Fundamentals of Low Brass Teaching and Performance

Tom Ashworth • University of Minnesota School of Music

Studio: 612-624-4148 Home: 612-351-9404
E-mail: ashwo001@umn.edu

Music (Art and Craft): We are all involved in a creative, personal art
form called music. Our ability to express ourselves is dependent in part on
the “craft” of brass playing (air, embouchure, articulation, slide/valve
technique). In the end, however, the “craft” must be transparent for the
music to be apparent. By studying the art of music through lessons,
listening to great artists (on all instruments and voices) and disciplined
practice, you will develop your own unique musical identity. Make your
best sound on every note you play, and strive to create music every time
you pick up your instrument.

Posture/Fitness: Stand/Sit tall, with a relaxed, neutral feeling and a good

center of balance. Standing—heels together, weight evenly distributed,
knees back, bottom in, torso vertically extended (chest up), shoulders
back, head back and level. Good posture helps your respiratory system
(human “bellows”) to function properly. Regular exercise—even 20
minutes, 3 times per week, will greatly enhance your efficiency on your
instrument, particularly if you incorporate regular breathing patterns into
your activities. By learning how to control the breathing process during
stressful exercise, you will gain mental focus and confidence in
performance situations and will reduce your overall stress level.

Breathing: A good breath is one that is relaxed, full and quiet. Though in
performance you are required to take a breath in a very brief amount of
time, feel free to take extra time to inhale if the music allows it. Think of
the lips as the initial point of inhalation, and the center of the lungs as the
first destination, with the incoming air then radiating out in all directions.

Excess noise while inhaling is a sign of tension in the throat and/or tongue.
This tension will educe the amount of air you take in, and will adversely
affect your tone, flexibility, pitch and articulation. To become an efficient
breather, try breaking down the breathing process into the following steps:

1. Inhalation: Begin with slow, steady breaths (think of “brick-shaped”

inhalations), using an inward “oh” or “ah” or “who” syllable.
Concentrate on filling the lungs, feeling the rib cage expand and lift.
Remember that the lungs extend roughly from the collarbone to the
lowest rib, and that the incoming air enters the lungs at their mid-
point. As the lungs inflate, you will notice an expansion of the
abdominal area, sides, and lower back.
 2. Exhalation: Proper inhalation will result in proper
support/compression from the abdominal area, sides, and lower
back; though a bit of extra conscious support is also required. Think
of constant, gentle support, which in turn keeps the chest high. In
general, you will be more conscious of breath support in the upper
range and at soft dynamic levels. In the upper range, you must
increase the airspeed to keep the lips/air vibrating, and to produce a
full sound. Arching the tongue upwards helps control the airspeed in
the extreme high range. This produces a slightly faster, cooler, and
more focused air stream. As in all muscular/athletic aspects of brass
playing, moderation is the key; don’t use anymore airspeed,
embouchure tension, or arching of the tongue than is necessary.
Some players visualize the high range horizontally rather than
vertically, and think of projecting the upper notes further out front.
The low range requires more air, but at a slower speed. Think of a
wide, steady, slow, humid air stream. Keep the tongue low and
relaxed, thinking “oh” or “ah”.

Using a wide, slow, humid air stream will result in a warmer, more
resonant tone.

Embouchure: A well-developed embouchure should function by reacting

to the air stream, focusing and stabilizing the exhaled breath. An
embouchure has two basic parts: the corners and the center. In simple
terms, the corners control the center. An efficient embouchure must be
both stable and flexible. While the upper portion of the embouchure is
frequently discussed, the lower 50% of the embouchure is often neglected,
resulting in air pockets beneath the bottom lip, puckering of the chin, and
the rolling under of the bottom lip in the upper range. By continuing the
development of the embouchure to the rim of the jaw, a much more solid,
resonant sound is created. As you ascend, the corners become firmer and
the center is smaller, reducing the vibrating area of the lips. It is essential
that the center remain relaxed and free to vibrate in all ranges.

It might be helpful to think of the embouchure as working inward from the

corners, rather than using a pinching motion in the center of the lips. To
ensure a centered tone, the cheeks should never puff out, and a “smile’ or
“grin” should be avoided, as this will cause the lips to become thinner, and
too tense to vibrate freely. As you descend, the center is more open, but
the corners must remain firm. In the lower range, think of the mouthpiece
as being anchored above the top lip, rather than below the bottom lip.
This will allow the jaw to move in its natural ‘down and out’ motion that is
required for a full, vibrant low register.
Note-shapes: Brass players must be able to produce “bricks” of sound in
all ranges and at any dynamic. “Brick” refers to notes that have a clean,
square beginning; and a steady ‘straight’ duration. The airstream and the
embouchure must both be active and stable at the point of articulation.
Avoid “ chewing”, “footballs”, etc. Practicing air starts on the mouthpiece
and the instrument will help you develop this skill.

Mouthpiece buzzing: This emphasizes the source of the sound and pitch
(lips/air) and is an excellent way to work on flexibility, endurance, and
intonation. It should be done in moderation to avoid becoming ‘muscle-
bound’ in the center. Begin with simple air starts and slow glissandi on the
mouthpiece, progressing to at least a two-octave range. As you become
more proficient at it, try mouthpiece buzzing lip slurs, scales, and sections
of etudes and solos. Though few people can buzz everything they play, if
you can buzz it, you can definitely play it.

