[TPIN] Re: Air and stomach conception

Chris Delahousse dahouse7 at hotmail.com
Thu Nov 1 21:32:51 CDT 2007 

Firstly, I just want to thank everyone for responding and commenting on my original message. I'm glad to see so many people take the time to write detailed replies and offering great advice.

I wrote the original message out of frustration. I'd been trying to apply these new philosophies and techniques to my playing for a few weeks and I just wanted other ways to feel, conceive and imagine what to do with the large mass of flesh below my head. I just wanted reiterations of what my teacher was saying, and reiterations I got!

I must say that the best piece of wisdom was given to me earlier today during my lesson. My teacher basically said that my body is in a state of limbo between what I've been doing and what I'm learning. I just need to keep at it. I sometimes forget that learning is a process: a gradient instead of a line to cross. 

About facial muscles, what I was referring to was extra tension. I was muscling notes instead of blowing them. I still do, but less now and it will be even less soon. I'm aware of the facial support needed for the embouchure: it's like reaching up. Muscles are doing the work, but they aren't working very hard and the shoulder isn't tense in the least bit.

Anyways, I must be off now to listen to Bill Cosby's rendition of Hikky-Burr with Quincy Jones. Thanks a million of the advice guys. Very appreciated.

-Chris





> From: darndt at oriongate.net
> To: rick.rangno at primus.ca; dahouse7 at hotmail.com; tpin at tpin.okcu.edu
> Subject: Re: [TPIN] Re: Air and stomach conception
> Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 17:06:16 -0500
> 
> Hi Rick,
> 
> I figured there must have been more context behind this. That's why I re-posted later, to ammend my early morning "rant".
> 
> All makes sense.  I had a student years ago who was so incredibly tense, that it used to make me nervous to watch him draw a breath!  Whole different issue. So much of it is mindset also.
> 
> Did you ever spend any time in Philly, PA or NYC?  You're name sounds very familiar...
> 
>  - da
> 
> 
> On Thu, 1 Nov 2007 17:39:13 -0400, Rick Rangno wrote
> > What we have here is an incomplete explanation of what the teacher 
> > is asking Chris to do. I should know....I'm his teacher :-)
> > 
> > Hi Chris, nice to see you here! I told you you'd get lots of advice 
> > here from some of the great folks here on TPIN!!! Hope you don't 
> > mind, but I'm going to chime in here and try to explain what's going 
> > on.
> > 
> > First, the use of little to no facial muscle.....
> > 
> > The little to no use of the facial muscles I recommended has to do 
> > with the fact that Chris was carrying an inordinate amount of 
> > tension in his face, lips, jaws, abdominals....heck, 
> > everything....in order to play a second line G. He was so tense that 
> > almost nothing was making its way out. Air and air support was 
> > minimal. His range was poor - barely and inconsistently to G on top 
> > of the staff - and mouthpiece pressure was being used as the range 
> > method of choice :-)
> > 
> > My purpose for the facial admonition was to relax his facial muscles 
> > and to LET the sound out. We have worked to decrease this to a level 
> > of tension appropriate to the range being played in. Of course 
> > tension is required to play throughout the range of the trumpet. The 
> > question is "where should the tension be created and how much should 
> > you use?" If you are at max facial tension on a middle G, then what 
> > do you do when you have to play higher? Where can you go?
> > 
> >  Personally I'm an advocate of letting the air and the large muscles 
> > of the torso do the majority of the work and not asking the lips to 
> > do much more than vibrate to produce the tone. Some tension is 
> > needed as we ascend, but not much more than that required to keep 
> > the air from spilling out of the sides of our mouth. Mouthpiece 
> > pressure is also variable and again is dependant on the register we 
> > are playing in. Try to play a double hi C with the same mouthpiece 
> > pressure as a low C. I'll quote Claude Gordon here: "First there 
> > will be no pressure, then no tone, then no job!"
> > 
> > I've always loved that quote! However, huge mouthpiece pressure 
> > being used in the middle register is, I believe, not needed nor is 
> > it appropriate.
> > 
> > Now the stomach conception....
> > 
> > Allowing the stomach to move outwards is used in order to get the 
> > air into the lungs in a relaxed fashion. I believe that inhaling in 
> > a tense fashion begets a tense sound. I certainly do not advocate 
> > "breathing from the stomach" I do advocate a "wedge" type of 
> > breathing to support and compress the air if needed. It's certainly 
> > nothing radical and doesn't contradict Claude Gordon's "big breath - 
> > chest up" in any way. To my way of thinking they are virtually the 
> > same thing. If your chest is up you can't have your gut sag - you'll 
> > create the wedge naturally. This is dependant of course on having 
> > good posture, which most of my students do NOT. They must constantly 
> > be reminded not to slouch as this cuts off the relaxed and free use 
> > of the air.
> > 
> > There are so many roads that lead to the same destination in 
> > learning this great piece of pipe of ours. In my teaching I use 
> > concepts used and developed by Claude Gordon, Donald S. Reinhardt, 
> > Don Jacoby, Carmine Caruso, Bill Adam, Jerry Callet, Bobby Shew and 
> > so many others. Every student I have is different and each learns in 
> > a different way. All of the so-called methods have much more in 
> > common than they differ. They all work for someone. It's my job to 
> > find my students the best path to their learning, and how to become 
> > their own best teachers.
> > 
> > This is a great thread and I'd love to read more of all your 
> > thoughts on this. I'm still looking to learn and improve as both a 
> > player and a teacher. If any of you want to discuss this further I'd 
> > be happy to carry on either on or off list. The more we go at it the 
> > more our students benefit.
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > 
> > Rick
> > _______________________________________________
> > TPIN mailing list
> > TPIN at tpin.okcu.edu
> > http://tpin.okcu.edu/mailman/listinfo/tpin
> 
> 
> David Arndt
> http://www.oriondevel.com
> 973.228.7843 (office)
> 973.464.7065 (mobile)
> 
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