I (adult amateur player....) think the low/high benefit comes from developing a large / strong /controlled air-flow and embouchure via the low range. Keeping a good / forward-moving air-flow is also necessary for high range.
Jay Kosta Endwell NY ===================================================================== a relevant earlier post from Wendell Rider is from here - http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/private/horn/2006-March/024212.html -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi, I'm going to make a few comments based on several of the posts i have read on this subject. I don't have time to quote each person but I will just answer this post to start. First of all, practice, if you are experiencing "deterioration" is bad, as another poster has stated. This could lead to injury. This is not good advice at all. Second, range does NOT come from endurance, it comes from proper playing techniques. I could take a year off and hit a high C right away because i know how to do it. I wouldn't have any endurance though. Playing for long periods in the high register is a matter of endurance, but not exclusively. Third, endurance does not come from range, but what does that mean anyway. To move on, I would echo suggestions that you reassess your fundamentals and not try to bite off more than you can chew at this time. You need to establish an ease of playing, not a feeling like it is lifting weights. Air is a BIG issue. Most of the people I teach or coach are not taking in enough air when they come to me. You can huff and puff and push all you want, but if you don't take in enough air, you are fighting a losing battle. I suggest you go to a hospital supply store and buy a Voldyne if you don't already have one. Use it to determine your air capacity and then use the device to learn to take in 90% of that capacity. Once you get that, you will experience some immediate results and then more long term ones. Learn to be an "air driven player". To me that means that every note you play comes from a feeling of the air flow rather than lip tension or pressure. It also means keeping the air flow going at all times. This is another thing that I see violated all the time. I'm sorry I don't have more time to detail this now. Endurance is really efficiency. Proper air use + relaxed and working embouchure + intelligent practice and playing in general. Its like a car. It can have all the horsepower and top level gadgets in the world, but it won't work if it isn't fueled properly and tuned up. Take some days off and reassess what you are doing. Now you need patience and probably some supervision. Good luck. Feel free to contact me off-forum. Sincerely, Wendell Rider For information about my book, "Real World Horn Playing" and the summer seminar, go to my website: www.wendellworld.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
