Evan, My own (amateur's) experience has been similar. I'm uncertain what is your definition of extremely high, but for me it is anything above A, especially when my lips are fatigued. (Maybe other people who have comfortable facility with high Ds, Es and above could tell us what are their experiences.)
First, examine how supportive is your air stream as approach the passages with the notes that you 'nail' and those you don't nail. Is it simply a matter of not enough breath? You may consider purposefully taking a quick breath prior to the problematic passages both to briefly release your lips from pressure and re-establish support within. If you can then 'nail' the note, can you take a breather earlier and still nail it? As Alan Cole wrote, hearing the pitch in your head helps establish the goal for your embouchure and breath support. I've observed that taking my eyes out of the printed music as a high part approach and concentrating on the sound helps make them speak. Literally, your focus is off the visual image of the little black dots "high" above the staff and instead on the aural image. Obviously the width of interval that you're covering can impact your ability to nail a high note, and there are plenty of etudes to develop that skill. Consider doing you interval work while looking in a mirror at your face. How many muscles are moving as you make the leap? Can you do it with less? At the very least, you'll get some idea of what an audience sees when you perform. Finally, I have attributed some of my difficulties to "learning it wrong" in the first place. By doing it enough times the wrong or the wrong way, I've 'programmed in' the mistake. Unlearning the error can be difficult. It is especially easy to revert to the wrong way when nervous in a performance. Happy note nailing. Russ Smiley Marlborough, CT West Hartford Symphony Orchestra (mostly on 3rd horn this concert) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Evan Hayes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "horn list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2003 5:17 PM Subject: [Hornlist] high notes and psychology > I've noticed that on certain songs/phrases that I can consistantly nail extremely high notes, where there are others in which I have to struggle for even a top-of-staff G. I have also realized that I have formed bad embouchre habits only in these passages. Does any one have any insight into this, or a similar experience? > > -Evan Hayes > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software > _______________________________________________ > post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/rsmiley%40cttel.net > _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