Tone: Before considering the technical aspects of tome production, you

must have a mental image of the sound you want to produce. This tonal
model might be based on a favorite recording, a teacher’s sound, or a
combination of several instrumental or vocal sources. With this ‘ideal’
sound in mind, your ability to produce it is dependent on your ability to
move a good breath through the embouchure. The only muscle groups
involved are those controlling air support, and the embouchure.
Everything else (neck, throat, tongue, shoulders) should be relaxed or in
‘neutral’. A quality instrument and mouthpiece obviously helps. Assuming
that our equipment is in good shape, try using the previous sections on
Posture/Fitness, Air-speed, Breathing, and Embouchure as a checklist.

Note: The whole issue of tone is very subjective, and is a matter of

personal taste. The player, instrument, mouthpiece, hall, and literature
all contribute to the tone produced. In general, tone can be discussed in
terms of quality and quantity (big, small, thin, fat, bright, dark, deep,
shallow, wide, narrow).

Intonation: Work with an electronic tuner and tape recorder frequently

and learn the tendencies of your instrument(s)! Don’t just tune by sight by
watching the tuner’s display. Practice matching the sustained pitch before
checking the display. If you don’t have a tuner, you can still practice
matching pitches with another player, or a keyboard.
 Naturally out-of-tune partials: These exist to some degree on
every instrument. As you lengthen the sounding tube (with a slide
and/or valve) the pitch adjustments become greater. For example, a
6th partial “F” in 1st position won’t need to be lowered as much as a
6th partial “D” in 4th position.

5th partial (1st position D to 7th position D#): A little flat

6th partial (1st position F to 7th position B): Quite sharp
7th partial (2nd position G to 7th position D): Very flat

Vertical pitch: Unlike an equal-tempered piano, we can adjust

individual chord tones. In tonal music, it is relatively easy to figure
out which part of the chord you are playing (root, 3rd, 5th, etc).
Incomplete chords, suspensions, inversions and irregular chord
progressions can make harmonic analysis challenging at times. While
it may be impractical to make the following adjustments in fast solo
passages, the adjustments can make sustained passages sound
much better.

Major triad: lower the 3rd, raise the 5th

Minor triad: Raise the 3rd, lower the 5th

Let your ears be the guide, and strive to eliminate the beats caused by
poor intonation.

Technique: To play cleanly at any tempo, it is essential that you

coordinate the embouchure, tongue and slide/valves. It is a matter of
synchronization—of being in the right place at the right time. Hold the slide
with the thumb and two fingers, with the palm facing more down than
towards you. The right elbow should be slightly elevated, so that the slide
arm intersects the slide tubes at about a 90 degree angle. The “karate
chop” style of slide action produces cleaner technique, and less “torquing”
to the right side in extended positions (maintain control and trace straight
lines with the slide). In order to synchronize the embouchure and the
slide, think of moving them both late, fast and smooth. When practicing,
use a metronome, and begin with a slower tempo, progressing to one
faster than required for the performance.

Flexibilty/Lip Slurs: Ideally, you should feel as comfortable playing your

instrument as you do when you are singing. Lip slur exercises are the
foundation of this vocal concept. Think of lip slurs as notes “melting”
together. Establish a good model through singing and mouthpiece buzzing,
beginning with slow glissandi. I recommend doing lip slur exercises in 1, 3,
5, 7, 9 (v#5), 11 (vb7). Whether you have a simple legato etude, or a very
technical double-tongued passage, the flexibility of your embouchure and
the speed of your slide will dictate how clean you play. Try following these
steps while practicing a passage:
1. Sing it, without articulation. Keep the head and upper body still.
2. Buzz it on mouthpiece, without articulation. Minimize excess
“pivoting”.
3. Play it, without articulation. Move smooth, fast and late (move
with the music).
4. Play as usual, with appropriate articulation.

Tonguing / Articulation: By altering the syllable and tongue/air

pressure, it is possible to produce a wide range of articulations. In all
cases, strive to eliminate jaw motion (chewing) while tonguing. This will
help you to avoid “football-shaped” swells, and result in clean starts and
“brick-shaped” notes. Practice the following basic styles:

1. Lip slur: Connected. “Oh” or “ah”. No tongue.

2. Legato: Connected, lip slurring whenever possible. Tongue (light
“doh”) only to break glissandi.
3. Tenuto/Sostenuto: Slightly separated. “Doh”, light to medium
pressure. No accent. Emphasis on length.
4. Staccato: Separated, shorter. “Doh” in low and mid range.
“Tah/tee” in upper range. Not too short, emphasize the point of
articulation.
5. Marcato or Marcato-Tenuto: Slightly separated; broad, heavy.
“Doh”, medium to firm pressure. Emphasize length and weight of
notes.
6. Multiple Tonguing (double and triple): Use a metronome, and
tongue very firmly at a mf to f dynamic. Begin slowly, on one
pitch, then progress to chromatic patterns, scales and chords.
Strive to make the “rebound” syllable (“gaw” or “kaw”) as firm
and distinct as the primary syllable (“daw” or “taw”). Practice
using only the rebound syllable.

In conclusion…

Concentrating on the following “pairs” of fundamentals will ultimately lead

to a more musical performance:

1. Tone and pitch

2. Technique and rhythm