well in spite of it, but the fone will be better if the tension is relaxed. A Teaching Plan In my teaching plan, I ty to give my students a long series of projects by which they can grad- ually move to the top levels of performance. Projects should al: ways be chosen purposefully and with special care — particularly during beginning stages — to al- low the student to establish the habit of success. Often, even to Ceca] ty ter Pe ERICK for comets, trombones — all brasses. Erick Brand has a complete line of tools ‘and supplies forthe instrument repaitman. Let us help you plan complete instrument repair shop. Write For Complete Catalog BRAND AVENUE, ELKHART, INDIANA pir Tons and ppl For Band Inrament Repairmen 76 1 mstruwnacierocenaen 17 [_—— the advanced player, the ference between his gettin or missing it is whethe he expects to get it rly instruction shoal alow key — both figurative literally! For example, scream ata young student 4 THAT NOTE STEADY!" hy ly to interpret this as a thie ing situation and will uncon ly tighten up to forcibly steqil out the sound. Clearly the a command does get quick raf but it also teaches the sgl something that he will unlearn later. How much h tolet him experiment until hey ually comes to test on the tone. This method may takai Ue longer at frst, but ula itsaves arduous hours irnigg a deeply rooted tension ‘prail timbre, expression, projection and in doing so there is a tendes to use a kind of jargon made largely of figures of speech analogies. Unless the student leans tounderstand his teacher's part lar language, no real communie tion can take place. I can remell ber puzzling over two seeming opposing ideas that were advanceh by two equally distinguished pen formers. Since they seemed com pletely contradictory, was one af them wrong? Of course, I knot now that they were both right. Whatever the level of the st dent, teach only those things thal he really needs to be taught. A ta ented student intuitively does maa\ things well. If he breathes proper: ly, why talk about it? If his tone production is natural and easy don't try to dissect and analyze it. Of course, the teacher should have the mechanics in mind, but never let the player become pre occupied with this. Keep the music foremost in his mind. And whem problems do arise that are difficult to deal with, you can really help the student get through it all by reminding him of the satisfactions of trumpet playing. .and of the f importance of keeping his sense of humor! just th tenes