[TPIN] Re: PEDAL TONES ARE USELESS

[David Adams]

I have only come to believe in the value of pedal tones in the past  
10 years or so.  Since including pedal tones, and more soft practice,  
my range has increased and I find I have much better (and more  
consistent) control over my sound.  If your sound is always just the  
way you want it, if your range is great and you are happy with it,  
and if you are satisfied with your control, then by all means say  
anything you want about pedal tones.  For me, and many others,  
Arturo's comments are right on the money.  I wish some of my early  
teachers (great players themselves) had pushed me on them decades  
ago, but who knows, I might not have appreciated them much then.  It  
is important to do them correctly and control the pitches.
On Feb 8, 2008, at 10:46 AM, Stu wrote:

> Bob Zack wrote:
>> I PERSONALLY FIND PEDAL TONES TO BE USELESS IN PRACTICAL PLAYING  
>> OF THE TRUMPET.
>>  If  I have a student whose lips feel cramped, sore, stiff  
>> etc.....or perhaps needing to "warm down" I will suggest he/she
>>  buzzing the lips with or without a mouthpiece for as long as it  
>> takes to restore circulation and looseness.
>
> There are at least two people with method books who disagree:
>
> Arturo Sandoval in his Volume Two "Playing Techniques & Performance  
> Studies writes: "...Many people have doublts about playing pedal  
> tones.  I am convinced that they are advantageous in order to  
> acquire a correct embouchure.  They are to be played with the same  
> mouth position used in the rest of the normal trumpet range.  After  
> practicing pedal tones, especially during my warm-up, over many  
> years, I have noticed how they help bring the embouchure to the  
> exact position where the lips can vibrate freel y inside the  
> mouthpiece."
>
> James Thompson in the Buzzing Book writes as an intro to exercise  
> 9: "Many high-note systems encourage the use of pedal tones and I  
> agree with such an approach.  However, pedal tones must be played  
> with a middle embouchure setting!"
>
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David B. Adams
Palo Alto Unified School District
Director, Foothill Symphonic Winds
www.windband.org/foothill